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Animorphs #14
The Unknown
There's a new rumor in town. Someone has discovered an item that proves life on other planets exists, and they've been hiding it on a base called Zone 91, the most secret place on Earth.
Cassie and the other Animorphs already know about life on other planets. Too well. Their enemies the Yeerks will try to access Zone 91, to find out if what's there will threaten their mission to conquer to the planet. So the Animorphs decide to pay Zone 91 and the Yeerks a little visit. But what they discover is not at all what they expect.
Cassie and the other Animorphs already know about life on other planets. Too well. Their enemies the Yeerks will try to access Zone 91, to find out if what's there will threaten their mission to conquer to the planet. So the Animorphs decide to pay Zone 91 and the Yeerks a little visit. But what they discover is not at all what they expect.
181 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
K.A. Applegate
251 books486 followersalso published under the name Katherine Applegate
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 274 reviews
May 24, 2017
Ugh, this one was a dud. Just, a silly, silly premise. And worse, a silly premise that isn't backed up by anything substantial at all. Just empty jokes and no stakes. I mean, literally it starts with a joke (horses that are acting weird, and that are secretly Controllers, and why???) and ends with a joke (all of this over an !) It's all harmless enough, but compared with the best books in this series, it's just not satisfying at all.
And it has Cassie as a narrator because she likes horses??? I don't know, guys. It's just sort of inevitable that a series with 56+ books in it is going to have some stinkers in it.
I'm honestly not sure what else to say about this book. The best part about it was a series of pop culture jokes that are completely dated now. I happen to think it's hilarious that the pseudonyms the kids chose while breaking in to a thinly veiled Area 51 stand-in were Fox Mulder, Dana Scully and Cindy Crawford (Cassie panicked), but I can't imagine anyone not born within a very specific window of time appreciating the joke.
All in all, classic filler. Not offensive or anything, or poorly written, just sort of pointless.
Next up: No idea. I don't remember the next one in the slightest, but apparently it's got to do with Marco and his madre, so probably the opposite of this one in terms of significance.
[2.5 stars, rounded up for nostalgia]
And it has Cassie as a narrator because she likes horses??? I don't know, guys. It's just sort of inevitable that a series with 56+ books in it is going to have some stinkers in it.
I'm honestly not sure what else to say about this book. The best part about it was a series of pop culture jokes that are completely dated now. I happen to think it's hilarious that the pseudonyms the kids chose while breaking in to a thinly veiled Area 51 stand-in were Fox Mulder, Dana Scully and Cindy Crawford (Cassie panicked), but I can't imagine anyone not born within a very specific window of time appreciating the joke.
All in all, classic filler. Not offensive or anything, or poorly written, just sort of pointless.
Next up: No idea. I don't remember the next one in the slightest, but apparently it's got to do with Marco and his madre, so probably the opposite of this one in terms of significance.
[2.5 stars, rounded up for nostalgia]
August 4, 2015
I’ve spent a lot of time so far talking about how the Animorphs series is amazing. It deals with complex topics and themes in a way that remains entertaining and accessible for adolescents. It’s a great gateway drug to full-blown science-fiction fandom. Although most of the books tend to feel light and fun, there is a very serious undertone to the entire series, one that finally comes to the fore as Applegate (and her legion of ghostwriters) draws the series to a close.
So it’s easy to forget that this is, ultimately, a kids’ series, and so there are times when the books are … shall we say, lighter? That’s not an excuse for The Unknown, but it’s a reason.
The Animorphs, narrated by Cassie this time, investigate Zone 91. They do this as horses, because it turns out that the Yeerks are also interested in the alien tech the government is hiding in Zone 91, so much so that some poor low-level Yeerk grunts have to become horse-controllers.
Visser Three could literally morph an army officer, waltz onto the base, and take a peek—but no. He makes his underlings be horses. He is a horrible boss. He makes that Kevin Spacey character from Horrible Bosses look like nice-guy Boss of the Year.
Even the Visser eventually realizes this plan is beyond bonkers and falls back on the tried-and-true method of taking over humans. So shenanigans go down at the Gardens between the Yeerks and the “Andalite bandits” over the army officers having a field trip there. And the commander of the base, who caught Marco and Cassie and Rachel when they were trying to sneak onto it the first time, is a fairly incompetent loonie right out of … well, a kids’ book.
P.S., the alien device? An Andalite toilet. A defunct model of Andalite toilet. Hilarious, no?
Very little about the plot of The Unknown makes sense, even within the Animorphs universe. But this gives me an opportunity to nitpick elements of that universe.
Zone 91 is Area 51 in all but name. That’s because if Applegate set the action at Area 51, then we would be able to conclude that the Animorphs live within flying distance of Groom Lake. It’s a big deal that the Animorphs’ location is undisclosed—not only does it make the story seem more secretive, but it creates a “this could be happening in your town!” atmosphere that surely thrills young readers.
Still, it’s awfully nice of Visser Three to confine so many of his operations to this small area of the United States. It seems like the invasion would proceed more quickly if the Yeerks set up their base somewhere like Washington, D.C., or even a metropolis like New York.
For that matter, this whole secret invasion strategy doesn’t seem to be paying dividends. The Visser’s Blade ship took out an Andalite Dome ship—so why, exactly, hasn’t the Visser just landed a full-scale military force? I mean, yeah, there would be rebellions to deal with, and I guess dealing with the then—five billion unruly population might be difficult. So maybe an all-out invasion would be untenable—but this torturously slow process of taking over middle school principals is absurd.
I guess that’s why he’s Visser Three, not Visser Two, eh?
None of these complaints are serious jabs, mind you. The bar is totally lower for a series of Scholastic novels. For that same reason, The Unknown is not bad. It just lacks the gravity that I, as an adult fan, have come to appreciate about most of the books up until now. And even the humour doesn’t work well for me here. I liked Rachel and Cassie’s exchange about the latter’s (lack of) fashion, as well as Cassie’s eavesdropping on her parents’ conversation about discipline. Yes, Cassie, parents totally lie to you for your own good! But the whole throwaway gag of the Andalite toilet and the bumbling base commander and whatnot is just too juvenile (and it was probably too juvenile for teenage me reading this for the first time, because teenage me was just as much of an old, crochety man as I am now, although I had already ditched the corduroys by that time).
I just glanced quickly at my ratings so far, and it seems like my lowest-rated book has been #9: The Secret . It’s also a Cassie book—I should make it clear that my issue here is not Cassie. She’s a great narrator; she brings a kind of dry sense of humour to the table that is quite distinct from Marco’s buddy-buddy comedy. That is, I love her observations.
