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Animorphs #24
The Suspicion
The Yeerks are not the only invaders of Earth. Meet the new enemy: the Helmacrons. Cassie finds their miniature spaceship and donates it to a toy drive. Big mistake. The Helmacrons are tiny, but they're far from helpless. They have the technology to shrink other creatures to their size. And until they get their spaceship back, they're taking hostages. The Animorphs must find a way to send these pests back into space--before it's too late.
155 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1998
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957 people want to read
About the author
K.A. Applegate
251 books491 followersalso published under the name Katherine Applegate
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 226 reviews
February 13, 2016
Another Cassie book, more in the vein of #14: The Unknown than #19: The Departure. Applegate experiments with absurdism here With slightly more sophisticated humour than “hah hah, it’s an Andalite toilet!”—riffs on gender and politics and, of course, bureaucracy—The Suspicion holds a little more appeal on the comedic front. Also, the story is better, even if the ending is a hot mess.
Instead of Area 51 and horses, this time we get Helmacrons. Ax doesn’t know of them, but Visser Three seems to recognize them. Tiny and terrifying only in their minds, the Helmacrons are bent on galactic domination. It’s like those aliens in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who journey to Earth to destroy it after overhearing Arthur Dent’s wormhole-traversing insult. Except instead of being swallowed by a dog, the Helmacrons find the Escafil device (which everyone, even Ax, just calls the blue box). They want to use its power for evil but instead just end up shrinking the Animorphs. Hilarity ensues.
Cassie, as the narrator, ends up making some neat deductions about the physics of their diminutive state. Even Visser Three is impressed, in his own way, when he catches up with her discoveries, including how to seize an advantage over the Helmacrons. Applegate continues to establish Cassie as the Tactician, the one who can size up a situation and see the options available to the Animorphs.
I also found the opening exchange between Cassie and Rachel about clothes and C/ake very endearing. Applegate is not subtle about how the two female Animorphs are worlds apart, yet they remain friends. Cassie tolerates going to the beach because it’s what Rachel wants to do. Meanwhile, Applegate acknowledges that the Aniomrphs have Real Teen Feelings, without letting those feelings and that drama take over the story like in some YA series. (Seriously, the world is ending, and you care about who’s taking whom to the prom?)
More and more, these humourous breaks in the series make Animorphs feel like a network television show. Star Trek: The Next Generation and especially Star Trek: Deep Space Nine used to do this: every so often there would be a light-hearted episode. Usually they end being among the least-liked of the series, but once in a while they offer compelling counterpoints to the heavier stuff happening around them. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to “One Little Ship,” the DS9 episode that also features shrinking humour.
I would have liked this book better if the ending had been more tightly plotted. As it is, the story wraps up abruptly. Applegate handwaves a truce between Visser Three and the Animorphs long enough for everyone to become regular size and walk away safely. I’m not saying that’s unbelievable, but I think it deserved more attention than it gets here. But it’s as if she reached her word limit, didn’t want to revise, and just said, “Fuck it: everyone lives! Happy? Oh, and they all got unshrunk.”
At the time, reading these books as each one came out, The Suspicion would have been a good instalment. It would be a satisfying fix until the next book. However, re-reading a long-running book series sometimes feels like re-watching a TV series—there are episodes you just don’t care to revisit, not necessarily because they are bad, but because they are silly, or you’ve seen them one too many times, and they don’t really add much. You might watch it in the rotation, sure, but it’s not like when you have friends over you’re going to pull it out and say, “Ah, yes, let’s read this one!”
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #23: The Pretender | #25: The Extreme →
Instead of Area 51 and horses, this time we get Helmacrons. Ax doesn’t know of them, but Visser Three seems to recognize them. Tiny and terrifying only in their minds, the Helmacrons are bent on galactic domination. It’s like those aliens in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who journey to Earth to destroy it after overhearing Arthur Dent’s wormhole-traversing insult. Except instead of being swallowed by a dog, the Helmacrons find the Escafil device (which everyone, even Ax, just calls the blue box). They want to use its power for evil but instead just end up shrinking the Animorphs. Hilarity ensues.
