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A review by kooldewd123
The Andalite's Gift by K.A. Applegate
4.0
The first Megamorphs book is an exciting thrill ride that lives up to the title and sets the tone for the three more yet to come. A lengthened page count and multiple perspectives allow for an Animorphs story with more moving parts than usual, something that the other three Megamorphs books will utilize to an even greater extent. Being the first one, I think it's probably the weakest (not that that's saying much), so to start off with the negatives:
Despite being narrated by all six main characters in turn, Rachel and Tobias get the worst of it. Rachel's amnesia plotline feels like it should have been its own book - as it is here, it's condensed down too much to really feel like anything other than a distraction to the far more interesting Veleek plot. Meanwhile, Tobias can sometimes feel like an afterthought in the run of books leading up to #13, something he himself acknowledges. This is one of his worst showings, as he's literally sleeps through the entirety of the main setpiece. While Tobias's feelings of uselessness are an intentional choice for his character arc and him missing out on yet another mission adds to that, it feels like a weird choice to have him be absent like that in a book where the mixed narration is a large selling point.
Onto the good stuff, which there's a lot more of: The Veleek has always been perhaps the most memorable one-off alien in this series to me, and boy did it not disappoint on a reread. It's a terrifying force of nature our protagonists have no choice but to run from, and the fear every time it appears is palpable. This book also provides us our first narration by Ax, and this adventure provides a great opportunity to showcase his place on the team before throwing it into jeopardy in the following book. Cassie and Marco are also both in top shape this book, with Cassie's fear of responsibility and Marco's harsh streak starting to really shine through. And of course, you can't talk about this book without mentioning the humor. It's not the most consistently funny Animorphs story, but it hits some pretty high highs. The ever-enjoyable Marco/Ax pairing makes for a riotous opening scene, and Jake yelling at Marco about trash cans as they outrun the Veleek is one of the most iconic lines of the entire series.
something something how do i end a review i'm awful at writing conclusions good book thumbs up emoji
Despite being narrated by all six main characters in turn, Rachel and Tobias get the worst of it. Rachel's amnesia plotline feels like it should have been its own book - as it is here, it's condensed down too much to really feel like anything other than a distraction to the far more interesting Veleek plot. Meanwhile, Tobias can sometimes feel like an afterthought in the run of books leading up to #13, something he himself acknowledges. This is one of his worst showings, as he's literally sleeps through the entirety of the main setpiece. While Tobias's feelings of uselessness are an intentional choice for his character arc and him missing out on yet another mission adds to that, it feels like a weird choice to have him be absent like that in a book where the mixed narration is a large selling point.
Onto the good stuff, which there's a lot more of: The Veleek has always been perhaps the most memorable one-off alien in this series to me, and boy did it not disappoint on a reread. It's a terrifying force of nature our protagonists have no choice but to run from, and the fear every time it appears is palpable. This book also provides us our first narration by Ax, and this adventure provides a great opportunity to showcase his place on the team before throwing it into jeopardy in the following book. Cassie and Marco are also both in top shape this book, with Cassie's fear of responsibility and Marco's harsh streak starting to really shine through. And of course, you can't talk about this book without mentioning the humor. It's not the most consistently funny Animorphs story, but it hits some pretty high highs. The ever-enjoyable Marco/Ax pairing makes for a riotous opening scene, and Jake yelling at Marco about trash cans as they outrun the Veleek is one of the most iconic lines of the entire series.
something something how do i end a review i'm awful at writing conclusions good book thumbs up emoji