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Book Review: Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume I

Rating: 5 stars

Since his first appearance in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes has been one of the most beloved fictional characters ever created. Now, in two paperback volumes, Bantam presents all fifty-six short stories and four novels featuring Conan Doyle’s classic hero – a truly complete collection of Sherlock Holmes’s adventures in crime!

Volume I includes the early novel A Study in Scarlet, which introduced the eccentric genius of Sherlock Holmes to the world. This baffling murder mystery, with the cryptic word Rache written in blood, first brought Holmes together with Dr. John Watson. Next, The Sign of Four presents Holmes’s famous “seven percent solution” and the strange puzzle of Mary Morstan in the quintessential locked – room mystery. Also included are Holmes’s feats of extraordinary detection in such famous cases as the chilling “ The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” the baffling riddle of “The Musgrave Ritual,” and the ingeniously plotted “The Five Orange Pips,” tales that bring to life a Victorian England of horse-drawn cabs, fogs, and the famous lodgings at 221B Baker Street, where Sherlock Holmes earned his undisputed reputation as the greatest fictional detective of all time.

As someone who’s never read any of Sherlock Holmes’s tales, this was such an enjoyable read for me. The first volume out of two that feature all of Holmes’ tales told from the perspective of his trusted friend Dr. Watson, each of these stories intrigued me in various ways. I wasn’t sure when I started if I would enjoy reading these stories because while I’m a fan of mysteries and crime, classics aren’t always enjoyable to me. I don’t know if its due to difference in writing style over the years, but some classics I have a difficult time reading. Luckily for me though, I found Arthur Conan Doyle’s writing enjoyable.

I believe what made this first volume of Sherlock Holmes so enjoyable to me was the characters themselves, especially Holmes and Watson. I loved their relationship throughout from the start as I feel like they both balance each other out. Holmes is the type of person most people normally wouldn’t be able to tolerate and I feel like Watson is the perfect person to handle all his quirks. From their introduction to each other, I knew they would become such wonderful friends and there would be so many tales of adventure to be told.

The way in which Watson tells of each of their adventures is marvelous. I especially enjoyed when the villain was caught hearing that person tell of why they committed their crime. I also enjoyed hearing Holmes and all of his deductions that he would make from some of the simplest things that most people wouldn’t ever think of. I found his knowledge of crime throughout so interesting, especially since he was the one who normally had everything figured out before the Scotland Yard detectives who would call on his aid. I feel like with a lot of these stories like I was there with Holmes and Watson, asking questions of those involved and trying to figure out who committed the crime and why.

What I also loved about reading these Sherlock Holmes stories was that not all of the crimes committed were murder. I love that there were all sorts of crimes committed throughout, some ending in a way which I as the reader didn’t at all expect. I found this to be interesting because it shows you Sherlock Holmes’s character and that he doesn’t always feel like a person needs to be brought to justice. I found that especially interesting because it makes you question his character and ethics even though he’s the one who ultimately solves all these crimes.

What I loved about hearing these stories told from Watson’s perspective is that I felt like as the reader, I was reading his personal journal regarding these cases he helped Holmes with. And I found myself extremely interested in hearing with each case what would happen next, even if the end result was unexpected to me. Some of my favorite cases from this first volume were the ones with a twist I didn’t see coming or the stories with interesting protagonists who came to Holmes looking for help.

I would say if I had to choose a criticism for this book it would be that there are so many cases Holmes solved that I know I won’t remember them all. But I don’t see that as too much of a problem here because I enjoyed reading this so much that I know I’ll be rereading it again in the future. For now though, I’ve already started reading the second Sherlock Holmes volume in this collection, which has the rest of his stories I’ve yet to read and am looking forward to sharing my thoughts on those as well when I have finished.

Thank you for those who’ve finished reading this post! Leave a comment below if you’re at all familiar with Sherlock Holmes or have any stories you’ve enjoyed just as much as I’m finding myself enjoying reading these.  

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Book Review: What’s Coming to Me

Rating: 2 stars

In the seaside town of Nautilus, Minerva Gutiérrez absolutely hates her job at the local ice cream stand, where her sexist boss makes each day worse than the last. But she needs the money: kicked out of school and stranded by her mom’s most recent hospitalization, she dreams of escaping her dead-end hometown. When an armed robbery at the ice cream stand stirs up rumors about money hidden on the property, Min teams up with her neighbor CeCe, also desperate for cash, to find it. The bonus? Getting revenge on her boss in the process.