Cassie, as the narrator, ends up making some neat deductions about the physics of their diminutive state. Even Visser Three is impressed, in his own way, when he catches up with her discoveries, including how to seize an advantage over the Helmacrons. Applegate continues to establish Cassie as the Tactician, the one who can size up a situation and see the options available to the Animorphs.
I also found the opening exchange between Cassie and Rachel about clothes and C/ake very endearing. Applegate is not subtle about how the two female Animorphs are worlds apart, yet they remain friends. Cassie tolerates going to the beach because it’s what Rachel wants to do. Meanwhile, Applegate acknowledges that the Aniomrphs have Real Teen Feelings, without letting those feelings and that drama take over the story like in some YA series. (Seriously, the world is ending, and you care about who’s taking whom to the prom?)
More and more, these humourous breaks in the series make Animorphs feel like a network television show. Star Trek: The Next Generation and especially Star Trek: Deep Space Nine used to do this: every so often there would be a light-hearted episode. Usually they end being among the least-liked of the series, but once in a while they offer compelling counterpoints to the heavier stuff happening around them. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to “One Little Ship,” the DS9 episode that also features shrinking humour.
I would have liked this book better if the ending had been more tightly plotted. As it is, the story wraps up abruptly. Applegate handwaves a truce between Visser Three and the Animorphs long enough for everyone to become regular size and walk away safely. I’m not saying that’s unbelievable, but I think it deserved more attention than it gets here. But it’s as if she reached her word limit, didn’t want to revise, and just said, “Fuck it: everyone lives! Happy? Oh, and they all got unshrunk.”
At the time, reading these books as each one came out, The Suspicion would have been a good instalment. It would be a satisfying fix until the next book. However, re-reading a long-running book series sometimes feels like re-watching a TV series—there are episodes you just don’t care to revisit, not necessarily because they are bad, but because they are silly, or you’ve seen them one too many times, and they don’t really add much. You might watch it in the rotation, sure, but it’s not like when you have friends over you’re going to pull it out and say, “Ah, yes, let’s read this one!”
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #23: The Pretender | #25: The Extreme →
August 6, 2014
Oh damn, it's the Helmacrons! How can something so tiny be such an ass?
Notable moments and inconsistencies:
This book has each chapter begin with a sort of absurdist quote from a Helmacron ship log, introducing us to these tiny megalomaniacal aliens. It's its own mini-story from the point of view of the Helmacrons aboard the either the Galaxy Blaster or its rivals on the other Helmacron ship, the Planet Crusher.
A narration error pops up; Cassie is the narrator, and earlier in one chapter the narration says they're flying toward "my farm" but later it is referred to as "Cassie's farm," as if the author forgot whose voice she was using for a moment.
The Helmacrons use thought-speak, like Andalites, but also have the ability to make spoken sounds. They also dedicate themselves to dead leaders and don't actually experience mental death when they're killed.
Cassie figures out that acquiring DNA from an animal after she's been shrunk will enable her to morph into that animal at the size it's supposed to be. After they're returned to normal, it seems that if the shrunken DNA resulted in small versions of the animals, the anteater DNA would now be prepared to turn them into colossal anteaters if they used it. This isn't explored.
Notable moments and inconsistencies:
This book has each chapter begin with a sort of absurdist quote from a Helmacron ship log, introducing us to these tiny megalomaniacal aliens. It's its own mini-story from the point of view of the Helmacrons aboard the either the Galaxy Blaster or its rivals on the other Helmacron ship, the Planet Crusher.
A narration error pops up; Cassie is the narrator, and earlier in one chapter the narration says they're flying toward "my farm" but later it is referred to as "Cassie's farm," as if the author forgot whose voice she was using for a moment.
The Helmacrons use thought-speak, like Andalites, but also have the ability to make spoken sounds. They also dedicate themselves to dead leaders and don't actually experience mental death when they're killed.
Cassie figures out that acquiring DNA from an animal after she's been shrunk will enable her to morph into that animal at the size it's supposed to be. After they're returned to normal, it seems that if the shrunken DNA resulted in small versions of the animals, the anteater DNA would now be prepared to turn them into colossal anteaters if they used it. This isn't explored.
