Many fans have taken note that despite the arc and Nightheart's internal narration claiming that Nightheart struggles with being compared to his legendary ancestor Firestar, this hardly happens within River. As an apprentice, hardly any cat (barring his own point of view) mentions him having to live up to his namesake, nor do they place much in the ways of expectations on that factor as well. This led to some wondering if Nightheart is an unreliable narrator and is angsting over nothing, or a case of the book ''telling'' us he is, as opposed to ''showing'' it.
Some have noted that Frostpaw's chapters seem to just exist as a window or camera to the events going down in RiverClan. Granted, Frostpaw herself does contribute to the plot so far in River, but she herself is a minor character in the grand scheme of the overall arc so far. Is she simply a Supportive Protagonist, or just a window for the events unfolding in RiverClan?
Diagnosed by the Audience: It is very heavily implied that Bramblestar has developed a form of depression and/or PTSD as a result of his awful experiences in The Broken Code at the claws of Ashfur (having his body stolen, getting trapped in the Dark Forest, and being mind-controlled into attacking his own mate). He is often described as looking "lost" or depressed or both, and according to Squirrelflight has been having recurring nightmares about his time trapped in the Dark Forest and being forced to attack her.
Take That, Scrappy!: Mistystar anticlimatically dropping dead in River made a large portion of the fanbase quite happy, in part due to the fact that she took several levels in jerkass in the previous arc. It didn't help that she was one of the longest-lived cats in the series.
