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Animorphs #51
The Absolute
The Yeerks aren't playing around anymore. They are no longer hiding behind a "silent" invasion. And one of the first steps they've initiated is to take over the National Guard to prepare for all-out war against humanity. An all-out war against Earth.
Marco, the other Animorphs, and Ax couldn't be less prepared for this news. Because they know the Yeerks are onto them—and now they're in hiding. Things are falling apart, and for once Jake may not be able to make the decision that will save them. . . .
Marco, the other Animorphs, and Ax couldn't be less prepared for this news. Because they know the Yeerks are onto them—and now they're in hiding. Things are falling apart, and for once Jake may not be able to make the decision that will save them. . . .
154 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2001
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940 people want to read
About the author
K.A. Applegate
251 books486 followersalso published under the name Katherine Applegate
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
October 5, 2024
In the previous book, the Animorphs were slowly getting back to their feet after having been knocked down to the ground. And they found some new troops to join them in their war against the Yeerks. Now they realize it’s not enough. They need an army. So they decide to inform the governor about the Yeerks. But the Yeerks are coming for the governor too.
This is a very action-heavy installment, with a fun twist involving gender expectations. The action scenes are quite ruthless and well-written. Though it feels a bit light in terms of plot. This book is all about the war between the humans and the Yeerks possibly becoming public knowledge should the Animorphs succeed with their plan.
This is a very action-heavy installment, with a fun twist involving gender expectations. The action scenes are quite ruthless and well-written. Though it feels a bit light in terms of plot. This book is all about the war between the humans and the Yeerks possibly becoming public knowledge should the Animorphs succeed with their plan.
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 23, 2018
Because there’s nothing like reading some Animorphs books out of order …
#51: The Absolute is where the proverbial manure hits the air redistribution machine. I mean, I haven’t generally been marking these reviews with spoiler alerts, because I feel like if you’re reading a review for book 51, you’re either in way too deep or you don’t care about being spoiled. But I had to flag this review, because this …
… this is it, people. This is the book. This is where it all changes. The secret is out!
Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this one overall, but I have to give it credit for the way it handles this crucial story arc development.
This book is interesting because it’s basically a Marco/Tobias team-up (with an assist from Ax). The other Animorphs don’t really show up for the first 25 or 30 per cent of the book, and then they do only briefly. It’s Marco and Ax who have to find the governor, extract her from danger after the Yeerks discover what’s happening, and protect her long enough to get her to safety.
Oh, yeah: I loved how Applegate and ghostwriter pull the gender bait-and-switch and hang a lampshade on the kids being surprised that the governor is a woman.
Marco also gets a chance to shine in his last round as narrator. In a weird way, he has benefited the most of the Animorphs (except maybe Tobias?) from all of these awful events: his parents have been reunited. So whereas Jake is depressed and apathetic, and Cassie is horrified, and Rachel is gluttonous for war, and Ax is conflicted, Marco is … kind of chill. His reaction to the near-impossibility of their situation is to let things ride. Is this the healthiest way to deal with it? Probably not. But it’s probably the most useful, tactically speaking, right at this stage of the war.
The Absolute is an interesting mix of serious events (the governor nearly being kidnapped by the Yeerks, Visser One showing up near the end, Marco and Tobias having to make a lot of quick decisions without much direction, and then the governor's speech at the end) and humorous vignettes. There are chase sequences and gorilla antics galore.
I love the governor’s speech at the end, and it makes me think about what would really happen if this scenario were real. If a United States governor just went on national television and said aliens were among us … I mean, it’s 2018 and Donald Trump is your president, so I guess all bets are off anyway now that we’ve wound up in the zaniest timeline. (OK, to be fair, the zaniest timeline might be Kanye as Vice President).
Anyway. As far as plot goes, this one is fast-moving and occasionally doesn’t make a lot of sense. That’s OK, though. I think at this point in the series, with the time crunch on to get all those loose ends gathered, this type of progression makes sense. We’re clearly building now to the final confrontation, and this is just one more brick in that wall.
But what a brick.
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #50: The Ultimate | #52: The Sacrifice →
#51: The Absolute is where the proverbial manure hits the air redistribution machine. I mean, I haven’t generally been marking these reviews with spoiler alerts, because I feel like if you’re reading a review for book 51, you’re either in way too deep or you don’t care about being spoiled. But I had to flag this review, because this …
… this is it, people. This is the book. This is where it all changes. The secret is out!
Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this one overall, but I have to give it credit for the way it handles this crucial story arc development.
This book is interesting because it’s basically a Marco/Tobias team-up (with an assist from Ax). The other Animorphs don’t really show up for the first 25 or 30 per cent of the book, and then they do only briefly. It’s Marco and Ax who have to find the governor, extract her from danger after the Yeerks discover what’s happening, and protect her long enough to get her to safety.
Oh, yeah: I loved how Applegate and ghostwriter pull the gender bait-and-switch and hang a lampshade on the kids being surprised that the governor is a woman.
Marco also gets a chance to shine in his last round as narrator. In a weird way, he has benefited the most of the Animorphs (except maybe Tobias?) from all of these awful events: his parents have been reunited. So whereas Jake is depressed and apathetic, and Cassie is horrified, and Rachel is gluttonous for war, and Ax is conflicted, Marco is … kind of chill. His reaction to the near-impossibility of their situation is to let things ride. Is this the healthiest way to deal with it? Probably not. But it’s probably the most useful, tactically speaking, right at this stage of the war.
The Absolute is an interesting mix of serious events (the governor nearly being kidnapped by the Yeerks, Visser One showing up near the end, Marco and Tobias having to make a lot of quick decisions without much direction, and then the governor's speech at the end) and humorous vignettes. There are chase sequences and gorilla antics galore.
I love the governor’s speech at the end, and it makes me think about what would really happen if this scenario were real. If a United States governor just went on national television and said aliens were among us … I mean, it’s 2018 and Donald Trump is your president, so I guess all bets are off anyway now that we’ve wound up in the zaniest timeline. (OK, to be fair, the zaniest timeline might be Kanye as Vice President).
Anyway. As far as plot goes, this one is fast-moving and occasionally doesn’t make a lot of sense. That’s OK, though. I think at this point in the series, with the time crunch on to get all those loose ends gathered, this type of progression makes sense. We’re clearly building now to the final confrontation, and this is just one more brick in that wall.
But what a brick.
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #50: The Ultimate | #52: The Sacrifice →
January 21, 2015
Good book. Heavy on the action, light on the heart break comparatively. Pretty crazy game changer at the end.
February 16, 2022
This book is surprisingly good. I mean, all Animorphs books are good, but this book is somewhat unique. We're basically at all-out war. The Animorphs have all gone into hiding. Things are really bad and we're not in the early, shenanigans days any longer. And yet, hijinks ensue. This book is full of hijinks. Ax, Tobias, and Marco bumble their way all through California, driving multiple vehicles badly, dropping tubas on people, and generally doing ridiculous things. It's fun. Oddly so. Yes, stakes are high and they have definite goals that need accomplishing. And yet at the same time they're rollicking all over the place.
I like it.
I like it.
February 21, 2018
Ghostwriter: Lisa Harkrader. Her specialty seems to be explosive action, considering the craziness in Cassie's Outback Adventures and also this one, because the action is RIDICULOUS and Michael Bay-esque and honestly a little hilarious. Like, the mental image of . They're actually pretty wacky fun hijinks, which is pretty needed at this point in time, before everything hits rock bottom (which Marco even foreshadows early on, here). It's like a last gasp of humour before the anvil slams down.
It's almost a relief to have a Marco book like this right after Cassie's -- because where she's the most conflicted about ethics, and it's the toughest pill for her to swallow, Marco doesn't bellyache about it. In fact, he's probably the most cheerful and happy he's been since the start of this war.
His struggles, in this one, are the contrasts between himself and his best friend. The changes in his and Jake's familial circumstances, and Marco's inability to help him with it. As others have pointed out in previous books, Marco is perceptive but not sensitive: he's the best at strategy and logistics, but does not at all know how to talk through emotions and feelings. He can't help Jake, who is still careening right off the rails despite the fact that Cassie got him back into being their leader.
And as before, the war is escalating yet again. (How many times can I say that?)
The book also ends on another restless almost-cliffhanger, with the status quo completely changed, and the Animorphs uncertain where this will lead them. That sense of everything propelling towards an inexorable end is building and building. We're almost there.
Favourite quotes below:
It's almost a relief to have a Marco book like this right after Cassie's -- because where she's the most conflicted about ethics, and it's the toughest pill for her to swallow, Marco doesn't bellyache about it. In fact, he's probably the most cheerful and happy he's been since the start of this war.