If Minerva can do things right for once—without dirty cops, suspicious co-workers, and an ill-timed work crush getting in her way—she might have a way out . . . as long as the painful truths she’s been running from don’t catch up to her first.

This book is my least favorite read in 2023 so far. The premise/synopsis of the book sounded interesting. But I struggled at getting into the story until more than halfway through it.

What I did enjoy about What’s Coming to Me was the main cast of characters and the character development most of them went through. With Minerva in the beginning, she was so obsessed with getting out of where she lived due to poverty. To the point that when the robbery takes place, she wished she had taken the money. But as the story goes on, while she still seems to want to make her boss pay, she doesn’t seem as obsessed when it comes to getting the money anymore or getting out of Nautilus. She also seems to have a different viewpoint on love as the book goes on too. CeCe is one of my favorite characters in this story as she knows how to tell things as they are. I also loved her relationship with Minerva throughout the book as I enjoyed seeing their friendship.

Another thing I enjoyed when reading Minerva’s story is the main themes predicated throughout as this made me relate to her character and the story. The main themes in What’s Coming to Me I noticed are grief, anger and fighting for what you want. I felt like these themes strongly embodied this book because you know Minerva is hiding something when it comes to her past, which explains her actions throughout the story. You also know she’s angry too due to her grief, which is something I understand having lost people in my life that were important to me. You also see that she’s a fighter throughout the story too in her interactions with certain people and how events in the book play out.

However, there’s a lot with this book that was lacking to me that made it hard to finish. In the beginning of the book, it felt like the story moved at a slow pace. From the robbery to when Minerva and CeCe decided they were going to look for the money, there was very little content within this book’s pages. There were several times as I was reading that I was tempted to put this book down as it wasn’t capturing much of my attention. It wasn’t until halfway through that the story finally picked up and I found myself engaged in wanting to find out what happened next. But it took me quite a long time to get to that point in the story.

I also found criticism with this book when it came to details pertaining to Anthony. He’s supposedly this horrible boss, but I feel like there’s content missing within this book’s pages to show what makes him so terrible. The very few scenes he’s involved in even though this book centers around his business involve him calling Minerva Space Cadet, but there’s nothing from what I can see that shows why he’s such a terrible boss that needs to be brought down. Nobody liking him is pretty evident, but there’s very little detail from what I read as to why. And that bothered me, since he’s supposedly this terrible, sexist person. Not to say it means I question Minerva’s experiences with him, but there’s nothing from what I read that shows why he’s not a good guy other than being told so by the characters. And that bothers me because I want to see instances of him being terrible to people so that I can feel justified in rooting for Minerva, CeCe and everyone else who wants to see him go down. But that was completely lacking for me, which made this book a disappointment for me to read. Maybe I’m not the intended audience for What’s Coming to Me, and that’s why I had the experience I did reading this book. But I did try and I ended up finishing it even though it took me longer to read due to my disinterest and lack of content within its pages. I hope if anyone does end up reading this book after reading my review that you enjoy it better than I did and that you find it resonates with you. I don’t recommend it, but if you think its your cup of tea, then go for it and let me know what you think!

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Book Review: An Honest Lie

Rating: 4 stars

“I’m going to kill her. You’d better come if you want to save her.”

Lorraine—“Rainy”—lives at the top of Tiger Mountain. Remote, moody, cloistered in pine trees and fog, it’s a sanctuary, a new life. She can hide from the disturbing past she wants to forget. If she’s allowed to.

When Rainy reluctantly agrees to a girls’ weekend in Vegas, she’s prepared for an exhausting parade of shots and slot machines. But after a wild night, her friend Braithe doesn’t come back to the hotel room. And then Rainy gets the text message, sent from Braithe’s phone: someone has her. But Rainy is who they really want, and Rainy knows why.

What follows is a twisted, shocking journey on the knife-edge of life and death. If she wants to save Braithe—and herself—the only way is to step back into the past.

So when I started reading this book, I wasn’t at all prepared for how sucked in I was going to get into the story. I wasn’t expecting to completely consume this book in the course of a day, but that’s exactly what happened when I started reading An Honest Lie. 

