Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Unknown by K.A. Applegate

2 reviews

kstericker's review

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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ramiel's review

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funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

And that's how we ended up discovering the evil horses that threatened all of humanity.

This one... sure is something. It feels like a genuine fever dream. Cassie's last book was something out of a Saturday morning cartoon (mixed with some termite horror), and this one just keeps running with that (complete with a man from a military base fully prepared to murder then arrest three thirteen year old children) (yes, murder first, then spends the rest of his appearances trying to arrest them).

Quick synopsis: There's something weird going on with the horses out by Area 51 Zone 91, the secret government base where secret alien tech is said to be kept (... by a character named "Crazy Helen"). How much do you want to bet the Yeerks are involved?

Spoiler: they're involved. In order to figure out what the piece of alien tech Zone 91 is said to have is, and in order to keep humans ignorant of the fact that aliens are out there, the Yeerks have... made wild horses into controllers so they can walk into Zone 91 without being noticed? What?

We get a lot of shit jokes - made even worse when we find out... spoiler, the alien tech is an Andalite toilet. Which Ax is mortified to have to explain.

And then the book continues, making the kids save the military asshole who tried to kill and then arrest the kids from being made into a Controller. I'm not a fan and I wanted the book to end ages sooner. Cassie deserves better, frankly.

Which, the next Cassie book is quite possibly one of the best books in the series so, thank god.

Also, I want to know why Rachel and Cassie were so determined to treat everything "Crazy Helen" said as absolute fiction when it's all completely within the realm of possibility given their current lives. What, y'all can believe in body snatching aliens and gamer god but not Atlantis??? Y'all can't believe that aliens may have affected human development and technology but you accept the Chee exist and have existed among humans for millenia?????

Anyway, things I enjoyed in this one:

Marco and Rachel lying and saying their names were Fox Mulder and Dana Scully while Cassie panicked and said she was Cindy Crawford made me weep. Cassie is precious. Marco and Rachel say acab.

Its where the "some day, all horses will be blue" line is from and that one's a classic. Cassie winning a goddamn derby was funny as hell.

Visser 3 continues to be a cartoon villain murdering his minions and then saying hilarious shit afterwards. Such as, after killing someone for not knowing what the alien tech they saw in Zone 91 was, he says: <Weeks have been wasted setting up this effort. First we lose that clumsy fool, Korin Five-Four-Seven, when he was bitten by a snake. And now we've lost poor Jillay Nine-Two-Six!> Then he cuts the head off of someone in a Daffy Duck costume and is absolutely terrified of the fact that they're still alive. Beautiful, honestly.
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