Wednesday, February 13, 2019

cats of the clans

Three kits from StarClan make their way to Rock's domain, and he tells them all about the cats of the four clans - most living, but some long gone. He gives a short description (and there is a picture) of each and why they are (or were) important. After telling them about those cats he touches upon some of the major cats who do not belong to the clans but still have an important story to tell, including some SkyClan cats. 

The book was a nice, quick read but nothing overly special. 

Monday, February 11, 2019

persephone the phony: part two

Having escaped from her friends, and feeling proud of herself for rebelling, Persephone goes back to the cemetery. She picks a pomegranate and starts to eat it when Hades shows up. He is upset with her for avoiding him all day at school. She apologizes and offers him some of her fruit.

*** Mythology Point #9 *** In Greek Mythology the roles are reversed - it is Hades who offers the pomegranate to Persephone.

As Persephone and Hades hang out she notices three hawks circling overhead. They fly off and she thinks nothing of it. Soon it is time to go home and she leaves Hades. But when she gets home she finds her mother furious with her and her friends looking embarrassed. She realizes the hawks were her friends and they told her mother all about her going to the cemetery and hanging out with Hades. Aphrodite tries to talk to Persephone and explain what happened but Persephone refuses to speak to her. That night, after her mother goes to bed, Persephone resolves to run away to the underworld. Disguising herself as an old woman she climbs into Charon's ferry.

*** Mythology Point #10 *** Charon is the ferryman who brings the souls to the underworld.

She doesn't have a coin to pay him but another soul on the boat has an extra and gives it to her.

*** Mythology Point #11 *** Without a coin to pay him, Charon will not bring you across the river Styx.

When she reaches the underworld Persephone tries to break apart from the group of souls who are about to be judged but a cyclops, named Thanatos stops her. She explains that she is a goddess in disguise but Thanatos does not believe her.

*** Mythology Point #12 *** Thanatos is the personification of death.

As Thanatos talks to her another cyclops, named Hypnos, who looks exactly like Thanatos appears.

*** Mythology Point #13 *** Hypnos is the twin brother of Thanatos and he is the personification of sleep.

Hypnos and Thanatos get into an argument and during it it is mentioned that Hades is in Tartarus. Persephone sneaks away to find Hades, ditching her disguise.

*** Mythology Point #14 *** Tartarus is the place of eternal punishment that is reserved for the worst human souls.

Persephone finds Hades but much to her disappointment he isn't happy to see her and insists on taking her home. They get into a huge fight when he drops her off. When she goes inside her mother misreads the situation and believes Hades has convinced Persephone to run away. On the verge of another fight, Persephone convinces her mother to actually listen to her and Demeter does. In the end Demeter concedes that she does need to give Persephone more freedom and space. The next day at school Persephone makes up with her friends. She also joins Hades for lunch, where principal Zeus suggests they go to the school dance together. When they are alone Hades asks her and she agrees. Demeter is unsure of the dance but Persephone convinces her she should go. Everyone arrives at the dance and Apollo, twin to Artemis, and his band is preforming.

*** Mythology Point #15 *** Apollo is the god of music and is twin brother to Artemis.

Ares sees Hades at the dance and tries to attack him.

*** Mythology Point #16 *** Ares is the god of war.

Aphrodite distracts Ares by asking him for a dance then recanting. Zeus sees a commotion going on and goes over to investigate. Hades covers for Ares, causing Ares to change his views on Hades. Because of Ares's change in attitude Aphrodite agrees to dance with Ares and everyone has a good time.

*** Mythology Point #17 *** Ares and Aphrodite are in love, despite Aphrodite being married to Hephaestus.

Sunday, February 10, 2019

persephone the phony: part one

Aphrodite wants to go to the immortal marketplace with her friends. Athena agrees to go along since she needs new knitting supplies.

*** Mythology Point #1 *** Athena is known for her weaving skills.

Persephone doesn't feel like going but agrees since she doesn't want to upset her friends. They put on their winged sandals and leave.

