Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Forest of Secrets

my favourite thing is that outside of the whole brokentail thing, there's no reason why the clans hate each other; they're literally hostile just to be hostile. like they're civil (and kind of even friends) during the gatherings and they all follow the same rules so there's no point to the hatred lol

fireheart and graystripe are honestly unnecessarily mean to each other??? like yea graystripe probably shouldn't be sneaking off and leaving his apprentice, but fireheart is just straight up mean to him while also immediately forgiving him over everything?? like

when brackenpaw got promoted to a warrior, graystripe was right in saying fireheart should be the one to tell bluestar cause graystripe didn't do his job, but fireheart is like "oh no youre his mentor you should do it"??? brackenfur basically had fireheart as his mentor his whole apprenticeship and graystripe wasn't even at that battle

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a_wren_that_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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samdalefox's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I enjoyed this installment more than the second one. I like that the book picks up exactly from where it was left previously. Forest of Secrets had lots more character development and side plots and it finally wrapped up the major ongoing storyline from the first book

of Tigerclaw being a traitor

. As usual the storyline is adventurous and moves quickly, there a useful recaps of what has happened previously in the saga (very useful for children and forgetful adults reading at a slower pace). Some new themes introduced or expanded upon in this book:

"There's more to being a warrior than killing", ideas of hierachy, respect for others, lenience, selflessness
Warning against blind loyalty to authority or a leader (shown via Tigerclaw and his favourite warriors)
Ideas of engaging in mutal aid during day-to-day (elders) and crises (the flooding of riverclan territory)
Teaching kids not to eat unknown berries outside - they could be poisonous!
Disability ethics and realities in the wild, e.g. Cinderpaw's usefulness to the clan with her physical disability, the perceived earned retirement of the elders through their usefulness as warriors or Queens [child rearing]
The arbitrariness, emotions, and reasons linked to blood relations vs chosen relations (shown through Cloudkit, Fireheart, Yellowfang, Bluestar and her children) - My only frustration at the book here is the lack of recognition that in the wild intermingling would be encouraged to diversify the gene pool.
Ideas of human interference and disturbance of nature, e.g. the pollution of the river, the danger to life the thunderpath (roads) are without animal-friendly infrastructure facilitating crossing, climate change caused by human activity impacting the wildlife.

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anne311's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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