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A review by thistlechaser
The Answer by K.A. Applegate
3.0
Disclaimer: I'm reading this series for the first time as an adult. I have no fond memories coloring my reading.
Note on rating: If comparing to only Animorphs books, I'd rate this one a loved. It was one of the top 10 in the series. Compared to other books though, it doesn't quite reach a loved rating.
I've fought them for more than three years. I was just thirteen when I started.
Can you imagine a group of five children spending three years not just taking part in guerrilla warfare, but commanding it all, no support from any adults at all? And having to keep their efforts secret from everyone, their parents included?
Two or three books ago, there was a great line. I wish I had saved it. Jake, the leader of the Animorphs, was ordered by his mother to clean the basement. The battles were getting worse, the Animorphs were losing. He hadn't slept in days. He was in pain from wounds. And his mother still had the power to make him do chores.
What strikes me most about this book is how old their voices have become. This is a Jake POV book, and he sounds like a man. An old, old soldier with scores of battles under his belt.
We were just kids. But in some ways we were the ideal guerrilla fighters. The morphing power let us fly and dig and crawl, sense, hide, and fight with far more than human power. Our youth made us the least likely of suspects.
So different than the last couple books, in this one they start finally, finally making the hard calls. How hard? How about using a bunch of disabled children as cannon fodder? Knowingly let them die? Watching them get killed?
And not just disabled children:
Seventeen thousand. Living creatures. Thinking creatures. How could I give this order? Even
for victory. Even to save Rachel. How could I give this kind of order?
Aliens. Parasites. Subhuman.
"Kill them," I said.
That's what war is about, isn't it? Making the other side subhuman?
This book, the second to last one, ended on a cliffhanger, but a completely unexpected one.
Note on rating: If comparing to only Animorphs books, I'd rate this one a loved. It was one of the top 10 in the series. Compared to other books though, it doesn't quite reach a loved rating.
I've fought them for more than three years. I was just thirteen when I started.
Can you imagine a group of five children spending three years not just taking part in guerrilla warfare, but commanding it all, no support from any adults at all? And having to keep their efforts secret from everyone, their parents included?
Two or three books ago, there was a great line. I wish I had saved it. Jake, the leader of the Animorphs, was ordered by his mother to clean the basement. The battles were getting worse, the Animorphs were losing. He hadn't slept in days. He was in pain from wounds. And his mother still had the power to make him do chores.
What strikes me most about this book is how old their voices have become. This is a Jake POV book, and he sounds like a man. An old, old soldier with scores of battles under his belt.
We were just kids. But in some ways we were the ideal guerrilla fighters. The morphing power let us fly and dig and crawl, sense, hide, and fight with far more than human power. Our youth made us the least likely of suspects.
So different than the last couple books, in this one they start finally, finally making the hard calls. How hard? How about using a bunch of disabled children as cannon fodder? Knowingly let them die? Watching them get killed?
And not just disabled children:
Seventeen thousand. Living creatures. Thinking creatures. How could I give this order? Even
for victory. Even to save Rachel. How could I give this kind of order?
Aliens. Parasites. Subhuman.
"Kill them," I said.
That's what war is about, isn't it? Making the other side subhuman?
This book, the second to last one, ended on a cliffhanger, but a completely unexpected one.