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iftheshoef1tz's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I spent most of book 2 wondering how Tobias felt after being stuck in a hawk body since book 1. His wistfulness, despite living a shitty life as a human, was so touching, as was his fear and inability to avoid the hawk brain. The others’ reactions to him - the way they forgot or were painfully aware and afraid of triggering Tobias - were really similar to how I think a lot of people deal with someone’s grief or disability. The emphasis on grief being human and necessary for being human was such a beautiful thing to include in a children’s book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Grief
Moderate: Animal death
booksthatburn's review
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Murder, Dysphoria, Death, Violence, War, Animal death, Slavery, and Body horror
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Death of parent
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Animal death, War, Violence, Gun violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Grief, and Dysphoria
Minor: Death of parent and Child abuse
c_dmckinney's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Slavery, Suicide attempt, War, Colonisation, Animal death, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Death, Dysphoria, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Grief, Gore, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, and Panic attacks/disorders
kaaaaaaaa's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Due to a mixture of nostalgia and understanding the average age of the books' audience, I'm trying to be pretty lenient on this reread. That being said, I cannot get over a) Tobias interrupting a LIVE commercial for a car dealership, a television phenomenon I certainly don't remember from the '90s, and b) Marco throwing a baseball so accurately and with such force that it breaks a skylight .
Also, in case anyone is curious, the "Alpha" wolf thing, while believed true at the time of publication, is flawed science:
The 1947 paper that drew conclusions about wolf hierarchies was describing two wolf packs in captivity. The study specimens were unrelated animals who'd been brought together at a Swiss zoo, where they shared an enclosure measuring 2,153 square feet (200 square meters).
Unlike their counterparts at the Swiss zoo, natural wolf packs mainly consist of genetic relatives. They also take up way more space, patrolling territories of 1,000 square miles (2,590 square kilometers) or larger.
And the term 'alpha' isn't really accurate when describing most of the leaders of wolf packs. Because the term implies that the wolves fought and competed strongly to get to the top of the pack. In actuality, the way they get there is by mating with a member of the opposite sex, producing a bunch of offspring which are the rest of the pack, and becoming the natural leaders that way. Just like with a pair of humans producing a family.
Also, in case anyone is curious, the "Alpha" wolf thing, while believed true at the time of publication, is flawed science:
The 1947 paper that drew conclusions about wolf hierarchies was describing two wolf packs in captivity. The study specimens were unrelated animals who'd been brought together at a Swiss zoo, where they shared an enclosure measuring 2,153 square feet (200 square meters).
Unlike their counterparts at the Swiss zoo, natural wolf packs mainly consist of genetic relatives. They also take up way more space, patrolling territories of 1,000 square miles (2,590 square kilometers) or larger.
And the term 'alpha' isn't really accurate when describing most of the leaders of wolf packs. Because the term implies that the wolves fought and competed strongly to get to the top of the pack. In actuality, the way they get there is by mating with a member of the opposite sex, producing a bunch of offspring which are the rest of the pack, and becoming the natural leaders that way. Just like with a pair of humans producing a family.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, War, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, and Dysphoria
Minor: Death of parent, Confinement, and Abandonment
Tobias's legal guardians check up on him/with each other so little that they haven't noticedendaira91's review
dark
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Body horror, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Dysphoria
phillyhufflepunk's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dysphoria, Mental illness, Animal death, Body horror, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and War
Minor: Gore and Grief
kstericker's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Body horror
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Murder, War, and Suicidal thoughts
khiwords's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I wasn’t sure how Tobias’ POV would have worked since he is stuck in hawk form but I really liked it. I got emotional more times than I expected. I wasn’t expecting it to get dark but I appreciate it because being stuck as a hawk would be horrible in retrospect.
I found Rachel and Tobias’ friendship to be extremely endearing. She really grounds him and the care they have for each other is off the charts. I do wish we got to see how they got so close but it is what it is.
Marco was funny as always. I really liked the moment he helps Tobias escape the mall. It cemented my headcanon of them being bitchy to each other but secretly caring.
The ending action scene was a bit confusing but I think the author just isn’t that great at writing detailed action scenes. But it was still enjoyable and hooked me in.
I found Rachel and Tobias’ friendship to be extremely endearing. She really grounds him and the care they have for each other is off the charts. I do wish we got to see how they got so close but it is what it is.
Marco was funny as always.
The ending action scene was a bit confusing but I think the author just isn’t that great at writing detailed action scenes. But it was still enjoyable and hooked me in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Body horror, and Suicidal thoughts
magicalghoul's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
<Yeah. I know. That's how I know that you are wrong, Rachel, at least partly. I am a human, yes. But I am also a hawk. I'm a predator who kills for food. And I'm also a human being who... who grieves, over death.>
She was terribly sad. She's very human, my friend Rachel.
♢ 3/62 OF THE ANIMORPHS REREAD
⚠ tws for the entire series: war, death, child soldiers, child death, descriptions of gore, body horror, discussions of parental death, slugs, parasites, loss of free will, depictions of PTSD and trauma, ableism, imperialism.
Tobias' books are about the search for his identity and personhood, about duality and finding yourself within it, about his role in the group (a theme for all of the animorphs!) and how he stands as a warning for the rest— and also for the reader to know that the stakes are real and will affect our protagonists, in case it wasn't clear from all the death and suffering they've already come across in only two books.
His narration is turned towards interiority and this one being the first, is the peak example of it, I think. It's after all one of those points where Tobias' identity is more fractured (what with Just being trapped in a hawk body and all) to the point of being suicidal, and the narration of his inner conflict is really really gutting— made even more poignant if you're listening to the audiobooks, whose narrator did a great job in carrying across Tobias' emotionality.
Highlights: The depiction of Tobias' relationship with Rachel, the Berensons being such battle axes As Usual, these kids deciding they'd rather die than be taken captive AND WE'RE ONLY ON BOOK 3, the entirety of the mall scene, and Rachel saying "a person isn't his body" and thus supporting the fact that you can 100% read Tobias as trans. TRANS RIGHTS 🏳️⚧️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Body horror and Gore