Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Muukalainen

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Muukalainen by K.A. Applegate

1 review

ramiel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

Another "first time being the POV" in the series, this time for our resident alien, Aximili (while, technically, his first POV chapters were in Megamorphs, I'm discounting it as it tells us little behind Ax as a person and is more him reacting to an external emergency).

"Look... look... I have to follow the rules."
"Do you?" Cassie asked. It was the first time she had spoken. Her voice was soft and reasonable. "Did Elfangor follow the rules when he gave us the power to morph?"
"I'm not Elfangor!" I yelled. "Can't you see that? I'm not some big hero. I'm just a young Andalite, all right? You want the truth? Here's some truth for you: I'm not a warrior. I'm an aristh. A... a trainee. A cadet. A nobody."

Going back to my old reviews, the previous "first POV books" for the other kids all ended with something that strengthened their resolve to stay in the fight. Ax, however, needs no such influence. Being an andalite conscripted into the military, growing up in a culture saturated in military propaganda and hatred for the yeerks, and being the younger brother of Elfangor - a war hero supposedly loved by all - pretty much dictate his decision to fight. To him, he is an andalite, and this is simply what he must do. Ax's conflict, instead, comes from being an alien in a strange world, and from those rules and customs of his people conflicting with his newfound friends on earth.

In a way, he's a little more like Tobias, who's first book was also less about "the resolve to fight" and more about "who am I now?"

This is one of my favorite books in the series, as it's one that highlights one of my favorite parts of Animorphs: the way it highlights Earth and humanity not necessarily as something Better or Worse than other aliens, but turns it's descriptions of our planet and lives around to show us how things we consider ordinary are really, truly extraordinary if you look at them from an outsider's view. It also allows us a look at andalite culture, the first real look that peels away the mask of the "almighty saviors", and I want to say the first look of a yeerk character who actively defies his people to work with the enemy. (Which, Eslin still fulfills the role of "evil yeerk", just with a shade of "humanity" that fuels his rage and pushes him to do anything to kill Visser 3. Which is completely different from Aftran and the Yeerk Peace Movement later. But, still.)

One thing I loved seeing in this book, a piece of Ax's development that formed here, was him and his relation to Elfangor. Similar to all the other previous books, Elfangor is seen as essentially as a savior, far beyond what the andalite military considers as "saviors of the galaxy". Still, to nearly everyone on the andalite planet, Elfangor is perfect. He's a good person, he's strong and smart and his presence alone draws you to him. The andalite military puts him on a pedestal and calls him the perfect example of an andalite warrior, and they believe it, too. Ax, being Elfangor's younger brother, is constantly in his brother's shadow, and doesn't believe he'll ever be able to be anything more than that, no matter how good of a warrior he becomes. Ax also believes Elfangor is "perfect", and strives to be like him.

Only, in the beginning of the book, he gets it wrong.

We're given a prologue in this book, just before the yeerks attacked the andalite ship, before Elfangor was murdered and Ax sunk in the sea. Ax is eager to be among the high ranking andalites despite being a cadet, and he's desperate for a fight to prove himself in. He wants to be a war hero, like his brother, he wants to be known for something among his people, he wants to be praised by them, even when he's all alone on earth.

Ax spends the book in a flux, his human friends are noticing that Ax knows things that he's not telling them, and when he contacts his own people for the first time he finds himself branded with Elfangor's "mistake" (of sharing andalite technology with the kids before he died) in order to clear Elfangor's name. Should he continue to follow the laws of a people lightyears away, people who've already written off the planet he finds himself stuck on, a planet where he's become close to others? or does he help those people, share what knowledge he has and work together with them properly.

In the end, he chooses the latter. Contacting his homeworld a second time he makes this clear to his higher ups, stating that these humans are his people now, and he will do everything to keep their planet from being destroyed. This is said flat out in the dialogue, in shedding off the propaganda and rules of his home world and choosing to do what he thinks is right, Ax finds himself closer to Elfangor - the real Elfangor, not the military hero - than he ever was before.

Other little things I liked included: Jake showing his own viscous side again as he watches yeerks die and release their human Controllers, Marco and Rachel working together to snap on Ax when they're fed up with him withholding information, Cassie being the one who's there for Ax when he cries, and Tobias and Ax's relationship growing stronger as well. Additionally, this book didn't shy away from human evils, as Cassie points out our crueller side when it comes to things such as war.

Further, this is another book that made me more excited to get to Andalite Chronicles, where Elfangor essentially is revealed to be absolutely nothing like who the military set him up to be.

Things I questioned: at one point, Ax morphs human so he can see what school is like. The kids pass him off as Jake's cousin, which just seems hella dangerous. They're under the direct eye of Chapman, who can easily get the truth from Tom that they sure as hell don't have a cousin Phillip. It would have made more sense for him to be "related" to Cassie or Marco, or hell even Rachel on her mom's side. Also, nervous laughter at Ax saying his government would fear humans (or any aliens given their technology) could be the next "Space Imperialists" and the kids essentially going "oh humans would never". Kids... please...

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