It's time we tackle the so far final story in the Dawn of the Clans-chronology, meaning the long-distant past surrounding the founding of the Clans. I really hope that they release more stories surrounding this cast, but so far Shadowstar's Life has been the last. Will it be any good? Let's see. Spoilers ahead.
Some time after the Clans have been established, Shadowstar is facing the fact that she has very little lives left to live. She fears the future, but is even more worried when her second-to-last life and that of her deputy is taken by an unknown culprit. Shadowstar sets out on a quest to right the wrong that has been done to her and her Clan.
A book I'm slightly mixed about, but do have overall positive thoughts on. So, first, the things I liked: Shadowstar's character. She has been my favorite out of all the leaders since Dawn of the Clans, and that isn't changed here. I also really like Windstar, but she's just too stubborn and closeminded for me to be my ultimate favorite. I also liked the brief amount of Sun Shadow we got, as well as the development for Raven Pelt, the next deputy and later leader of ShadowClan after Sun Shadow's demise.
I also liked the idea of this brief mystery we had to figure out, as to who it was. It was solved quite quickly, this being a novella and all, but I still liked the execution.
Here's where we get to my major negative though: Quick Water. Quick Water was, in Dawn of the Clans, one of Skystar's loyalists, but she was still horrified at the results of the Great Battle, and alongside the others agreed that killing in battle should never happen anymore.
In Shadowstar's Life, her personality seems to have taken a great 180 degree turn. She disobeys Skystar, going behind his back to kill Sun Shadow and Shadowstar, just because there is a tiny chance it might help SkyClan somehow. Excuse me, is this the same cat? The book seems to have completely forgotten about the fact that Quick Water was one of the cats to travel from the mountains to the current territories, alongside Shadowstar. Now suddenly she isn't horrified at the thought of killing someone just with the vague notion in mind that it might somehow help SkyClan?
It's not that this idea couldn't have worked. One of Skystar's cats definitely could've set up such a trap, it just should not have been Quick Water. She wasn't an amazingly developed character in the Dawn of the Clans-arc, but we knew enough about her to know that this was out of character. It could have easily been one of the rogues that ending up joining SkyClan (and the other Clans) at the end of the arc. Heck, Moth Flight's Vision knew this, with Willow Tail being the one to cause the conflict between WindClan and SkyClan.
I could even buy Skystar doing such a cowardly things as this because he's so far shown to have learned very little from his mistakes (he claims to have changed and not kill in battle anymore after the Great Battle, yet still has no problems killing Willow Tail and taking Windstar's first life). But Quick Water? It's just something I can't buy.
I appreciate the idea of developing a character that so far has been largely in the background, but this just doesn't work if it goes against what has already been established about them.
So, yeah, good idea for a short story, but the culprit should've been someone else, that might've even gotten this a four and a half/five star rating. It's good as it is, but doesn't make a whole lot of sense for the character in question.
Rating: 3.5/5
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