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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Guess the big takeaway here is that if you're not ready to be in a polyamorous relationship then you shouldn't enter a polyamorous relationship. It's better then trying to kill your three spouses in the end
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5/5
This was just great. Know, however that the cover is deceptive and that this book doesn't feature as much action. But the story. The emotion. I was compelled right to the last word with this one. So much so I had a hard time putting it down last night, but I was just so tired I couldn't read any more.
MAJOR SPOILERS
I'm going to spoil the whole ending. I'm going to quote extensively from the last 2 chapters because they were chillingly amazing!
This book really hit my emotive centers near the end.
I was so conflicted. There were passages that actually made my eyes well up a tiny bit. Lame I know. But something about this one just hit an emotional core.
I've always loved the idea of sympathy for the devil, for the tortured soul. So I'm going to quote some passages here:
"You're a thief, a slave mistress, a murderer many times over, Eva said. How is it that I can feel even the slightest pity for you?"
- Yes... how. How indeed. But we do. I did.
"I enjoyed it when you sailed. Before I realized it was all a setup to explain your disappearance."
"It wasn't all a setup, human. I miss it."
"Somehow I never could stand the possibility of her knowing that I, too, had children. We all do what we have to do in life. Human or Yeerk. Morality is an illusion, a shield for the weak. It is all about the hunger for power. I knew that. Believed that."
- That hit me hard... morality is an illusion... a profound statement.
"I grabbed him and pulled him the rest of the way. But he was still more attached than I'd thought. I suppose death had already reached part of his body. I held half a Yeerk in my hand. He moved very little, then he stopped moving altogether.
I put him into my pocket. A strange moment. A moment I'll never forget. So small, we Yeerks, compared with the host bodies we take. So small I could stick my friend in my pocket. I was alone on Earth. The only Yeerk ... I was more lonely than ever."
- Sad face :(
"Humans will tear down a living leader but revere a dead one. I left behind sufficient writings ... vague nostrums, platitudes, absurdities, prophesies, the sorts of transparent nonsense that humans pore over so endlessly."
- Passages like this really show the maturity of the content presented in these books.
"Everything, I thought. Everything but the years of missing Essam, missing Allison. Regrets. Rage. The thrill of seeing my power grow as my plan came to fruition. The impotent despair of watching my children from afar. Half Yeerk, half almost human. I had taken this final host because, at least unconsciously, I wanted to know the life I could never really know. The love of a spouse, an equal. The love of a child."
- Okay, serious teary eyes now. This is deep stuff for a supposed 'childrens' book. Just wow. That passage hits home.
But then we instantly transition to, and read "But none of it had ever really touched me. I'd had my fling with humanity. I was Yeerk once more. I was Visser One."
- well shit. We know she's kidding herself right. She's in denial. It's so obvious to the reader.
Then we read on into the last chapter: "I sat there, broken in body, friendless, defeated, with no company but the voice of my host. She was sickened by her own temporary compromise with me."
"I felt nothing. It was what I had known must happen. Death. The most terrible death we know."
- yet it wasn't!
THEN we read "The Andalites have at long last become fully aware of the situation on Earth. They are assembling a massive fleet in orbit around their home world. It will be ready to launch within months. Target: Uncertain"
- Oh man... oh man, the foreshadowing of what's to come. This is incredible. My heart is racing with excitement!
"we wish the Andalites to attack us in the Anati system."
"A new planet! A new race! No more troubling humans. And this time, this time, I would do it right."
- Denial. She's in denial. She's elated because she no longer has to be tempted by human humanity!!!!!!!
"Darwin, my son, was lost to me. But what about Madra? Was she still free? Could I... No. I couldn't. Someday, not yet. But someday she would know me. I would tell her all about me, all about who I was, how she had come to exist. And she would love me, as a daughter loves a mother. And if not, then I could always infest Madra, place some well-trained Yeerk in her head. Then she would love me. She'd have no choice. Yet, it was all going to work out fine. It was a great, big, lovely galaxy full of opportunity."
- Wow. Just... Denial. Emotion. The internal conflict here... the misunderstanding of herself, by herself... this is just some great writing.
We end with an exchange between Visser One and Three, where Visser One says:
"well, about those Andalite bandits, since we're past all this unpleasantness between us, I guess I could tell you..."
""
END SCENE!!!! END BOOK!
Fuck! Is she going to? Does she tell him? Does she hold it back? What of Marco? Will she be willing to spoil the secret that could wipe out the bandits? Is she willing to sacrifice Marco? Evas son, her hosts son, the host she chose so that she could experience a childs love...
