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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
We’re picking off right where we left off. Last book, we were following Jake; for this adventure, we’re following his cousin Rachel, a fellow animorph and witness to the Andalite Prince’s death that changed all their lives. Jake’s brother Tom is a Controller, meaning a Yeerk (Space Slug) has slithered into his ear and taken control of his body. While he deals with that, the animorphs are determined to investigate the other candidates for Controllers around their school. Rachel is bid to reconnect with her friend Melissa because her father might be body-snatched!
Applegate does it again and indeed starts to deposit some sediments of the famous eldritch-like horror that the adults who are still obsessed with this series love to point out in nerdy podcasts. Tobias being a hawk for so long and experiencing the horrifically described body dysmorphia, the strange visuals of the Andalites, of phase shifting and the cannibalistic nature of the space savages and their goons. Like the invasion, we the readers are treated to trippy explanations of how different animal brains work and feel, and all the fun facts animal lover Cassie has to offer!
Rachel’s plan is to turn into a shrew, to lure a cat, to *be* a cat, and spy on Melissa’s father. By the halfway point, she’s done it! And found out that the Yeerks have another weakness, aside from their vulnerable state in the pools, finds out their principal and his wife are Controllers in direct contact with their main enemy (for now) Visor-3. Ominously, he says “If the counsel of twelve has a problem with me, I’ll have a problem with you”. If he, the only Andalite Controller in the galaxy, is only the third of his name and answers to 12 beings more powerful than him? Then the kids have got a storm coming! Rachel also learns that Melissa senses something is wrong and cries herself to sleep at night worrying about whether her parents love her, what she’s doing wrong. Heartbreaking allegory, the whole thing. As a cat, Rachel comforts her friend and continues to spy on her murderous father. It’s revealed that the host and his wife have significant wills of their own and bartered their capture for their daughter’s freedom, much like with Tom and Jake in the previous book.
Captured, but not alone, Melissa manages to burst free of Visor-3 and the Controller principal with the help of the other animorphs, who refuse to leave her side. Another confrontation, another near escape and Rachel was almost stuck as a cat forever, but they all make it out in one piece. Rachel leaves a note for Melissa to reassure her, swears to herself to be a better friend, and to never stop trying to protect her friends from monsters!
The Animorphs should have been more popular, they really snapped. A lot of my five-star rating is nostalgia, but I really do think this is the perfect middle-grade story.
Applegate does it again and indeed starts to deposit some sediments of the famous eldritch-like horror that the adults who are still obsessed with this series love to point out in nerdy podcasts. Tobias being a hawk for so long and experiencing the horrifically described body dysmorphia, the strange visuals of the Andalites, of phase shifting and the cannibalistic nature of the space savages and their goons. Like the invasion, we the readers are treated to trippy explanations of how different animal brains work and feel, and all the fun facts animal lover Cassie has to offer!
Rachel’s plan is to turn into a shrew, to lure a cat, to *be* a cat, and spy on Melissa’s father. By the halfway point, she’s done it! And found out that the Yeerks have another weakness, aside from their vulnerable state in the pools, finds out their principal and his wife are Controllers in direct contact with their main enemy (for now) Visor-3. Ominously, he says “If the counsel of twelve has a problem with me, I’ll have a problem with you”. If he, the only Andalite Controller in the galaxy, is only the third of his name and answers to 12 beings more powerful than him? Then the kids have got a storm coming! Rachel also learns that Melissa senses something is wrong and cries herself to sleep at night worrying about whether her parents love her, what she’s doing wrong. Heartbreaking allegory, the whole thing. As a cat, Rachel comforts her friend and continues to spy on her murderous father. It’s revealed that the host and his wife have significant wills of their own and bartered their capture for their daughter’s freedom, much like with Tom and Jake in the previous book.
Captured, but not alone, Melissa manages to burst free of Visor-3 and the Controller principal with the help of the other animorphs, who refuse to leave her side. Another confrontation, another near escape and Rachel was almost stuck as a cat forever, but they all make it out in one piece. Rachel leaves a note for Melissa to reassure her, swears to herself to be a better friend, and to never stop trying to protect her friends from monsters!
The Animorphs should have been more popular, they really snapped. A lot of my five-star rating is nostalgia, but I really do think this is the perfect middle-grade story.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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:
No
I listened to The Worst Bestsellers' episode on the Animorphs series and now I'm trapped on the nostalgia train!
It's a pretty fun train, though.
Edit: I realized as I was proudly entering this into my booklog that this is the second book called [b:The Visitor|893380|The Visitor|Maeve Brennan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349069517s/893380.jpg|918707] that I've read this year (the other, as you can see from clicking that link, was rather different). Contemplating that made me wonder -- why the heck is this installment called The Visitor anyway? The plot of this one mostly has to do with Rachel spying on her old friend Melissa, whose parents are controlled by Yeerks, in the form of Melissa's cat. Who exactly is the "visitor" in this scenario? Rachel in cat form? Or the Yeerks themselves? If so, that's kind of a downgrade from [b:The Invasion|776877|The Invasion (Animorphs, #1)|Katherine Applegate|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1456853880s/776877.jpg|356806] of the last book. First! The aliens invaded! Now! They've come...to tea!
This is some deep Animorphs reading, you guys.
It's a pretty fun train, though.
Edit: I realized as I was proudly entering this into my booklog that this is the second book called [b:The Visitor|893380|The Visitor|Maeve Brennan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349069517s/893380.jpg|918707] that I've read this year (the other, as you can see from clicking that link, was rather different). Contemplating that made me wonder -- why the heck is this installment called The Visitor anyway? The plot of this one mostly has to do with Rachel spying on her old friend Melissa, whose parents are controlled by Yeerks, in the form of Melissa's cat. Who exactly is the "visitor" in this scenario? Rachel in cat form? Or the Yeerks themselves? If so, that's kind of a downgrade from [b:The Invasion|776877|The Invasion (Animorphs, #1)|Katherine Applegate|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1456853880s/776877.jpg|356806] of the last book. First! The aliens invaded! Now! They've come...to tea!
This is some deep Animorphs reading, you guys.
adventurous
hopeful
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
emotional
I'm not the target of these books so I'll keep rating them 3/5 instead of 2/5 as long as they're not problematic or sth. They're so much fun, I love shape shifting. I just hope the characters were more fleshed out
adventurous
dark
emotional