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A review by bookshelfmystic
The Predator by K.A. Applegate
4.0
The Predator had a lot of scenes that I remember vividly from the last time I read this series. We get Ax running through the mall eating Cinnabuns for the first time. We get the infamous ant adventure, which haunted me for years. And of course, we get the big reveal about Marco's life - you all know what it is.
What I didn't remember so well was how honest Marco is as a narrator about his emotions. In the other books so far, we mostly see him as a bit of a cynical jerk who cracks jokes instead of feeling things. We get a hint of a secret side to him in The Message, when Cassie stops by his house unexpectedly. But in this book, I was a little shocked at how open he is - to himself and to whatever reader he's narrating to - at his fear, his grief, and how he uses humor to keep himself from sinking into despair. It's a tender look at a kid who went through a lot before an alien prince gave him superpowers and told him he has to save the world. These books are great at many things, but their characters and their humanity are maybe their most defining features.
Side note: I get that they're kids, but all of their plans are, like, pretty bad. If I were thrust into the situation of having to try to save the world from powerful aliens, I'm not sure I'd do much better, but they seem to think through a plan to exactly step 2 and then just give up on planning for contingencies. But heck, if I've learned anything from playing D&D, it's that waiting for a perfect plan means you'll never do anything, so credit to them for just going for it.
What I didn't remember so well was how honest Marco is as a narrator about his emotions. In the other books so far, we mostly see him as a bit of a cynical jerk who cracks jokes instead of feeling things. We get a hint of a secret side to him in The Message, when Cassie stops by his house unexpectedly. But in this book, I was a little shocked at how open he is - to himself and to whatever reader he's narrating to - at his fear, his grief, and how he uses humor to keep himself from sinking into despair. It's a tender look at a kid who went through a lot before an alien prince gave him superpowers and told him he has to save the world. These books are great at many things, but their characters and their humanity are maybe their most defining features.
Side note: I get that they're kids, but all of their plans are, like, pretty bad. If I were thrust into the situation of having to try to save the world from powerful aliens, I'm not sure I'd do much better, but they seem to think through a plan to exactly step 2 and then just give up on planning for contingencies. But heck, if I've learned anything from playing D&D, it's that waiting for a perfect plan means you'll never do anything, so credit to them for just going for it.