*** Mythology Point #2 *** Hermes wears winged sandals to help him travel faster.

They head immediately for the beauty store where Aphrodite requests makeovers for them. Athena declines. Persephone was about to decline as well but Aphrodite already pulled out a stool for her so she feels she now has to do the makeover. She leaves the store feeling miserable and with a ton of beauty supplies she doesn't want. Next, Athena spots Arachne's Sewing Supplies.

*** Mythology Point #3 *** Arachne is a weaver whose skills rival Athena's. Athena turns her into a spider for her disrespect for the gods.

Athena and Aphrodite tall about making dresses for the upcoming dance. Persephone tries to pretend she is excited but in reality she knows her mother will never let her go.

*** Mythology Point #4 *** Demeter is incredibly possessive of Persephone.

Persephone wishes to go to her mother's store, but knows her friends do not care for gardening so she doesn't suggest it. Athena picks out stuff for Persephone to buy, insisting she needs to take up knitting. Persephone feels like a phony. Her friends return to school while Persephone heads home. On the way she drops the ball of yarn and chases it down to earth, finding herself in a cemetery. Persephone finds the cemetery peaceful and fascinating. Seeing some drooping lilies she revives them.

*** Mythology Point #5 *** Persephone is a nature goddess as well as a goddess of the dead.

Suddenly the ground splits open and Hades appears, riding a horse.

*** Mythology Point #6 *** That is exactly how Hades abducted Persephone, only he was in a carriage.

Persephone and Hades talk for a bit. Persephone doesn't see why everyone is convinced that Hades is bad news and personally thinks he is very nice. Demeter shows up and drags Persephone away, making a scene, much to Persephone's embarrassment. In the class the next day Persephone keeps thinking of Hades. Mr Cyclops tells the class his sandals are missing and offers two homework passes to whoever finds them. Pheme says she heard they are in the river Styx.

*** Mythology Point #7 *** Pheme is the goddess of gossip.

Persephone goes off with her friends to look. While searching the river Styx Hades arrives.

*** Mythology Point #8 *** Styx is the river that separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. 

Hades hints to Persephone that he knows where one of the sandals are, however Persephone's friends see Hades and immediately separate Persephone from him, feeling that Hades is a bad person. The next day at school Persephone keeps seeing Hades but goes out of her way to avoid him. At lunch her friends ask her to go shopping with them but she realizes they are trying to keep an eye on her and keep her away from Hades. Upset and hurt, Persephone tells them she has other plans and leaves them.

Friday, February 8, 2019

code of the clans

So, I'm a sucker for guides. When I fangirl, I FANGIRL. However, this is a guide, not a novel/short story/graphic novel. So I am not going to get all in depth here.

This was an interesting book, clearly geared towards people like me who don't have anything better to do with their spare time then obsess. The book lists the warrior code (of which there are 15 rules) and then switches to Leafpool's (who is still ThunderClan's medicine cat) point of view, as she tells the story behind each part of the warrior code. Each rule came with a very short short story or two that explained how and why this rule came about. ThunderClan alone did not put forward rules (for which I was glad) and any rules put forward needed to be agreed upon by all clan leaders. Most rules were put forward for the good of the clans and to avoid fighting, but some were put forward for more selfish or confusing reasons. Before Leafpool is done telling her stories she touches upon rules that were put forward but never passed.

All in all it was a nice collection of (very short) short stories.


Wednesday, February 6, 2019

athena the brain: part two

I didn't mean for it to be so long before I finished this book! The Warriors series has been slowly taking over my life, apparently...

Athena goes to her room to start working on inventions for the fair and finds out her roommate is Pandora. Pandora won't stop asking questions about all of Athena's new inventions.

*** Myhtology Point 11 *** Athena's inventions include the olive tree, a rake, and a ship.

Aphrodite and Artemis stop by her room and Pandora asks after Persephone. Aphrodite tells her that Persephone is living with her mom this year.

