I saw a confession on Instagram last week that really pissed me off.

It was about how the confesser didn't like Bluestar, which is fair enough. Their reasoning was just "oh no, she's a complex character with flaws?? Disgusting." But hey. To each their own. If this person prefers reading bland characters, that's entirely their choice and opinion, and that doesn't involve me in the slightest. But there was one part of the confession that
 r e a l l y  frustrated me. This person didn't like the way Bluestar acted after her mother's death.

I'm far from the most qualified to talk about grief. I've only lost two pets and a great aunt I barely knew. While they were very sad, they didn't cause me to undergo a severe emotional distress. But even I can tell you - grief isn't beautiful. It's emotional, it's raw, it's ugly. A person may act in, they may act out, they might do both. This person thought Bluestar shouldn't have have blamed her Clan for her mother's death, and that her treatment of them was rude. They're right, it was rude. But it was grief.

Would you prefer reading about grief in the later books? Where death is unemotional, where emotions are dull and washed out, where us readers are spoonfed lesser quality books because the publishers just want to make money? Yes, Bluestar acted out. It was irrational, it was frustrating, and certainly didn't make readers go: "wow, that's my favourite character! Look at how amazing she is right now!" But it's not supposed to make you fall in love with Bluestar. The purpose was to craft a complex character, with complex emotions. It was supposed to portray grief. And it did. That's what grief is. This is some of the best writing from the Erin's, and I love it. When you grieve, you feel angry. You feel depressed. You barely make it through each day, functioning and living feels like taking a breath while underwater. That's what Bluestar was going through and seriously? It was amazing.

It's not just grief that this person was complaining about. It was about Bluestar's hypocrisy over Snowfur taking Thistleclaw as a mate while being with a RiverClan tom, and about her judgment of Thistleclaw. And I'll agree that the writing of Thistleclaw wasn't the best, and doesn't put Bluestar in the most favorable light. But as I've been saying, Bluestar was written to be a complex and realistic character. That means hypocrisy. That means being angry when your sister becomes mates with someone you hate, even though you're breaking the law by dating someone outside your Clan. That means having extreme judgment for someone, who we all know deserved it. That means that Bluestar did shitty things, she did things we would consider wrong, and she has feelings that seem as if she has no right to. And that's the beauty of Bluestar's Prophecy. I have my own reservations about the​ book, but parts of it were truly excellent, and Bluestar's character was, for the most part, one of them.

Take a look at yourself. Have you done shitty things? Judged someone for being an utter shithead while other people are convinced they're perfect? Watched your best friend date someone you know and told them will break their heart? Have you ever had feelings that you know are illogical and hurtful? They don't make sense but you can't control them. That's normal. Everyone can relate to at least some of these. So yes, that makes Bluestar a complicated and realistic character, which from a literacy standpoint, is a good thing.

As a reader, I must say I prefer characters like Gray Wing over Bluestar in terms of likeability. But interesting to read about? I'd pick Bluestar every time. As a writer, talking to a site of writers: likeability is important! But don't swap controversial characters for a shallow character based solely on how well the audience will receive them. Otherwise we'll just have a Twilight, or Dovewing situation on our hands.