Scan barcode
kavtom's review against another edition
5.0
It's interesting when Ax ponders about human morality, and their changing of minds according to situation. Is he still willfully ignorant of Andalite hypocrisy? After so many accounts of his people causing him shame? I love Ax, and Elfangor was great, but I'm not very fond of Andalites. They have in most cases acted as major dicks.
This is it, folks. No more guerrilla warfare. This was the first open fight with human military involved. There's no going back now. Government must have been notified after that carnage. They have alien bodies and Bugfighters as evidence. Will the humanity start fighting back? And will Ax be able to come back from what he's done? Would he have gone through with it? He doesn't seem sure that it was just a bluff. How big is the blast from nuclear missile? It would have destroyed the whole town surely, and all the Animorphs families and friends. How about surrounding forest? Would the radiation reach the Hork-Bajir colony? Can his friends look at him the same after this? HOW THE HELL ARE THESE CONSIDERED CHILDREN'S BOOKS? I'm an adult and I'm traumatised.
This is it, folks. No more guerrilla warfare. This was the first open fight with human military involved. There's no going back now. Government must have been notified after that carnage. They have alien bodies and Bugfighters as evidence. Will the humanity start fighting back? And will Ax be able to come back from what he's done? Would he have gone through with it? He doesn't seem sure that it was just a bluff. How big is the blast from nuclear missile? It would have destroyed the whole town surely, and all the Animorphs families and friends. How about surrounding forest? Would the radiation reach the Hork-Bajir colony? Can his friends look at him the same after this? HOW THE HELL ARE THESE CONSIDERED CHILDREN'S BOOKS? I'm an adult and I'm traumatised.
manwithanagenda's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
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? Yes
4.0
Well, that escalated quickly. FINALLY the series is getting on a roll with the alien invasion. Visser Three has been promoted to Visser One and, with a new toady as Visser Two, nothing stands in his way to escalate the Yeerk Invasion and defeat the 'Andalite Bandits' who've been such a thorn in his side.
Unfortunately, Ax, with a little help, has developed a way to monitor some encrypted Yeerk transmissions. The new intelligence arrives in time for the team to foil a mission that would bring about World War Three! Only a mad man would antagonize China....
That got a little real.
Anyway, the book is great and has Ax come out of 'Prince' Jake's shadow long enough to create a new dynamic to the team and show off some more of the rough edges the Animorphs' friendships have been developing.
Animorphs
Next: 'The Resistance'
Previous: 'The Revelation'
Unfortunately, Ax, with a little help, has developed a way to monitor some encrypted Yeerk transmissions. The new intelligence arrives in time for the team to foil a mission that would bring about World War Three! Only a mad man would antagonize China....
That got a little real.
Anyway, the book is great and has Ax come out of 'Prince' Jake's shadow long enough to create a new dynamic to the team and show off some more of the rough edges the Animorphs' friendships have been developing.
Animorphs
Next: 'The Resistance'
Previous: 'The Revelation'
nicoleeast's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this one, but insane/zealous bad guys are not my thing. Bad decisions by antagonists all around. Including Chapman incapacitating Ax and then locking him in a room he easily escaped from in less than a page. Why did this happen at all? Chapman would have immediately infested him, coward or no.
A rushed ending also spoiled my enjoyment a bit.
As a kid, Ax was my favorite character. Now? I'm not so sure.
A rushed ending also spoiled my enjoyment a bit.
As a kid, Ax was my favorite character. Now? I'm not so sure.
kickbackyak's review against another edition
3.0
Review written: sometime before April 18, 2015
The Deception by Katherine Applegate
Why I read it: My book club was reading the series at the time.
Rating: 3/5
What I thought: The ending was somewhat wonky which is why I marked it down a bit, but this was still a pretty darn successful step towards the inexorable conclusion. One to keep.
The Deception by Katherine Applegate
Why I read it: My book club was reading the series at the time.
Rating: 3/5
What I thought: The ending was somewhat wonky which is why I marked it down a bit, but this was still a pretty darn successful step towards the inexorable conclusion. One to keep.
booksthatburn's review against another edition
4.0
The Animorphs battle Visser Two and Ax risks his relationship with them in order to stop WWIII. This book is especially tense because it starts where 45 ended, and we don’t get a resolution on an inter-personal scale within this one.
I understand why Ax, why everyone, made the decisions they did, but I’m not sure how I feel about it. It was expedient, brutal, and ruthless, and maybe it’ll be okay, but I don’t think I could have done it, and I don’t think I wish I could.
I understand why Ax, why everyone, made the decisions they did, but I’m not sure how I feel about it. It was expedient, brutal, and ruthless, and maybe it’ll be okay, but I don’t think I could have done it, and I don’t think I wish I could.
tachyondecay's review against another edition
4.0
Previously, on Animorphs…
The Animorphs have literally just succeeded in contacting the Andalite command. The Deception picks up with no time passing. The conversation goes about as poorly as you might expect. After the Animorphs narrowly escape with their lives, they discover that the former Visser Three is now Visser One (!!!!!) and there’s a new Visser Two in town who wants to fuck everyone up by starting a nuclear war.