*** Mythology Point 12 *** Demeter is very possessive of Persephone, even causing winter in her grief for her daughter's absence.

Suddenly all of Athena's inventions rain down on Earth. Zeus is annoyed but her friends cheer her up with stories of their own blunders.

*** Mythology Point 13 *** Pandora's blunder was opening a box of disasters in Mr Epimetheus's class and unleashing them on Earth. Pandora marries Epimetheus.

The next day Athena rushes to Hero-ology class. Aphrodite has had Paris fall in love with Helen and bring her back to Troy. However Medusa's hero, Menelaus, is also in live with Helen and now Odysseus must help Menelaus. Class ends with Athena remembering her toy horse and giving it to the Trojan's as a gift. She has the Goddess Girl Squad tryouts, which she finds herself enjoying - despite Medusa and her sisters mocking her by making up a cheer about her mother being a fly. Coach Nike and the Muses are in charge of the tryouts.

*** Mythology Point 14 *** Nike is the goddess of victory and the Muses are goddesses of the arts.

Someone announces that the Greeks and Trojans are fighting it out and everyone races off to see.

*** Mythology Point 15 *** The Greeks climb out of the horse and win the Trojan War.

The next morning Athena notices one of her inventions is missing. She called it "snarkypoo" - shampoo that turns snarky thoughts into stone - but Aphrodite notices that she misspelled it as "snakeypoo." They rush to class, finding a new lifelike statue along the way. After their first class they realize that both Pandora and Medusa are missing. Then they realize the statue looks exactly like Pandora. They find Medusa and she now has snakes for hair, thanks to Athena's shampoo.

*** Mythology Point 16 *** Throughout the whole book Medusa has been flirting with Poseidon. She has also been angry that Poseidon is more interested in Athena. In mythology, Athena curses Medusa with snake hair for being raped by Poseidon in her temple.

Medusa turns Athena's dogs to stone and refuses to break the spell. Athena finds a scared Poseidon off to the side and gets him to trick Medusa into looking into Aphrodite's shield shaped mirror.

*** Mythology Point 17 *** Perseus uses his shield's reflective surface to defeat Medusa.

Athena finds a spell to reverse Medusa's spell, but everyone convinces her to not use it on Medusa quite yet. The next day is the Invention Fair. Athena didn't enter her submission in time, but she wins anyway. The people of Earth love her olives so much that they declare her the winner and even name a town after her. Poseidon comes in second place with his water park.

*** Mythology Point 18 *** Athena and Poseidon had a contest over a town, once. Athena offered the olive tree and Poseidon a spring of salt water. Athena was declared the winner and the town was named Athens in her honor.

Athena wins a weekend visit from her friend Pallas. Zeus makes Pallas appear instantly, and Athena happily introduces her to her new friends.

The mythology was different, but I like how everything was woven in. I'm sure I missed some references, but these were the ones that stood out to me. And the book was total fluff, but despite that it was a fun read.

Monday, February 4, 2019

200 books: january 2019

I can't believe we read as much as we did! We beat January 2018 and May 2018, which had held the title of most books in a month ever with 45. What a way to start off our year! Now I'm sure to counteract this we will probably read almost nothing in February.