June 15, 2020
FIRST REVIEW / MAY 7, 2015
HELMACRONS!!!
I really think it was a conscious decision on KAA's part to give such comedic books to Cassie, since she functions as the relatively serious straight man: after all, she got the freaking Area 51 book and now this, the Helmacrons' first appearance. I've been looking forward to them all series long: they weren't quite so gutbustingly hilarious now that I'm older, but their megalomaniacal Napoleon complexes still make me grin.
This is a throwaway comedic book, through-and-through, but it features some really funny scenes, a new alien species, some pre-teen adorability between Jake and Cassie, some picking up of continuity re: the blue box, and zany Honey I Shrunk the Animorphs size-based adventures. Having a silly lighter book is also well-timed and needed, after the tragedy that was the David trilogy, Hork-Bajir Chronicles, and The Pretender all in such close succession.
---------------------------------
SECOND REVIEW / JUNE 11, 2020
My 3-star rating is actually 3.5 stars! I still really appreciate the light-hearted sheer fun of this book as a chaser to what came before, even as it also picks up the thread of the blue box from the David trilogy. I just have such a soft spot for the Helmacrons and these size-based misadventures, y'all.
Favourite quotes moved to Google Docs.
HELMACRONS!!!
I really think it was a conscious decision on KAA's part to give such comedic books to Cassie, since she functions as the relatively serious straight man: after all, she got the freaking Area 51 book and now this, the Helmacrons' first appearance. I've been looking forward to them all series long: they weren't quite so gutbustingly hilarious now that I'm older, but their megalomaniacal Napoleon complexes still make me grin.
This is a throwaway comedic book, through-and-through, but it features some really funny scenes, a new alien species, some pre-teen adorability between Jake and Cassie, some picking up of continuity re: the blue box, and zany Honey I Shrunk the Animorphs size-based adventures. Having a silly lighter book is also well-timed and needed, after the tragedy that was the David trilogy, Hork-Bajir Chronicles, and The Pretender all in such close succession.
---------------------------------
SECOND REVIEW / JUNE 11, 2020
My 3-star rating is actually 3.5 stars! I still really appreciate the light-hearted sheer fun of this book as a chaser to what came before, even as it also picks up the thread of the blue box from the David trilogy. I just have such a soft spot for the Helmacrons and these size-based misadventures, y'all.
Favourite quotes moved to Google Docs.
January 22, 2022
Come check out my 4 hour 35 minute deep dive into reading every single Animorphs book for the first time on YouTube. I recap and review all of the books from the main series: https://youtu.be/H8kUM2q3CIU
July 21, 2020
The Helmacrons are the worst villains. I also like them and think they are effective and ridiculous? It's complicated.
The Helmacrons are an extremely violent and egomaniacal alien species that has decided to invade Earth and subject all citizens to their will, destroying the rest. They are also 1/16th of an inch tall. Cassie finds their spaceship and thinks it's a toy, so she donates it to Goodwill. The Helmacrons are very angered by this, and call for help. The result is two tiny spaceships with functioning weapons, and beings who have no sense of proportion attacking the Animorphs. This is a joke, until the Helmacrons start using the Escafil device (the blue box that gives morphing powers, which Cassie has hidden under an old pump at her farm) to shrink the Animorphs down to their size.
The combo here weirdly works. The aliens are so over the top and ridiculous, and so very, very small (and unaware of what this means for them), you can't take them seriously. They never stop being ridiculous, even as they become actually threatening, though I think it works because the bigger threat in having tiny Animorphs is more the real world and its small horrors (almost being stepped on, how long it takes to get anywhere, hair mites on a scalp, giant pores, being so tiny you can see individual cells, seeing a wolf spider from up close) than it is the Helmacrons, who end up being pretty easily defeated.
I would like this installment more if the ending hadn't just kind of fizzled out. How did they get the Helmacrons to stand down and agree to leave? It's just handwaved over. This book ends up just being a throwaway humorous installment that contributes nothing to anyone's arcs, or the main arc of the story. Just a bit of ridiculous nonsense.