This book is extremely dark from beginning to end and I was instantly hooked. What started as me intrigued by this book because of the main character sharing my name (though spelled differently) and the plot sounding interesting turned into me unable to put this book down as I wanted to know what happened to the Rainy in this story.

What I enjoyed about reading An Honest Lie was learning about Rainy’s dark past. The chapters in this book go back and forth between past (then) and present (now) and you quickly understand what Rainy is afraid of and why she didn’t want to go on the Vegas trip forced upon her by her boyfriend’s female friend group. This is my first time reading a book about a fictional cult and I felt myself unable to stop reading about Rainy’s past as dark as it was. I found myself unable to stop reading as I was rooting for Rainy to be able to conquer her past once and for all.

I think what made this book so chilling of a read for me that sucked me in was feeling like I was in those moments of her life even though I have no idea what its like being a child raised in a cult. Even though those dark moments were definitely hers, I felt like I was with her from beginning to end as she did what she could to survive terrible moments of her life. This book pulled me in so much I was dreading the climax of the story when we found out who had kidnapped her friend.

In An Honest Lie, what I would say its biggest flaws were for me were the present (now) chapters and Rainy’s actions in the story. What I didn’t enjoy about the present (now) chapters was that they didn’t pull me into the world in the pages quite as much. I also didn’t like the friend group Rainy was hanging out with as they gave off a very mean girl vibe and didn’t seem like people she would’ve normally hung out with if it wasn’t for her boyfriend Grant. This also played into why I wasn’t fond of some of the decisions Rainy makes in the story because she made some really dumb decisions, especially at the climax of the book. It was almost unbelievable some of the things Rainy decided to do as it felt like she left a lot of things up to chance with no guarantee she’d get the outcome she wanted. I still continued to read anyway but found myself in such disbelief at how things turned out.  

But despite this book’s flaws, An Honest Lie is a book I’ve read that I feel will stay with me. Rainy’s story left such a strong impression on me that it’ll take me a moment to recover and read another book similar to it. I don’t know if its because of the character having my name so that just made everything I was reading feel even more real to me. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t recommend this book to anyone who wants to read it as the story really pulled me in. Just want to leave a note of caution for those who do decide to take the plunge and read this. In my opinion, it’s a very dark story and while I recommend it, if you don’t feel comfortable with the subject matter discussed, its okay not to finish it and read something else more light.

For those who’ve read this review, have you ever read a book with a main character with your name? And do you think that ever impacted at all how you perceived what you were reading or did that book leave an even heavier impression on you as a result? I wouldn’t mind hearing about it if you’ve also had this experience in the comments below.             

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Book Review: Goodbye Stranger

Rating: 3.5 stars

Bridge is an accident survivor who’s wondering why she’s still alive. Emily has new curves and an almost-boyfriend who wants a certain kind of picture. Tabitha sees through everybody’s games—or so she tells the world. The three girls are best friends with one rule: No fighting. Can it get them through seventh grade? This year everything is different for Sherm Russo as he gets to know Bridge Barsamian. What does it mean to fall for a girl—as a friend? On Valentine’s Day, an unnamed high school girl struggles with a betrayal. How long can she hide in plain sight?

I really enjoyed reading Goodbye Stranger because of how simple of a read it is to get through. Even though I’m not at all its intended audience as I’m not a middle schooler, I felt like I could still relate to the overall content as I remember what it was like for me being in middle school. Going through physical changes to my body and not knowing how much things in my life would change, trying to make friends and trying to fit in, and boys. I remember how awkward middle school was, and I feel like this book perfectly captured one of those years.

I know some people might criticize some of the content in this book as one of the subjects discussed is sexting, but I feel like as the world has changed since I was in middle school, heavy subject matters need to be discussed. And I honestly appreciate how Rebecca Stead covers this subject as its something that definitely needs to be talked about, especially with younger people. I know a lot of parents might disagree, but would you rather they learn about it from you or find out through someone asking them for pictures?

What I also enjoyed about Goodbye Stranger was seeing all of the different friendship dynamics. You mostly see the story told through Bridge’s perspective, but she was a part of a friend group of three: her, Tabitha, and Emily. Then one day in school, Bridge meets a boy her age named Sherm, and she becomes friends with him as well. But their friendship is a different dynamic with her two girlfriends as the three of them make a promise never to fight, which often gets tested throughout the book. The difference other than Sherm being a boy is that even though there’s a possibility of them becoming more than friends, the book focuses more on them just being friends and them enjoying each other’s company. And as someone who had a lot of male friends when I was around that age, I appreciate Stead showing a friendship between a boy and girl that didn’t focus heavily on becoming more. There’s also the friendship/rivalry that gets shown between Bridge’s brother Jamie and Alex, which in Goodbye Stranger I appreciated seeing. To me, it was an interesting dynamic to read, and I enjoyed seeing how it played out.

What I would say my criticism is for this book is how slow of a read it is. I know the intended audience is for middle schoolers so it would be slower as a result, but there were times where it felt to me like it was too slow. They would introduce an element/plot point to the story, but then it would take what felt like several chapters for it to play out. It was to the point where these elements/plot points were predictable, you were just waiting for it all to play out in the pages as you continued to read.  

I also wasn’t at all that big of a fan of the chapters taken from the perspective of the mysterious high school girl who supposedly underwent a betrayal on Valentine’s Day. At first, I found them interesting as I was trying to figure out who this high school girl was. But then once I found out what the betrayal actually was and the mystery of this high schooler was revealed, I was disappointed. I was disappointed because there was so much build up to her betrayal, but then when you find out what actually happened, it felt like a waste of chapters in this otherwise enjoyable read. Especially because the “betrayal” was mostly of her own doing and if anything I felt like it was her that betrayed her friend and put that friendship at risk, not the other way around. I also was disappointed by these chapters because we were introduced to this character early on in the book and what I knew of her before finding out she was the mystery high schooler seemed interesting and I had wondered what chapters of this book would look like from her perspective. But then when I found out she was the mystery character, I felt completely let down as what I’d seen of her character didn’t make me believe these chapters were actually from her perspective.

Overall, my experience reading Goodbye Stranger was enjoyable. I was reminded of how simple life used to be and reminded of some of the books I read when I was around that age that I enjoyed. Reading this book made me feel nostalgic and at times wish I could go back to when things in life were so much simpler.

Please leave a comment below on my blog if you’ve read any books that reminded you of a simpler time in your life that you wouldn’t mind revisiting. I wouldn’t mind hearing what stories made you reminisce.     

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Book Review: Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard

Rating: 4 stars

From Borrower to wizard, Tom Felton’s adolescence was anything but ordinary. His early rise to fame saw him catapulted into the limelight aged just twelve when he landed the iconic role of Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.

Speaking with candour and his own trademark humour, Tom shares his experience of growing up on screen and as part of the wizarding world for the very first time. He tells all about his big break, what filming was really like and the lasting friendships he made during ten years as part of the franchise, as well as the highs and lows of fame and the reality of navigating adult life after filming finished.

Prepare to meet a real-life wizard.

I’m not one who typically reads autobiographies, but as someone who grew up loving the Harry Potter series, I was excited to read this one about the actor who plays the iconic character of Draco Malfoy. I found this autobiography to be an easy read for me as I learned more about Tom Felton and what it was like for him to grow up as a child actor.

What I loved about reading Beyond the Wand is the way in which Felton wrote. In his book, he felt so relatable, and I enjoyed that. I know those of us not in the entertainment industry tend to idolize celebrities, but they are just everyday people like us. And I felt that in this book when Tom talked about his family and what it was like growing up with three older brothers. As someone who doesn’t follow celebrities closely enough (even celebrities that are part of a series that I really love), I felt like I learned a lot about Tom that I didn’t know and felt like I got a really good understanding as to why he was the perfect person to play as Draco Malfoy.

What I also enjoyed from reading this autobiography was getting to get inside the mind of an actor and getting to visualize where the Harry Potter films were created. I felt like we got a huge glimpse into the Harry Potter universe through Felton and I enjoyed it. I also found this book to be a highly entertaining read whenever he would mention another actor from the series being up to no good or whenever he talked about things he did on set that got him into trouble. I also loved hearing about the other actors in the series from Tom’s perspective as we don’t really know what the relationship between actors on a set is like and you could tell that Tom overall enjoyed his experience filming the Harry Potter movies.

If I had to choose anything to criticize about Beyond the Wand it would have to be the overall length and how it ended. I felt that while this autobiography was a very enjoyable read, it felt almost too short. Like there was more content that could’ve been included that we didn’t get. I feel like this goes hand in hand with my view about this book’s ending, which I’ll get into now.