Still, The Secret had more meaty motifs than The Unknown, for the most part. So I guess that means this is my least-favourite Animorphs novel so far. It had to happen eventually. And keep in mind that this is not a bad novel, so think about what that means for the rest. It just lacks the punchiness of many of the previous instalments, and that tends to be what I’m looking for these days.
Next time, Marco’s mom is back in town. And she brought some mind-reading friends.
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #13: The Change | #15: The Escape →
So it’s easy to forget that this is, ultimately, a kids’ series, and so there are times when the books are … shall we say, lighter? That’s not an excuse for The Unknown, but it’s a reason.
The Animorphs, narrated by Cassie this time, investigate Zone 91. They do this as horses, because it turns out that the Yeerks are also interested in the alien tech the government is hiding in Zone 91, so much so that some poor low-level Yeerk grunts have to become horse-controllers.
Visser Three could literally morph an army officer, waltz onto the base, and take a peek—but no. He makes his underlings be horses. He is a horrible boss. He makes that Kevin Spacey character from Horrible Bosses look like nice-guy Boss of the Year.
Even the Visser eventually realizes this plan is beyond bonkers and falls back on the tried-and-true method of taking over humans. So shenanigans go down at the Gardens between the Yeerks and the “Andalite bandits” over the army officers having a field trip there. And the commander of the base, who caught Marco and Cassie and Rachel when they were trying to sneak onto it the first time, is a fairly incompetent loonie right out of … well, a kids’ book.
P.S., the alien device? An Andalite toilet. A defunct model of Andalite toilet. Hilarious, no?
Very little about the plot of The Unknown makes sense, even within the Animorphs universe. But this gives me an opportunity to nitpick elements of that universe.
Zone 91 is Area 51 in all but name. That’s because if Applegate set the action at Area 51, then we would be able to conclude that the Animorphs live within flying distance of Groom Lake. It’s a big deal that the Animorphs’ location is undisclosed—not only does it make the story seem more secretive, but it creates a “this could be happening in your town!” atmosphere that surely thrills young readers.
Still, it’s awfully nice of Visser Three to confine so many of his operations to this small area of the United States. It seems like the invasion would proceed more quickly if the Yeerks set up their base somewhere like Washington, D.C., or even a metropolis like New York.
For that matter, this whole secret invasion strategy doesn’t seem to be paying dividends. The Visser’s Blade ship took out an Andalite Dome ship—so why, exactly, hasn’t the Visser just landed a full-scale military force? I mean, yeah, there would be rebellions to deal with, and I guess dealing with the then—five billion unruly population might be difficult. So maybe an all-out invasion would be untenable—but this torturously slow process of taking over middle school principals is absurd.
I guess that’s why he’s Visser Three, not Visser Two, eh?
None of these complaints are serious jabs, mind you. The bar is totally lower for a series of Scholastic novels. For that same reason, The Unknown is not bad. It just lacks the gravity that I, as an adult fan, have come to appreciate about most of the books up until now. And even the humour doesn’t work well for me here. I liked Rachel and Cassie’s exchange about the latter’s (lack of) fashion, as well as Cassie’s eavesdropping on her parents’ conversation about discipline. Yes, Cassie, parents totally lie to you for your own good! But the whole throwaway gag of the Andalite toilet and the bumbling base commander and whatnot is just too juvenile (and it was probably too juvenile for teenage me reading this for the first time, because teenage me was just as much of an old, crochety man as I am now, although I had already ditched the corduroys by that time).
I just glanced quickly at my ratings so far, and it seems like my lowest-rated book has been #9: The Secret . It’s also a Cassie book—I should make it clear that my issue here is not Cassie. She’s a great narrator; she brings a kind of dry sense of humour to the table that is quite distinct from Marco’s buddy-buddy comedy. That is, I love her observations.
Still, The Secret had more meaty motifs than The Unknown, for the most part. So I guess that means this is my least-favourite Animorphs novel so far. It had to happen eventually. And keep in mind that this is not a bad novel, so think about what that means for the rest. It just lacks the punchiness of many of the previous instalments, and that tends to be what I’m looking for these days.
Next time, Marco’s mom is back in town. And she brought some mind-reading friends.
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #13: The Change | #15: The Escape →
April 25, 2020
FIRST REVIEW / MAR 17, 2015
(I forged too far ahead and now I can't remember my exact impressions!)
This is around where I stopped in my last reread a couple years ago, because this is the last physical Animorphs book currently sitting on my shelf (the rest are in another country, alas). And ahahaha this one is just RIDICULOUS and freakin' hilarious, and I love it -- this time, the Animorphs take on their universe's analogue for Area 51, and it's fantastic. Maybe not as good as the Futurama episode about it, but still good. Marco is a conspiracy nut, Cassie is absolutely godawful at improvising on the fly, and an all-out Yeerk battle unfurling in a theme park is hysterical -- as in, I laughed so hard at one of Visser Three's reactions that I was shaking uncontrollably with muffled laughter on the subway for about 5 minutes, because I kept rereading the same two lines over and over and descending into more gigglefits. The Visser is such an amazingly well-done villain because KAA somehow believably writes him as both utterly terrifying, AND hilarious.
The whole book itself, really, is on the lighter and comedic side compared to the heavier subject matter of the previous. The only thing that ground my gears was Cassie talking to the jockey while in horse morph, just to win a race. For all their secrecy about morphing, sometimes the kids are SO FREAKING DUMB about talking to humans.
EDIT: I just upped this rating, because in talking to Caitlin about it even weeks later, I still fell into gigglefits thinking about Area 51 and the horses and the theme park. This book is just SO FUNNY.
---------------------------------
SECOND REVIEW / APR 16, 2020
3.5 stars, generously rounded up just because I enjoy myself so much in this book. It's a pretty silly, pure-comedy plot, but honestly, you do need that balance sometimes to even things out. Wish I could write something more coherent, but my book/review brain is just not working this year.
Favourite quotes will be moved to Google Docs.
(I forged too far ahead and now I can't remember my exact impressions!)
This is around where I stopped in my last reread a couple years ago, because this is the last physical Animorphs book currently sitting on my shelf (the rest are in another country, alas). And ahahaha this one is just RIDICULOUS and freakin' hilarious, and I love it -- this time, the Animorphs take on their universe's analogue for Area 51, and it's fantastic. Maybe not as good as the Futurama episode about it, but still good. Marco is a conspiracy nut, Cassie is absolutely godawful at improvising on the fly, and an all-out Yeerk battle unfurling in a theme park is hysterical -- as in, I laughed so hard at one of Visser Three's reactions that I was shaking uncontrollably with muffled laughter on the subway for about 5 minutes, because I kept rereading the same two lines over and over and descending into more gigglefits. The Visser is such an amazingly well-done villain because KAA somehow believably writes him as both utterly terrifying, AND hilarious.