January book's:
  1. Mighty Jack and the Goblin King - Vampire Kitten
  2. Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 - Vampire Kitten
  3. Plants vs Zombies: War and Peas - Vampire Kitten
  4. The Walking Dead: This Sorrowful Life - Vampire Kitten
  5. Poseidon: Earth Shaker - Vampire Kitten
  6. The 26 Story Treehouse - Vampire Kitten
  7. Sonic the Hedgehog: Fallout! - Vampire Kitten
  8. Suee and the Shadow - Vampire Kitten
  9. Dungeons & Dragons: Into the Jungle - Vampire Kitten
  10. The Startford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents: MacBeth - Vampire Kitten
  11. Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild - Vampire Kitten
  12. How to be Cool and Other Things I Definitely Learned from Growing Up - Vampire Kitten
  13. Here There be Gerblins - Vampire Kitten
  14. Bats: Learning to Fly - Vampire Kitten
  15. Ghostopolis - Vampire Kitten
  16. The 39 Story Treehouse - Vampire Kitten
  17. Amulet: Escape from Lucien - Vampire Kitten
  18. The Walking Dead: The Calm Before - Vampire Kitten
  19. The Walking Dead: Made to Suffer - Vampire Kitten
  20. Wonder - Vampire Kitten
  21. Scooby Apocalypse Volume 2 - Vampire Kitten
  22. The Walking Dead: This Sorrowful Life - Lone Wolf
  23. Poseidon: Earth Shaker - Lone Wolf
  24. The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents: MacBeth - Lone Wolf
  25. Sonic the Hedgehog: Fallout! - Lone Wolf
  26. The Oregon Trail: The Search for Snake River - Lone Wolf
  27. Plants vs Zombies: War and Peas - Lone Wolf
  28. Wings of Fire: The Hidden Kingdom - Lone Wolf
  29. I Survived Hurricane Katrina 2005 - Lone Wolf
  30. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters - Lone Wolf
  31. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Titan's Curse - Lone Wolf
  32. The Walking Dead: The Calm Before - Lone Wolf
  33. The Walking Dead: Made to Suffer - Lone Wolf
  34. Scooby Apocalypse Volume 2 - Lone Wolf
  35. Fire and Stone: Aliens - Lone Wolf
  36. The Notebook of Doom: Rise of the Balloon Goons - Little Legs
  37. The Notebook of Doom: Day of the Night Crawlers - Little Legs
  38. Warriors: Night Whispers - Wandering Falcon
  39. Warriors: Sign of the Moon - Wandering Falcon
  40. Warriors: The Forgotten Warrior - Wandering Falcon
  41. Warriors: Shadows of the Clans - Wandering Falcon
  42. The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents: Romeo and Juliet - Wandering Falcon
  43. The Startford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents: MacBeth - Wandering Falcon
  44. The Walking Dead: This Sorrowful Life - Wandering Falcon
  45. Weird But True Things About Greek Mythology - Wandering Falcon
  46. Amulet: The Last Council - Wandering Falcon
  47. Pandora's Legacy - Wandering Falcon
  48. DC Super Hero Girls: The Search for Atlantis - Wandering Falcon
  49. DC Super Hero Girls: Summer Olympus - Wandering Falcon
  50. DC Super Hero Girls: Hits and Myths - Wandering Falcon
  51. DC Super Hero Girls: Final Crisis - Wandering Falcon
  52. DC Super Hero Girls: Out of the Bottle - Wandering Falcon
  53. DC Super Hero Girls: Date With Disaster - Wandering Falcon
  54. Amulet: Prince of Elves - Wandering Falcon
  55. Amulet: Escape from Lucien - Wandering Falcon
  56. Warriors: The Last Hope - Wandering Falcon
  57. The Walking Dead: The Calm Before - Wandering Falcon
  58. The Walking Dead: Made to Suffer - Wandering Falcon
The breakdown:

Vampire Kitten: 21
Lone Wolf: 14
Little Legs: 2
Wandering Falcon: 21
Family: 0

Total: 58

Total stats:

Vampire Kitten: 21/50
Lone Wolf: 14/25
Little Legs: 2/13
Wandering Falcon: 21/100
Family: 0/12

Total: 58/200

Sunday, February 3, 2019

200 books & reading goals

I went back and read my original post about doing 100 books today. I think I should have read that when I did our final post for the year! Holy cow! What a difference! To think I was actually worried that I wouldn't reach 25 books (which I did by May) and that we as a family would't reach 100 books (which we did by April)!