While I enjoyed the last two chapters as they portrayed a serious subject matter that I don’t feel gets talked about often enough, I feel like they didn’t fit in with the rest of the book. However, once I read them, I also wanted more chapters like them as I feel like a lot of Felton’s autobiography focuses on his time filming the Harry Potter series. Of course, I understand that the Harry Potter films played a huge role in his life so it would make sense that there would be a lot about them but after reading the last two chapters, I realized then that I wanted even more. I wanted to learn more about the subject Tom barely covered as I feel like it’s an important element to his book that we needed more of. And the way in which it was talked about wasn’t enough for me.

But overall, I enjoyed reading Beyond the Wand as I felt like I could hear his voice as I was reading it, and loved the nostalgia it provided me as someone who grew up with the Harry Potter series. I highly recommend it to those who enjoy autobiographies, especially by celebrities. I also recommend this book to those wanting to see the Harry Potter series through the eyes of someone portraying one of the characters in the films and if you’re curious to learn more about the actor who played as Draco Malfoy.   

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First Impressions: Life is Strange: True Colors

I know the last time you saw a Life is Strange review from me was when I was talking about this game here along with the review I did on its fifth episode. Like that game, Life is Strange: True Colors is also a video game that focuses on a main character with superpowers. But instead of having the ability to rewind time, Alex Chen has the ability to read people’s emotions to where she can even take on their emotions if they are strong enough and she gets too close to them.

Taking place in a small mining town in Haven Springs, Colorado, you play as Alex Chen who’s just been reunited with her older brother Gabe after many years apart. Alex has a difficult past and her brother offers her a place to stay in Haven Springs as a fresh start. But when her empathetic abilities start to take over once again, she finds herself discovering there is more to this small town than what meets the eye, and will have to use her powers to find out the truth about what happened to her older brother.

There are so many things I loved when playing through Life is Strange: True Colors. For starters, I loved that they introduced a character I felt like I could relate to. I myself tend to be a heavily emotional person and consider myself someone who’s sensitive to other people’s feelings to the point where I’ve embodied those feelings. Not to the point like Alex who is able to not only embody those feelings but find out why someone is having those feelings through objects near the person whose strong emotions she’s picking up on and help the person dealing with them. But I felt like I could relate to her character because I’ve been able to pick up on people’s emotions like she has and felt like I had no control over them. I love they brought a character I could relate to life so vividly. And they did it in a way that drew me into the story in the game and made me want to find out what happened next.

Besides Alex’s superpower, I also enjoyed playing Life is Strange: True Colors because of the setting where they had these events take place. Haven Springs is a small mining town and I felt like you could clearly see how small of a place it is when Alex meets everyone in town. They did a good job of bringing to life what I imagine living in a small town would be like where everyone knows everyone already and where everyone knows when something is going on. Like when Alex made it into Haven Springs, the residents already knew she was coming because of her brother Gabe. Along with the small-town feel, Haven Springs itself is a beautiful setting in this game and I felt like they did a good job of showing the mountains you’re more than likely to see in a place like Colorado.

I also enjoyed Life is Strange: True Colors because the story and characters drew me in. I found Alex and the residents of Haven Springs to be very relatable and I wanted to find out what was going to happen in this town.

Unlike the original Life is Strange, however, I felt like a lot of the overall choices you made in the game didn’t have too much of a significant impact on what happened to you as Alex. I felt like a lot of the decisions you made didn’t heavily impact the story quite as much because the end result was going to be the same no matter which choice you made. Yes, there were some decisions you as Alex could’ve made that I felt like they were trying to make seem like big decisions, but to me, they didn’t seem all that big in comparison to the first Life is Strange game. I feel like the only difference I would’ve seen if I made different decisions would’ve been different dialogue and whether certain characters trusted you when you revealed the truth about one of the characters in town. Oh, and there might’ve been different results as well depending on who you decided on as Alex’s love interest. But overall, I don’t think there were really any choices you could’ve made that would’ve completely altered how things played out.

Overall, I enjoyed playing Life is Strange: True Colors. It touched on my emotions with its story and with playing Alex who was someone I could relate to because of her superpower. It’s a game I can see myself coming back to play. I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys story-based games and wants to play a game with a main character that has superpowers.

Are there any video games you’ve played recently that touched on you like this one did for me? Please leave a comment below telling me about your experience as I’d love to hear all about it!

