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4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
In which our fearless leader fucks up his face and almost gets red-pilled. Finally reached peak Super Edition, mrrrrrrow!!!
What to say about Crookedstar's Promise? I went into this one not super eager, while also realizing it is a fan favorite. And, you really have to get through to the end to appreciate what it's doing in the greater Warriors universe. For that wider connection, it gets my seal of approval. I still don't know how to feel about the Super Editions generally - we're falling into a pattern with these 500-page books of bad pacing, tracing the cat's upbringing for 450pgs and only getting to their leadership transformation at the very end. So maybe the titles with their leader names are throwing me off. In any case, this one proved to be a necessary addition to the original series.
We are back to ableist naming, unfortunately! Originally Stormkit, our protagonist breaks his whole-ass jaw on a rock and is renamed Crookedkit. By his mother! At least there's a chance to correct that when he gets his warrior name....except they totally don't correct it, they give him the even worse name, Crookedjaw (points for accuracy??!). For the life of me, I don't know why these cats think it's okay to name each other after their disabilities, but the awful trend persists for generations.
There's also been a bit of a Cruel Moms trend lately, and Crooked's mother, Rainflower, is maybe one of the worst offenders. Where other mothers have arguably suffered from postpartum mental health issues, Rainflower just hates her son because his face got messed up in an accident. It's truly a cruel act, to turn your back on your child because of the way they look and she doesn't really redeem herself throughout his life. Worth noting, though is Crooked's father, Shellheart, who turns his back on his mate in order to support his son. We love a cat who takes time to be a dad!
The "runaway cat" trope shows up again, when Crookedkit feels unwanted and ostracized from his clan and travels to the Moonstone for guidance. He never makes it and instead meets some barn cats who teach him more valuable lessons than the Moonstone would have given anyway - that he is worthy, that he can do what any other cat can do. They teach him to hunt and care for others, and the sense of purpose he gains from it is crucial to his development.
Something is pulling him back to the clan, though, and unfortunately it's Mapleshade and the Dark Forest. I'm glad for the return of this particular evil, and it's kind of an entangled slow burn as to why Mapleshade targets Crookedkit. Mapleshade's plan to gain Crooked's trust relies on a looooot of deception, and our boy is very nearly taken for a full-on ride to the dark side.
Where there's deception, there's also loyalty, though, and Crooked's critical thinking kicks in just enough for him to question how his definition of loyalty to his people is different from Mapleshade's. When Mapleshade plants a squirrel with a broken jaw in the camp, it's taken as a sign from Starclan that Crookedjaw be appointed deputy, and he soon becomes leader when Hailstar is killed. It's all he's ever wanted, yet when it comes time to thank Mapleshade, he turns his back on her. The radicalization attempt ultimately doesn't work on him.
The Dark Forest first appears to be a subplot, but the entirety of this book (and its connection to the original series) hinges on Mapleshade's radicalization efforts from the Dark Forest. As I understand it, she is essentially the architect behind Crookedstar's rise to power, as well as the annihilation of his entire family. I'm curious as to how much she is actually controlling their deaths...there's a suggestion, at least in my mind, that supernatural forces are at work - if she wants certain cats dead, she orchestrates it. Sadly, this facilitates a connection to the original series, as the manga at the end tells of Silverstream's death while birthing her kits. As probably the first memorable death in the series, it hits hard that it was purposely done in the name of vengeance. And it's unsettling how evidently powerful a Dark Forest cat can be.
I've been thinking about this book a lot, trying to align my thoughts with the fan consensus that this is not only the best Super Edition, but possibly one of the best books in the whole Warriors universe. Maybe I just wasn't as in tune with Crookedstar, a cat with a minor to nonexistent role in the regular series.
By the end, so much more was revealed, throwing Crookedstar into a trifecta with his brother and Bluestar. Bluestar has long been my favorite Warrior cat, and her Super Edition tying so closely to Crookedstar's grounds the whole universe a bit better. I think the Super Editions come off disjointed because they weren't written in timeline order. Crookedstar's anchoring itself to Bluestar's serves as a good bridge to the original series.
