I wrote the majority of this before Crowfeather's Trial came out but I never actually finished it. Having read Crowfeather's Trial, I have some insight that I'm keeping to myself ;)
So, here it is! Supposed to be published months ago but I'm useless so here it is now.

When Crowfeather's Trial was announced, I don't think any Warriors fan was excited. And I can understand why - I didn't want it at first! Crowfeather is possibly one of the biggest assholes in Warriors. He was a generally unlikable character when he was introduced, but the issue with him is that he never developed. Despite undergoing events that should've shaped him, he never evolved. This makes him such an incredibly frustrating character to read about! Not because he's a negative character, but because he seems very immature because of his lack of development. The Erin's started a character arc with him, but it just flopped halfway.

And it's this reason exactly why we need a Crowfeather book.

Now, with the two previews we've had of the book, there seems to be more excitement. But for anyone who still isn't convinced, here's a list of ten reasons why you should want Crowfeather's Trial.

1.) He can finally get the development he needs and we can begin to understand him more as a character. As a writer and a reader, I can tell you why we need Crowfeather's Trial. Books don't exist for likeability. We don't get books for the purpose of "hey, this will make the readers happy." Books are there to tell stories, to have a message. We get books that we need, not what we want. And trust me, we need a book about this asshole more than anything. This cat has a story to tell. He's been through multiple tragedies (losing Feathertail, losing Leafpool) and has been very hurt. He literally attempted suicide at one point! (I'm serious. Look up his wiki page.) Crowfeather has done a number of questionable things, and now is an opportunity to get into his head and find out why he chose to run away with Leafpool, what he was feeling when he fell for Feathertail.

2.) Modern WindClan!! Who isn't excited to read about a Clan that isn't ThunderClan for a change? We've read about WindClan before in Tallstar's Revenge, and I loved it! I can't wait to return to the WindClan world and see how they differ from ThunderClan and see their similarities. But as well as that, think about the WindClan characters! Mind you, I love background characters who say something like one sentence more than most of the protagonists so I'm not the most reliable here. But come on. Sedgewhisker! I love her! What about Heathertail, or Harestar. Or characters we don't know at all, like Gorsetail, Furzepelt or Leaftail? Even the mysterious Featherpaw? We get to connect with brand new characters and see the way WindClan operates. How are you not excited?

3.) We finally get to see the Crow-Breeze-Night dynamic for ourselves. There's a lot of debate over whether Crowfeather was abusive, just a dick to his son, or possibly not even rude to Breezepelt at all. Showing a few scenes from the perspective of Hollypaw and her siblings to highlight that Bramblestar was a good father doesn't actually show us what their relationship is like. Neither does the scenes with Crowfeather and Nightcloud where Leafpool is involved, since she's the biggest source of tension in their relationship. Their entire family has a very unique dynamic compared to other families in warriors, who usually all get on, or aren't mentioned in the books. Of course there are exceptions. I can't wait to see the way they're portrayed from an inside perspective rather than an outside lense that we all took for fact when in actuality it's completely unreliable.

4.) New p.o.v!! The Erin's often seem to tell better stories when they use a new p.o.v and completely new characters, like with Crookedstar's Promise, Tallstar's Revenge, Hawking's Journey, and the earlier books. I wish we'd gotten Crowfeather's perspective in the New Prophecy - he was the only one who had no prior connection to ThunderClan or characters in the previous arc. It'll be refreshing to get a point of view change and through this we can really understand who he is as a character.

5.) Our questions surrounding Crowfeather will finally be answered. We'll know his true feelings towards Nightcloud, Breezepelt, Leafpool, Feathertail, Lionblaze, Jayfeather and Hollyleaf. We know he denied they were his kits when the secret first came out. We know he accepted them in the Great Battle after Hollyleaf's death and when Breezepelt attempted to kill Lionblaze. Because family is such an important part of Crowfeather's life, and The Three's as well, I think it would be very interesting to see where they all stand with each other at this point in time. It would also answer a lot of questions we have about this local trash man, and could go more in depth on his relationship with Leafpool after all this time. I'd love to see them interact and I hope Crowfeather's other family is involved in Crowfeather's Trial. Extending upon this, I'd like to see a Bramblestar and Crowfeather interaction. After all, the two journeyed together, and now Bramblestar has raised Crowfeather's kits. Or, alternatively, Crowfeather fathered Bramblestar's kits. But I'm not too fussy. Any interaction between the journeying cats would be nice, to show it hasn't all been forgotten.

