Tallstar is not my favourite character and I definitely disagree with a lot of the literary and character choices made for Jake in this book. The lessons learnt are important and good for children to have – especially if they’re reading this series… But Jake isn’t that adventurous, he’s happy with his life as shown with literally every other book that he’s featured in. But the plot dragged a little towards the end and I often just found myself wishing that it would finish already. It’s written well and most plot points were interesting, but there was a lot of filler towards the end. And Deadpaw’s name… that’s a rough one. I don’t like it when leaders change the names o9f cats who have good names to start with.

Rating: 9 out of 10

I've already said it and I'll never get tired of repeating it: Super Editions are the best part of the Warriors universe. They all have unique journeys and show in-depth character exploration as well as compelling storytelling. The main arcs are great in their own way, of course, but Super Editions will always have a special place in my heart.

About this particular book, what I most liked is Tallstar. I wasn't expecting to connect with him so early into the story, and he had a surprisingly strong personality for the rather bland character we saw in the first and second arcs. He made me laugh quite a few times, and all his emotions and thoughts were well portrayed and felt organic.

I especially enjoyed the relationships Tallstar had with the other characters. His opinion on them wasn't narrowed to simply "love" and "hate"; most were placed somewhere in between. I also appreciated how the narrative didn't blatantly tell the reader who they should dislike and who they should root for, actually letting them judge by themselves. An amazing example of this is Tallstar's relationship with his parents: both of them are shown as having positive and negative traits, saying or doing some questionable things but never on the "evil" side of the coin.

Despite all the interesting dynamics in this book, the best (by far) was the one between Tallstar and Jake. Seriously, I adored the slow building of their love and trust, and the scene when they eventually had to separate from each other was truly heartbreaking. Before reading this I didn't understand the hype for the pairing, but now I do and personally I think their relationship is one of the most well-written ones in the entire series.

Something else I loved was the worldbuilding! Having read almost sixty books set in this universe already, I didn't think it was possible to have much more, but I'm glad I was proven wrong! The whole issue with the tunnelers and the moor runners added a very neat conflict of progress vs. tradition that made the subplots a lot richer and complex.

If I had to mention a problem I had with this book I would probably say the last chapters. Most things after Tallstar and Jake's goodbye felt rushed and unnatural for me, and I think that part wasn't as planned as the rest of the story. Even though it wasn't such a big deal thinking back, it still bugged me slightly while reading.

I'll have to say this book definitely isn't everyone's cup of tea. The pacing is very slow (and I mean, sometimes even painfully slow), but I believe pushing through a few filler chapters is worth experiencing this amazing story! It has great messages and teaches some fantastic lessons every reader, including me, will remember for a long time.

This is one of the few Warriors books where I kept changing how I felt about it as I read. I liked the early sections about young Tallpaw struggling through kithood and apprenticehood as an only child with a disinterested mother and hostile father. There are a lot of caring families in the Warriors series, and it was interesting to see how growing up without parental support affected Tallpaw. However, his vengeance quest just bored and annoyed me. The best part of the vengeance arc is his friendship with Jake, and his knowledge of what goes on outside clan boundaries. The first third of this book and the manga comic at the end are what makes this book 4 stars instead of 3 for me, but if you're looking to cut some Warriors books off your reading list, you can probably skip this one.