Warriors: Changing Skies #3: Chasing Shadows released last week on Tuesday, March 31st, giving fans the third book in this current arc.
After Hidden Moon booted Leafstar’s POV for Starlingpaw’s, we continue with our three protagonists Tawnypelt, Moonpaw, and Starlingpaw. The pace continues to be slow with all of their journeys separate. I’m wondering when they will intertwine, if they ever do. I feel neutral about Chasing Shadows, so read on to hear my full thoughts on book three.
This article contains MAJOR spoilers for the Changing Skies arc, as well as spoilers for the series as a whole.
Here’s a reminder of the book’s blurb:
An ominous prophecy continues to unsettle the Clans while Twoleg construction disrupts their connection to the Moonpool and StarClan. Meanwhile, two cats–an elder and an apprentice–believe that only they can save the Clans from certain destruction.
Moonpaw finally confesses to her Clanmates that her dead sister has been torturing her in her mind, and the Clan rallies around her in support. But as Moonpaw grows closer to Goldenpaw, her sister’s threats become more ominous, and even turn bloody. Moonpaw worries she’s a danger to her entire Clan. Would ThunderClan be better off without her?
Tawnypelt is sure that the prophecy she received from Bluestar is a dire warning–and she believes that only the Elders can see the Clans through the oncoming danger. Frustrated with his mother, Tigerstar bans her from speaking of the prophecy, so Tawnypelt takes refuge in ThunderClan. She begins to wonder if her true place is in the Clan of her birth.
Amidst all this, Starlingpaw grows bolder in his belief that he alone must save the Clans. But can an apprentice really hold the key to their salvation?
Since I read the preview chapters in February, I started this book about 10% of the way in on Chapter Four. The Prologue and first three chapters had me excited for this book, which deflated into my usual “eh” feeling that I’ve developed about this arc as a whole.
To get technical issues out of the way first, I noted multiple times the writing had continuity errors or used the wrong cat. Around page thirty, Shadowsight was used instead of Starlingpaw. Then, while Ivypool was still on the quest, Tawnypelt says she sees Ivypool delegating the patrols for the day in ThunderClan. This is typical for a Warriors book so it doesn’t get much more than a huff from me. Plus, even though I got over the use of semi-colons in Hidden Moon, it irritated me again during Chasing Shadows.
Editing errors aside, this book has some interesting moments.
At the end of chapter three, readers were left wondering what was going on with Crowfeather. The tom’s terrible fall left him unconscious, and Starlingpaw was able to see his spirit. Being kin with Tree and Rootspring, as well as already seeing glimpses of Morningkit, this isn’t the surprise. What I expected to be the surprise was Crowfeather being stuck as a spirit or even dying.
Spoiler alert! Neither happened. After stalking his spirit a couple times, when Starlingpaw finally confronts Crowfeather, it shocks his spirit back into his body. Other than some general confusion and weariness, Crowfeather doesn’t seem to have any lasting effects from this injury. The only reason for this whole kerfuffle seems to be for Starlingpaw to have overheard the part of the prophecy that Crowfeather wasn’t sharing.
It was funny to watch Crowfeather beefing with a kid (Starlingpaw), though. Since Crowfeather tried to keep it to himself, Starlingpaw loudly said twice that he was hiding something and revealed the information or forced Crowfeather to reveal it. Suffice to say, he wasn’t too happy about that.
Starlingpaw in general grows way more confident in Chasing Shadows. It only took a little support from Nectarsong, and some peers back in SkyClan, for the young apprentice to grow a big head. He is very outspoken through the book and cornering on a little rebellious streak. I can’t tell whether I love or like his character, but I don’t hate him. Sometimes I think he is crossing the line, yet he’s at least pushing the plot along.
So, am I annoyed nothing really happened with Crowfeather? Yes. It now seems like a plot convenience. Though, it did start up (or continue) one other thing. The gruff cat’s brush with death leads him to a sort of stilted confession to Tawnypelt, wondering to her if there’s “something here, between us.” It is sweet how highly Crowfeather says he thinks of Tawnypelt, but his fumbling with her feelings and the bad timing make it more awkward than anything. I have no idea where they’re trying to take this potential couple.
