Tag: Erin Hunter

A Dangerous path

A Dangerous Path (Warriors, #5) by Erin Hunter

My rating: four stars

Genre: Middle Grade

Edition: Paperback

Goodreads Summary: ShadowClan has a dark new leader, but will he be satisfied with his power now — or does his desire for revenge burn even more strongly? Fireheart fears that there is a connection between the rise of Tigerstar and the terrible dreams that haunt his nights, murmuring of danger and death.

Meanwhile, a mysterious and vicious threat unlike any other has invaded the forest, placing every cat’s life in peril. Fireheart’s beloved leader has turned her back on their warrior ancestors, and Fireheart can’t help but wonder if she’s right. Has StarClan abandoned them forever?

I low-key wasn’t looking forward to this book too much because of how the last book went, but it surprised me in how much I liked it! I had completely forgot all of the crazy things that happened in this book.

Likes: The previous book was not my favorite in terms of plot progression, and so I really enjoyed this one because it had a lot happening in terms of the tension between Fireheart and Tigerstar. This book does have a good amount of suspense that left my heart racing. It made me worried about the characters, and afraid of what was going to happen to them. This story had good pacing. It never seemed to lull, and there were several plot points that were happening at once, and they were all interesting. The end of this book had me crying. It wasn’t necessarily unexpected, it was just destressing and yet felt right.

Dislikes: It still seems so unrealistic that all of these clans are putting up with Tigerstar’s crap. Like seriously, he is killing cats and doing all of these terrible things, and yet almost no one is doing anything to try and stop him. That is just frustrating. Bluestar’s character also continues to go downhill for most of this story and I am over it. I understand what is troubling her, but at the same time I don’t think that she would have this type of reaction based off of what she had to go through in her past. She went through very traumatic times in her past without breaking like she did in the past couple books, and so I don’t think it is realistic that she became so unstable in these books.

Overall, this book was a great read! Bluestar’s character confused me, and the clan’s actions frustrated me. However, I loved the pacing, the plot progression, and the suspense enough to get over those dislikes. I gave it four out of five stars because of the frustrations that I had, but I still did love this book.

Rising Storm

Rising Storm (Warriors, #4) by Erin Hunter

My rating: four stars

Genre: Middlegrade

Edition: Paperback

Goodreads Summary: Fireheart’s traitorous enemy Tigerclaw has been vanquished and exiled from Thunder Clan — but Fireheart can’t shake the feeling that he’s lurking in the forest, waiting for his chance to strike.

That’s not the only problem facing the young warrior in these blazing summer months, as he struggles to handle sinister omens, an apprentice with a shocking secret, and a devastated Clan leader who is a shell of her former self.

Meanwhile the forest gets hotter and hotter … and everyone braces for the coming storm… Ages 10+.

Continuing with my re-read of the series, we have gotten to one of my least favorite books of the original six book series. It is still an enjoyable read, I just think that it had a weaker storyline than the rest in the original arc, and I think the characters themselves didn’t go in a great direction.

Likes: I did like the growing relationship between Yellowfang and Cinderpelt. It was heartwarming and I love learning more about the medicine cats. I also enjoyed that there were more dangers to the clan than just Tigerclaw. There are some natural disasters and humans that come into play, and this opened up my eyes to see how the cats not only have to worry about troubles in the clans, they also have to worry about outside forces hurting them. There is also a relationship development between Fireheart and another cat that I found that to be adorable. 

Dislikes: Though I did like that this book includes other types of dangers, Tigerclaw is the main villain and he seems to barely be in this book. There is little progression in the plot because of this. I also did not like the direction Bluestar’s personality is taking. I understand that she is shocked by Tigerclaw’s betrayal, but at the same time she has endured much worse than that and I feel like she would not have been as broken as she is in this book. The naivety of the other clans also surprises me. I recognize that they are having their own troubles, however, I don’t think that they would allow the things that they do just because they are having a difficult time. It seems very unlikely that they would allow Tigerclaw to do the things he does.

Overall, this isn’t as strong as a book as the other ones in the original series, but I still enjoyed it immensely. The relationships that develop in this book are heartwarming, the natural disasters that happen are shocking, and this book did wrench my heart which is a sign of a well written book. Because this story was relatively stagnant in terms of plot progression, and the actions of most of the cats weren’t believable, I am going to deduct a star. However, I still recommend this book and this whole series!

Forest of Secrets

Forest of Secrets (Warriors, #3) by Erin Hunter

My rating: five stars

Genre: Middle grade

Edition: Paperback

Goodreads summary: Allegiances are shifting among the Clans of warrior cats that roam the forest. With tensions so delicately balanced, former friends can become enemies overnight, and some cats are willing to kill to get what they want.

Fireheart is determined to find out the truth about the mysterious death of brave ThunderClan warrior Redtail. But as he searches for answers, he uncovers secrets that some believe would be better left hidden.

Continuing with my goal to read one Warrior book a month, I am slightly ahead! I am still in love with this series and have noticed that I don’t remember as much about it as I thought I did. So much happened in this book! It was very fast paced the entire time, it seemed like something was always happening, which wasn’t a bad thing. I definitely enjoyed this one more than Fire and Ice.