We are back to ableist naming, unfortunately! Originally Stormkit, our protagonist breaks his whole-ass jaw on a rock and is renamed Crookedkit. By his mother! At least there's a chance to correct that when he gets his warrior name....except they totally don't correct it, they give him the even worse name, Crookedjaw (points for accuracy??!). For the life of me, I don't know why these cats think it's okay to name each other after their disabilities, but the awful trend persists for generations.
There's also been a bit of a Cruel Moms trend lately, and Crooked's mother, Rainflower, is maybe one of the worst offenders. Where other mothers have arguably suffered from postpartum mental health issues, Rainflower just hates her son because his face got messed up in an accident. It's truly a cruel act, to turn your back on your child because of the way they look and she doesn't really redeem herself throughout his life. Worth noting, though is Crooked's father, Shellheart, who turns his back on his mate in order to support his son. We love a cat who takes time to be a dad!
The "runaway cat" trope shows up again, when Crookedkit feels unwanted and ostracized from his clan and travels to the Moonstone for guidance. He never makes it and instead meets some barn cats who teach him more valuable lessons than the Moonstone would have given anyway - that he is worthy, that he can do what any other cat can do. They teach him to hunt and care for others, and the sense of purpose he gains from it is crucial to his development.
Something is pulling him back to the clan, though, and unfortunately it's Mapleshade and the Dark Forest. I'm glad for the return of this particular evil, and it's kind of an entangled slow burn as to why Mapleshade targets Crookedkit. Mapleshade's plan to gain Crooked's trust relies on a looooot of deception, and our boy is very nearly taken for a full-on ride to the dark side.
Where there's deception, there's also loyalty, though, and Crooked's critical thinking kicks in just enough for him to question how his definition of loyalty to his people is different from Mapleshade's. When Mapleshade plants a squirrel with a broken jaw in the camp, it's taken as a sign from Starclan that Crookedjaw be appointed deputy, and he soon becomes leader when Hailstar is killed. It's all he's ever wanted, yet when it comes time to thank Mapleshade, he turns his back on her. The radicalization attempt ultimately doesn't work on him.
The Dark Forest first appears to be a subplot, but the entirety of this book (and its connection to the original series) hinges on Mapleshade's radicalization efforts from the Dark Forest. As I understand it, she is essentially the architect behind Crookedstar's rise to power, as well as the annihilation of his entire family. I'm curious as to how much she is actually controlling their deaths...there's a suggestion, at least in my mind, that supernatural forces are at work - if she wants certain cats dead, she orchestrates it. Sadly, this facilitates a connection to the original series, as the manga at the end tells of Silverstream's death while birthing her kits. As probably the first memorable death in the series, it hits hard that it was purposely done in the name of vengeance. And it's unsettling how evidently powerful a Dark Forest cat can be.
I've been thinking about this book a lot, trying to align my thoughts with the fan consensus that this is not only the best Super Edition, but possibly one of the best books in the whole Warriors universe. Maybe I just wasn't as in tune with Crookedstar, a cat with a minor to nonexistent role in the regular series.
By the end, so much more was revealed, throwing Crookedstar into a trifecta with his brother and Bluestar. Bluestar has long been my favorite Warrior cat, and her Super Edition tying so closely to Crookedstar's grounds the whole universe a bit better. I think the Super Editions come off disjointed because they weren't written in timeline order. Crookedstar's anchoring itself to Bluestar's serves as a good bridge to the original series.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I cried about 3 times reading this book… read it right after TPB. Everyone finished with TPB should read it! Love this book! 💗 (Crookedstar is so relatable)
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
my favourite super edition yet! i loved learning about Crookedstar and his deeply tragic life. this is the first warriors book to nearly make me cry. i am a Crookedstar fan for life 💕💞💓💗💖💘💝
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