This was just great. Know, however that the cover is deceptive and that this book doesn't feature as much action. But the story. The emotion. I was compelled right to the last word with this one. So much so I had a hard time putting it down last night, but I was just so tired I couldn't read any more.
MAJOR SPOILERS
I'm going to spoil the whole ending. I'm going to quote extensively from the last 2 chapters because they were chillingly amazing!
This book really hit my emotive centers near the end.
I was so conflicted. There were passages that actually made my eyes well up a tiny bit. Lame I know. But something about this one just hit an emotional core.
I've always loved the idea of sympathy for the devil, for the tortured soul. So I'm going to quote some passages here:
"You're a thief, a slave mistress, a murderer many times over, Eva said. How is it that I can feel even the slightest pity for you?"
- Yes... how. How indeed. But we do. I did.
"I enjoyed it when you sailed. Before I realized it was all a setup to explain your disappearance."
"It wasn't all a setup, human. I miss it."
"Somehow I never could stand the possibility of her knowing that I, too, had children. We all do what we have to do in life. Human or Yeerk. Morality is an illusion, a shield for the weak. It is all about the hunger for power. I knew that. Believed that."
- That hit me hard... morality is an illusion... a profound statement.
"I grabbed him and pulled him the rest of the way. But he was still more attached than I'd thought. I suppose death had already reached part of his body. I held half a Yeerk in my hand. He moved very little, then he stopped moving altogether.
I put him into my pocket. A strange moment. A moment I'll never forget. So small, we Yeerks, compared with the host bodies we take. So small I could stick my friend in my pocket. I was alone on Earth. The only Yeerk ... I was more lonely than ever."
- Sad face :(
"Humans will tear down a living leader but revere a dead one. I left behind sufficient writings ... vague nostrums, platitudes, absurdities, prophesies, the sorts of transparent nonsense that humans pore over so endlessly."
- Passages like this really show the maturity of the content presented in these books.
"Everything, I thought. Everything but the years of missing Essam, missing Allison. Regrets. Rage. The thrill of seeing my power grow as my plan came to fruition. The impotent despair of watching my children from afar. Half Yeerk, half almost human. I had taken this final host because, at least unconsciously, I wanted to know the life I could never really know. The love of a spouse, an equal. The love of a child."
- Okay, serious teary eyes now. This is deep stuff for a supposed 'childrens' book. Just wow. That passage hits home.
But then we instantly transition to, and read "But none of it had ever really touched me. I'd had my fling with humanity. I was Yeerk once more. I was Visser One."
- well shit. We know she's kidding herself right. She's in denial. It's so obvious to the reader.
Then we read on into the last chapter: "I sat there, broken in body, friendless, defeated, with no company but the voice of my host. She was sickened by her own temporary compromise with me."
"I felt nothing. It was what I had known must happen. Death. The most terrible death we know."
- yet it wasn't!
THEN we read "The Andalites have at long last become fully aware of the situation on Earth. They are assembling a massive fleet in orbit around their home world. It will be ready to launch within months. Target: Uncertain"
- Oh man... oh man, the foreshadowing of what's to come. This is incredible. My heart is racing with excitement!
"we wish the Andalites to attack us in the Anati system."
"A new planet! A new race! No more troubling humans. And this time, this time, I would do it right."
- Denial. She's in denial. She's elated because she no longer has to be tempted by human humanity!!!!!!!
"Darwin, my son, was lost to me. But what about Madra? Was she still free? Could I... No. I couldn't. Someday, not yet. But someday she would know me. I would tell her all about me, all about who I was, how she had come to exist. And she would love me, as a daughter loves a mother. And if not, then I could always infest Madra, place some well-trained Yeerk in her head. Then she would love me. She'd have no choice. Yet, it was all going to work out fine. It was a great, big, lovely galaxy full of opportunity."
- Wow. Just... Denial. Emotion. The internal conflict here... the misunderstanding of herself, by herself... this is just some great writing.
We end with an exchange between Visser One and Three, where Visser One says:
"well, about those Andalite bandits, since we're past all this unpleasantness between us, I guess I could tell you..."
"
END SCENE!!!! END BOOK!
Fuck! Is she going to? Does she tell him? Does she hold it back? What of Marco? Will she be willing to spoil the secret that could wipe out the bandits? Is she willing to sacrifice Marco? Evas son, her hosts son, the host she chose so that she could experience a childs love...
emotional
informative
mysterious
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
dark
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Cool to see the “Andalite Bandits” from her perspective! I love the conflict between the vissers, they expose each other’s weaknesses in a really interesting way
We get a Marco's mom POV (to some degree) as we give context to an action scene that happens in the next book, and lay more fun background stuff (wait the Yeerk controllers had KIDS?!) that I'm sure is going to be completely fine when it comes up in the future.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes