Weirdest Warriors Book: Ivypool’s Heart Review

The seventeenth Warriors Super Edition Ivypool’s Heart published earlier this month on the 3rd has become the weirdest Warriors book to date. The “weirdness” is not all around a bad thing, but it did expand and add to Warriors lore and mythology in ways I was not expecting. Occurring between books five and six of A Starless Clan, five Clan cats go on a journey when Whistlepaw, the medicine cat apprentice of WindClan, receives an odd vision about repaying an old debt.

I’m still uncertain how much I liked this Super Edition, especially as I continue to dissect it for this review. Though I wasn’t necessarily flipping the pages with enthusiasm, I will say it’s worth the read. Readers still don’t know how Ivypool’s Heart will affect future books considering how much new information was revealed, so fans should at least be familiar with what happened if they plan to read main arcs.

This article contains spoilers for the entire series up until this book, but particularly for The Broken Code and A Starless Clan arcs. Since I will go into depth on the Super Edition, please be cautious about spoilers.

The first surprise came before I read a single word. When I picked up Ivypool’s Heart, I realized it was smaller than any other Super Edition of Warriors; if anything, it was more the size of the main arc books. Though the page lengths vary depending on paperback or hardcover, the longest Super Edition is Leopardstar’s Honor, around 576 pages, and the shortest was originally a three-way tie with all of them around 464 pages. On average, Super Editions should really be around 500 pages; that’s what makes them “super.” However, Ivypool’s Heart is only 400 pages long, with the story only 376 pages.

I’m glad they didn’t drag the journey on longer to make a page number, but I don’t see why they couldn’t have added other types of scenes. Why not include scenes from the past, showing Ivypool as a mother, particularly to Bristlefrost? We’ve only been told how the kits of Ivypool and Fernsong were raised, but we never got to read it. I think it would’ve made her grief journey even stronger if we got flashbacks. While the addition of Ivypool’s nightmares was perfect, they didn’t add much bulk. I even would’ve loved to see more flashbacks to her time in the Dark Forest, enhancing how terrible it was for Bristlefrost to have died there.

As a personal journey for Ivypool, and Rootspring, I think the book was excellent. Their grief was real and expressed in several ways. At times, Ivypool was angry at others for trying to comfort her, but she was also low energy and depressed. The gradual progression of her opening back up to the world and overcoming her sadness of her daughter’s death was done very well. It also allowed for a heavy emphasis on motherhood and losing children, with Ivypool talking to other mothers throughout the story. Her discussions with Dovewing, Icewing, and the wildcat mothers were heartfelt. Despite their kits dying in different circumstances (or similar ones, in the case of Ivypool and Icewing), they could comfort each other. I believe the only way Ivypool was able to heal as she did was because of these conversations. Plus, it showed Rootspring’s grief too and he learned he would eventually move on. As one of the most heartbreaking couples of the series, I’m happy Rootspring will continue to honor Bristlefrost, even when he falls in love again.

Here’s where it gets weird. Ivypool’s Heart added three major things to the Warriors’ expansive world. One, the existence of wildcats and their connection to the Clan cats. Two, the existence of StormClan and the origin story between Gladestar and Stripestar. And, three, the existence of the “River of Souls” connecting all afterlives, which apparently only the wildcats know enough of to access. I have no issue with the wildcats themselves only trepidation about how they’ll be integrated into the series later. As for the third addition, I found it odd and a little too convenient, but not distracting. If anything, I wish we’d get more afterlife mechanics like that. It’s the second one, StormClan and the Clan-crossed leaders, that I take major issue with. Frankly, it’s the only reason that I would potentially say I dislike Ivypool’s book.

I don’t mind them adding new information in periods of time that haven’t been explored yet; it’s when they conflict with lore or don’t make sense that it bothers me. It was one thing for SkyClan to be driven out and forgotten by the cats of that time, especially because StarClan was aware of this and kept it from the living cats; however, it’s another thing entirely for StarClan themselves to have forgotten StormClan. It doesn’t make logical sense that beings who are supposed to be more powerful in the afterlife, with access to knowledge and other long-dead cats, would also forget things when cats fade.