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Book Review: You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life

Rating: 3.5 stars

In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up 27 bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word. If you’re ready to make some serious changes around here, You Are a Badass will help you: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, blast past your fears so you can take big exciting risks, figure out how to make some damn money already, learn to love yourself and others, set big goals and reach them – it will basically show you how to create a life you totally love, and how to create it now.

By the end of You Are a Badass, you’ll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can’t change, how to change what you don’t love, and how to use The Force to kick some serious ass.

Self-help books aren’t something I actively set out to read because I usually feel like I have to take time to reflect on what I’m reading in each chapter before going on to the next one. But being referred to as a badass made me feel pumped up to get into this book and see what it was all about. You Are a Badass was overall a good read for me. I enjoyed it because of how when I read these chapters, I felt inspired by the author and what she was saying. I found her insight very light-hearted but also funny and I felt like she offered overall some good advice. And while at times I found it annoying that she put as her last piece of advice in every chapter “love yourself,” there were some chapters after reading them where I found that advice more helpful than others.

The first couple of chapters in this book were really good and made me interested in continuing to read what she had to say. I especially appreciated the chapter about affirmations and meditation along with her thoughts about source energy as a whole.  

But I feel like as this book went on, I was slowly starting to lose interest in what she was saying. I think that’s because in certain chapters Jen Sincero didn’t sound overall empathetic to other people. And what I mean by that is she sometimes sounded tone-deaf to me when offering some of her advice. I understand that sometimes tough love is needed to get a point across, but I don’t think that’s where the issue came from for me. I think for me it was more she was talking from a point of privilege than anything else. I saw this in the chapter where she talks about money along with some of the other chapters as well.

I feel like this criticism for me stems from the idea of “visualize what you want your life to look like and it’ll happen.” I feel like the problem I have with the idea of visualizing your life is that there are things you actually have to do to make what you want in life to happen. You can’t just sit and do nothing and then what you want will happen. Depending on what you’re trying to achieve, there are some steps you have to take to make changes in your life. You can’t just visualize them or want them really badly to get it. Even if there are things you want to do and you try and set yourself up for those things, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get what you want.

And in order to accomplish your goals, there are going to be some challenges along the way you’ll have to deal with, which she didn’t mention at all throughout this book. I feel like she was overall saying in that regard that if you want something, you won’t use excuses not to make it happen. While that is overall true in most cases, there are some things that are beyond your control when it comes to achieving what you want from life, and she never once acknowledges how to overcome any challenges you could potentially face to achieve the life you want for yourself. And I have a problem with that in this self-help book.

You Are a Badass is overall a good read that got me pumped up and I found inspirational. However, not all of the information within its pages will benefit you so I think it’s okay to pick and choose which pieces of advice she offers you want to use since you won’t be able to relate to every single thing she’s saying.  

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Book Review: Fire and Ice (Warriors #2)

Rating: 4 stars

“Fireheart could hear a roaring around him, like wind in tall trees. The acrid stench of the Thunderpath stung his nostrils, together with a new smell, sharper and more terrifying. Fire!”

Book two of Warriors continues Fireheart’s quest to be a true warrior, when he finds new danger lurking in the woods as the chill of winter sets in.

WindClan is missing, and hostilities between the remaining three clans place all the cats in peril. Illness and tragic accidents weaken the camp, and ThunderClan needs all its warriors to defend itself – but Fireheart suspects that certain cats may not be as loyal as they appear.

I feel like this was an enjoyable sequel to where Into the Wild left off. We continue with Firepaw going by Fireheart due to becoming a warrior of ThunderClan. We also have him along with his friend helping another clan getting back into their territory despite the other clans not wanting them to return. I feel like there was a lot that happened in such a small period of time between the two books, making it enjoyable to find out what was going to happen next.

What I also enjoyed when reading Fire and Ice was seeing Fireheart return to his roots. You see him throughout the story struggling with belonging in the clan because of seeing his sister Princess and thinking about what his home used to be. You see him visit her quite frequently despite the risk and danger of doing so, which I thought was interesting because it made the theme of family a prominent part of this book. I know at times I wondered if Fireheart would end up going back to where he used to be before ThunderClan became such a big part of his life. But then you also see the choice Princess ends up making so that more of their family joins the clan, which I thought was sweet considering the risk involved.