Well, this year we set different goals. Actually, we decided to do away with the family goal and just set individual goals:

(1) My goal is to read 100 books

(2) Vampire Kitten's goal is to read 50 books

(3) Lone Wolf's goal is to read 25 books

(4) Little Legs has the goal of reading 13 books with me

(5) And we have the goal to read 12 books as a family

This gives us an overall goal of 200 books, but we won't actually reach our goal unless we meet the five mini goals. There will also be prizes in categories like we did last year as well as prizes for meeting our individual goals (and even doubling our goals if we manage to).

So why is it broken down like this?

Every time we were close to a multiple of 100 last year I sort of pushed everyone to read as much as they could. I don't regret that action, it helped us reach 315 books after all, but it did create a sense of pressure. This year we don't want pressure to constantly do better, we just want to read and enjoy reading. And while a small part of me wants to challenge the family to aim for 350, another part of me doesn't.

I have a nice, reasonable, goal of 100 - which is only slightly under what I read last year. Vampire Kitten has a reasonable goal too with 50. Yes, it is half of last years amount, but it is easily obtainable and he should have no problem doubling it - and if he doesn't that is okay too. Lone Wolf's is a very low goal, but lately he has been reading much harder books which take him far longer to read. So really, in light of that, his goal is very fair. Little Legs and I will hopefully read one book a month at a minimum - and I certainly hope we will double or triple this goal. But again, if we don't, it is not the end of the world. If he wants me to read him Peppa Pig and Pete the Cat instead I am not going to tell him no.Lastly, 12 as a family, that is the one I am worried about. We have a hard time setting aside time for family reading. That is something we will have to work on. But, this is why we make goals!

Now I know I promised the potential awards for 2019, but we are still undecided on some of them. All I know for sure is we will do Most Total Books Read, Most Chapter Books Read, and Most Graphic Novels Read. Everything else is up in the air.

More tomorrow when I finally sit down and compile our book list for the month! I can't wait to see how we did!

Friday, February 1, 2019

the last hope: part six

On the way to the ShadowClan camp they see some cats fighting. The ShadowClan patrol joins them while Lionblaze and Graystripe push on to the camp and Blackstar. At first the ShadowClan warriors are hostile but Lionblaze and Graystripe quickly take charge and start giving everyone tasks. There are still some Dark Forest warriors in the camp so Lionblaze has Ratscar and some cats deal with them while he checks on Blackstar. Rowanclaw is protecting Blackstar when Lionblaze arrives. The sound of battle draws all three of them from Blackstar's den. More Dark Forest warriors have entered the camp and renewed the attack. Lionblaze hears more cats racing into the camp and fears it is more Dark Forest warriors. But he looks over and sees the ancient cats and Midnight have joined the fight. Shredtail, a Dark Forest warrior, pins down Ratscar, saying he will kill him for betraying his clan. Ratscar admits to training in the Dark Forest, but only to be a better warrior for his own clan. His sister, Snowbird, races to Ratscar's defense. Shredtail calls out to Redwillow. Redwillow stops attacking Dawnpelt and answers the summons. He openly admits to being a Dark Forest warrior and rejects ShadowClan. Snowbird goes to attack the traitor, but Blackstar stops her and kills Redwillow himself. Shredtail goes to attack Blackstar but Lionblaze insists they fight instead, and he kills Shredtail. Blackstar tells Lionblaze he is honored to fight beside him. This battle won, Lionblaze and Graystripe go home to help their own clan.

