A Squirrelflight-centric Super Edition! I know a lot of people like her character, but a lot also don't. Personally I'm neutral, though I veer more towards liking her than disliking her. Is her POV-book any good? Let's find out. Spoilers ahead.
Squirrelflight is deputy of ThunderClan in this book that takes place after the A Vision of Shadows arc. She has troubles with her relationship with the Clan's leader, Bramblestar. On top of that, when the Clans encounter a group of ghost-seeing giant rogues known as the Sisters, she must decide to do what's right: protect the Sisters and their leader, a pregnant she-cat, or fight alongside her Clan to claim the Sisters' land for SkyClan so the territories can go back to the way they were and the Clans can live in peace.
There's some aspects of this book I really liked... yet not without some factors I absolutely disliked. Let's get the good out of the way first. I liked Squirrelflight's character in this. She's just so passionate to do what's right. Yes, she breaks the warrior code, but it's always in favor for doing the morally right thing, much like how Fireheart often did in the first arc.
I also liked the conflict. I really thought the Clans had found their solution to having SkyClan move in with the territory adjustments done in A Vision of Shadows, but this book really shows the repercussions of everything. SkyClan is doing well, but both ThunderClan and ShadowClan now have land they don't use, land that WindClan and RiverClan respectively would like back very much. A possible solution does present itself with the land uphill from ShadowClan and ThunderClan, but it's currently being occupied by the Sisters. The other Clans want to chase them out, but Squirrelflight desperately wants them to be able to leave at their own accord due to one of them being pregnant and them just being overall not bad cats.
Finally, I was fond of us once more getting a close look at the sister relationship between Squirrelflight and Leafpool. Probably the last time, actually, since Leafpool joins StarClan in this book. That was really sad and while Leafpool has never been my favorite cat, I do genuinely appreciate the close bond she has with Squirrelflight.
However, this is where my praise for the book ends. There's other aspects I genuinely couldn't stand. Starting with: Bramblestar's relationship with Squirrelflight. He's such an asshole towards her in this entire book. I know that this is consistent, he's done this before in other books, but I really thought they'd be over it by now. Yet he constantly belittles Squirrelflight for her ideas, wishes and moral obligations to chasing out the Sisters. He just turns so cold and bitter and I genuinely hated him so much in this book. He genuinely doesn't show any signs of changing his punishing attitude towards his mate until she pratcically dies, only then does he start to show signs of sympathy and "oh how wrong I was". Fucking bullshit, you treated her like shit the entire time, if you'd genuinely cared, you'd have shown this before and not after you thought her to be dead. I know they make up at the end of the book, but it's too little too late. Brambleclaw is such a jerk towards Squirrelflight throughout 95% of the book, and you don't just fix that with a last minute making up scene.
Then there's the Sisters. While it's always great to see how cats live outside of the Clans (because, let's face it, the Clan setting does feel a bit same-y after a while), I just genuinely couldn't get into their group. I didn't like Moonlight, their leader, all that much, and all of the other members feel pretty much like blank slates with one personality trait attached to them at most. I also really didn't like how Moonlight was genuinely willing to put the lives of her kits and her fellow Sisters on the line just to be able to stay in the land the Clans wanted to chase them out of. Like, yeah, it's important to show strenght and that you're not to be messed with, but when you're facing off against four Clans combined it's really no use in putting up a fight. She also didn't seem like such a great cat to me, with her having cast out Tree (who turns out to be her son) and any other male once they come of age (which is rather young, to be honest). Moonlight does pay for it with her life, but I just didn't like her attitude. Putting the lives of your kin first seems more important than showing you can't be bossed around, at least to me.
So, yeah, this book had a few good things, and a few mishaps. I overall enjoyed it more than I disliked it, but especially Bramblestar's treatment of Squirrelflight did leave a very sour taste in my mouth.
Rating: 3.5/5
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