His struggles, in this one, are the contrasts between himself and his best friend. The changes in his and Jake's familial circumstances, and Marco's inability to help him with it. As others have pointed out in previous books, Marco is perceptive but not sensitive: he's the best at strategy and logistics, but does not at all know how to talk through emotions and feelings. He can't help Jake, who is still careening right off the rails despite the fact that Cassie got him back into being their leader.
And as before, the war is escalating yet again. (How many times can I say that?)
The book also ends on another restless almost-cliffhanger, with the status quo completely changed, and the Animorphs uncertain where this will lead them. That sense of everything propelling towards an inexorable end is building and building. We're almost there.
Favourite quotes below:
December 5, 2013
The Marco/Tobias/Ax dreamtime shines in this novel as Jake decides it’s time to alert the governor of California and the Armed Forces of the alien invasion, and sends a small team with ‘finesse’ to do so while the other wreak havoc all over town to keep the Yeerks busy.
The first half of the book is dedicated to Marco and Tobias fighting morphed Yeerks, adding Ax and acquiring ducks for their flight to the capital. They all wonder why they haven’t morphed ducks for long-distance travel before, and quite frankly so do I. Then they meet the governor, assume it’s a man and make an ass of themselves when they find out not only did they do no research before leaving (which is VERY un-Animorphs-like) but their governor is actually a middle aged, frumpy-looking woman. Yet she has the spark of Rachel inside her and fearlessly goes along with the Dream Team and believes everything they say with little to no proof beyond an alien of their very own and the fact that the army, the police, and various citizens are trying to kill them all, including her own husband.
See the full review on The Moonlight Library!
August 1, 2022
The enemy has the upper hand and things are looking bleak for the Animorphs.
So the Animorphs go to recruit the Governor.
This series is so unreal and we’re officially entering an all-out global war.
CW: war, violence, death, grief, slavery, murder, gun violence
So the Animorphs go to recruit the Governor.
This series is so unreal and we’re officially entering an all-out global war.
CW: war, violence, death, grief, slavery, murder, gun violence
December 14, 2020
The Absolute is fine. Heavy on plot and action, less emotion, but we only have three more books to go, so we gotta wrap things up over here.
Long story short, Marco, Tobias, and Ax team up to inform the governor of the invasion. Hijinks ensue, in which Marco morphs the (female) governor, and I cannot believe that Marco doesn't make any sort of sexist comment about the female form.
A few notes:
1. At this point, the Animorphs are usually pretty good with doing research before going out on missions, but they neglect to look up who their governor is (and are thoroughly surprised to find out she's a woman), and they have no idea where she lives. Marco is usually better prepared than this, so I don't buy it.
2. Jake's still pissed at Cassie and even though she wants to be a part of this mission (I'm guessing because of her communication skills) Jake doesn't allow her to go. He assigns Marco, Tobias, and Ax, and says "I can trust them." Poor Cassie.
Ouch. Has he already forgotten that Ax defied his orders in The Deception and was threatening to kill everyone in the Yeerk pool? He's got to let this go.
3. It seems that lots of Human-controllers have the ability to morph now, so that's fun. Every animal, every human is dangerous now.
4. Marco notes that he feels bad for Jake, whose family are all controlled by Yeerks. Marco, however, is HAPPY, and this warms my heart. He loves having his family back together <3
5. I'm reminded of the saying "power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely" when it comes to Jake. Jake's now on autopilot, utilizing his newfound power to make a lot of decisions that will likely win the war, but will probably destroy his soul. It doesn't help that he isn't conferring as much with the team- he's calling the shots and taking no shit. I hope he makes it out okay.
Long story short, Marco, Tobias, and Ax team up to inform the governor of the invasion. Hijinks ensue, in which Marco morphs the (female) governor, and I cannot believe that Marco doesn't make any sort of sexist comment about the female form.
A few notes:
1. At this point, the Animorphs are usually pretty good with doing research before going out on missions, but they neglect to look up who their governor is (and are thoroughly surprised to find out she's a woman), and they have no idea where she lives. Marco is usually better prepared than this, so I don't buy it.
2. Jake's still pissed at Cassie and even though she wants to be a part of this mission (I'm guessing because of her communication skills) Jake doesn't allow her to go. He assigns Marco, Tobias, and Ax, and says "I can trust them." Poor Cassie.
Ouch. Has he already forgotten that Ax defied his orders in The Deception and was threatening to kill everyone in the Yeerk pool? He's got to let this go.