My personal wish is that they’d drop it. I love being in Tawnypelt’s head for these books, and it was a relief that she wasn’t mooning over him the whole time. It’s more fun to watch her being a stubborn badass instead, standing up to Tigerstar and not backing down when she knows she’s right. I like that she goes to talk to all the elders of the Clans, and her friendship with Squirrelstar is always sweet. It wouldn’t make sense for her to leave ShadowClan, so I hope that doesn’t happen.
When it finally clicks to Tawnypelt that all of the elders are interpreting the Whispering Cave through their Clan-lens, it feels like the plot is moving. Even though I was hoping for more excitement, this hints towards book four being better. I can’t wait to see her being taken seriously in her quest.
As for Moonpaw, I’m still intrigued by her situation, but I’m failing to understand how it will interact with the main plot. It was lovely to see her become friends with Shinepaw and Goldenpaw, confessing to them about Morningkit. I wish the narrative sat with them as friends longer before they “betrayed” her by telling Squirrelstar the secret. Ultimately, it was the smartest thing to do; it kicked up even more suspicion of Moonpaw, forcing her into an outcast situation less of her own making.
Morningkit also continues to become more dangerous, which leads me to Moonpaw and Goldenpaw. Their weird crush-to-mate thing made me cringe. I like the idea of cute crushes between apprentices, but these two become intense and serious way too fast. They’re too young to be promising themselves to each other, and I personally don’t think we see enough interaction for it to make sense.
What they are good for is Morningkit’s interference. Moonpaw hurting Goldenpaw in her sleep was scary, and Morningkit’s threat to “get rid” of the “dumb golden furball” is crazy. Plus, like Moonpaw, I’m not convinced that Morningkit isn’t trying to kill her sister.
Is Moonpaw the two-faced cat? Are her paws in two worlds because of Morningkit’s involvement? We still don’t know. Crowfeather seems to think that cat is the one who may turn bad, which he thinks was someone on the Tribe journey. Besides that, the plot finally gets a bit of a jump.
The Moonpool is finally revealed again, without the Twolegs’ “blue walls.” As expected, the Twolegs have made it their own, turning it into a resort-type spot for their kind. As much as I expected this twist, I didn’t think it would hurt so much to read it. The erasure of the ancient paw prints was especially hard. Those were the Ancients, the cats that started this whole lineage to begin with. Gone.
I wanted this to happen to simply get the Clans out of the lake territories. I didn’t know getting what I wanted would hurt!
I can only hope now that this is for good reason. The Clans must move. I would be disappointed if they instead find another connection in the same territory. With the Twolegs taking over the Moonpool, it’s inevitable they’ll be crawling all over the territories soon.
Of course, I can’t leave this review without talking about a major moment in Chasing Shadows. Watch out, here comes a BIG death spoiler. I might not have liked this character, or at least I’ve had complicated up-and-down feelings about him, but Brambleclaw’s death was rough. He is one of the original characters with huge impacts on the series.
The grief from his kin and mate is what hurts the most. I loved reading Jayfeather’s lone goodbye and the acknowledgment of him being a good father. Squirrelstar and Tawnypelt’s vigil speeches gave my chest a squeeze. I also loved the realistic depiction of Tawnypelt’s grief, her lashing out and wailing.
His death was anti-climatic but tense. I like that he left the CLan trying to do good again. It is difficult to imagine the Warriors series without Brambleclaw, but I hope he finds peace in StarClan (though I suspect we’ll see him again for Moonpaw’s sake).
Fans have to wait till the fall to see how the story might continue. I expect the fourth book of the series, Guiding Light, will continue this slow pace towards a solution. I suspect that the majority of the book will be about Moonpaw and Goldenpaw’s journey, as well as the questing cats with Tawnypelt. Right now, I have no predictions as to what Starlingpaw could get up to.
Check out the rest of this year’s book releases on pre-order:
Warriors Graphic Novel: The New Prophecy #1: June 30, 2026
Warriors: Super Edition #19: Darktail’s Judgement: September 8, 2026
Warriors: Changing Skies #4: Guiding Light: October 6, 2026
