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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
I really liked this one! We get a lot deeper look at Marco for once and he has a refreshingly different voice compared to the other characters
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
Marco books seem to hit the hardest. When we get to see through his eyes, we see that his jokester personality covers up something much bleaker. He and Rachel seem to grapple with the deepest trauma from being Animorphs, both running to powerful morphs to escape their fear and pain. Of course, Marco does have a dark secret, and it’s about to come out.
The emotional climax of The Escape happens when Marco has to make the call whether his friends will kill his mom. Not long before that, Marco had to play it cool as hell when pretending to be a Controller facing Visser One, knowing that his mom could see that he had (ostensibly) been enslaved. That’s some heavy stuff. Not even Jake with his Controller brother has experienced this much family trauma. And since Visser One lives on, Marco is still “a prisoner of hope” that his mother could one day be free. At least his secret is out to the other Animorphs, which may not feel like a positive, but keeping it in the dark could only have made it worse.
Even beyond Marco’s emotional journey, the plot and the action in this book were great. Yeerks enhancing hammerhead shark brains so they can infest them and create aquatic shock troops for their conquest of the Leerans. Animorphs infiltrating an underwater base and getting an irremovable implant in their heads, then nearly exploding when they morph to flies and therefore deciding to explode the base instead. Marco bluffing his way through an encounter with Visser One. This was one of the most fun books so far, which, coupled with Marco’s complex situation, made it one of the best.
Side note: Getting to see Tobias reacting to all this new experience morphing provides some interesting character moments for him. Now that he’s able to leave his hawk body and no longer has the excuse, even subconsciously, to stay out of the thick of things, he’s much more vulnerable. He also shows his vulnerability in being new to experiences the other Animorphs have already had. He’s amusingly salty (no pun intended) about having to morph an ocean species, even to the point of covering up his fear.
The emotional climax of The Escape happens when Marco has to make the call whether his friends will kill his mom. Not long before that, Marco had to play it cool as hell when pretending to be a Controller facing Visser One, knowing that his mom could see that he had (ostensibly) been enslaved. That’s some heavy stuff. Not even Jake with his Controller brother has experienced this much family trauma. And since Visser One lives on, Marco is still “a prisoner of hope” that his mother could one day be free. At least his secret is out to the other Animorphs, which may not feel like a positive, but keeping it in the dark could only have made it worse.
Even beyond Marco’s emotional journey, the plot and the action in this book were great. Yeerks enhancing hammerhead shark brains so they can infest them and create aquatic shock troops for their conquest of the Leerans. Animorphs infiltrating an underwater base and getting an irremovable implant in their heads, then nearly exploding when they morph to flies and therefore deciding to explode the base instead. Marco bluffing his way through an encounter with Visser One. This was one of the most fun books so far, which, coupled with Marco’s complex situation, made it one of the best.
Side note: Getting to see Tobias reacting to all this new experience morphing provides some interesting character moments for him. Now that he’s able to leave his hawk body and no longer has the excuse, even subconsciously, to stay out of the thick of things, he’s much more vulnerable. He also shows his vulnerability in being new to experiences the other Animorphs have already had. He’s amusingly salty (no pun intended) about having to morph an ocean species, even to the point of covering up his fear.
Hey, a Marco book I didn't hate. Also, one with relatively little fluff B-plot. Marco is still kind of selfish, but I can at least understand his motivation.
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes