scarlettblaze's review against another edition
4.0
This is a really fun book for hardcore fans of the Warriors series, and I remember being absolutely fascinated when this book first came out. I thought it was the greatest thing that'd ever been published, since it was in a time when we didn't know very much about the Clans' origins.
Secrets has aged pretty well, though there are now some parts of it that clash with current canon, such as SkyClan never being mentioned in the origin story with the original leaders, and small things such as but these are probably just issues with timing -- when this book came out, the whole Dawn of the Clans arc was nowhere near existence.
The book goes in-depth on things that were not detailed in the novels themselves at that time, such as the entire warrior code, some of the legends that the Clan cats tell, and some interesting first-person perspectives of prophecies and events from characters whose points of view we've never seen before.
Overall, a must-have for any Warriors fan, even if you don't have any of the other field guides.
Secrets has aged pretty well, though there are now some parts of it that clash with current canon, such as SkyClan never being mentioned in the origin story with the original leaders, and small things such as
Spoiler
Moth Flight not being mentioned as Windstar's daughter, with the two having almost a hostile relationshipThe book goes in-depth on things that were not detailed in the novels themselves at that time, such as the entire warrior code, some of the legends that the Clan cats tell, and some interesting first-person perspectives of prophecies and events from characters whose points of view we've never seen before.
Overall, a must-have for any Warriors fan, even if you don't have any of the other field guides.
aarony_22's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
aotora's review against another edition
5.0
I liked this one a lot. It added a lot of new lore and added several new characters. And I loved reading about original clans.
landscapesofink's review against another edition
3.0
I love how fleshed out this world is, all the world-building, the descriptions, the backgrounds, mythologies, stories etc. It's insane!
This one had such good insight into the clans! Not necessary by any means, but still interesting and such a quick read!
This one had such good insight into the clans! Not necessary by any means, but still interesting and such a quick read!
kaeldra's review against another edition
5.0
Reread July 30, 2020 - August 4, 2020.
Ahh, this was a fun one to reread. Though it was longer/more dense than I remembered. This is one I was absolutely obsessed with as a kid, and I actually still have the sticky note in my copy on the medicines and herbs page! I was determined to learn them all and be like a medicine cat, ahaha.
I thought the camp tours were pretty cute, if a little short. It gives some nice insight into what the other Clans' camps look like, since we've only really seen ThunderClan's up to this point. The writing reminded me of my own attempts at creative writing as a kid, when I'd get to the end and not know how to wrap it up neatly so I'd just go "Oh, I think I hear my mom calling me, I'd better go. Bye!" I wonder now if I got inspiration from these, lmao.
I also liked the snippets of stories we never really got to see since we were always watching from Fireheart's POV. Brightheart's fight with the dogs, Mistyfoot's kits being swept away... and the stories from Yellowfang and Bluestar make me very excited to read their Super Editions eventually. So many cat books, so little time.
One thing that was kind of neat was going through this knowing what comes later in the series, since it's clear they haven't added in some of the details that come to light later (SkyClan, in particular) and the foreshadowing they threw in there about Leafpool.
I haven't actually read the Field Guide, which I think is the most recent "guidebook" type volume from the series, so maybe it covers this, but I'd really like to see an updated version of this guide's "Significant Clan Leaders and Medicine Cats" section. The history of the Clans has been fleshed out so much more than it was when this was first published, and there's been a whole extra generation of cats born too. I remember poring over those pages in particular because you could really feel the sense of history and tradition, and I think it would be neat to see it expanded on.
But anyway, this has gone on for far longer than I thought it would considering it's not even a main entry in the series. So I'll stop here for now. Next up is a fun one: Firestar's Quest!
Ahh, this was a fun one to reread. Though it was longer/more dense than I remembered. This is one I was absolutely obsessed with as a kid, and I actually still have the sticky note in my copy on the medicines and herbs page! I was determined to learn them all and be like a medicine cat, ahaha.
I thought the camp tours were pretty cute, if a little short. It gives some nice insight into what the other Clans' camps look like, since we've only really seen ThunderClan's up to this point. The writing reminded me of my own attempts at creative writing as a kid, when I'd get to the end and not know how to wrap it up neatly so I'd just go "Oh, I think I hear my mom calling me, I'd better go. Bye!" I wonder now if I got inspiration from these, lmao.
I also liked the snippets of stories we never really got to see since we were always watching from Fireheart's POV. Brightheart's fight with the dogs, Mistyfoot's kits being swept away... and the stories from Yellowfang and Bluestar make me very excited to read their Super Editions eventually. So many cat books, so little time.
One thing that was kind of neat was going through this knowing what comes later in the series, since it's clear they haven't added in some of the details that come to light later (SkyClan, in particular) and the foreshadowing they threw in there about Leafpool.
I haven't actually read the Field Guide, which I think is the most recent "guidebook" type volume from the series, so maybe it covers this, but I'd really like to see an updated version of this guide's "Significant Clan Leaders and Medicine Cats" section. The history of the Clans has been fleshed out so much more than it was when this was first published, and there's been a whole extra generation of cats born too. I remember poring over those pages in particular because you could really feel the sense of history and tradition, and I think it would be neat to see it expanded on.
But anyway, this has gone on for far longer than I thought it would considering it's not even a main entry in the series. So I'll stop here for now. Next up is a fun one: Firestar's Quest!
samsnerdcorner's review against another edition
1.5
the authors really went "you read season one and two of warrior cats? congrats, here's a bad summary. hope you have the least amount of fun possible."