My review has some MAJOR SPOILERS ahead, just to inform the reader. It's a little long, but bare with me.
Honestly, I'm still on the fence about this book. I think it does deserve 3/5 stars, but I can't decide if I actually like the whole thing. It was a LOT more enjoyable & less frustrating than both Crowfeather's Trial AND Tigerheart's Shadow. It's kinda between Tallstar's Revenge and Firestar's Quest. Two books I feel aren't really that bad but aren't major winners for me either.
But by the end of reading it I had to ask myself: What did this actually do for the plot?
Honestly, I may have to wait for the next book in Broken Code before I can compare the worth of Graystripe's Vow.
While I did enjoy the "Good-Old-Times" romp down memory lane, if I took it apart I find that it's more like a Mini-story Novella in terms of worth than in actual important piece of the current day plot. What does Graystripe's time as leader during Firestar's Quest have ANYTHING to do with what is currently happening with the five Clans?? BloodClan doesn't have anything to do with the current day Clans by the lake and Graystripe doesn't run into any wannabe descendants....
I did enjoy Honeysuckle-Fang, Gremlin, and every single character in WarriorClan. It felt like a nice troll from the writers, but I have to give it a critical look now and I feel that it's kinda just senseless fluff.
While I never expected this book to be Graystripe's BIG HERO'S DEATH EDITION, I did think that it was supposed to go somewhere with him finding Moonstone and being told something seriously major for the sake of the Clans. That Graystripe's Vow to Gremlin would somehow become a fulfilled prophecy through her son that would hold an important piece to his final destiny. That by 3/4ths of the book the past story-line would be wrapped up and dropped after chasing off Fury and Gremlin saying goodbye to Graystripe. I would have loved that more than whatever Tree side-plot that they keep trying to pull in the main series.
Sadly, no.
The leaps back and forth through time didn't flow as good as it should have or ended when it should have. There was next to no tension for the past story-line because the characters in the current day are understandably saying things that break it like a sledge hammer would break glass.
Book: "Does Gremlin stay in ThunderClan and have her kits there with her brother?"
(No, she and her brother were never there in the Second series or mentioned whatsoever.)
Book: GS- I don't know if I can trust Gremlin or not! ThunderClan may be ruined!
(Present Day Chapter After:
Fang- "Oh yeah! Mom talked so fondly of you all the time!"
GS- "Well she is a reliable and spunky she-cat. I really liked her as a friend.")
Book: GS from PAST ThunderClan: Help me! My Clanmates are jerks and I don't know what to do about them!
GS from PRESENT ThunderClan: Help me! My Clanmates are jerks and I don't know what to do about them!
GS from PRESENT ThunderClan: ThunderClan just isn't as together as they used to be under Firestar!
I was kinda annoyed that Graystripe just stopped searching for answers about StarClan when it was blown up. Like, why was he talking to it out loud and not sleeping? Pretty sure it was common knowledge that you have to TOUCH the ROCK/WATER to get visions... Ravenpaw knew how to speak to StarClan in his own manga series...also the ending comic proves that it doesn't matter if they get blasted into boulders or not, they still work. He should have at least tried again. Why have Feathertail guide him to Moonstone if they weren't even going to try talking to him? Also, he made a really big deal about how only he is allowed inside as it was still "sacred space" even though warriors were at Moonpool a couple times and he wasn't even sure that StarClan was going to be there.
The moral of this is that it doesn't matter if StarClan contacts the Clans or not, they are still a Clan.
....Yes and No.
Yes, Because that's what the older Warrior cats' fanbase has been saying on Youtube for years and they are correct. They should be able to function just fine without sings from StarClan.
No, because every other arc is literally about this. ShadowClan fell to pieces TWICE because they stopped believing in their StarClan cult religion... and both times fell into rouge-like cat poverty. Firestar's Quest is almost half about him losing faith in StarClan's will while teaching it to complete strangers but Graystripe never loses his faith in StarClan... kinda? He's okay with abandoning them because they TELL him that it's okay. That's hardly a choice. Tigerheart's shadow is about him enforcing his Clan lifestyle and beliefs onto a group of cats that never asked for him to squat at their home. Tallstar's Revenge is about him missing WindClan and deludes himself into thinking that StarClan will take his side, so it's ok to murder. Every single POV of every leader there has ever been has questioned their actions because they don't know if it was StarClan's will or not. There was even a time when Leafpool (as an apprentice,) trembled in terror at the thought of leaving StarClan behind at the old forest while they moved on. I need to know where the writers are going with THIS nugget of a bombshell and applying it to the main series!
Oddly enough, The Warrior Code is never brought up ONCE this entire book. Only that apprentices do cleaning duties and elders and queens are cared for, but no mention of the code.
Also, Graystripe's whole adventure start to finish is 2 weeks when he was given a month.
He spent maybe 4 days with "WarriorClan" before going back home. How are they even a Clan? StarClan aside, (again, ending hints that they will make a new StarClan sooner or later of their own cats) Graystripe leaves WarriorClan with a flaky wishful-thinking medicine cat that knows only 7 or 8 herbs and has no idea what they look like, a deputy that is more of a leader than the actual cat calling herself -Star while telling him to his face that he is WarriorClan's real leader, warriors that only know one session of the hunting crouch and how to catch mice but with no battle training whatsoever, and again: zero mention of warrior code.
I mean, even Firestar and Sandstorm at least spent a full month (more or less) with SkyClan to rebuild it and at least they tried. I honestly feel like Graystripe should be less proud of himself than he is. Even though I like all of the main characters in WarriorClan, I'm not going to look the other way for this.
This is all without going over the countless hang-ups on Firestar Graystripe has despite the guy being dead for +5 years or so, the bizzare lack of confidence that Graystripe has in himself, and the fact that even in his OWN SUPER EDITION, Graystripe only thinks about Blossomfall and Bumblestripe once during this whole book while constantly going on about Stormfur. Even when he acknowledges that he has kin in ThunderClan, his devotion to ThunderClan is used as an umbrella term without singling out anyone within the Clan currently that he cares for. He barely thinks about Briarlight either.
Even after I write this, I still feel as though I need to read all of the Broken Code before I decide if this needed to exist or not. It doesn't really add anything to the main plot or Graystripe's plot. They sorta just leave it with "and he still has more to offer..." Except isn't that the point of this book? To answer what that is?? I still liked this book better than Tigerheart's Shadow.
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Customer reviews
Book came in bad shape but story was enjoyed
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2020
I got this for my son and it looks like either it was used or just wasn't handled well from the distributor. Luckily he was still able to read and enjoy the book but I would have preferred a nicer copy for the money spent.
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2020
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Not quite what I expected
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 1, 2020
