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booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Violence, Death, and Gore
Minor: Ableism, Genocide, Slavery, Death of parent, and War
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Grief, and War
Minor: Genocide
kaaaaaaaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: War, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery
jessthanthree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: War
Minor: Mental illness
kstericker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and War
lh_reads's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Slavery, War, Blood, Gun violence, and Violence
ramiel's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
That voice churned my insides. I felt my own hatred flaring up to match his. The images Ax had painted - an Earth brown and empty and filled with nothing but the slaves of the Yeerks...
I had lived my entire life without feeling hatred. It is a sickening feeling. It burns and burns, and sometimes you think it's a fire that will never go out.
My favorite thing, a bit I forgot happened in this specific book, was the interaction between Marco and Cassie after Marco's near-death-experience (he's had like one per book now it feels). Cassie, the emotional center, the pacifist of the group feels like because she made the decision to go after the message in her dreams that means Marco's near-death was her fault. Marco, blunt, sarcastic, and joking, refuses to accept the apology because he "didn't have to go, and chose to anyway" and going on to tell her that making choices like this, life-and-death, was a part of their lives now, a part they just had to accept (have we mentioned these characters are 13 years old?). It's a good scene, and I don't believe she'd get the same blunt, no nonsense response from Jake or Rachel, the people she's already established as being the closest to in the group, this early in the series (as they're both incredibly soft towards her), and it does a good job in building up the relationships and team dynamics that would continue into the following books.
Setting aside one thing I didn't like in this book first: it's the introduction of the constant argument through the books that "morphing a sentient creature is just like taking control of a sentient creature" and that still makes No Sense To Me. Still, that Cassie's allowed the room to explore the ethics and morality of morphing and the war itself without tearing her down is something I love. While I wish the reasoning made more sense, I think that the broader theme of "ethics during war" is very important to Cassie's development, and really makes her character.
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Grief, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Death