LitPick Review
Age at time of review - 12
Reviewer's Location -
Cedar Grove,
IN,
United States
View ElKni's profile
Ratha is a member of the Named, a tribe of cats that has
culture and language. However, when lightning strikes and
Ratha tames the Red Tongue, she is made an outcast. She
runs in with one of the Un-Named, whom she names
Bonechewer. She grows up and learns the way of the hunter
from Bonechewer, whom she then mates with. She and
Bonechewer then go to a meeting of the Un-Named where she
pretends to be mute. Much to her dismay, the Un-Named
decide to attack her old clan. She is forced to take part
as she cannot rejoin them and be accepted. However, Ratha
is recognized and then kept from the fighting. Once the
clan has been ousted, she and Bonechewer get a den where
they stay for the winter. Come Spring, they returned to
Bonechewer's territory where she gave birth.
Unfortunately, because Bonechewer, although his mother was
a Named, was part Un-Named, so Ratha's children were as
dumb as many of the Un-Named. In her disappointment, Ratha
attacks here children and Bonechewer, who banishes her.
Ratha wanders until she runs into Thakur, one of the
Named. Thakur takes her to the clan, where she is once
again cast away. When lightning strikes, Thakur finds her
and convinces her to defeat Meoran, the leader, with the
Red Tongue. Ratha does so and becomes clan leader. Using
the Red Tongue, Ratha and the other Named drive off the Un-
Named raiders, among whom was Bonechewer. Bonechewer dies, and Ratha grieves for him. Then, Ratha takes full
leadership of her clan.
Opinion:
Although at first I didn't believe I would like this book, it was surprisingly good. The way that the author makes the cats understand what cats would understand, and not as much as humans, makes it much more realistic. A little foreshadowing goes a long way to make the book a lot better. Each main character is like a
real person, changing with the way the plot moves.
Explain your content rating:
Graphic descriptions of burning and injuries.
KEYWORDS
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