6.) It might actually give us a reason to why he should be deputy of WindClan. I know that Working Partners, the editorial team, were the ones who made the decision to make Crowfeather deputy, which probably wasn't the best idea. At all. Kate wanted "a lesser known she cat" to be deputy. (Sedgewhisker?) But, unfortunately, as he is the deputy, the Erin's have some work to do. So far, Crowfeather has done nothing to prove that he should be deputy. He has a history of disloyalty, and we know he's isn't the most popular choice. So why has Harestar chosen him? As readers we know why. The editorial team wanted him to be deputy. God forbid we introduce a new cat showing that other Clan's have their own lives outside of what is seen from ThunderClan's perspective. God forbid we have to actually develop a new character. But obviously, we need a canon, inside-the-book reason. Why did Harestar choose Crowfeather? What's he done to redeem himself? Giving us the needed justification for his deputy-ship will hopefully ease some of the fandom arguments and criticisms, as well as fixing a book flaw.

7.) I think one of the main reasons Crowfeather is such a frustrating character is that the Erin's started him out on a character arc, or at least some big character development, and then let it flop halfway. He was introduced as a rude, argumentative and annoying character, who was disliked by his Clan. He set out on journey that should've brought all the characters closer together, and entered a romance with Feathertail that actually made him happy and mellowed him down. This was a beginnings of some positive development for Crowfeather - he was shown that there were people willing to get to know him and care for him. He began to let down his guard. And then Feathertail died, plunging him into a grieving mess. He reverted back to his old ways, and at one point literally stopped in front of a monster. Again, check the wiki. Now this isn't a bad thing. Negative character development is still development. The problem was, he never evolved from there. He was set up for positive development and he didn't get that. Even worse, after his negative decline, he never evolved as a character. He stayed rude and bitter. He stagnated; he never changed. And boy, was that frustrating. But this book is the perfect chance for the Erins to revive his character arc. For him to actually get the development he needs to make him into a good character. Because the whole focus is on him, I'm hoping the Erins can resolve his character arc, which will ultimately make him a more well liked character.

8.) The actual plot itself. The plot of Crowfeather's Trial could show us what was happening in WindClan during the time of A Vision of Shadows, or the events that preceeded that. This could help us better understand the going ons in AVoS and provide interesting insight into that. After all, as everything is told from a ThunderClan perspective primarily, with some SkyClan and ShadowClan perspectives involved as well, this means we miss out on what is happening in WindClan and RiverClan. WindClan is particularly important because it was the actions of their leader Onestar that set the Darktail plot in motion. He (and the rest of WindClan by extention) had a major part in the plot when they denied ShadowClan the right to their herbs, almost sentencing them to death. I think this could be of help in understanding AVoS and WindClan's part in that. However as we know Crowfeather's Trial takes place after the events of the Great Battle, it is possible that this is too early for the events that occurred in AVoS to be of significance. If that the case, we can still learn very interesting things about the plot - how the Great Battle affected WindClan and their future actions and how Omen of the Stars reflects on the happenings in WindClan.

9.) Breezepelt. Ohhh boy. Time for garbage man #2. Breezepelt is a...controversial character, you could say. He trained in the Dark Forest, know for their manipulation, his actions and ideals later developed into pure "evil" (I'm not a fan of the terms good and evil in terms of character analysis) and tried to kill Lionblaze because he was bitter his father had another family. Same reasoning with Jayfeather. Not to mention he was okay with killing Poppyfrost, a pregnant cat with no association to himself, I dunno, just because he could. We also know he has an unfortunate family dynamic, with an overprotective mother and an emotionally unavailable father, or something along those lines. The argument for Breezepelt being good is that he was abused, which I personally don't agree with. I'm hoping Crowfeather's Trial gives us a good look at Breezepelt and his true intentions and actions, because everything we've seen is from an outsider's perspective. He's a interesting and controversial character, he's "evil" and not because he wants power which is rare for Warriors. So getting to explore his character will be good. (Pleasenotashittyredemption, pleasenotashittyredemption)

10.) Seeing what WindClan is like under Onestar's leadership. We all know Onestar changed WindClan, and that he was a much harsher leader than everyone expected.  We know what a complete mess he was in A Vision of Shadows, but what we don't  know is how he treated his own Clan and what his leadership style was like. I personally found his character development to be very interesting. He's a great example of negative character development, and the way he changed from such an easy going and lovable warrior into a cold leader who was willing to get another Clan die instead of admitting to his mistakes, and because of the prejudice he had developed against said Clan. He ruined his friendships and other relationships and became hardened and cruel. I'd love a chance to see him up close and see how he treated WindClan and see why he acts and thinks the way he does and even some hints about Darktail and Smoke? I'm hoping this book goes into it!

So these are ten reasons why you actually should to read want Crowfeather's Trial instead of complaining that you don't want this book because you don't like Crowfeather. This book has the potential to be very impactful on the community and the Warriors world, and I hope it takes all its changes and lives up to the fantastic potential I know it has!