The whole book itself, really, is on the lighter and comedic side compared to the heavier subject matter of the previous. The only thing that ground my gears was Cassie talking to the jockey while in horse morph, just to win a race. For all their secrecy about morphing, sometimes the kids are SO FREAKING DUMB about talking to humans.
EDIT: I just upped this rating, because in talking to Caitlin about it even weeks later, I still fell into gigglefits thinking about Area 51 and the horses and the theme park. This book is just SO FUNNY.
---------------------------------
SECOND REVIEW / APR 16, 2020
3.5 stars, generously rounded up just because I enjoy myself so much in this book. It's a pretty silly, pure-comedy plot, but honestly, you do need that balance sometimes to even things out. Wish I could write something more coherent, but my book/review brain is just not working this year.
Favourite quotes will be moved to Google Docs.
April 20, 2024
*** 3.75 ***
Cassie, horses and alien Toilets😃👍
Cassie, horses and alien Toilets😃👍
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
December 27, 2022
Horses are acting weird, the Animorphs investigate. Overall, just a very silly premise but another decent filler book.
April 4, 2013
Brought to you by The Moonlight Library!
The Yeerks appear to be infesting horses out at Zone 91, a poorly disguised parallel of Area 51 (which is in Nevada but we all know the Animorphs are in California!). What are the Animorphs going to do about it? Why, morph horses, of course!
This is one of the better books in the Applegate-written section of the series purely for its comedic value. We don’t expect Cassie to be the funny one, but she’s run over by a tank as a cockroach and then runs in a thoroughbred race. There are plenty of funny moments in this book as Cassie’s naivety comes to the fore – she gives a fake name as “Cindy Crawford” and a fake phone number of “12345678″. Also, Rachel buys her a new outfit, which actually makes other boys notice her, and makes Marco go slightly insane (but did we ever expect anything else?)
This is the first book after Tobias has been given his morphing power back, and it demonstrates how awkward it must be for a hawk to go to human places to acquire animals (a racetrack for the horses). Tobias also grumbles a lot about how poor the morphs are in comparison to his own body, or grumbles about being left out.
The Yeerks want to know if the rumoured alien technology held at Zone 91 is a threat to them or their invasion, and although they never actually find out what it is, Ax knows and informs the Animorphs. The Yeerks are still desperate enough to attack humans in broad daylight (well, night time, but in a public place) to force an infestation, and Cassie is the one to come up with a plan and foil them. Don’t underestimate her. She may be a tree hugger but she’s also one of the most ruthless Animorphs. It’s dangerous, because she’ll look all innocent with her big wide eyes until you realise you’ve lost a major battle in the war and have to retreat.
Cassie is a badass and should not be underestimated.
January 29, 2023
Read like a rejected megamorphs draft
February 26, 2024
Technically it gets an automatic 5 because it mentioned the Kentucky Derby, but really it should have been a 2. I’ve decided Cassie is my least favorite and her books draaaaaag
September 15, 2017
(Originally reviewed at thelibraryladies.com.)
Narrator: Cassie
Plot: As we know from my last rant, ahem, I mean, review, I have some struggles with Cassie books some times. But, while this book continues the tradition of giving Cassie some of the more stupid missions, we were at least spared the awful drama and holier-than-thou whining that ruined the last Cassie book for me. In fact, this book was a lot of fun…when it wasn’t being entirely stupid.
Through a mall-trip-related deal, Cassie convinces Rachel to travel out with her and her dad to the Dry Land (a nearby semi-desert area) to check out a sick horse. But this isn’t a normal horse. In fact, this horse seems to be trying to make a phone call using a paid phone booth! What’s more, Cassie and Rachel see a Yeerk squirm out of the horse’s ear (the horse is clearly suffering from a snake bite), and then almost get shot by Dracon beams.
Returning to the other Animorphs the next day, they convince the very skeptical group that the bizarre horses really are worth checking out. Understandably, the group can’t seem to figure out why Yeerks would want to Control horses of all animals. Maybe it has something to do with the nearby Zone 91, a military base rumored by conspiracy theorists to host proof that aliens exist (I see what you did there, Applegate).
Cassie, Marco, Rachel, and Tobias decide to check it out. In an unfortunate bit of timing between morphs, Cassie, Marco and Rachel are captured by a military patrol and brought into the base. They only escape by morphing cockroach while the man in charge, Captain Torrelli, is away checking out their names and numbers. Somehow he doesn’t get the fact that “Fox Mulder,” “Dana Skully,” and “Cindy Crawfod” (Cassie really sucks in the lying department) might, MIGHT, be fake names. After escaping the building, and in Cassie’s case, proving that roaches can survive anything after being run over by a tank, the group witness a herd of horses with a particularly modest horse that moves to be behind a bush while it does its business. (And here we have the first example of what is an unfortunate trend for this book. Potty humor. Never fear, I will point out the other examples as we go!)
Now convinced that something is up with the horses here, the group decide that they should morph horses themselves to try and figure out why exactly Yeerks would be doing this. What follows is a bizarre escapade at a racing track where somehow Cassie ends up morphing a famous race horse (Minneapolis Max!) and winning a horse race. Ultimately, they all get horse morphs and fly back to the desert to join the herd of the horse!Controllers.
The Yeerks seem to have the brilliant plan that going in as Controlled horses they can discover what information, if anything, the humans have on any alien lifeforms on Earth. To do this, they decide to simply charge into the base as a herd of horses. The Animorphs join in and they discover some strange alien contraption that neither the Yeerks nor the Animorphs recognize. Heading back into the desert, the herd is intercepted by a Yeerk Bug Fighter and none other than Visser Three himself checking on how the mission went. After being displeased with the results, he decides that they should go with Plan B and infest some humans that work on the base. He also is displeased with the presence of other horses with the group, thinking they could be Andalites in morph. Cassie decides to take a dump as a way to convince them that they’re just regular horses. (Potty humor again!) When this doesn’t work, they simply run away, only escaping when some officers from the base show up and the Yeerks retreat rather than expose themselves.
On the way home, Ax reveals that he actually did know what the strange alien artifact was: a primitive Andalite toilet. So yes, the whole crux of this little story is centered around a LITERAL TOILET.
Through shenanigans, Cassie realizes that the Yeerks will likely try to infest Zone 91 officers while they’re at a company day trip to The Gardens. The Animorphs show up, get chased around through a log ride by Captain Torrelli who recognizes Cassie and Marco as “those punk kids.” Finally, they find the Yeerks camped out in the Horror House. They’re just standing around pretending to be part of the ride, including Visser Three himself. The Yeerks nab the Captain, and the Animorphs morph their battle morphs and give chase through the Horror House, and then, conveniently, into a parade. For some not super clear reason, the Yeerks pretty much let Captain Torrelli get away and fly off. Somehow all of this is hand waved away by the general public as “just part of the amusement park.”
