A review by vtuber
Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

3.5

admittedly, this is not a reread for me.
when i was in elementary school, these books were actually too difficult for me to read. lol

this book is titled into the wild because we're following rusty, a former kittypet (housecat) and his journey.. into the wild.. as he joins thunderclan. 

warriors is heavily middle grade. the drama in this series is exactly the kind of shit 11-13 year olds lose their minds over.  truly, the ladies at erin hunter nailed it. 

i understand that the heart of the series really lies in the "warrior code", the organization of the different clans, and the wildcat political drama; however, in this premiere book, it takes on the hilarious air of fanaticism and cult behavior by way of indoctrinating the protagonist into the strict rules and rituals of clan life. the strangeness of this specific book in the series comes from our birds-eye view of what's going on, and from rusty (an outsider) looking in on the zeal of the clan cats. clan is love, clan is life.. LMAO

this is definitely unnecessary discussion for a book at this level but i assume rusty (also firepaw, also fireheart) is the same rumored firestar we hear about all the time from the fandom; i saw whispers of that in this book, too, even though he's supposed to be an apprentice. firepaw has a strangely elegant and wise tone of voice towards the end of the book? whereas you interpret his character as much more juvenile at every point before the final chapters. it was a weird change.