Ivypool tries to sneak out of the camp but Brambleclaw catches her. She tells him she has to find Birchfall, Blossomfall, and Mousewhisker. She insists that they are loyal but Brokenstar has threatened to kill them. Brambleclaw lets her go. As she races through the trees Tigerheart finds her. She is unsure whose side he is on. He tells her that they are supposed to wait for Hawkfrost and his orders. Ivypool responds that she doesn't need orders - she intends to fight any Dark Forest cat and their allies. Tigerheart says she is just like her sister, choosing her clan first. Confused, Ivypool asks isn't that what they are supposed to do. Hawkfrost arrives and she leaves to find her clanmates. As she goes she sees Tigerheart whispering to Hawkfrost but she doesn't know if he is betraying her or not. She finds her clanmates scared and unsure what to do. She tells them that when they attack WindClan they will break ranks and attack the Dark Forest instead. Applefur, Breezepelt, and Thistleclaw join them. As they race to attack WindClan, Ivypool asks Applefur whose side she is on. Applefur tells Ivypool that she must attack WindClan and Ivypool asks her if she is still a warrior or not. Applefur realizes Ivypool is correct and joins in the attack against the Dark Forest. Ivypool chases after Breezepelt and stops him from attacking a WindClan cat. She tells him he doesn't have to betray his clan. Breezepelt is in disbelief, since he believes in the Dark Forest. Thistleclaw attacks Ivypool - and Hawkfrost and Snowtuft join him. But Birchfall and Tigerheart come to her aide, Tigerheart admitting that Tigerstar almost destroyed ShadowClan once and he was determined to spy on Tigerstar and stop him from doing it a second time. The cats get separated and Ivypool is stuck fighting Thistleclaw, Snowtuft, and Hawkfrost alone. Just when she thinks she is going to lose Hollyleaf comes to her rescue. The Dark Forest cats run away but Hollyleaf is badly wounded. Ivypool tries to drag her home. Seeing her, Tigerheart comes over to help.

Dovewing is surveying the camp after the attack. Leafpool is shaken that the Dark Forest warriors went straight for the kits. Dovewing smells blood and calls out that someone is injured. Firestar helps Tigerheart bring Hollyleaf into camp. Jayfeather and Leafpool try to save her but she has lost too much blood. Before she dies, Hollyleaf makes peace with Leafpool. Birchfall, Blossomfall, and Mousewhisker burst into the camp. Firestar thinks they have betrayed him, but Ivypool speaks up for them and Birchfall warns Firestar that the Dark Forest cats are on their way. Thistleclaw arrives at the camp first and attacks Birchfall, calling him a traitor. Darkstripe attacks Mousefur but Dovewing and Cinderheart stop him. The fight rages on. Dovewing sees Crowfeather and Breezepelt race into the camp. Lionblaze and Graystripe come next, followed by the ancient cats. Fallen Leaves stops by Hollyleaf to mourn his lost friend. Half Moon and Jayfeather find each other briefly before she goes back into battle. Dovewing watches in shock as Breezepelt attacks Lionblaze. Ivypool calls out to him not to chose the Dark Forest and Lionblaze asks him not to attack him as they are kin, but Breezepelt is uninterested in any of this and is determined to kill his father's other children. Crowfeather attacks Breezepelt and tells him that he has to stop hating everyone. Breezepelt sees this as proof that his father doesn't care for him. Crowfeather tells him that is not true, but since he has made his choice he should leave. Leafpool approaches Crowfeather, telling him she never wished for this. Crowfeather tells her that Breezepelt is old enough to make his own choices. Looking at Lionblaze, Crowfeather tells Leafpool he does not regret what they did. He then goes over to Hollyleaf's body to mourn her. Longtail arrives with the rest of StarClan and fights beside Mousefur - and is with her when she dies. Bumblestripe seeks out Dovewing and the two fight together. Cherrypaw and Molepaw arrive with the news that the clans are winning and RiverClan is currently chasing the Dark Forest warriors to the border. Dovewing sees Poppyfrost and Honeyfern fighting side by side again. ThunderClan drives the enemy cats out but Mapleshade arrives and attacks Sandstorm. She hates her for having everything she was denied - a mate and kits who love her as well as the respect of her clan. Spottedleaf arrives and saves Sandstorm. Mapleshade asks Spottedleaf to join her, since Sandstorm stole Firestar from Spottedleaf. Spottedleaf responds there was nothing to steal and Sandstorm made Firestar happy. They fight and Mapleshade kills the medicine cat. Sandstorm and Firestar attack Mapleshade. Sandstorm chases her off while Firestar stays with a dying Spottedleaf, knowing that she will no longer be in StarClan waiting for him. Dovewing looks to the nursery and realizes Ferncloud is guarding it alone. She sees Brokenstar kill Ferncloud. Firestar races to her side but it is too late. He goes to attack Brokenstar but Yellowfang gets there first and kills her son. Realizing Brokenstar is dead, Thistleclaw panics and calls a retreat. Brambleclaw brings Hawkfrost, as a prisoner, to the camp. Ivypool attacks Hawkfrost for killing Hollyleaf but when Ivypool is about to die Brambleclaw joins the fight, killing his brother. Tigerstar arrives, congratulating Brambleclaw on his kill and announcing that with Brokenstar and Hawkfrost dead he now leads the Dark Forest cats.

