Sophie

Bad showing from Starclan, takes over half the book to get the guiding prophecy fulfilled and even then it’s just a vague comet in the sky the cats spot. Then after Spottedleaf (why) shows up like 7 times when she could’ve helped earlier.

Upside is the traveling portion was way faster less chapters of them hobbling through rocks and more cross clan relations and meeting the tribe again. Crowfeather naming and stormfur leaving were beautiful, v enjoyable book

Some drawn out travel chapters, but has a good mix of new focuses and narrators. Ending is sick as hell and the leafpaw/squirrel paw telepathically communicating herbs for medicine through sensory transmission was an interesting setup for the second series which is starting with a ton of 2 sibling duos (leafpaw/squirellpaw, stormfur/feathertail, Brambleclaw/tawnypelt, mothwing/hawkfrost)

Very slow setup, plot twist half way through is crazy, but really turned it around those last scenes with Yerin do love her

Psychotic, but I love it. Intertwining hobbyist game dev principles with the transition of three completely different trans woman and the evolution over different decades is beautiful. Great amount of unanswered questions from the final chapters. The only time the three chatting together is shown is through online group chats in the early prologue setup of the book and I really believed they would get back together and something great would happen with their game, but its just a mess of intersecting parts and parsing out feelings relating to decades ago. I will say that while I wanted the happy ending it felt unrealistic from the setup. Atleast thinking back to how my teen hobbyist gamedev projects went. The ending felt perfect for what the opposite would be, a complete mess if only relating back to those teenage years even if when thats when you truly discovered yourself. So much unanswered, this one certainly will be re-read.

Also beautiful language throughout. This book had more new vocab then all other books I've read so far this year combined: Inveterate, sordid, involution, ashlar, redolent, portentous, reveries, chitin, porous, rachis, venal, phylactery, epigram, jouncing, irascible, sqaulor, rakish, koan, dessicated, sluicing, and derelict.

6/5, the best Moriarty and Sherlock writing to date, the “catch me if you can Mr.Holmes” line is beautiful. God chefs kiss