So…there you have it. There were several really fun scenes tied up in all of this nonsense. We get a whole chapter of the kids at school, which is always fun. There were some good character moments with Cassie and her parents. And, tone wise, this book was very, very funny.
But beyond all of that, it’s just dumb. The whole horse!Controllers idea doesn’t make any sense given how we’ve seen the Yeerks operate in the past. The campy nonsense at The Gardens is completely wacky. And the fact that the whole thing ends with the Animorphs pretty much hand-waving the threat to Captain Torrelli away as “well, now he’ll be on his guard” is ridiculous. The Yeerks could take control of him at any time! Beyond all of this, the central conflict is around an Andalite toilet. The stakes…they are not high or interesting in this book.
Actual quote from the book:
We had done some very important things as Animorphs. We had fought some terrible and vital battles. This wasn’t one of them.
Peace, Love, and Animals: Cassie, herself, is much more tolerable in this book. Part of it has to do with the fact that she hangs out with Rachel quite a bit in this story, and their friendship and banter is always enjoyable. Her relationship with her parents remains as one of the more fully developed families in the series. She has a few moments where she again reverts to her “this is all my fault!” whininess, but for the most part it was much more toned back from her last book.
Bizarrely, for a character that is often really smart in other books, she has some seriously dumb moments here. I mean, it was just a book or two ago when she morphed Rachel and was able to lie straight to a Controller’s face in a much more high stakes moment. But here, she has tons of issues coming up with a lie at the base with Rachel and Marco (Cindy Crawford??) and then messes up understanding military time when they try to disrupt the Yeerks’ plan at The Gardens. Seems out of character for her.
Another huge misstep she makes is while she’s at the race track and somehow ends up in the race itself, she goes and thought speaks to the jokey! Why??! What if he was a Controller! The Animorphs never do this for a reason, and it’s such an inconsequential moment, that’s it’s completely inexplicable why she would choose to break this rule now.
Our Fearless Leader: Jake doesn’t do much in this book. He plays his usual leader role, gets exasperated at the banter when they go off topic, and repeatedly tells Ax to stop calling him “Prince.”
Xena, Warriar Princess: As I said, there’s a lot of fun Cassie/Rachel friendship moments. In exchange for going out to the desert with Cassie and her dad, Rachel gets to take Cassie shopping for outfits. Then they go to school and Rachel is massively disappointed by the fact that no one notices. In fact, poor Cassie only gets talked to after boys come up to Rachel first, and then they forget Cassie’s name calling her “Kendra” and “Carla.” In desperation, Rachel pays Marco two dollars to make a scene over Cassie in the next class. Something he plays up quite a bit. These are the type of very fun “real world” scenes that we don’t get often, but are great fun when we do.
A Hawk’s Life: It’s super fun having Tobias around for more of this book! He gets to plan with the group while in his “human morph” at the mall. And then gets to morph horse along with everyone else, too. It’s explained that since hawk is Tobias’s “true form” now, that he has to acquire all of his morphs as a hawk. We miss out on the scene of how this worked out with the horses.
The Comic Relief: Marco gets in a lot of fun quips about “modest horses” and “phone call making horses” etc etc. He also proves to still be the most canny member of the group when he, Cassie and Rachel are captured at the base. While there, he insists on asking about aliens and generally making out like a conspiracy theorist. When they escape and Rachel and Cassie challenge him on this, he says that that’s the only way they would be dismissed. Three regular, sane kids out there without shoes are a real question. Three crazy kids…well, they’re crazy.
E.T./Ax Phone Home: While the group are morphed horses, Ax is able to understand the Yeerks because they are talking Galard, some universal alien language. Another stupid thing about this book: it never really says how the Yeerks are “talking” at all while in the body of a horse. If I’m not mistaken, horses don’t have the most advanced vocal cords…
Best (?) Body Horror Moment: At once point while morphing, Cassie gets to see her hand as just bones. Fun!
Couples Watch!: Not much of anything here. When Cassie comes home late from their mission, her parents make a point of embarrassing her, asking if she was out on a date with Jake. It’s another nice human moment in the book.
If Only Visser Three had Mustache to Twirl: I seriously don’t buy the fact that Visser Three would show up at The Gardens and pretend to be a part of the Horror House ride. It just seems like something that he would consider so beneath him. And really, wouldn’t it me? I mean, come on, the guy is the third most powerful Yeerk in the Empire! Does he really need to come along on the infestation mission of one little human Captain??
He does have this moment, though, when he meets up with the horse!Controllers and is upset with their findings (the fact that they didn’t know what the alien artifact was) and kills one of them in a fit of rage:
the Visser screamed in enraged thought-speak. The Visser indicated the no-longer-in-one-piece horse-Controller, like it had been someone else’s fault he’d been lost.
Adult Ugly Crying at a Middle Grade Book: Can I cry at the sheer stupidity and at the fact that the book is pretty much potty humor wrapped up in an Animorphs story??
What a Terrible Plan, Guys!: This time it’s the Yeerks with the terrible plan! I mean, come on! Why, oh why, would they Control horses to check this place out? At no point in this series have we ever seen the Yeerks hesitate to just infest whomever is convenient. And they’ve already gotten thousands of people, so it’s not like it’s even that hard for them to do. This just makes absolutely no sense. And the plan to capture the guy while at The Gardens is almost as stupid, too! Yes, let’s make a huge scene with Visser Three and Hork Bajir running around to capture this one guy while in the middle of a crowded theme park! Yes, that is the way to keep aliens on earth a secret (the apparent reason they’re so interested in getting a hold of the artifact in Zone 91 in the first place!) So stupid. Visser Three himself admits that Plan B was better:
“We still have the backup plan. It was always the better plan. We’ll simply take control of a few of the humans working at this base.”
No one knows why this was ever the “backup plan.”
Favorite Quote:
The level of exasperation behind Marco’s comment in this quote pretty much sums up my feelings about the plot of this entire book.
said Marco. Ax said condescendingly.
Scorecard: Yeerks 3, Animorphs 6
NO POINTS FOR ANYONE! BAD YEERKS! BAD ANIMORPHS!
Rating: So, the plot for this one was pretty stupid. But there was a lot of really fun “real world” moments that we don’t often get, and there were a lot of really funny lines and running jokes, so much so that I actually still very much enjoyed reading it. The rating would then be somewhere in the middle. Not great, but its saved by a few things from being a complete disaster.