So what do our plucky heroes do? That’s right: infiltrate a naval aircraft carrier out in the middle of the ocean.
This book has a lot of the hallmarks of the earliest Animorphs adventures. Notably, there is little in the way of a coherent plan here. Instead, the Animorphs fall back on their “roll with it” improv style of Yeerk-stomping. The difference between then and now is that the Animorphs have to compromise a lot more of their original tenets—like not morphing humans, at least non-consensually—in the name of fighting this war. The stakes are the highest, though, and I kind of can’t disagree with them … but emotionally, this is a tough book.
Everything is told from the point of view of Ax this time. His voice as a narrator has really matured over the series. Whereas he was once, “Lol, hey, silly humans, eating with holes on their face, cinnamon buns!” he is much more sobre, much more thoughtful and introspective. His faith in the righteousness of his own people has been shaken to its core by recent events. He is struggling to reconcile his identity as an Andalite with his allegiance to, and newfound appreciation for, humanity. That very allegiance allows him to go against the orders and initiate the eponymous deception of his prince, Jake, in order to do what he thinks is necessary. This book is all about Ax taking initiative, showing a backbone, and making tough decisions. And I am here for it.
I think it’s telling that Jake has basically given up asking Ax to lay off on addressing him as “prince”. As always, one of the joys of an Ax-narrated book is that we get to see the other Animorphs through his alien eyes. The other Animorphs, when describing each other, inevitably make excuses, editorialize—Ax doesn’t do that. He looks at each of Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, and Tobias and he tells us exactly what he sees—because he doesn’t know any better. And it’s so honest, the way he looks up to Jake as a leader even as he shoulders responsibilities he thinks Jake shouldn’t have to undertake, the way he coldly appreciates Rachel’s warrior aptitude.
This book is a little brutal not just for the massive carnage and death-toll on an aircraft carrier, not just for the threat of a nuclear strike on an American city, not just for the moral dimensions, but simply for the realization that the Animorphs might not be able to win this one. They can always keep fighting, but the Yeerks have no chill, and the Yeerks will always be willing to go that one step further, stoop that one level lower. The very principles the Animorphs are fighting to preserve might be why they ultimately lose this war—and if that is not a terrifying but true commentary on war, I don’t know what is.
The Deception establishes that this war has reached a turning point. Next time, in The Resistance, the Animorphs have to decide if they need to go public with this war.
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #45: The Revelation | #47: The Resistance →
The Animorphs have literally just succeeded in contacting the Andalite command. The Deception picks up with no time passing. The conversation goes about as poorly as you might expect. After the Animorphs narrowly escape with their lives, they discover that the former Visser Three is now Visser One (!!!!!) and there’s a new Visser Two in town who wants to fuck everyone up by starting a nuclear war.
So what do our plucky heroes do? That’s right: infiltrate a naval aircraft carrier out in the middle of the ocean.
This book has a lot of the hallmarks of the earliest Animorphs adventures. Notably, there is little in the way of a coherent plan here. Instead, the Animorphs fall back on their “roll with it” improv style of Yeerk-stomping. The difference between then and now is that the Animorphs have to compromise a lot more of their original tenets—like not morphing humans, at least non-consensually—in the name of fighting this war. The stakes are the highest, though, and I kind of can’t disagree with them … but emotionally, this is a tough book.
Everything is told from the point of view of Ax this time. His voice as a narrator has really matured over the series. Whereas he was once, “Lol, hey, silly humans, eating with holes on their face, cinnamon buns!” he is much more sobre, much more thoughtful and introspective. His faith in the righteousness of his own people has been shaken to its core by recent events. He is struggling to reconcile his identity as an Andalite with his allegiance to, and newfound appreciation for, humanity. That very allegiance allows him to go against the orders and initiate the eponymous deception of his prince, Jake, in order to do what he thinks is necessary. This book is all about Ax taking initiative, showing a backbone, and making tough decisions. And I am here for it.
I think it’s telling that Jake has basically given up asking Ax to lay off on addressing him as “prince”. As always, one of the joys of an Ax-narrated book is that we get to see the other Animorphs through his alien eyes. The other Animorphs, when describing each other, inevitably make excuses, editorialize—Ax doesn’t do that. He looks at each of Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, and Tobias and he tells us exactly what he sees—because he doesn’t know any better. And it’s so honest, the way he looks up to Jake as a leader even as he shoulders responsibilities he thinks Jake shouldn’t have to undertake, the way he coldly appreciates Rachel’s warrior aptitude.
This book is a little brutal not just for the massive carnage and death-toll on an aircraft carrier, not just for the threat of a nuclear strike on an American city, not just for the moral dimensions, but simply for the realization that the Animorphs might not be able to win this one. They can always keep fighting, but the Yeerks have no chill, and the Yeerks will always be willing to go that one step further, stoop that one level lower. The very principles the Animorphs are fighting to preserve might be why they ultimately lose this war—and if that is not a terrifying but true commentary on war, I don’t know what is.
The Deception establishes that this war has reached a turning point. Next time, in The Resistance, the Animorphs have to decide if they need to go public with this war.
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #45: The Revelation | #47: The Resistance →
More...