3. It seems that lots of Human-controllers have the ability to morph now, so that's fun. Every animal, every human is dangerous now.
4. Marco notes that he feels bad for Jake, whose family are all controlled by Yeerks. Marco, however, is HAPPY, and this warms my heart. He loves having his family back together <3
5. I'm reminded of the saying "power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely" when it comes to Jake. Jake's now on autopilot, utilizing his newfound power to make a lot of decisions that will likely win the war, but will probably destroy his soul. It doesn't help that he isn't conferring as much with the team- he's calling the shots and taking no shit. I hope he makes it out okay.
April 26, 2019
I don't want "eh" books in this series--not ever, despite that they're the natural consequence of a long, episodic MG series with moments of comic relief, but particularly not now that the end is approaching. This opens with more of Jake's ongoing struggles, but he goes offscreen. It closes well--the break into public knowledge and open war is a big deal. But the bloated, forgettable middle section is action-heavy but devoid of competence or planning, which is particularly jarring this late in the series, undermining the attempted humor. The governor is the only saving grace.
May 12, 2022
We truck along the final stretch with our last Marco book. To get it out of the way, our ghostwriter is Lisa Harkraider, writer of The Unexpected and The Diversion. She does fine, there's only one vocab word though. As I'll get into, there's not too much heavy stuff for her to handle so it's lesser on that level than Diversion but it's still well written and nothing is bad. That's all for that.
When we last left off, everything had basically crumbled to dust, with there being some home with the new recruits. Secrets are over now, to the point where the thing on the back, that goes above the plot summary, now goes "Yeah, they know everything now, whoops". There's a countdown on the cover, we are really getting to the end here.
The plot here is that they find out the Yeerks are really going all out by trying to infest the national guard, so they gotta hit up to the governor to get their help and se what they can do. Too bad they don't know who they governor even is.
These last books for each narrator have mostly been trying to really cap off their arcs while forwarding the final arc at the same time, at least to some extent. So I was hyped for Marco's turn, as he has a lot of the deepest stuff. ...I was let down. Now, this book is fairly good, there's not even much wrong with it. But as the last Marco book, it is a waste.
He's the star because it's his turn to narrate. That's it. We get some quips and a slight look at his situation early on but that's all we get. This plot could have been anyone's book, really. Tobias' wasn't perfect but at least it tried. This is weird. On top of that, there's not much deeper stuff here in general.
It's all pretty much a big action piece. We get some bit at the starts, including a great line subtly referencing the previous book's ending but it's slight. It's a lot of action, and while it ends up being important due to the ending, there's nothing to really analyze here. It's the emptiest book in a while despite how important is is.
I feel like they could have combined this with a deeper themetic story, do one of those books where we get both. instead, it's mostly simple. That's not a bad thing in itself per say, as it's pretty enjoyable and intense all the way through. I liked the subversion we get with the governor, and the note we end on. Although it's funny how Applegate/the ghostwriter seems to trust government officials more than MD Spenser.
It just doesn't offer much more than just a bunch of action. On its own that's fine, but as the final Marco book and a final arc book in general, it feels like a waste. A book that exists to fill a quota and just happens to do that well enough. There's nothing bad at all here, just nothing super special.
This is Lisa's final book and honestly I was let down by her work generally. She got more interesting writing wise, but this and The Diversion could have been better as the final book's for their narrators, even if they had plenty to like in them. Although speaking of her, she actually attempted to reach out to army officials for research but couldn't reach them but eventually found a retired Army tank commander who helped her so much that he gets a dedication,. Neat.
This feels like a more intense throwback to the books in the middle of the series, which could often be fun but not that deep. We get some more shenanigans here and there. Overall, it's pretty enjoyable, but if you want more than that, you will be let down sadly.
Next time, we get our final Ax book, as well as the final ghostwritten book. See ya then.
When we last left off, everything had basically crumbled to dust, with there being some home with the new recruits. Secrets are over now, to the point where the thing on the back, that goes above the plot summary, now goes "Yeah, they know everything now, whoops". There's a countdown on the cover, we are really getting to the end here.
The plot here is that they find out the Yeerks are really going all out by trying to infest the national guard, so they gotta hit up to the governor to get their help and se what they can do. Too bad they don't know who they governor even is.
These last books for each narrator have mostly been trying to really cap off their arcs while forwarding the final arc at the same time, at least to some extent. So I was hyped for Marco's turn, as he has a lot of the deepest stuff. ...I was let down. Now, this book is fairly good, there's not even much wrong with it. But as the last Marco book, it is a waste.
He's the star because it's his turn to narrate. That's it. We get some quips and a slight look at his situation early on but that's all we get. This plot could have been anyone's book, really. Tobias' wasn't perfect but at least it tried. This is weird. On top of that, there's not much deeper stuff here in general.
It's all pretty much a big action piece. We get some bit at the starts, including a great line subtly referencing the previous book's ending but it's slight. It's a lot of action, and while it ends up being important due to the ending, there's nothing to really analyze here. It's the emptiest book in a while despite how important is is.
I feel like they could have combined this with a deeper themetic story, do one of those books where we get both. instead, it's mostly simple. That's not a bad thing in itself per say, as it's pretty enjoyable and intense all the way through. I liked the subversion we get with the governor, and the note we end on. Although it's funny how Applegate/the ghostwriter seems to trust government officials more than MD Spenser.
It just doesn't offer much more than just a bunch of action. On its own that's fine, but as the final Marco book and a final arc book in general, it feels like a waste. A book that exists to fill a quota and just happens to do that well enough. There's nothing bad at all here, just nothing super special.
This is Lisa's final book and honestly I was let down by her work generally. She got more interesting writing wise, but this and The Diversion could have been better as the final book's for their narrators, even if they had plenty to like in them. Although speaking of her, she actually attempted to reach out to army officials for research but couldn't reach them but eventually found a retired Army tank commander who helped her so much that he gets a dedication,. Neat.
This feels like a more intense throwback to the books in the middle of the series, which could often be fun but not that deep. We get some more shenanigans here and there. Overall, it's pretty enjoyable, but if you want more than that, you will be let down sadly.
Next time, we get our final Ax book, as well as the final ghostwritten book. See ya then.
January 1, 2023
I binge read the last 4 volumes and I'm kind of glad I did because they work better as a cohesive story than individual volumes. This one is from one of my least favorite ghost writers of the series as once again the entirety of the book is in the last chunk. This is where the Animorphs pull in the government and that's well and good but it was just too little too late.
August 8, 2021
Only three books left! Getting nervous about the conclusion of this series !
November 28, 2023
This book invented feminism
May 12, 2023
As much as this did advance the plot, it felt like a filler novel until the last couple of chapters. I'm excited to see what happens next, though.
December 19, 2020
Original Review at Jaunts & Haunts
4.5/5
I gave this book four and a half stars!
This time, we are in Marco's POV. After discovering a potential Yeerk plot to infect the National Guard, the Animorphs split up into teams to address the threat. Marco's team's goal is to travel to the state capital and contact the governor about the Yeerk crisis, but with their lack of information can they really trust the governor isn't already infected? Is this just an exercise in futility?
This ramp up to the end of the series has been amazing. The last two books were wonderful, and this one is no different.
Marco's POV was great. His team is comprised of him, Ax, and Tobias, and I enjoyed the witty banter between them. Considering how dark things are getting it was nice to have a couple laughs here and there. Marco was portrayed expertly, and while he didn't necessarily have a ton of character progression, we did get to see just how far he's come from the beginning of this epic saga. Marco shows his intelligence, charm, and wit under chaotic circumstances, and he's not a bad temporary leader for Ax and Tobias.
Once again, the plot totally blew me away. Every scene was action-packed, and I loved every minute of it. The stakes are high, and the Yeerk's threat level only continues to increase. There's a constant sense of tension that really draws the reader in. I read this in two goes and simply couldn't put it down. Some of my favorite scenes were where they acquired the ducks and the end of the boat scene (not going to say any more than that to avoid spoilers).
One thing I would've liked to see reflected a bit more was the world's view on the events that were occurring. The Yeerks aren't really hiding anything anymore, so it's kind of hard to believe that people would carry on with their day like nothing's happening when there are crazy Dracon beams firing and intensified violence. Besides that, I have no complaints.
I really loved this book, and it easily made my favorites list of Animorphs books. Definitely worth a read!
4.5/5
I gave this book four and a half stars!
This time, we are in Marco's POV. After discovering a potential Yeerk plot to infect the National Guard, the Animorphs split up into teams to address the threat. Marco's team's goal is to travel to the state capital and contact the governor about the Yeerk crisis, but with their lack of information can they really trust the governor isn't already infected? Is this just an exercise in futility?
This ramp up to the end of the series has been amazing. The last two books were wonderful, and this one is no different.
