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sapphiremarie's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bookishbarnowl's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Our first book from Ax's perspective: an interesting take on what it is to be human from an outsider's perspective; moral dilemmas that are rather challenging for an older children's book. I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the previous books but it was still an interesting ride.
aneton's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
rhia42's review against another edition
5.0
Interesting seeing things from the perspective of Ax, the Andalite. I like that we learn a little bit more about the Andalites and their customs. I'm interested to see more. Love Ax!
garnetofeden's review against another edition
2.0
The first book in the series from Ax's point of view. With so much potential, the quality of writing in this book was disappointing to me. Perhaps because Ax is an alien, it is more apparent that the character's speech patterns are different in each book. Considering ghostwriters don't start writing books until the middle of the series, I'm not sure why this is. The fact there weren't multiple authors also takes away a simple explanation for series continuity errors.
In Book 6, The Capture, the Yeerk in Jake's head died after experiencing Kandrona starvation. Upon death, the Yeerk body disintegrated. However, despite this knowledge, around pg. 32 the human Animorphs, including Jake, believe that when the police take away the man going crazy because the Yeerk in his head is starving that humanity will learn about the invasion because, "They have a real, live Yeerk now."
However, there was also inconsistency within the book.
One of the major issues with this book's plot occurs towards the end. Although there have been other instances of plot wrapping up too conveniently and pat (e.g., The Predator), the plot in this book experiences a major failure in logic. To quote the review of Lymsleia (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/247367525), "They have Alloran right there! Even if none of them can bring themselves to kill him as he begs them to do, they could at least take him away! Hide him somewhere! Do ANYTHING except letting him just lie there so Visser Three can come back to take him over again. They could've gained an amazing new ally and taken one of the Yeerks strongest Controllers away at the same time! But no, we can't do that."
During the movie theater scene I wondered if in the reprint they would update where Ax asks, "Why is the screen flat and two-dimensional?" (pg. 20), considering that so many movies are in 3D now. It sounds like they're watching a Star Trek movie (pg. 22). Considering the publication date, I wondered if it was Star Trek: First Contact which came out in 1996. Maybe they will use the newer Star Trek movie or a different movie altogether in the reprint.
Another area I'm interested to see how they deal with during the reprint is the following: "Books are an amazing human invention. They allow instant access to information simply by turning pieces of paper. They are much faster to use than computers." (pg. 67) With today's technology, I'm pretty sure it's faster to find information in a book on a computer than an actual paper book.
Rating reviewed 1/23/2023.
Spoiler
I don't remember which book it was, but in one of the books Ax constantly refers to human measurements as "your-measurement unit" or "earth-measurement unit". However, in this book, he refers to measurements in earth units before he has even met any of the human Animorphs. For example, when he is trapped in the dome underwater he says, "Looking up, I could barely see the surface of the water a hundred feet or more over the top of the dome." (pg. 8) Although that depth measurement does make it reasonable for the Animorphs to rescue him in Book 4 using a dolphin morph.In Book 6, The Capture, the Yeerk in Jake's head died after experiencing Kandrona starvation. Upon death, the Yeerk body disintegrated. However, despite this knowledge, around pg. 32 the human Animorphs, including Jake, believe that when the police take away the man going crazy because the Yeerk in his head is starving that humanity will learn about the invasion because, "They have a real, live Yeerk now."
However, there was also inconsistency within the book.
Spoiler
1 lightyear = 5.878x10^12 miles. Using the value of 82 lightyears from Book 5, The Predator, the Andalite home planet is 4.82x10^14 miles from Earth. Even at just 1 lightyear, the distance would be in the trillions rather than billions of miles. 82 lightyears is another two orders of magnitude in distance. The magnitude error could be overlooked, but although in some places the distance to Ax's home world is referred to by him as being billions of miles away, in other places he states it as being about a billion miles (pg. 34).One of the major issues with this book's plot occurs towards the end. Although there have been other instances of plot wrapping up too conveniently and pat (e.g., The Predator), the plot in this book experiences a major failure in logic. To quote the review of Lymsleia (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/247367525), "They have Alloran right there! Even if none of them can bring themselves to kill him as he begs them to do, they could at least take him away! Hide him somewhere! Do ANYTHING except letting him just lie there so Visser Three can come back to take him over again. They could've gained an amazing new ally and taken one of the Yeerks strongest Controllers away at the same time! But no, we can't do that."
During the movie theater scene I wondered if in the reprint they would update where Ax asks, "Why is the screen flat and two-dimensional?" (pg. 20), considering that so many movies are in 3D now. It sounds like they're watching a Star Trek movie (pg. 22). Considering the publication date, I wondered if it was Star Trek: First Contact which came out in 1996. Maybe they will use the newer Star Trek movie or a different movie altogether in the reprint.
Another area I'm interested to see how they deal with during the reprint is the following: "Books are an amazing human invention. They allow instant access to information simply by turning pieces of paper. They are much faster to use than computers." (pg. 67) With today's technology, I'm pretty sure it's faster to find information in a book on a computer than an actual paper book.
Rating reviewed 1/23/2023.
ashkitty93's review against another edition
5.0
Ax. Oh man, Ax.
At one point in this book, Marco mentions how Jake and Rachel are both severely ticked off at Ax for withholding information and outright lying to them, and I have to admit I was just as irritated with him as they were. Yes, his play-with-all-the-sounds is cutesy and he loves food. But Aximili is very intelligent, and to knowingly keep important information from the Animorphs team - people he considers friends and who in turn consider him a friend - left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm so pleased, once again, for his character growth in this book.
At one point in this book, Marco mentions how Jake and Rachel are both severely ticked off at Ax for withholding information and outright lying to them, and I have to admit I was just as irritated with him as they were. Yes, his play-with-all-the-sounds is cutesy and he loves food. But Aximili is very intelligent, and to knowingly keep important information from the Animorphs team - people he considers friends and who in turn consider him a friend - left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm so pleased, once again, for his character growth in this book.
booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: War, Slavery, Xenophobia, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Ableism and Self harm
marcel's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
4.5
I LOVE YOU AX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
deviki's review against another edition
4.0
Books I've read and provided detailed reviews over the years but all data is lost after accidental deletion and GD refuse to restore it back.
Adding books back to my library for my own reference and tracking purposes
Adding books back to my library for my own reference and tracking purposes