Okay, this was the best Warriors books so far. 4.5 I wish I could give. 
 It has the edge on Forest of Secrets mostly because I really love the brothers. I still take issue with some of the overly easy characterization the Erins do, which is why I can't give it a five. But the pace was amazing, the intrigue was great and the character arcs were brilliant. I loved this book. It makes me want to jump right into The Power of Three series, even though I've heard that is... not as good. Characters like Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, Mothwing and Leafpool were all worth reading about their development and choices, as well as my old favorites of Cloudtail, Brightheart and Mistyfoot. As I mentioned before, I am also forgiving of Brambleclaw's indecisive attitude regarding his desire for power in that he feels his father's influence, but it is helped by the fact that Brambleclaw does consider things and reevaluate his positions based on the right catalysts. While Squirrelflight's attitude toward Brambleclaw is bizarre because she, nor Leafpool, have any reason to constantly wonder whether Brambleclaw is like his father, I will allow that it is mostly her frustration at his refusal to consider her perspective. I also feel really, really awful for poor Leafpool (view spoiler)[especially since I know how things turn out for her in The Power of Three (hide spoiler)]. 
 That said, The New Prophecy should have been four books, not six. Dawn was a total waste of time. And much of Starlight could've been handled in Twilight. The overall pacing of the series was atrocious ad the in-between books really dragged. I probably won't be picking up Power of Three for another several months, as I might be kitty'd out, but I hope, for all its other flaws, that it knows how to pace itself. 
 One more thing that was probably my BIGGEST frustration with the final three books. After spending half of the second series trying to convince readers that the Warriors need to learn to make their own decisions and not look to StarClan for everything, the final three books completely throw this idea out the window. Almost EVERY major decision is a result of StarClan interference (view spoiler)[Leafpool deciding to run away with Crowfeather, Leafpool deciding it's all right for her sister to be mates with Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight making the same decision, Firestar deciding to make Brambleclaw deputy, Leafpool figuring out Mothwing's secret... HELL the only cat who makes his own decisions IS Brambleclaw, who makes the climatic decision to save Firestar (hide spoiler)]. THIS IS RIDICULOUS. I don't like the agency it takes from the characters, and I'm particularly disturbed that it suggests to its children readers to look toward someone else when making their decisions, higher power or no. This extensive reliance on StarClan was never present in the original series, and it shouldn't be here. I hope this element is also excised from The Power of Three.