River Spoiler Page

This one was kind of disappointing. The biggest issue is definitely the return of forbidden romance in the series, especially with all three protagonists seemingly either involved in a relationship or hinted at having the potential for one. Frostpaw has enough going on with the murder mystery and hostile takeover plotlines without adding a relationship with a somewhat suspicious clanmate. The problem with Frostpaw having feelings for Splashtail (aside from the power dynamic) is that the only interesting development offered to Splashtail has been hints at him being the murderer. If he IS the murderer, it’s going to be an issue for Frostpaw, especially since she already gets pushed around all the time and doesn’t have a backbone. If he isn’t the murderer, he’s just the stereotypical cardboard warrior and it won’t be interesting to read. I don’t think any of it is a necessary inclusion. The relationship between Sunbeam and Nightheart is riddled with issues, the most notable being that he’s left his Clan with the ASSUMPTION that he will join her clan and be together with her when he hasn’t even spoken to her about it yet. I really hope the next book clarifies that they are not well-suited for each other. Sunbeam is on the rebound from her failed relationship with Blazefire and her broken friendship with Lightleap, and Nightheart is literally running away from his problems. They haven’t had any romantic developments at all beyond confiding in each other a few times, which is more a sign of a growing friendship than a sign that he should leave his entire family and join her group without even asking her about it. In general, I hope that Nightheart’s attempt to join ShadowClan is something he changes his mind about. Leaving his Clan didn’t solve any of his issues, and in fact just compounded them since he yelled at everyone he knows and then just ran away like a spoiled child. I hated him in this book so intensely that I can’t even explain it. He was assigned the duties that go to the youngest warriors in lieu of having any apprentices to do the work. This is an extremely basic concept that he should understand, but instead he chose to whine about this and about everything in his life as if the entire world was against him. I also still don’t understand the whole “expectations of being Firestar’s descendant” thing he’s going on about. It would’ve been a suitable plot point for Squirrelflight or Leafpool, or maybe even one of the Three. By this point in the series, it makes no sense for Firestar’s great-grandson to be talking about blood expectations when most of the Clan is now related to our original protagonist. I did, however, appreciate that this book had more of a slower build than second releases of a Warriors arc typically do. I hope this prevents the usual situation of resolving most of the plot in the third book and then having nowhere left to go afterward.