What I also enjoyed with this sequel was being introduced to some of the cats of WindClan as well as meeting more of the cats of RiverClan. Its interesting to see when reading this series the dynamic between all the clans and how they interact with each other throughout the story. I also loved the slowly building romance that started to occur through the story despite the obstacles it presents.

I also love that Fireheart is continuing to investigate the truth of Oakheart and Redtail’s deaths. I know there are going to be a lot of obstacles in his way as the truth of what really happened during that time will cause a divide in the clan when its finally brought to light. But I think it’s great he’s investigating because Tigerclaw is one of my least favorite characters in ThunderClan. The reason being that so many cats in the clan seem to look up to him but he’s hiding things from Bluestar and the rest of the clan. I feel like even though Bluestar doesn’t want to face that truth, I find it telling that she’s told Fireheart how many lives as their leader she has left while Tigerclaw who is her deputy, has no idea.

I also disliked in Fire and Ice how Fireheart’s nephew Cloudkit was treated by their clan when Fireheart brought him in. While I understand the danger of having outsiders joining the clan that aren’t blood, I feel like it reminds me too much of how Fireheart was treated when he first joined ThunderClan. And it bothered me because most of the cats in this series seem to have the mindset that cats born in a clan are superior to cats who aren’t full-blooded warriors. I know it bothered me in Into the Wild with how clan members were with Fireheart, and it bothered me just as much with Cloudkit, maybe even more so because of being a baby kitten and not knowing any better.

But overall, I enjoyed this sequel and can’t wait to continue into the next book in the series Forest of Secrets to find out what happens with ThunderClan and the rest of the clans. This series continues to captivate me so I’m definitely looking forward to the next installment.  

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Book Review: Into the Wild (Warriors #1)

Rating: 4 stars

For generations, four Clans of wild cats have shared the forest according to the laws laid down by their warrior ancestors. But the ThunderClan cats are in grave danger, and the sinister ShadowClan grows stronger every day. Noble warriors are dying– and some deaths are more mysterious than others. In the midst of this turmoil appears an ordinary house cat named Rusty … who may turn out to be the bravest warrior of them all.

When I was a child, the Warrior series was apparently a series of books a lot of children enjoyed. However, I never heard about these books until I was an adult, and decided I’d give this series a try. When reading Into the Wild, I realized these books were something I’d enjoy.

Even though this series is supposed to be geared towards children, what I enjoyed about this first book was how it introduced me into the world of cats. As someone who likes cats and animals in general, I found the world of cats and how they interact with each other interesting. The dialogue between all the felines in this book was enjoyable to read as you can tell that you are reading a book about cats.

I also enjoyed reading Into the Wild because of how light of a read it was for me to get through. The characters and dialogue were simple to follow, and the story was enjoyable for me for this book to be considered a children’s book. I found the universe wild cats verses house cats inhabited interesting as the main character the story follows went from becoming a cat who was used to getting fed by humans to a cat who found himself wanting to see what was out in the wild and decided to join a clan of wild cats when he met several of their members. It was also interesting to see all the different names a wild cat was given once they joined the clan as each cat was given a name based on their physical appearance and their hierarchy in the clan. And learning about all of the different clans and where their territory is out in the wild was interesting to me too.

I also loved this book because I felt like I was able to escape into the world between its pages. It was a story that for me I enjoyed because I felt like I was with the warriors and wanted to see what was going to happen to the clan next. It was also just the right of fantasy for my imagination to run wild and continue turning the page.  

The only real issue I had with reading this first book in the Warriors series was the treatment of the main character by other members of ThunderClan for being what they called a kittypet. In these books, house cats are considered cats who don’t have the ability to become warriors because of being born as house cats instead of being born in a clan. So when the main character joins ThunderClan, many of their members don’t like him being in the clan and being trained to become a warrior because of where he was born, which is something beyond his control.

Despite this though, I enjoyed Into the Wild because Rusty/Firepaw doesn’t take what the other cats in the clan think to heart and he develops into a cat ThunderClan can be proud of to have as a member of their clan. I’m enjoying this series so much that I can’t wait to review the second book, Fire and Ice, which I’ve also already finished and am planning on writing a review of very soon.

Have any of you here read any of the books in this series before? If so, what was your experience with this series as a whole? Please leave a comment below because I’d like to hear your thoughts on a series I’ve just started reading that I can’t seem to put down.      

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