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A review by loang
Skyclan's Destiny by Erin Hunter
4.0
Rating: 8 out of 10
I'm thoroughly surprised by how much I enjoyed this! Looks like it took no more than a single book to make me fall in love with the entirety of SkyClan!
Not gonna lie, I wasn't entirely convinced when I started reading it, and the odds weren't on my favor for the first fifty pages or so, but fortunately the pacing started getting better as the story progressed! And by the end, I was completely hooked!
See, the plot of this one isn't very clear from the start. The first third of the book (or even the first half, I dare say) was more focused on different side plots than on an overarching challenge. It showed us the daily life of SkyClan and the varied relationships between its members, as well as how Leafstar dealt with the issues her Clan went through.
Plot-wise, this half wasn't really strong, but character-wise, it was fantastic! We got to learn a lot about the side characters and their personalities, which were all charming and lovable! Despite the events being Warriors-usual and not unique compared to other books, the fact that the reader grew fond on all the characters was what made the book so enjoyable.
As for the second half of the book, well, it was great both plot and character-wise! We got introduced to the core challenge of the plot, and tensions rose. Not to spoil anything, but the final resolution of the story was very exciting and shocking! Especially the ending, which I was definitely not expecting to be as brutal as it was.
Something more I loved was the double POVs! I'm pretty sure this is the only Super Edition with it, and it was a pleasant surprise! Though Leafstar's POV was much more prominent than Stick's, I still enjoyed both perspectives greatly.
Talking about her, I adored Leafstar! She was a strong leader for SkyClan, always doing the best she could to help her Clan. Though she had a fair amount of flaws and constantly doubted herself and the decisions she took, I loved seeing her character grow and become more independent! She was the perfect character to root for, and easy to sympathize with! More than anything else, I was delighted to see her lead SkyClan by her own rules and take them down a unique path she had planned for them only!
Stick didn't fall behind, of course. He was a quite interesting morally gray character. His backstory and complicated relationship with ex-mate and daughter made his chapters very fun to read! He was much more flawed than Leafstar and it was fascinating to analyze how different they were in world views and morality.
And they weren't the only characters who had an awesome characterization! In my opinion, Sharpclaw, the fierce and competitive deputy of SkyClan, shone a lot in this novel, his motives and loyalties revealed at the very end of the book. I consider him a well-written morally dubious character, who did quite problematic things to achieve goals he thought were the best for his Clan.
Even if side characters, others like Billystorm, Echosong, Shrewtooth, Cora, Egg, Snookpaw, Frecklepaw, and even more were all characters I was fond of! The narrative made it easy for me to get to like them!
If there was something I didn't like about this book besides the plot being slow at times, it is the fact that everyone pretends Leafstar can't be both leader of SkyClan and have kits / a mate? Putting aside the inherent, blatant sexism of it, the idea itself is just ridiculous. She can have a mate without kits (it's not like they pop out of nowhere, if you know what I mean) and even if she does want kits, she would only need to stay in the nursery until they're old enough to eat prey, in which time Billystorm or the other queens could take care of them while Leafstar performs her leader duties. Leafstar's decision at the end was the best and I love her for it, but the fact that this was a problem in the first place makes me very mad to say at least.
In general, though, SkyClan's Destiny was a very entertaining book! It ended up being better than I had imagined, and didn't let me down even a little bit! I can understand why some people wouldn't like it (the pacing is slow and the plot drags at times) but in my opinion the characters make up for the book's mistakes! It was a wonderful read and one I would love to repeat in the future!
I'm thoroughly surprised by how much I enjoyed this! Looks like it took no more than a single book to make me fall in love with the entirety of SkyClan!
Not gonna lie, I wasn't entirely convinced when I started reading it, and the odds weren't on my favor for the first fifty pages or so, but fortunately the pacing started getting better as the story progressed! And by the end, I was completely hooked!
See, the plot of this one isn't very clear from the start. The first third of the book (or even the first half, I dare say) was more focused on different side plots than on an overarching challenge. It showed us the daily life of SkyClan and the varied relationships between its members, as well as how Leafstar dealt with the issues her Clan went through.
Plot-wise, this half wasn't really strong, but character-wise, it was fantastic! We got to learn a lot about the side characters and their personalities, which were all charming and lovable! Despite the events being Warriors-usual and not unique compared to other books, the fact that the reader grew fond on all the characters was what made the book so enjoyable.
As for the second half of the book, well, it was great both plot and character-wise! We got introduced to the core challenge of the plot, and tensions rose. Not to spoil anything, but the final resolution of the story was very exciting and shocking! Especially the ending, which I was definitely not expecting to be as brutal as it was.
Something more I loved was the double POVs! I'm pretty sure this is the only Super Edition with it, and it was a pleasant surprise! Though Leafstar's POV was much more prominent than Stick's, I still enjoyed both perspectives greatly.
Talking about her, I adored Leafstar! She was a strong leader for SkyClan, always doing the best she could to help her Clan. Though she had a fair amount of flaws and constantly doubted herself and the decisions she took, I loved seeing her character grow and become more independent! She was the perfect character to root for, and easy to sympathize with! More than anything else, I was delighted to see her lead SkyClan by her own rules and take them down a unique path she had planned for them only!
Stick didn't fall behind, of course. He was a quite interesting morally gray character. His backstory and complicated relationship with ex-mate and daughter made his chapters very fun to read! He was much more flawed than Leafstar and it was fascinating to analyze how different they were in world views and morality.
And they weren't the only characters who had an awesome characterization! In my opinion, Sharpclaw, the fierce and competitive deputy of SkyClan, shone a lot in this novel, his motives and loyalties revealed at the very end of the book. I consider him a well-written morally dubious character, who did quite problematic things to achieve goals he thought were the best for his Clan.
Even if side characters, others like Billystorm, Echosong, Shrewtooth, Cora, Egg, Snookpaw, Frecklepaw, and even more were all characters I was fond of! The narrative made it easy for me to get to like them!
If there was something I didn't like about this book besides the plot being slow at times, it is the fact that everyone pretends Leafstar can't be both leader of SkyClan and have kits / a mate? Putting aside the inherent, blatant sexism of it, the idea itself is just ridiculous. She can have a mate without kits (it's not like they pop out of nowhere, if you know what I mean) and even if she does want kits, she would only need to stay in the nursery until they're old enough to eat prey, in which time Billystorm or the other queens could take care of them while Leafstar performs her leader duties. Leafstar's decision at the end was the best and I love her for it, but the fact that this was a problem in the first place makes me very mad to say at least.
In general, though, SkyClan's Destiny was a very entertaining book! It ended up being better than I had imagined, and didn't let me down even a little bit! I can understand why some people wouldn't like it (the pacing is slow and the plot drags at times) but in my opinion the characters make up for the book's mistakes! It was a wonderful read and one I would love to repeat in the future!