Likes: Fireheart and Greystripe seemed to get over their issues with one another in the last book, and that made this book more enjoyable and believable. I love their friendship and loyalty towards each other, and this book continues to show this strong bond at work. There are a lot of secrets that are uncovered in this book, and they show why Bluestar acts like she does later. It doesn’t excuse how she acts, but the book delves into her past and I liked learning more about her. No spoilers, but the ending just made so much sense to me. I didn’t necessarily want it to happen, but I truly believe what happened was something the character would do.

Dislikes: I did like that we got to learn more about Bluestar but OH MY GOSH can she just believe Fireheart already?? He has an eye witness and everything! It just seems like there is so much proof and Bluestar just won’t believe him. I understand that Tigerclaw is an important person but COME ON. Ugh, that really annoyed me.

Overall, I did really enjoy this book. The friendship between Fireheart and Greystripe was back, the book started to delve into the backstories and secrets of different characters, and the ending made sense to me. Bluestar’s actions and inability to believe Fireheart has been annoying me for the past two books, but I didn’t deduct a star because I just like the story too much.

Warriors Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice (Warriors #2) by Erin Hunter

My rating: five stars

Genre: Middle grade

Edition: paperback

Goodreads summary: Fireheart could hear a roaring around him, like wind in tall trees. The acrid stench of the Thunderpath stung his nostrils, together with a new smell, sharper and more terrifying. Fire!

Book Two of WARRIORS continues Fireheart’s quest to be a true warrior, when he finds new danger lurking in the woods as the chill of winter sets in.

WindClan is missing, and hostilities between the remaining three clans place all the cats in peril. Illness and tragic accidents weaken the camp, and ThunderClan needs all its warriors to defend itself – but Fireheart suspects that certain cats may not be as loyal as they appear.

 My goal for 2019 was to re-read this series. I ended up only reading one… So my goal for this year is to just read one a month. This was my January Warriors book read, and though I don’t know if I like it as much as the first one, I still love this story so much.

Likes: I feel like I am going to say this about every single book, but this is seriously so nostalgic to me. That alone makes me love it, but I won’t talk about that any more than I have already. I love the pacing of these stories, there always seems to be something exciting happening. Sure, there are some parts that aren’t crucial to the plot, however, they are still fun. I like how even though Fireheart and Graystripe are going through stuff, they still have each other’s backs when it comes down to it. They fight each other and ignore each other, but when they are in danger, they help each other. That shows true loyalty that I appreciate.

Dislikes: The character drama between Graystripe and Fireheart is just a little much. I honestly feel like Graystripe wouldn’t have done the things that he did. Sure, he is a character that tends to get swept up by his emotions. However, he loves his clan and his best friend. By doing the things he did, he was putting both in danger, and this was out of character for him. He is extremely loyal and so I do not believe he would do this. It is also hard to believe that Bluestar wouldn’t have believed Fireheart at all when he tried to tell her about Tigerclaw. Sure, she believes Tigerclaw is a great warrior, but there were many things going against him, and Fireheart is such an honest character, I don’t believe she would have just dismissed the whole idea. She is so much smarter than that.

Overall, though there were some character discrepancies, I still loved this book. It was a quick read, and a fun one. A lot of my love for it is my nostalgia and my love of cats, so I know this story is not for everyone, but I still would recommend it. I think that it has good themes and fun characters.

Warriors Into the Wild

Into the Wild (Warriors, #1) by Erin Hunter

My rating: five stars

Genre: middle grade

Edition: paperback

Goodreads Summary: For generations, four Clans of wild cats have shared the forest according to the laws laid down by their warrior ancestors. But the ThunderClan cats are in grave danger, and the sinister ShadowClan grows stronger every day. Noble warriors are dying– and some deaths are more mysterious than others. In the midst of this turmoil appears an ordinary house cat named Rusty . . . who may turn out to be the bravest warrior of them all.

This book series is my childhood. I have been reading this series since I was little and stopped when I went to college and had no time to read. Now that I am out, I would love to re-read and get caught up on the entire series because I am dreadfully behind. I believe I have read somewhere up to the Power of Three series, but I know there are lot of new books since then and will hopefully get caught up in the next few years (there are over 50 books in the series so there is no way that I am going to get caught up soon).

Likes: This story brings so much nostalgia back to me. Re-reading this was like going back to my childhood and reliving reading it for the first time. That in itself made me love the reading experience. Then, the fact that it is a book about cat clans is just so fascinating to me. I love stories that have non-human characters, and the fact that all the characters in this series are non-human is just wonderful! I honestly wish they made more series like this for young adults or adults. As for the story though, I love the whole world and background of the story. The fact that there are these four clans who try and live in peace with each other while surviving the harsh environments is so cool. The “laws” and “government” that they have created is interesting and I love seeing how they have adapted to living together. I love that there are a few plots going on at the same time. Rusty is thrown into this new world which is a whole storyline, but at the same time there is a threat to ThunderClan that they must try and solve. It is just more complex than I would have thought from reading the synopsis. I love the characters, they seem distinct and realistic. Each character has a different personality and I love this uniqueness with them.

Dislikes: I understand why a lot of people in the clan were mean to Rusty – he was an outsider and they didn’t think he should be there. However, I don’t think that it seems realistic that other characters of authority wouldn’t say something. High up characters just let him get bullied and don’t say anything about it. I know that Bluestar isn’t his mother, but not only are they disrespecting Rusty, but they are also disrespecting her decision. It just seems out of character and like something that she would not put up with.

Overall, I loved this book when I was younger, and I still love it now. I gave it five stars because I truly do think it is a high-quality middle grade book and it brings so much joy to me when I read it.