Scan barcode
chloeajohnsen's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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
as exhausting as i often find cassie’s inability to see the forest for the trees, i like that in the end, she chose to stand by her stance even with the personal cost. this one was more morality than really any of them have been so far and i appreciated the break from the formulaic little-research-big-battle formula. i will say the beginning of the book made me unreasonably angry because cassie would rather in the beginning of this book say “fuck jake’s brother, marco’s mom, and every other person in the world. i don’t have to actually be a good person as long as i can still feel like one.” i’m glad the yeerk was the way she was and i actually feel horrible that she won’t ever experience sight and color again.
muffmacguff's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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
5.0
I read a lot of this series as it was being released (I fell off at some point and I’m excited to find where). That means I was in early middle school when this one came out.
My parents bonded over a love of Proust - my father recommended his work to my mother, who then read it in French. I mention this because they used to give me a hard time for reading Animorphs; they thought I should be reading more challenging and sophisticated work. I tried to explain to them that while Animorphs books were short and the protagonists were children, these were as challenging and sophisticated as anything else I’d read. They didn’t believe it, so finally I gave them this book - I remembered these twenty-plus years that it was book #19 - and asked them to please read this beautiful story.
This is, to me, the Animorphs at their very best. Some action but mainly a big complicated problem involving interspecies warfare, and the Animorphs all feeling differently about how to solve it. But beyond that, the Cassie books are just different. The Animorphs all suffer from their trauma in their own ways, but Cassie is the only one who is tormented by an insecurity about whether fighting is right at all. While Rachel has discovered that she is her best self when fighting (and that’s a hard thing for her to deal with), Cassie never gets more comfortable with killing aliens. Through her eyes, we see the toll this war takes on someone who reveres life. And in this book she splits with the Animorphs to try to make the world a little bit better without fighting.
My mom agreed the book was pretty good but also insisted I should read thicker books. My dad didn’t get around to reading it (and still feels bad about it - I forgive you!).
I don’t know which of the Animorphs I’d be most like in their shoes, but I agree so completely with Jake - you can’t build a better world after the fighting without people like Cassie.
Sobbed through this entire book.
My parents bonded over a love of Proust - my father recommended his work to my mother, who then read it in French. I mention this because they used to give me a hard time for reading Animorphs; they thought I should be reading more challenging and sophisticated work. I tried to explain to them that while Animorphs books were short and the protagonists were children, these were as challenging and sophisticated as anything else I’d read. They didn’t believe it, so finally I gave them this book - I remembered these twenty-plus years that it was book #19 - and asked them to please read this beautiful story.
This is, to me, the Animorphs at their very best. Some action but mainly a big complicated problem involving interspecies warfare, and the Animorphs all feeling differently about how to solve it. But beyond that, the Cassie books are just different. The Animorphs all suffer from their trauma in their own ways, but Cassie is the only one who is tormented by an insecurity about whether fighting is right at all. While Rachel has discovered that she is her best self when fighting (and that’s a hard thing for her to deal with), Cassie never gets more comfortable with killing aliens. Through her eyes, we see the toll this war takes on someone who reveres life. And in this book she splits with the Animorphs to try to make the world a little bit better without fighting.
My mom agreed the book was pretty good but also insisted I should read thicker books. My dad didn’t get around to reading it (and still feels bad about it - I forgive you!).
I don’t know which of the Animorphs I’d be most like in their shoes, but I agree so completely with Jake - you can’t build a better world after the fighting without people like Cassie.
Sobbed through this entire book.
carlasofiaferreira's review
5.0
Wow, this is truly Animorphs at its best. So much to love in this book that explores the fierce tenderness of Cassie, whose actions at times feel hopelessly invested in kindness and peace to a fault, and yet as Jake says (and I paraphrase), once the war is won, we better hope there are still Cassies. So many difficult conversations on the nature of evil and the dangers of the false binary of heroes v villains. Name a series that does a better job exploring humanity and morality without being pedantic. I can't and this book is that at its finest. A can't miss read that's compelling throughout and with a beautiful ending. One of the only books in the series that actually had me in literal tears at one point.
Also, a leopard on the loose?!?!
Also, a leopard on the loose?!?!
neonnikki's review
5.0
The series is about to take a turn and get a bit darker, so it's cool to meet a yeerk and get a look in on 'the bad guys'. Also, while Cassie isn't my fave, I understand her, and why she feels the way she does.
coolkid97's review
5.0
WOW. WOWOWOWOW!!!!! this is by far one of the best animorphs books so far. i read it in 3 hours and it made me cry at work 100/10!!!!!
kavtom's review
5.0
Honestly, this is my favourite of the series so far. Cassie is usually the most calm and balanced of the group. But she's also the most empathetic, so all the violence takes the most toll on her. I just love her endless compassion to all the living things. And that she tries to be moral, even in impossible situations.
I love the stories where the enemies are stuck together and are forced to learn abut and understand each other, and come to terms with the idea that not all your enemies are pure evil that have to be destroyed. This was great. I hope that Yeerek shows up again. Or Karen. I wonder what will her life be like after all she's seen and lived through.
I love the stories where the enemies are stuck together and are forced to learn abut and understand each other, and come to terms with the idea that not all your enemies are pure evil that have to be destroyed. This was great. I hope that Yeerek shows up again. Or Karen. I wonder what will her life be like after all she's seen and lived through.
manwithanagenda's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Cassie has been a difficult one, she raises the questions that get in the way of the simple narrative of Animorphs vs. Yeerks. Cassie sees the grey areas and, in her words, believes that all life is sacred.
This book gets to the heart of Cassie's dilemma as a fighter and a preserver of life. It is the first nearly perfect Animorphs novel. She must make a decision about what it means to be an Animorph, if the personal costs are worth the reward, and confront the enemy for the first time in realistic terms. I was surprised by Aftran.
In the end the series still has to hold to the heist narratives and wrap most things up by the end of 160 pages, which means I should deduct a point or three, but I just can't. There was a battle in the beginning fifty feet from unsuspecting humans and nobody noticed despite the dying hork-bajir. There was one other major question concerning Karen, but this was amazing, so I'll just go with it.
Animorphs
Next: 'The Discovery'
Previous: 'In the Time of the Dinosaurs'
This book gets to the heart of Cassie's dilemma as a fighter and a preserver of life. It is the first nearly perfect Animorphs novel. She must make a decision about what it means to be an Animorph, if the personal costs are worth the reward, and confront the enemy for the first time in realistic terms. I was surprised by Aftran.
In the end the series still has to hold to the heist narratives and wrap most things up by the end of 160 pages, which means I should deduct a point or three, but I just can't. There was a battle in the beginning fifty feet from unsuspecting humans and nobody noticed despite the dying hork-bajir. There was one other major question concerning Karen, but this was amazing, so I'll just go with it.
Animorphs
Next: 'The Discovery'
Previous: 'In the Time of the Dinosaurs'
anoctoberaugust's review
5.0
The best Animorphs book. Cried on a train when I first read it. Animorphs is great when it leans into the "wacky fun adventure" aspects, AND it's great when it leans into the implications and ethics of being a child soldier, and this one does the latter superbly.
clevelandy99's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse
kelseyr713's review
5.0
This one switches things up a bit, focusing solely on what Cassie’s doing until the last few chapters. Good thoughts here on morality.