Reviews

The Invasion by K.A. Applegate

Only show reviews with written explanations

devirtualized's review

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

juniperbranches's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

4.5

I know I'm older than the target audience, but this is just plain bad writing. I thought the concept was great, but then there's dialogue like this:

"It isn't very big, is it?"
"It's about - about three or four times as big as our minivan."

Oof. And it felt more than a little strange to read all the times the protagonist said his cousin was pretty - but "he doesn't think of her like that" - nor is she pretty when her elephant trunk is retracting into her face. Why on earth does her attractiveness matter so much? Especially when she's doing something as cool as morphing?!

all_seeing_ifer's review

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3.0

Felt like trying to do a full reread of one of my favourite childhood series. This was a fascinating book to go back to - far pulpier than I ever really registered as a kid, and looking back as an adult a lot of it's dumber than I remember and the foreshadowing is way more obvious, but the things I remember most clearly sticking with me about this series: the dark tone, the sense of dread, the genuinely shocking moments of violence and body horror, the wildly creative sci fi concepts and creatures, they're all there. Just as good as they were when I was eight. Kids need books like this that take them seriously. I'll be buying my nephew a copy once he's old enough for sure.

wai's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This series was a special interest of mine when I was in elementary school. I was absolutely obsessed and loved it dearly. This is the first time I've really attempted a re-read of the series, and so far it holds up - while some of the references might be dated now, the characters still feel real and the conflict still feels intense and all consuming. I'm excited to continue the series and see if I continue to feel this way.

Content Warnings