The Helmacrons are an extremely violent and egomaniacal alien species that has decided to invade Earth and subject all citizens to their will, destroying the rest. They are also 1/16th of an inch tall. Cassie finds their spaceship and thinks it's a toy, so she donates it to Goodwill. The Helmacrons are very angered by this, and call for help. The result is two tiny spaceships with functioning weapons, and beings who have no sense of proportion attacking the Animorphs. This is a joke, until the Helmacrons start using the Escafil device (the blue box that gives morphing powers, which Cassie has hidden under an old pump at her farm) to shrink the Animorphs down to their size.
The combo here weirdly works. The aliens are so over the top and ridiculous, and so very, very small (and unaware of what this means for them), you can't take them seriously. They never stop being ridiculous, even as they become actually threatening, though I think it works because the bigger threat in having tiny Animorphs is more the real world and its small horrors (almost being stepped on, how long it takes to get anywhere, hair mites on a scalp, giant pores, being so tiny you can see individual cells, seeing a wolf spider from up close) than it is the Helmacrons, who end up being pretty easily defeated.
I would like this installment more if the ending hadn't just kind of fizzled out. How did they get the Helmacrons to stand down and agree to leave? It's just handwaved over. This book ends up just being a throwaway humorous installment that contributes nothing to anyone's arcs, or the main arc of the story. Just a bit of ridiculous nonsense.
December 16, 2022
I didn't read this one when I was young, and it was hilarious! Just slapstick from beginning to end with the tiny alien antics!
August 2, 2024
*** 3.66 ***
Miniature space aliens, both vicious and annoying, want to be rulers of the universe! 😀
Miniature space aliens, both vicious and annoying, want to be rulers of the universe! 😀
July 31, 2025
this one was just silly :P
January 9, 2023
Tiny egomaniacal aliens invade. This is basically a comic relief filler episode. Perfectly acceptable as it is pretty fun and completely over the top.
March 18, 2024
Honey I shrunk the animorphs!!!
May 10, 2024
This one almost seemed a comedy within the series. And I am not referring to Marco's sense of humor. We get a new group of aliens that cause chaos for all side. For some reason it just cracked me up. Not in looks or size, but in personality they remind me of the Annelids from MIB. Just angrier, like they hadn't had their daily dose of weed or something. Maybe it was the voice the narrator used, idk. But they really came to life for me, even if they were insanely tiny. Not a lot of plot in this one. Its MIB meets Hunny I shrunk the kids or something. Wish it has more dpeth to the main story but I doubt it will. We shall see though.
April 1, 2018
Probably my least favorite entry in the series to date, and coming off a string of really great books from 18-23 + Hork-Bajir Chronicles, this just comes off like filler, with little interesting character development or plot development. It's not TERRIBLE, but given the great heights we know this series can attain it's hard to excuse an entry like this.
It doesn't help that Cassie is our narrator for this outing. Cassie's strength is in her insight into other people's feelings and motivations or her willingness to explore the moral implications of the war they're waging-- she just doesn't bring much to the table as the narrator of a zany adventure story. I'm not sure why she always seems to get the punch-line books about alien toilets or tiny invaders with shrink-rays. It doesn't work, and it doesn't do her character justice at all.
This book also misses huge opportunities to talk about how Cassie is dealing with two HUGE events in the previous two books: her role in trapping David forever in a rat's body, and the recent reveal of Tobias's father (did Tobias tell the other Animorphs? It's not clear, but either way, the events of the previous book were a big deal and should have been mentioned).
I didn't like this book very much, but there are a few saving graces:
-Marco's great one-liners throughout. This may be his funniest run yet! Had he been allowed to narrate this story instead of Cassie, it really could have saved it.
-The Helmacron ship's log entries at the beginning of each chapter are hilarious, even if they don't make the best villains.
-Jake and Cassie's embarrassment when he sees her wearing a swimsuit + him inviting her to the beach in the end is really cute and well-done. Not sure how Jake seeing Cassie in a swimsuit is much different than seeing her in the leotards they wear as morph suits literally every day, but I'll let it slide because these scenes are ADORABLE.