Marco's POV was great. His team is comprised of him, Ax, and Tobias, and I enjoyed the witty banter between them. Considering how dark things are getting it was nice to have a couple laughs here and there. Marco was portrayed expertly, and while he didn't necessarily have a ton of character progression, we did get to see just how far he's come from the beginning of this epic saga. Marco shows his intelligence, charm, and wit under chaotic circumstances, and he's not a bad temporary leader for Ax and Tobias.
Once again, the plot totally blew me away. Every scene was action-packed, and I loved every minute of it. The stakes are high, and the Yeerk's threat level only continues to increase. There's a constant sense of tension that really draws the reader in. I read this in two goes and simply couldn't put it down. Some of my favorite scenes were where they acquired the ducks and the end of the boat scene (not going to say any more than that to avoid spoilers).
One thing I would've liked to see reflected a bit more was the world's view on the events that were occurring. The Yeerks aren't really hiding anything anymore, so it's kind of hard to believe that people would carry on with their day like nothing's happening when there are crazy Dracon beams firing and intensified violence. Besides that, I have no complaints.
I really loved this book, and it easily made my favorites list of Animorphs books. Definitely worth a read!
August 7, 2014
Here the Animorphs have to decide to let the world know we're in a war . . . and we're losing it. But what choice do they have when the enemy has their most precious weapon and they're about to take over the National Guard?? :(
Notable moments and inconsistencies:
This book is ghostwritten by Lisa Harkrader.
It's been noted before, but up to this point it's still unclear as to how Yeerks could morph into a bird if the bird's skull is not large enough to house their bodies. Unless the Yeerk was changing with the animal, it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the continuity, which suggests that if something larger than a certain size is in a creature's head, morphing to something with a head smaller than the object is not possible.
In the scene with bystanders catching the Animorphs in the duck pen, a female teacher Controller knocks an armed guard to the ground so she can grab his tranquilizer gun. It's a bit odd that a teacher could successfully attack a guard--even if she had the element of surprise. Unless a guard is very incompetent, he shouldn't be able to be attacked and disarmed by a random teacher who presumably has no training, even if she's determined.
A shot is fired in a conference room right near a ballroom, and this brings no security and no attention until bigger hell starts breaking loose. Gunshots are loud. Seems odd that no one noticed it.
Notable moments and inconsistencies:
This book is ghostwritten by Lisa Harkrader.
It's been noted before, but up to this point it's still unclear as to how Yeerks could morph into a bird if the bird's skull is not large enough to house their bodies. Unless the Yeerk was changing with the animal, it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the continuity, which suggests that if something larger than a certain size is in a creature's head, morphing to something with a head smaller than the object is not possible.
In the scene with bystanders catching the Animorphs in the duck pen, a female teacher Controller knocks an armed guard to the ground so she can grab his tranquilizer gun. It's a bit odd that a teacher could successfully attack a guard--even if she had the element of surprise. Unless a guard is very incompetent, he shouldn't be able to be attacked and disarmed by a random teacher who presumably has no training, even if she's determined.
A shot is fired in a conference room right near a ballroom, and this brings no security and no attention until bigger hell starts breaking loose. Gunshots are loud. Seems odd that no one noticed it.
March 10, 2017
Okay look. I have to ask, again --
Aside from that glaring plothole that has been sitting in the back of my mind since they transformed that one yeerk resistance fighter into a whale, this book ratchets things up again to the next level, escalating the conflict in huge ways, and we are rolling fast and hard toward the conclusion with no real clear promise of how this will shake out, which I like. There are no guarantees about who is going to win?
Aside from that glaring plothole that has been sitting in the back of my mind since they transformed that one yeerk resistance fighter into a whale, this book ratchets things up again to the next level, escalating the conflict in huge ways, and we are rolling fast and hard toward the conclusion with no real clear promise of how this will shake out, which I like. There are no guarantees about who is going to win?
December 1, 2019
Disclaimer: I'm reading this series for the first time as an adult. I have no fond memories coloring my reading.
This series is 54 books long. This is book #51. So why was it so so so bad? Okay, in this case I can answer that: Because I'm not the target audience. Young readers probably liked this one a lot, for reasons adult readers likely did not.
This book was like the worst, most nonsense action movie ever made. The Animorphs decide to go to the government to tell them what's happening, so Jake sends Marco, Tobias, and Ax to visit the local governor.
This mission somehow ends up involving a train heist.
