279 reviews for:

The Message

K.A. Applegate

3.81 AVERAGE

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
fast-paced

Intriguing plot points presented in this one and I’m excited to see the new addition to the crew, Ax! 

In this book, Cassie and Tobias experience identical dreams of an Andalite voice calling to them from the ocean. Jake, Cassie, Rachel and Marco morph into dolphins to follow the call, which leads them to a submerged Andalite ship. The ship is like an underwater ecosphere, much like Sandy Cheeks' home in Spongebob Squarepants. The ship plays home to Ax, Prince Elfangor's brother, who escapes with the Animorphs and agrees to help them fight the Yeerks.

Unfortunately Visser Three had also heard the Andalite call for help, and the Controllers immediately took to the oceans. Visser Three sees the Animorphs and Ax escape the dome in dolphin and shark form, and pursues them in the body of some monstrous alien sea creature. The Animorphs are nearly captured by Visser Three when a pod of whales come to their rescue, offended by the alien abomination tarnishing their precious ocean. The Animorphs and Ax make it safely to dry land, where Ax acquires their DNA and morphs into a mix of Jake, Cassie, Marco and Rachel.

Somewhere along the way Elfangor revea;s that the Yeerks set out to not only control the minds of each species they conquer, but to destroy their planets too. The Yeerks plan to kill off Earth's animals and turn the planet into something closer resembling their own barren wasteland home. Cassie had been having ethical reservations about morphing into a dolphin due to their high intelligence, but her doubts are immediately cast aside when she hears this.

--

Super excited by this revelation that the Yeerks plan to all but destroy planet Earth! I'm interested as to why they'd bother doing so, because there's got to be a deeper motivation than them just being pure evil and resentful that their homeworld is a shithole. I hope we get to see or hear a bit more about the Yeerk homeworld, as all we know right now is that it's a giant muddy pond. I'd like to know how they got off their planet in the first place, given that they're essentially just angry slugs that lie around bathing in Kandrona rays all day!

And yay for spazzy Andalite Ax showing up, I'd completely forgotten about him in the TV show!
adventurous fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
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: Complicated
adventurous dark mysterious tense 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: Complicated

adventurous mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous 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: Complicated

Cassie & Tobias realise they have been having the same dream, a cry for help coming from the depths of the ocean. Soon, a plan is hatched - and new animal forms acquired - seagulls, dolphins - in order to hopefully pull off a rescue mission. The stakes are raised when they realise that Visser Three is also searching. Cassie really struggles with the ethics of morphing into more sentient creatures (dolphins) and feeling responsible for putting the others in dangerous situations. The sound effects in the audiobook really add to the experience. 
adventurous hopeful inspiring 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: No

New morphs, new character, and a little more movement in the galaxy-wide plot. Higher stakes in the water, and higher stakes with more info about the Yeerks.