-Visser 3's split personalities finally converge: he's both a grandstanding egomaniac AND a pretty competent decision-maker in this one, and it's kind of a joy. Through the Hork-Bajir Chronicles a the odd reverence he expresses for Elfangor in #23 The Pretender, we're starting to see just how strange and complex the Visser's feelings about Andalites really are. It was really fun to see him turn to the "Andalite bandits" in a moment of solidarity over a really, really annoying common foe. :D
It doesn't help that Cassie is our narrator for this outing. Cassie's strength is in her insight into other people's feelings and motivations or her willingness to explore the moral implications of the war they're waging-- she just doesn't bring much to the table as the narrator of a zany adventure story. I'm not sure why she always seems to get the punch-line books about alien toilets or tiny invaders with shrink-rays. It doesn't work, and it doesn't do her character justice at all.
This book also misses huge opportunities to talk about how Cassie is dealing with two HUGE events in the previous two books: her role in trapping David forever in a rat's body, and the recent reveal of Tobias's father (did Tobias tell the other Animorphs? It's not clear, but either way, the events of the previous book were a big deal and should have been mentioned).
I didn't like this book very much, but there are a few saving graces:
-Marco's great one-liners throughout. This may be his funniest run yet! Had he been allowed to narrate this story instead of Cassie, it really could have saved it.
-The Helmacron ship's log entries at the beginning of each chapter are hilarious, even if they don't make the best villains.
-Jake and Cassie's embarrassment when he sees her wearing a swimsuit + him inviting her to the beach in the end is really cute and well-done. Not sure how Jake seeing Cassie in a swimsuit is much different than seeing her in the leotards they wear as morph suits literally every day, but I'll let it slide because these scenes are ADORABLE.
-Visser 3's split personalities finally converge: he's both a grandstanding egomaniac AND a pretty competent decision-maker in this one, and it's kind of a joy. Through the Hork-Bajir Chronicles a the odd reverence he expresses for Elfangor in #23 The Pretender, we're starting to see just how strange and complex the Visser's feelings about Andalites really are. It was really fun to see him turn to the "Andalite bandits" in a moment of solidarity over a really, really annoying common foe. :D
June 7, 2021
this book was so silly. it was fun to have another lighthearted book after everything thats been happening in the last few!! also. i cannot beleive they literally just hit the escafil device like 2 feet underground CMON NOW..... u guys came up with a super elaborate plan to hide a fake version of it just to trick david but u cant find a good hiding place for the real one?! please hide it better this time 😭
June 8, 2020
The Animorphs reread continues! This one is possibly the most nonsense, and absolutely hilarious. Honey, This Alien Species Shrunk The Animorphs And Also Visser Three And Some Controllers, And Now We Can Morph Small Enough To See Molecules. Even better, the Animorphs are extremely aware how nonsense everything is.
January 24, 2016
Another exciting installment, this one featuring a different sort of aliens.
March 21, 2024
Felt like there was a little too much going on with the Helmacrons—they’re small, matriarchal, fungible, alleged conquerors, AND annoying. But there was an intimacy between the Animorph kids that we’ve never seen before, which I found endearing.
April 11, 2025
Hell yeah
July 10, 2019
Over my reread of the Animorphs series, my overall verdict has been that it's much better and more thematically mature than it's commonly given credit for. We get to see themes of trauma, slavery, ethics, the necessity of making horrible lose-lose choices, and overlying all of it, the horrors of war and the ways that it permanently alters people and tears families apart.
This book is more like a Saturday morning cartoon.
As a Saturday morning cartoon, it probably would've been fine, but it is nowhere near the standards that I've come to expect from this series. I mean, tiny aliens with outsized egos? Shrinking shenanigans? The series main villain (not to mention the series main plot) is only peripherally present? What was wrong with the alien invasion we already had? And why do the stupid, pointless filler books always seem to fall to Cassie?