Narrator: Cassie
Plot: As we know from my last rant, ahem, I mean, review, I have some struggles with Cassie books some times. But, while this book continues the tradition of giving Cassie some of the more stupid missions, we were at least spared the awful drama and holier-than-thou whining that ruined the last Cassie book for me. In fact, this book was a lot of fun…when it wasn’t being entirely stupid.
Through a mall-trip-related deal, Cassie convinces Rachel to travel out with her and her dad to the Dry Land (a nearby semi-desert area) to check out a sick horse. But this isn’t a normal horse. In fact, this horse seems to be trying to make a phone call using a paid phone booth! What’s more, Cassie and Rachel see a Yeerk squirm out of the horse’s ear (the horse is clearly suffering from a snake bite), and then almost get shot by Dracon beams.
Returning to the other Animorphs the next day, they convince the very skeptical group that the bizarre horses really are worth checking out. Understandably, the group can’t seem to figure out why Yeerks would want to Control horses of all animals. Maybe it has something to do with the nearby Zone 91, a military base rumored by conspiracy theorists to host proof that aliens exist (I see what you did there, Applegate).
Cassie, Marco, Rachel, and Tobias decide to check it out. In an unfortunate bit of timing between morphs, Cassie, Marco and Rachel are captured by a military patrol and brought into the base. They only escape by morphing cockroach while the man in charge, Captain Torrelli, is away checking out their names and numbers. Somehow he doesn’t get the fact that “Fox Mulder,” “Dana Skully,” and “Cindy Crawfod” (Cassie really sucks in the lying department) might, MIGHT, be fake names. After escaping the building, and in Cassie’s case, proving that roaches can survive anything after being run over by a tank, the group witness a herd of horses with a particularly modest horse that moves to be behind a bush while it does its business. (And here we have the first example of what is an unfortunate trend for this book. Potty humor. Never fear, I will point out the other examples as we go!)
Now convinced that something is up with the horses here, the group decide that they should morph horses themselves to try and figure out why exactly Yeerks would be doing this. What follows is a bizarre escapade at a racing track where somehow Cassie ends up morphing a famous race horse (Minneapolis Max!) and winning a horse race. Ultimately, they all get horse morphs and fly back to the desert to join the herd of the horse!Controllers.
The Yeerks seem to have the brilliant plan that going in as Controlled horses they can discover what information, if anything, the humans have on any alien lifeforms on Earth. To do this, they decide to simply charge into the base as a herd of horses. The Animorphs join in and they discover some strange alien contraption that neither the Yeerks nor the Animorphs recognize. Heading back into the desert, the herd is intercepted by a Yeerk Bug Fighter and none other than Visser Three himself checking on how the mission went. After being displeased with the results, he decides that they should go with Plan B and infest some humans that work on the base. He also is displeased with the presence of other horses with the group, thinking they could be Andalites in morph. Cassie decides to take a dump as a way to convince them that they’re just regular horses. (Potty humor again!) When this doesn’t work, they simply run away, only escaping when some officers from the base show up and the Yeerks retreat rather than expose themselves.
On the way home, Ax reveals that he actually did know what the strange alien artifact was: a primitive Andalite toilet. So yes, the whole crux of this little story is centered around a LITERAL TOILET.
Through shenanigans, Cassie realizes that the Yeerks will likely try to infest Zone 91 officers while they’re at a company day trip to The Gardens. The Animorphs show up, get chased around through a log ride by Captain Torrelli who recognizes Cassie and Marco as “those punk kids.” Finally, they find the Yeerks camped out in the Horror House. They’re just standing around pretending to be part of the ride, including Visser Three himself. The Yeerks nab the Captain, and the Animorphs morph their battle morphs and give chase through the Horror House, and then, conveniently, into a parade. For some not super clear reason, the Yeerks pretty much let Captain Torrelli get away and fly off. Somehow all of this is hand waved away by the general public as “just part of the amusement park.”
So…there you have it. There were several really fun scenes tied up in all of this nonsense. We get a whole chapter of the kids at school, which is always fun. There were some good character moments with Cassie and her parents. And, tone wise, this book was very, very funny.
But beyond all of that, it’s just dumb. The whole horse!Controllers idea doesn’t make any sense given how we’ve seen the Yeerks operate in the past. The campy nonsense at The Gardens is completely wacky. And the fact that the whole thing ends with the Animorphs pretty much hand-waving the threat to Captain Torrelli away as “well, now he’ll be on his guard” is ridiculous. The Yeerks could take control of him at any time! Beyond all of this, the central conflict is around an Andalite toilet. The stakes…they are not high or interesting in this book.
Actual quote from the book:
We had done some very important things as Animorphs. We had fought some terrible and vital battles. This wasn’t one of them.
Peace, Love, and Animals: Cassie, herself, is much more tolerable in this book. Part of it has to do with the fact that she hangs out with Rachel quite a bit in this story, and their friendship and banter is always enjoyable. Her relationship with her parents remains as one of the more fully developed families in the series. She has a few moments where she again reverts to her “this is all my fault!” whininess, but for the most part it was much more toned back from her last book.
Bizarrely, for a character that is often really smart in other books, she has some seriously dumb moments here. I mean, it was just a book or two ago when she morphed Rachel and was able to lie straight to a Controller’s face in a much more high stakes moment. But here, she has tons of issues coming up with a lie at the base with Rachel and Marco (Cindy Crawford??) and then messes up understanding military time when they try to disrupt the Yeerks’ plan at The Gardens. Seems out of character for her.
Another huge misstep she makes is while she’s at the race track and somehow ends up in the race itself, she goes and thought speaks to the jokey! Why??! What if he was a Controller! The Animorphs never do this for a reason, and it’s such an inconsequential moment, that’s it’s completely inexplicable why she would choose to break this rule now.
Our Fearless Leader: Jake doesn’t do much in this book. He plays his usual leader role, gets exasperated at the banter when they go off topic, and repeatedly tells Ax to stop calling him “Prince.”
Xena, Warriar Princess: As I said, there’s a lot of fun Cassie/Rachel friendship moments. In exchange for going out to the desert with Cassie and her dad, Rachel gets to take Cassie shopping for outfits. Then they go to school and Rachel is massively disappointed by the fact that no one notices. In fact, poor Cassie only gets talked to after boys come up to Rachel first, and then they forget Cassie’s name calling her “Kendra” and “Carla.” In desperation, Rachel pays Marco two dollars to make a scene over Cassie in the next class. Something he plays up quite a bit. These are the type of very fun “real world” scenes that we don’t get often, but are great fun when we do.
A Hawk’s Life: It’s super fun having Tobias around for more of this book! He gets to plan with the group while in his “human morph” at the mall. And then gets to morph horse along with everyone else, too. It’s explained that since hawk is Tobias’s “true form” now, that he has to acquire all of his morphs as a hawk. We miss out on the scene of how this worked out with the horses.
The Comic Relief: Marco gets in a lot of fun quips about “modest horses” and “phone call making horses” etc etc. He also proves to still be the most canny member of the group when he, Cassie and Rachel are captured at the base. While there, he insists on asking about aliens and generally making out like a conspiracy theorist. When they escape and Rachel and Cassie challenge him on this, he says that that’s the only way they would be dismissed. Three regular, sane kids out there without shoes are a real question. Three crazy kids…well, they’re crazy.
E.T./Ax Phone Home: While the group are morphed horses, Ax is able to understand the Yeerks because they are talking Galard, some universal alien language. Another stupid thing about this book: it never really says how the Yeerks are “talking” at all while in the body of a horse. If I’m not mistaken, horses don’t have the most advanced vocal cords…
Best (?) Body Horror Moment: At once point while morphing, Cassie gets to see her hand as just bones. Fun!
Couples Watch!: Not much of anything here. When Cassie comes home late from their mission, her parents make a point of embarrassing her, asking if she was out on a date with Jake. It’s another nice human moment in the book.
If Only Visser Three had Mustache to Twirl: I seriously don’t buy the fact that Visser Three would show up at The Gardens and pretend to be a part of the Horror House ride. It just seems like something that he would consider so beneath him. And really, wouldn’t it me? I mean, come on, the guy is the third most powerful Yeerk in the Empire! Does he really need to come along on the infestation mission of one little human Captain??
He does have this moment, though, when he meets up with the horse!Controllers and is upset with their findings (the fact that they didn’t know what the alien artifact was) and kills one of them in a fit of rage:
the Visser screamed in enraged thought-speak. The Visser indicated the no-longer-in-one-piece horse-Controller, like it had been someone else’s fault he’d been lost.
Adult Ugly Crying at a Middle Grade Book: Can I cry at the sheer stupidity and at the fact that the book is pretty much potty humor wrapped up in an Animorphs story??
What a Terrible Plan, Guys!: This time it’s the Yeerks with the terrible plan! I mean, come on! Why, oh why, would they Control horses to check this place out? At no point in this series have we ever seen the Yeerks hesitate to just infest whomever is convenient. And they’ve already gotten thousands of people, so it’s not like it’s even that hard for them to do. This just makes absolutely no sense. And the plan to capture the guy while at The Gardens is almost as stupid, too! Yes, let’s make a huge scene with Visser Three and Hork Bajir running around to capture this one guy while in the middle of a crowded theme park! Yes, that is the way to keep aliens on earth a secret (the apparent reason they’re so interested in getting a hold of the artifact in Zone 91 in the first place!) So stupid. Visser Three himself admits that Plan B was better:
“We still have the backup plan. It was always the better plan. We’ll simply take control of a few of the humans working at this base.”
No one knows why this was ever the “backup plan.”
Favorite Quote:
The level of exasperation behind Marco’s comment in this quote pretty much sums up my feelings about the plot of this entire book.
said Marco. Ax said condescendingly.
Scorecard: Yeerks 3, Animorphs 6
NO POINTS FOR ANYONE! BAD YEERKS! BAD ANIMORPHS!
Rating: So, the plot for this one was pretty stupid. But there was a lot of really fun “real world” moments that we don’t often get, and there were a lot of really funny lines and running jokes, so much so that I actually still very much enjoyed reading it. The rating would then be somewhere in the middle. Not great, but its saved by a few things from being a complete disaster.
March 23, 2022
Meh. This book just felt like a filler episode.
This does, however, have a very interesting focus on government involvement throughout this entire war.
CW: violence, imprisonment
This does, however, have a very interesting focus on government involvement throughout this entire war.
CW: violence, imprisonment
January 10, 2013
This is the first Animorphs book I ever owned as a child! I'd completely forgotten the plot though, so it was like reading it for the first time. :)
In this book, Cassie and Rachel discover that the Yeerks are controlling a pack of horses out in the desert. The Animorphs go to investigate, and find that the Horse-Controllers are trying to sneak into 'Zone 91' (the equivalent of Area 51). It turns out that the military staff of Zone 91 are unaware that the crashlanded alien spacecraft they've been guarding since the 1950's is actually a primitive Andalite toilet. The Yeerks are also clueless as to the purpose of the artifact, but want to destroy it all the same to further their mission. If humans have no proof of alien life, that makes it easier for the Yeerks to invade without questions being asked.
The Yeerks plan to destroy the artifact through enslaving the military personnel that work at Zone 91. Fortunately for them, the Zone 91 staff have rented out the Gardens Amusement Park that Saturday night, making it easy for the Yeerks to ambush key military personnel while on scary rides. Visser Three and co. try to snatch a high-ranking officer in the House of Horrors, but the Animorphs intervene, saving the day.
---
I'm a total nut for X-Files and anything sci-fi (just take a peek at my 'read' list for proof) so naturally I loved this book. Even if there weren't the nostalgia of it being the first Animorphs book I ever owned, I'd still love the storyline. It was one of the more lighthearted and humourous books of the series thus far, with the joking jab at Area 51, the artifact turning out to be a 'waste disposal unit', and the battle in the House of Horrors.
I also liked this book as it represented another look into Yeerk culture. Before now, we hadn't even entertained the idea of Yeerks controlling any other Earth species but humans - which in hindsight is silly, as they first creatures they ever inhabited bore a striking resemblance to monkeys! I wonder if the Animorphs will start to suspect the Yeerks of controlling other animals, because that'll certainly up the paranoia and 'we need to be stealthy' stakes.
I guess the only thing I didn't like about the book was that I wish it had been from Marco's perspective. He made a lot of wise cracks and showed some genuine fascination with Zone 91, but it would've been funnier to experience it all from the perspective of the resident sci-fi nut. I'm sure he would've slipped in some good Star Trek references. :P
In this book, Cassie and Rachel discover that the Yeerks are controlling a pack of horses out in the desert. The Animorphs go to investigate, and find that the Horse-Controllers are trying to sneak into 'Zone 91' (the equivalent of Area 51). It turns out that the military staff of Zone 91 are unaware that the crashlanded alien spacecraft they've been guarding since the 1950's is actually a primitive Andalite toilet. The Yeerks are also clueless as to the purpose of the artifact, but want to destroy it all the same to further their mission. If humans have no proof of alien life, that makes it easier for the Yeerks to invade without questions being asked.
The Yeerks plan to destroy the artifact through enslaving the military personnel that work at Zone 91. Fortunately for them, the Zone 91 staff have rented out the Gardens Amusement Park that Saturday night, making it easy for the Yeerks to ambush key military personnel while on scary rides. Visser Three and co. try to snatch a high-ranking officer in the House of Horrors, but the Animorphs intervene, saving the day.
---
I'm a total nut for X-Files and anything sci-fi (just take a peek at my 'read' list for proof) so naturally I loved this book. Even if there weren't the nostalgia of it being the first Animorphs book I ever owned, I'd still love the storyline. It was one of the more lighthearted and humourous books of the series thus far, with the joking jab at Area 51, the artifact turning out to be a 'waste disposal unit', and the battle in the House of Horrors.
I also liked this book as it represented another look into Yeerk culture. Before now, we hadn't even entertained the idea of Yeerks controlling any other Earth species but humans - which in hindsight is silly, as they first creatures they ever inhabited bore a striking resemblance to monkeys! I wonder if the Animorphs will start to suspect the Yeerks of controlling other animals, because that'll certainly up the paranoia and 'we need to be stealthy' stakes.
I guess the only thing I didn't like about the book was that I wish it had been from Marco's perspective. He made a lot of wise cracks and showed some genuine fascination with Zone 91, but it would've been funnier to experience it all from the perspective of the resident sci-fi nut. I'm sure he would've slipped in some good Star Trek references. :P
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2021
Update 2021: I don't care that people seem to hate this one. It is in my top ten of the series.
Fantastic. There's conspiracies, X-Files references, Cassie being awful at being a spy, confused Air Force people, racehorses, and gratuitous use of the Gardens. What more could you ask for?
Fantastic. There's conspiracies, X-Files references, Cassie being awful at being a spy, confused Air Force people, racehorses, and gratuitous use of the Gardens. What more could you ask for?
June 8, 2015
More action, adventure...and fun.
November 26, 2019
Original Review at Jaunts & Haunts
4/5
I gave this book four galloping stars.
Following the high from #13, I should have known to expect a little bit less out of this one. There's a whopping 54 books in this series (not counting the special in between ones), and not all of them can be winners, but this one fell a little bit short of my expectations.
This time around, we followed the Animorphs' journey in Cassie's POV. I love Cassie's character for many reasons. She's intelligent, a woman of color, and speaks her mind. That doesn't change in this installment.
This time around, something is up with some nearby horses. Something that seems a little... odd. When Cassie's dad gets a call from a lady named Crazy Helen about horses acting strange in the area known as the Drylands, Cassie and Rachel come along.
However, when they get there they get a lot more than they bargained for. Once again, it appears the Yeerks are up to something. But what is afoot? Could it have to do with the nearby Zone 91 that people say is a coverup for alien activity decades ago?
There were some great pros to this book. For starters, Cassie's POV. It's never very disappointing. Though she is young, she's a quick study and asks the right questions when it comes down to it.
Also, most of this bookish journey including all of the Animorphs, so it was nice that things were balanced.
The concept was, as always, intriguing.
However, that's where things went a little south. The reader spends a lot of time with the plot developing only to get very little in return by the end of the book. We've come to expect some crazy antics, but this one just didn't have nearly as much flare as the others did. It just kind of fell a bit flat.
Yes, we do have adventure. Was it entertaining? Of course! Did it flow? You betcha! But was it memorable? Mmm, probably not so much. That's why this time around I ended with a four rating, and honestly it probably deserves a slight bit less than that, but I don't rate in quarter stars.
Ultimately, this is a decent continuing of this series, entertaining and thrilling as always, just don't expect the world out of this one.
4/5
I gave this book four galloping stars.
Following the high from #13, I should have known to expect a little bit less out of this one. There's a whopping 54 books in this series (not counting the special in between ones), and not all of them can be winners, but this one fell a little bit short of my expectations.
This time around, we followed the Animorphs' journey in Cassie's POV. I love Cassie's character for many reasons. She's intelligent, a woman of color, and speaks her mind. That doesn't change in this installment.
This time around, something is up with some nearby horses. Something that seems a little... odd. When Cassie's dad gets a call from a lady named Crazy Helen about horses acting strange in the area known as the Drylands, Cassie and Rachel come along.
However, when they get there they get a lot more than they bargained for. Once again, it appears the Yeerks are up to something. But what is afoot? Could it have to do with the nearby Zone 91 that people say is a coverup for alien activity decades ago?
There were some great pros to this book. For starters, Cassie's POV. It's never very disappointing. Though she is young, she's a quick study and asks the right questions when it comes down to it.
Also, most of this bookish journey including all of the Animorphs, so it was nice that things were balanced.
The concept was, as always, intriguing.
However, that's where things went a little south. The reader spends a lot of time with the plot developing only to get very little in return by the end of the book. We've come to expect some crazy antics, but this one just didn't have nearly as much flare as the others did. It just kind of fell a bit flat.
Yes, we do have adventure. Was it entertaining? Of course! Did it flow? You betcha! But was it memorable? Mmm, probably not so much. That's why this time around I ended with a four rating, and honestly it probably deserves a slight bit less than that, but I don't rate in quarter stars.
Ultimately, this is a decent continuing of this series, entertaining and thrilling as always, just don't expect the world out of this one.
September 1, 2023
beaches, forests, mountains w/secluded valleys, a combination zoo/amusement park, and a massive military base, all within less than two hours' distance of each other? the geography of the city these kids live in must be WILD
also cassie morphs the darling of the kentucky derby and gets stuck running a race (AS A HORSE) that has no purpose happening except that it's FUN AS FUCK so this book is specifically catered to Me, thanks <3
also cassie morphs the darling of the kentucky derby and gets stuck running a race (AS A HORSE) that has no purpose happening except that it's FUN AS FUCK so this book is specifically catered to Me, thanks <3
April 20, 2024
KA Applegate clearly wanted a little wackadoodle time here— Honestly I loved seeing how far the Yeerk infestations can go and some more of Cassie’s family— but this one seems to be missing some development from the kids as in the end it seemed as if there was a net zero (something that does happen sometimes in the series, but usually accompanied with character growth). The plot is also so fun but all over the place. With one more draft this would have been one of the best.
July 29, 2025
Definitely not the best in the series but I liked it. Bit less serious than the others but I’m so invested in the storyline and the characters. I liked the very 90’s flashbacks to the X-files, which of course at the time were just pop culture. 3.9 stars
June 4, 2022
Honse!
August 13, 2025
Deeply forgettable but still a fun comedic romp.
October 13, 2020
The parade scene makes this 100% worth it.
March 14, 2017
"There are days when it feels like a noose slowly tightening around my neck. There are days when I don't feel like I can trust anyone."
"Looks and clothing don't matter even slightly to me. And the people who matter are the ones who see past all that."
