Now, I really am exited for Riverstar’s Home. There is only ONE, (Bonus Scene, at that) telling of his origin (It’s in Thunder Rising). It tells of a park, with Twolegs in it. The Twolegs then tear down the park, and Riverstar (Ripple, at the time), flees and finds himself in a river. He finds a log in the river, and floats along it for a while. He ends up in the forest, where he meets Night, a RiverClan member, and introduces himself with a new name, River Ripple, in thanks to the river that took him there. What makes Riverstar worthy to be a leader with the other leaders of the Clans and how can he get them to respect his leadership as an outsider? The weather is too bad to try returning home in the days afterward: the river's too swollen and the Thunderpath is too dangerous. Drizzle's getting restless, but Riverstar doesn't mind waiting a bit. He spends time with Finch, and starts to feel that he belongs right there, with Finch. A moon passes since they'd first left, with the weather still not improving, and during that time, they officially become mates. It turns out that Finch doesn't want to leave while Riverstar doesn't want to stay, but for now they still have to wait until the river drops.

Whether you’re a fan of derby racing, animal games or pet horses, your exciting horse simulation journey begins with Rival Stars Horse Racing. I think that first half RR and last half RR feel like two different characters. First half feels so much more distinct and last half feels like just Some Guy. River Ripple begins to encounter the mountain cats a bit more: a she-cat named Dappled Pelt helps when Night is injured, and River Ripple helps the cats escape a forest fire. One night he awakens to see spirit cats, who lead him to The Four Trees, where the mountain cats are fighting. He watches in horror, seeing them die, but the spirits tell him to wait: after the fight, he can be a bridge to peace. After the battle concludes, the spirits tell everyone that they must "unite or die". River Ripple accepts that he has a "group" just as much as the others, and does his best to try to be a leader. They could've done literally ANYTHING with the 2nd half of the book but they went for the most drawn out overdone warrior cats tropes and scrapped almost all of the interesting concepts or reduced them to the minimum. And Flutter isn't the only character with no personality. All of Riverstar's character- his coolness, confidence, and mystery is gone. He's suddenly insecure and can't make a decision without StarClan or Night reaching out. I mean, seriously? And why was he "taught" to swim by Night? You'd think they'd have given him a prior connection to the river- at least more than just "oh the river saved me from the park monsters."

This book contains examples of the following:

Ok, I know it is a very unpopular opinion, but I love Dawn of the Clans. It has some of the best written characters in the whole series! And, you guessed it, yes, Riverstar is one of them. He is so calm, and very strange. Like, how does he know about StarClan if he is a loner? Riverstar's character is a far cry from what it was in the Dawn of the Clans arc. He's no longer aloof, confident, and mysterious. He's now a bumbling dumb-dumb who can't make a decision to save his life. (Literally.) Though I suppose the doofy cat on the cover better fits the latter description of him.

RiverClan has lost its deputy, and we will miss him. He was smart and brave and a skilled warrior. And he was my littermate. I will be lost without him. The warrior I have chosen as RiverClan's new deputy has shown courage and dedication and strength. Leopardfur. I call upon my warrior ancestors [...] to look down on this apprentice. With no mother to guide her, she has been raised by the Clan, and it is with special pride that we watch her today pass from apprentice to warrior. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior of RiverClan. Leopardpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life? This book was honestly a slog to get through and, in my opinion, rather boring. The vast majority of chapters felt less like exciting material to experience and more like obstacles to endure before the book got good—and even then, it didn't stay good. Mistakes A compiled list of the errors present in Riverstar's Home can be found here. Publication history

Shoutbox

Into the Wild & Fire and Ice • Forest of Secrets & Rising Storm • A Dangerous Path & The Darkest Hour • Midnight & Moonrise • Dawn & Starlight • Twilight & Sunset Solid four stars, I guess? This book was so weird. I can’t organize my thoughts, honestly. It was simultaneously extremely disappointing and actually really interesting at the same time. It feels like the book spends the entire time saying the clans are bad but also the clans are the best, perfect, ONLY way to live. . . The message, if there was any, about clan life was completely lost in my opinion. It feels like the writers wanted to explore the fact that clan life isn’t perfect in this book, but they ended up losing all the nuance of that argument along the way. To make it worse, River Ripple, or Riverstar, I guess, pretty much stopped being interesting and unique as soon as he got his nine lives. After his nine lives ceremony, his character and everything he’d learned was flung out the window. His relationship with Finch was SO rushed and written poorly, even by Warriors standards. Skystar’s development also completely disappeared at the end of the book, and almost all of the conflict was just conflict for conflict’s sake. . . Which Riverstar recognized until he just didn’t anymore. *sigh* With this life, I give you initiative, so you will always lead and never follow. Even if your courage fails, your imagination will find a way to guide you. Rainbowshine shares why they’re excited for Riverstar’s Home. Official cover art by Owen Richardson Lost Stars • The Silent Thaw • Veil of Shadows • Darkness Within • The Place of No Stars • A Light in the Mist