I always wanted an Ivypool standalone when I was younger. But now that I'm read it, I'm not so sure. Spoilers ahead.
Moons after Bristlefrost's permanent death, Ivypool is still mourning the loss of her daughter. When Whistlepaw receives a mysterious vision, she, Ivypool and a few other cats set out on a quest to figure out what it means. All the while Ivypool is slowly coming to terms with her grief and her position as a deputy.
It's not awful book, I'll preface my review by saying that. But also...really? This is it? This is really what you wanna dedicate a whole Super Edition to? Surprising no one, this is yet another boring travel book in a long line of boring Erin Hunter travel books. The authors have never been very good at writing traveling plots, and you'd think that after a lot of criticism by now they'd have understood this and steered away from the trope. Or improved their craft.
But instead they're once again fully leaning into it and it's rough. I genuinely didn't care that much about the journey. Even if it introduces some crazy new lore (StormClan) and a new species (wildcats) to the mix, this was a thoroughly pretty uninteresting book. Sure, it has some neat concepts, but if the execution isn't very good, why even care? The book also feels rather meander-y and has a lot of side-dangers and while a few of these can be fine, it feels a bit excessive after a while and the journey doesn't feel like it is paced particularly well. It is very "And now the characters go here. Quick, danger! Okay, we escaped. Now our next mission is to go here or meet these characters". Rinse and repeat. If you get what I mean.
What I will praise this book for, however, is Ivypool as a main character and the character relationship. Ivypool's arc in this one was well-executed and she definitely was the best element the book had to offer. I just wish she got her first full-POV appearance in a book of better quality. Ivypool also had a nice chemistry with the characters around her. Whether it be her friend Icewing, her sister Dovewing, the healer Whistlepaw or Bristlefrost's mate Rootspring. The new wildcats, while not my favorite element to be introduced to Warrior Cats, were interesting enough and pretty likable.
But aside from the pretty solid character work there isn't much of quality to be found here. It overall feels rather boring and like it drags, and not a whole lot seems to be accomplished by the end of a book. We went on an entire journey and the only thing we got out of it is that a few wildcats made their way home, which (at least for now) doesn't seem to have bigger implications for Warriors as a whole. It also feels rather disconnected from the current arc taking place. I will take these words back if they do somehow tie all this into A Starless Clan in the end, but for now it all seems a bit disjointed and unrelated in the grand scheme of things.
So yeah. I didn't hate this book and I wouldn't say it's outright bad, either. But it leaves a lot to be desired. Hunters, please just stop doing traveling books, or at least minimize them. Or get better at writing them.
Rating: 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment