Reviews - Animorphs #2: The Visitor by K.A. Applegate

404 reviews for:

Animorphs #2: The Visitor by K.A. Applegate

K.A. Applegate, K.A. Applegate

3.74 AVERAGE

404 reviews for:

Animorphs #2: The Visitor by K.A. Applegate

K.A. Applegate, K.A. Applegate

3.74 AVERAGE

veraamber's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous hopeful sad 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

I love Rachel's character and seeing the beginning of her storyline in this series. She's cocky, a little arrogant, and confident she knows what she's doing. At the same time, she's a teenage girl dealing with a very tough situation, and reacts in some very teenage ways. And with her being a teenage girl, I adore her little interactions with Tobias and how she thinks about him.

It's hard for this book to hold up to the first one (which does such an excellent job introducing characters, the high stakes, the status quo, etc.) but The Visitor does a pretty good job. I love the slow horror of realizing that Melissa

knows there is something fundamentally wrong with her parents,

but she's unable to do anything about it. It's a realistic look into how

having Controller parents

would look and feel. Chapman's character is also very well done.

I really appreciate how this book hammers home the stakes by showing us what it's like to be a Controller (although, of course,

that is covered in much more detail later

.) Chapman has very little agency, but uses it as much as he is capable of to

protect his daughter.

My main critique of this book is the final fight scene. I love what Rachel and Jake were up to, including the first use of someone strategically

half-morphing

. (I also enjoyed seeing the characters be curious about how morphing works - is there a number on the limit of morphs? They have no way of finding out until it happens, which in itself provides some horror.) However, I thought the construction equipment being left at the abandoned construction site being fully operational and ready to go was a little silly/hard to believe. I would've like some mention of

Cassie and Marco

struggling to get the construction equipment going - and an explanation of why they chose to do that over morph. However, this is a natural consequence of the book being only from Rachel's point of view. I also thought this book was a little light on the gore/body horror compared to other Animorphs books.

Additionally, I'm confused on why the abandoned construction site is now Visser Three's go-to landing spot for the Blade Ship. I would think that, since UFOs had been spotted there previously, they would avoid the area in case humans are keeping an eye out for more UFOs at that particular location. (It's also right next to the mall!) That said, Visser Three is stupid, so he might not have a good reason.

I also felt bad for Marco in this book. I know he is most at odds with Rachel out of anyone in the group - which is why Marco is presented the way he is in this book - but the way his jokes are repeatedly described as falling flat was a little off-putting. Of course, Marco himself is feeling very put off in these situations, so it does make some sense.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and only have minor issues with it. I'm excited to see the "growth" of Rachel's character over the next books and get more into what it's like to be a Yeerk.