Even the situation itself I dislike. While I love the potential of two leaders falling in love (especially if they eventually write the story, as they insinuate in this recent article), it’s confusing that their entire Clans would leave with them when the other Clans had a problem with them combining. It wasn’t fair for the Clans to drive them away, but it also wasn’t fair for ThunderClan and WindClan to be combined because they would become a powerhouse against the other three. Plus, they barely explained how ThunderClan and WindClan came to be again. It’s mentioned that some cats returned and readers assume they restarted the Clans separately. But who decided what characters would be leaders, deputies, and medicine cats? StarClan? If they’re going to include something this drastic in Clan history, I don’t think this was the proper way to introduce it, leaving unanswered questions. I imagine this is because they want to explore it fully in its own Super Edition, but then its inclusion in Ivypool’s book is unsatisfactory.

I’m still not sure how to feel about all of the additions either. While I enjoy the mythology of Warriors expanding, I dislike how they maneuver it into the series. It would’ve made more sense for StarClan cats to know of StormClan but unwilling to share it. I also don’t like how whenever they add something new, despite their efforts, it messes up previously understood ideas of the series. The concept that “faded” cats can return so easily when remembered irritates me. There’s no finality in fading that way, no stakes where previously there was. New pieces of mythology, like ghosts, possessions, and rules for fading and spirits, have been added a lot lately. It begs the question, when does it end, or will they keep expanding forever?

Now there are smaller aspects I dislike with the book too, like how it seems the most like a fanfiction or roleplay story than any other in the series. The writing for Warriors has slowly grown more humanistic, especially after Omen of the Stars and Bramblestar’s Storm. Though I loved Beach and Slate as characters, the dialogue between them and the others was something I expect to see in books with humans. Plot lines like the ruthless Twoleg using a tranquilizing gun seem like something my friends and I would concoct for our writing. I also thought it was weird to include the nods to the various new groups that have been added lately, like WarriorClan and the Sisters. The visit to the Sisters especially didn’t seem relevant to the story, other than making Rootspring angry.

Despite that, I loved some of the choices made for the book. The cats picked for the journey, Ivypool, Whistlepaw, Dovewing, Icewing, and Rootspring, were perfect. As I said before, most of them are mothers, which aided the narrative tremendously. We also saw more of the relationship between Ivypool and Rootspring, bonded because of their shared love of the deceased Bristlefrost. I felt Ivypool’s pain as she struggled internally with wanting Rootspring to move on and be happy, but finding it hard to swallow that he might forget her daughter. As for Whistlepaw, I simply love her character. I love how she is anxious, yet becomes certain and strong in her opinions when she figures something out. It’s nice to see an apprentice medicine cat (and WindClan at that, who’s been shoved into a corner in most storylines lately) was the one to receive the vision and be allowed to lead the charge on it.

I also loved how despite reusing typical journey material, like run-ins with dogs and getting lost, they included a lot of new experiences for the journeying cats. The scenes with the crabs and seagulls made me chuckle, and I loved reading how they tried to explain certain things from their limited “cat perspective.” Even though the rundown zoo (or illegal exotic animal trading place?) was a bit out there for Warriors, I still liked that it was a completely new environment for them to encounter.

I’m left with one question: how will this book affect future stories? At the end of Ivypool and Icewing’s StarClan visit, they alluded that StormClan’s knowledge would be useful. They never answered why this journey would help save all the Clans back at the lake. Will the wildcats one day help the Clans? Will some Clans combine like StormClan did or will they consider it and then take StormClan as the cautionary tale not to? Some fans speculate that this will have a larger effect on the next arc, Changing Skies, instead of the current one. All we can do is wait.

Ivypool’s Heart can be ordered on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or other major retailers.