I mean, I guess it is understandable that after the nonstop horror of the David trilogy, the Downer Ending of The Hork-Bajir Chronicles, and the sheer emotional intensity of The Pretender, the author might have wanted to give us a breather with a bit of comic relief. Just... did it have to have so little to do with anything that's even remotely related to Animorphs? And did it have to be so cartoonish?
As usual with mediocre filler books, the sole bright spot in this whole mess was Marco, and his constant stream of sarcastic riffing (especially his "groveling" act post capture by the Helmacrons) was worth the occasional laugh. Then again, it was all kinds of disconcerting to have Marco of all people constantly spouting impromptu physics lessons (isn't that Ax's job?) to explain things like their increases in strength after they were shrunk—yeah, Marco's smart, but he's always been more of a tech guy and a strategy guy than a physics nerd.
Overall? It's weak, and it's not worth the time.
This book is more like a Saturday morning cartoon.
As a Saturday morning cartoon, it probably would've been fine, but it is nowhere near the standards that I've come to expect from this series. I mean, tiny aliens with outsized egos? Shrinking shenanigans? The series main villain (not to mention the series main plot) is only peripherally present? What was wrong with the alien invasion we already had? And why do the stupid, pointless filler books always seem to fall to Cassie?
I mean, I guess it is understandable that after the nonstop horror of the David trilogy, the Downer Ending of The Hork-Bajir Chronicles, and the sheer emotional intensity of The Pretender, the author might have wanted to give us a breather with a bit of comic relief. Just... did it have to have so little to do with anything that's even remotely related to Animorphs? And did it have to be so cartoonish?
As usual with mediocre filler books, the sole bright spot in this whole mess was Marco, and his constant stream of sarcastic riffing (especially his "groveling" act post capture by the Helmacrons) was worth the occasional laugh. Then again, it was all kinds of disconcerting to have Marco of all people constantly spouting impromptu physics lessons (isn't that Ax's job?) to explain things like their increases in strength after they were shrunk—yeah, Marco's smart, but he's always been more of a tech guy and a strategy guy than a physics nerd.
Overall? It's weak, and it's not worth the time.
April 8, 2022
With the introduction of the Helmacron, another alien race attempting to colonize and enslave earth, we get some pretty underwhelming battles that I think are just the precursor to something more interesting/impactful down the line.
The Helmacron are a nuisance at best but knowing they’re a respectable threat for the Yeerks is significant.
They’re a simple race of beings that prioritize perfection, killing off their leaders early and before a mistake is ever made so they can never idolize those that are flawed. We don’t get much historical background and I don’t think they’re significant enough on a personal level or to the overall story for us to get a proper understanding of them.
The overall story felt like a filler story but it was a nice break from the overwhelmingly heavy subject matter explored in the previous handful of books.
CW: war, slavery, violence, death, murder, sexism
The Helmacron are a nuisance at best but knowing they’re a respectable threat for the Yeerks is significant.
They’re a simple race of beings that prioritize perfection, killing off their leaders early and before a mistake is ever made so they can never idolize those that are flawed. We don’t get much historical background and I don’t think they’re significant enough on a personal level or to the overall story for us to get a proper understanding of them.
The overall story felt like a filler story but it was a nice break from the overwhelmingly heavy subject matter explored in the previous handful of books.
CW: war, slavery, violence, death, murder, sexism
February 1, 2011
The 24th story about Animorphs. Cassie..
Yeerk invasion is all enough trouble for Animorphs' gang. But now, they have to deal with another invasion. An invasion from a ant-size race, Helmacrons. Small in size but very big in ambition but very strange in behaviour. >.<
In this book, you can read Yeerk and Animorphs united to fight the Helmacrons.
Very funny to read. Those Helmacrons makes me laugh all the way from beginning to the end.
Famous quote from this book :
Helmacrons
-I see your might. Where's your tremble?-(it's Marco of course, who else can say that? ^_^)
-...-
-Aw, man. We're prisoners of guys with no sense of humor-Marco to Cassie
Yeerk invasion is all enough trouble for Animorphs' gang. But now, they have to deal with another invasion. An invasion from a ant-size race, Helmacrons. Small in size but very big in ambition but very strange in behaviour. >.<
In this book, you can read Yeerk and Animorphs united to fight the Helmacrons.