Marco (in gorilla morph), Tobias (Hork-Bajir), and Ax in his real body end up kidnapping the governor and racing away in a limo with her.
Somehow they blow up a yacht.
There are multiple battles with the US military.
I'm so annoyed, there are so few books left, and this one seemed a complete and utter waste (other than one paragraph at the very end).
This series is 54 books long. This is book #51. So why was it so so so bad? Okay, in this case I can answer that: Because I'm not the target audience. Young readers probably liked this one a lot, for reasons adult readers likely did not.
This book was like the worst, most nonsense action movie ever made. The Animorphs decide to go to the government to tell them what's happening, so Jake sends Marco, Tobias, and Ax to visit the local governor.
This mission somehow ends up involving a train heist.
Marco (in gorilla morph), Tobias (Hork-Bajir), and Ax in his real body end up kidnapping the governor and racing away in a limo with her.
Somehow they blow up a yacht.
There are multiple battles with the US military.
I'm so annoyed, there are so few books left, and this one seemed a complete and utter waste (other than one paragraph at the very end).
August 25, 2024
disappointing for the final marco pov book. so much time spent on incomprehensible action, the plot all feels like set up for the next book, and there's no emotional core.
January 28, 2016
There’s just no way to talk about this without spoiling some major points for the end of the series, even in a little recap of what this book is about. Being as vague as I can be, the Animorphs are doing a divide-and-conquer mission to reach the U.S. authorities before the Yeerks do, and hope that they make it in time.
It is the time for each of us to reach into our souls and pull out the courage we may not even know we possess.
Quotes and comments:
I was a bullet. A bullet with feathers.
And feeling pretty righteous until Tobias rocketed past. He skimmed the top of the freight train and looped sideways in a corkscrew roll, wing over wing. His feathers grazed the big gun of one of the tanks.
< Show off, > I said.
< Hey, I’m a hawk. > He pulled out of the roll. < I only get so many hobbies, and perfecting my Red-Tail Spiral of Death happens to be my favorite. > -- page1
I handed the duck off to Ax in a weird DNA water relay. – page 53 – As much as I love that one-liner, I do have to ask: with the first duck, why didn’t Marco just acquire it so that it would calm down and stop scratching at him?
[Ax, Marco, and Tobias have morphed a male mallard duck.] < Ah. So it’s a trade-off. A pretty face. > I tilted my shimmering green head. < Or a big, full-bodied quack. >
< The quack’s not the problem, > said Tobias. < What I’d really like to know is, who thought up this leg/tail arrangement? > He waddled between two fiberglass trees. < Look at my butt. >
< Uh, thanks, Tobias. I think I’ll pass. >
< Seriously, > he said. < I’m sure it’s great for swimming, having the motor in the rear like that, but walking? My legs are so far apart my whole back end bobs up and down every time I take a step. Up and down. Side to side. Like a… like a… >
< Like a duck? >
< Yeah. It’s humiliating. > He swept a wing over his flat duck bill. < And this is just wrong. >
< Tobias, you’ve been a hawk way too long. > I lifted my wings. < Let’s go find the governor. > -- page 62-63 – Oh how hard I laughed out loud at this! And then while typing it up I had to bite my tongue so my colleagues wouldn’t ask me what I was laughing about. And each subsequent time I read it. XD
A Controller leaped from behind a brass drum.
I grabbed a tuba. Shoved it over his head. – page 97 – Classic, Marco. Classic.
It is the time for each of us to reach into our souls and pull out the courage we may not even know we possess.
Quotes and comments:
I was a bullet. A bullet with feathers.
And feeling pretty righteous until Tobias rocketed past. He skimmed the top of the freight train and looped sideways in a corkscrew roll, wing over wing. His feathers grazed the big gun of one of the tanks.
< Show off, > I said.
< Hey, I’m a hawk. > He pulled out of the roll. < I only get so many hobbies, and perfecting my Red-Tail Spiral of Death happens to be my favorite. > -- page1
I handed the duck off to Ax in a weird DNA water relay. – page 53 – As much as I love that one-liner, I do have to ask: with the first duck, why didn’t Marco just acquire it so that it would calm down and stop scratching at him?