Firestar tells Tigerstar that he is no leader, he only cares about himself. Tigerstar counters that he gives cats something to fight - and die - for, so he is. Listening to him, Dovewing wonders if Tigerstar is mad. Firestar asks what Tigerstar has to offer and Tigerstar responds beating Firestar. Firestar insists the Dark Forest cats will not follow him, but Tigerstar feels if he can beat Firestar then all he has to do is pick off the ThunderClan cats one by one. As they fight Tigerstar admits that after Bluestar found Firestar he became nothing. He went from the greatest warrior to second best to a kittypet. Firestar defeats Tigerstar, but lightning strikes and when the smoke clears Firestar too is dead. Dovewing and her clan mourn him, and the ShadowClan cats go home. Dovewing tells Tigerheart goodbye and settles in beside Bumblestripe. He presses against her and she leans her head on his shoulder. She doesn't look back as she hears Tigerheart walk away. Bluestar and the rest of the cats who gave Firestar his nine lives - except for Spottedleaf - step forward. The clan watches in shock as Firestar's spirit leaves his body - and so too do Mousefur's, Hollyleaf's, and Ferncloud's. Sandstorm takes up the call for Bramblestar, who vows to honor their StarClan ancestors. Jayfeather tells him it is time to pick a deputy and Dovewing suspects he will pick Lionblaze, but Brambleclaw asks Squirrelflight, finally healing the rift between them. Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Dovewing stand together knowing that it is finally over.

I can't believe Redwillow betrayed his clan in the end. Breezepelt I believe, but I was hoping Redwillow would come to his senses. At least Ivypool was able to save some of the warriors. And, I am glad to see that some, like Ratscar, made the correct choice on their own. I do wonder about Tigerheart. I do not think he was disloyal to his clan, but I wonder if it really was curiosity about Tigerstar's actions that led him to the Dark Forest. I believe Tigerstar sought him out because they were kin, but I wonder if Tigerheart was duped like Brambleclaw and Lionblaze or if he really did believe from day one that Tigerstar was evil.

And Firestar's family has healed. Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight are back together. Hollyleaf forgave Leafpool - so did Jayfeather. And Lionblaze has been slowly working on forgiving his mothers for a while now. And it looks like Dovewing and Bumblestripe might be back together.

I am glad that the Tigerstar/Firestar storyline is totally over now, but Breezepelt and Sol are still at large. I am surprised Sol wasn't there for the final battle, even if he is no warrior. But I thought he would want to be there for the destruction of the clans. But maybe he has no affiliation with the Dark Forest? Maybe they were just using him? I wonder if we will hear from him again. But Breezepelt... Crowfeather chose his half clan children over him. He left alive and bitter. I am willing to bet he we will hear from again...

With Brokenstar, Hawkfrost, and Tigerstar dead hopefully this is the last we hear of the Dark Forest. How amusing is it that Hawkfrost outranked Tigerstar? But, Firestar is right - Tigerstar is no leader. I just wish we saw an end to Darkstripe as well. Preferably at the hands of Longtail and Dustpelt, his former friends.