Very funny to read. Those Helmacrons makes me laugh all the way from beginning to the end.
Famous quote from this book :
Helmacrons
-I see your might. Where's your tremble?-(it's Marco of course, who else can say that? ^_^)
-...-
-Aw, man. We're prisoners of guys with no sense of humor-Marco to Cassie
October 23, 2009
Not bad. The Helmacrons create pretty amusing Magic School Bus situations. On the other hand, Helmacron books are some of the most ridiculous in the series, so I could understand not liking them. One thing that got a little irritating was the constant comparisons to other objects to show how small the Animorphs were. I know it's important to keep a frame of reference, but I could've done with fewer illustrations.
Still, fun book.
Still, fun book.
August 19, 2016
I completely forgot how hilariously terrible this one is!! Oh man.
Read
May 3, 2020Wow. That was a trip. And not a good one.
November 12, 2020
The Helmacrons are not my favorite. I’m also not fond of the jokey books that don’t push the overall plot of the series along
February 26, 2024
Ummm... what can I say about this book except that it is a homage to Honey, I Shrank the Kids, kinda wish that the author chose Marco to narrate this with his smart-aleck attitude and wit, I mean we still have the classic comedic timing with him since he was paired off with Cassie throughout most of it.
But overall, this book is pretty forgettable as the Animorphs come across new pint-sized aliens with shrinking technology called the Helmacrons.
FYI, Ax has never heard of but let's not take his word for since ages ago he admitted to sleeping during classes whereas Visser Three HAS heard of this species which for a brief time in this book he was willing to join forces with the Animorphs to stop this threat.
I did say BRIEF alliance lol .... until he was like yeah nah I'm still gonna kill you Animorphs as well as the Helmacrons but nope Ax and the Animorphs had other plans and with some divide and conquer, or well, Ax's tail blade across Visser Three's throat is enough to shut the Yeerks up and agree to a temporary truce for everyone to be turned back normally sized, then a safe retreat of the Yeerks with the Animorphs still in the possession of the morphing cube (of course the Yeerks weren't too happy with it but considering Ax could've ended Visser Three if they did) and now the Helmacrons are amidst in a civil war against the sexes, great, if this was better written and tied up properly it just fell flat.
But overall, this book is pretty forgettable as the Animorphs come across new pint-sized aliens with shrinking technology called the Helmacrons.
FYI, Ax has never heard of but let's not take his word for since ages ago he admitted to sleeping during classes whereas Visser Three HAS heard of this species which for a brief time in this book he was willing to join forces with the Animorphs to stop this threat.
I did say BRIEF alliance lol .... until he was like yeah nah I'm still gonna kill you Animorphs as well as the Helmacrons but nope Ax and the Animorphs had other plans and with some divide and conquer, or well, Ax's tail blade across Visser Three's throat is enough to shut the Yeerks up and agree to a temporary truce for everyone to be turned back normally sized, then a safe retreat of the Yeerks with the Animorphs still in the possession of the morphing cube (of course the Yeerks weren't too happy with it but considering Ax could've ended Visser Three if they did) and now the Helmacrons are amidst in a civil war against the sexes, great, if this was better written and tied up properly it just fell flat.
September 12, 2024
I'd definitely never read this one and while the helmacrons were funny, they were also stressful. The brief moments where it looked like we'd be allied with the yeerks were interesting and I'd have liked to see way more of that - uniting against a common enemy fascinates me.
July 10, 2025
This book was quite silly, and as a 12 or 13 year-old, I think I would have enjoyed it. But in my current "reading kids books as an adult to see if they work across different age groups" setup, this one falls a bit short. That said, I enjoyed the shrinking stuff.
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November 22, 2020Well... It was kinda FUNNY, but it was pointless from start to finish. Especially weird after how amazing #23 was. ESPECIALLY especially weird when you realize, yeah, Applegate wrote this; not a ghostwriter.
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July 12, 2022EXTREMELY silly.
January 13, 2023
Good commentary and fascinating visuals, but a less-than-stellar storyline.
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