Not a bad installment, but kinda filler-ish. The end was rather funny, once they figured out what the item was.
Cassie is becoming more and more worried about lying to her parents. This one did not have much in character development, just deepens relationships that are there already. I did like the more serious side of Marco that we are starting to see.
"Looks and clothing don't matter even slightly to me. And the people who matter are the ones who see past all that."
Not a bad installment, but kinda filler-ish. The end was rather funny, once they figured out what the item was.
Cassie is becoming more and more worried about lying to her parents. This one did not have much in character development, just deepens relationships that are there already. I did like the more serious side of Marco that we are starting to see.
September 18, 2025
Goofy and unnecessary tbh but still good fun
March 26, 2022
While Cassie remains my favorite Animorph for her compassion and emotional understanding, this episode is much lighter on feelings than her other narrated books so far. In fact, The Unknown is downright silly. Cassie becomes a bumbling everyman (with a few special morphing powers, of course) who stumbles into a series of increasingly goofy action sequences. It might sound from this description like I wasn’t a fan of the book, but you’d be wrong. Cassie is endearing in her bumbliness; it comes off more as humility than ineptitude. And the scenes are so oddball, the escalating absurdity so great, that the effect is hilarious.
The structure of the plot is more interesting here, too. The Animorphs discover that the Yeerks are interested in the secret held atArea 51 Zone 91. They infiltrate the base, with a few bumps along the way, and find out that the secret is . (From the beginning scenes of a horse-controller to the , it’s pretty clear this book is a comedic episode.) And then – that’s it? The book seems to be winding down with this anticlimax. But I enjoyed how Cassie has an eyes-snapping-open revelation that there’s more to worry about, leading to our last action scene that was truly an absurd joy to read.
Stray observations (a la AV Club reviews):
• It’s interesting that Cassie has a premonition about moving away from the horse before it’s blown up at the beginning. She’s had little psychic moments before, like when she heard Ax’s message in book 4 (though that was explained scientifically). It’s a little thing that I don’t think is ever really explored, but I like that she seems to be a little bit paranormal.
• So many Star Trek and X-Files references. This is great for the reader, like me, who loves 90s sci-fi television.
• Cassie is so bad at covert operations. This is a well-established character trait of hers, and it makes her even more endearing.
• I’m glad when she morphs Minneapolis Max that she doesn’t have the training the real horse would have. She’s clear that she’s only running on instinct and genetics. It’s consistent with the morphing technology.
• “Sometimes I lie in bed at night and worry about the whole human race.” Me too, Cassie, me too.
• The Gardens scene is a comedic delight.
The structure of the plot is more interesting here, too. The Animorphs discover that the Yeerks are interested in the secret held at
Stray observations (a la AV Club reviews):
• It’s interesting that Cassie has a premonition about moving away from the horse before it’s blown up at the beginning. She’s had little psychic moments before, like when she heard Ax’s message in book 4 (though that was explained scientifically). It’s a little thing that I don’t think is ever really explored, but I like that she seems to be a little bit paranormal.
• So many Star Trek and X-Files references. This is great for the reader, like me, who loves 90s sci-fi television.
• Cassie is so bad at covert operations. This is a well-established character trait of hers, and it makes her even more endearing.
• I’m glad when she morphs Minneapolis Max that she doesn’t have the training the real horse would have. She’s clear that she’s only running on instinct and genetics. It’s consistent with the morphing technology.
• “Sometimes I lie in bed at night and worry about the whole human race.” Me too, Cassie, me too.
• The Gardens scene is a comedic delight.
April 15, 2019
Well, this book was shit. No, I mean literally... this book was about poop. Horse poop and alien poop.
My theory about the book is that it's all just a fever dream Cassie has while sick with the flu or something... and she really has to go to the bathroom, but not badly enough to wake her up... so she ends up dreaming about poop and pooping.
Makes more sense that way, doesn't it? ^_^
My theory about the book is that it's all just a fever dream Cassie has while sick with the flu or something... and she really has to go to the bathroom, but not badly enough to wake her up... so she ends up dreaming about poop and pooping.
Makes more sense that way, doesn't it? ^_^
July 15, 2021
This one has no complexity to it.
Very exciting nonetheless!
Very exciting nonetheless!
February 16, 2025
I was wondering if I'd started being too lenient on the Animorphs lately - my last few reviews have been relatively positive, and I thought that either I'd been too easy on them or maybe the books were improving. I feel a little justified now that I've read this one, and it's definitely a bad one in the bunch. The story involves a plot by the Yeerks to infest horses, but it turns out that it's all on a meaningless mission. If the Animorphs hadn't done anything, nothing would have changed. The whole plot actually turns out to be a big potty joke, which is just... a waste of time. There's no corresponding story from Cassie's life that's highlighted in the battle with the Yeerks; it's just a random one-off that goes nowhere and does nothing. Their Area 51 ripoff is totally out of place.
September 4, 2021
When I saw the cover I thought "Ugh the horse girl episode". And to be honest this is still my feelings 20+ years later.
I love Cassie for many reasons. I love her because she thinks about ethics a lot and is basically a pacifist fighting a war which is very interesting to observe. But that book I remembered as one of my least favorite. And so far I'd say it was the most boring one.
Still well written though and the characters are good and the depiction of a horse running was very intense. But the whole thing felt like a filler and I couldn't take it seriously.
I love Cassie for many reasons. I love her because she thinks about ethics a lot and is basically a pacifist fighting a war which is very interesting to observe. But that book I remembered as one of my least favorite. And so far I'd say it was the most boring one.
Still well written though and the characters are good and the depiction of a horse running was very intense. But the whole thing felt like a filler and I couldn't take it seriously.
February 4, 2024
It's been a few weeks since I've read an Animorphs book because the library holds time is sometimes brutal. Why am I mentioning this? Because this was one of the rare books in this series that I didn't feel any urgency to read. I'll be super honest: This one felt like a weird dream. Half the time I was confused about how the characters got to certain points in the story.
I'll still be reading the rest of the series, of course, but this one was just okay. I do love these adventures, but this felt almost like a filler book?
Anyway, onto the next one!
Happy reading!
I'll still be reading the rest of the series, of course, but this one was just okay. I do love these adventures, but this felt almost like a filler book?
Anyway, onto the next one!
Happy reading!
February 12, 2022
absofruitly hilarious- horrifying horses that use pay phones and look right into your soul, high security government protected alien toilets, a rescue mission that resulted in a manic scooby do esque chase through an amusement park right in front of hundreds of people who thought the brutal bloody massacre of aliens vs wild animals was part of a parade??? fox mulder and dana scully and cindy crawford??? this book has everything 10/10 highly recommend
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