[Ax, Marco, and Tobias have morphed a male mallard duck.] < Ah. So it’s a trade-off. A pretty face. > I tilted my shimmering green head. < Or a big, full-bodied quack. >
< The quack’s not the problem, > said Tobias. < What I’d really like to know is, who thought up this leg/tail arrangement? > He waddled between two fiberglass trees. < Look at my butt. >
< Uh, thanks, Tobias. I think I’ll pass. >
< Seriously, > he said. < I’m sure it’s great for swimming, having the motor in the rear like that, but walking? My legs are so far apart my whole back end bobs up and down every time I take a step. Up and down. Side to side. Like a… like a… >
< Like a duck? >
< Yeah. It’s humiliating. > He swept a wing over his flat duck bill. < And this is just wrong. >
< Tobias, you’ve been a hawk way too long. > I lifted my wings. < Let’s go find the governor. > -- page 62-63 – Oh how hard I laughed out loud at this! And then while typing it up I had to bite my tongue so my colleagues wouldn’t ask me what I was laughing about. And each subsequent time I read it. XD
A Controller leaped from behind a brass drum.
I grabbed a tuba. Shoved it over his head. – page 97 – Classic, Marco. Classic.
October 3, 2022
***Since this is the 51st book, there will be slight spoilers so do not read if you do not want to be spoiled at all.***
After the last few books, I needed some comic relief from Marco’s POV and this book definitely delivers on that. There is a lot of ridiculously heavy action and jokes in this one, which makes it very fun. The Yeerks unfortunately have the upper hand now and that is shown when Marco, Tobias, and Ax have to team up and acquire a new morph.
I loved seeing these three work together as group, make jokes, and bicker at one another whenever the opportunity presented itself. They are sloppy when it comes to researching who their governor is and end up being extremely lucky in identifying them in their mission. A good lesson to kids to pay attention to local politics!
The governor accepted the situation a little too quickly for my liking but overall I enjoyed her introduction and likeness of an older Rachel in spirit. I enjoyed the character of Collins as well. The showdown was exciting and I was definitely not expecting the twist—I had to go back and re-read the part with the handshake because it was so subtle that I completely missed it the first time.
The climax itself is exciting and anyone sitting with the Animorphs at the end could have probably heard a pin drop in that silence.
Three more books until the final showdown!
Favorite parts:
“Kwek-kwek-kwek-kwek.”
< I think we acquired a defective duck, > I said. < My quack’s not coming out right. >
< I know a little something about birds, > said Tobias. < And when it comes to mallards quacking, the females are better at it. >
< Ah. So it’s a trade-off. A pretty face. > I tilted my shimmering green head. < Or a big, full-bodied quack. >
He (Tobias) waddled between two fiberglass trees. < Look at my butt. >
< Uh, thanks, Tobias. I think I’ll pass. >
I thumped my feet on the floor. “Uh-ur-ulph.”
Tobias turned. < Did you say something, Marco? >
“Uh-ur-ulph. UH. UR. ULPH!”
Ax looked at me. Tilted his head. < I believe Marco is trying to tell us that while he is extremely happy to see us, he enjoys being trussed up, and could we please not remove the filthy satchel from his mouth as he finds it quite tasty. >
After the last few books, I needed some comic relief from Marco’s POV and this book definitely delivers on that. There is a lot of ridiculously heavy action and jokes in this one, which makes it very fun. The Yeerks unfortunately have the upper hand now and that is shown when Marco, Tobias, and Ax have to team up and acquire a new morph.
I loved seeing these three work together as group, make jokes, and bicker at one another whenever the opportunity presented itself. They are sloppy when it comes to researching who their governor is and end up being extremely lucky in identifying them in their mission. A good lesson to kids to pay attention to local politics!
The governor accepted the situation a little too quickly for my liking but overall I enjoyed her introduction and likeness of an older Rachel in spirit. I enjoyed the character of Collins as well. The showdown was exciting and I was definitely not expecting the twist—I had to go back and re-read the part with the handshake because it was so subtle that I completely missed it the first time.
The climax itself is exciting and anyone sitting with the Animorphs at the end could have probably heard a pin drop in that silence.
Three more books until the final showdown!
Favorite parts:
“Kwek-kwek-kwek-kwek.”
< I think we acquired a defective duck, > I said. < My quack’s not coming out right. >
< I know a little something about birds, > said Tobias. < And when it comes to mallards quacking, the females are better at it. >
< Ah. So it’s a trade-off. A pretty face. > I tilted my shimmering green head. < Or a big, full-bodied quack. >
He (Tobias) waddled between two fiberglass trees. < Look at my butt. >
< Uh, thanks, Tobias. I think I’ll pass. >
I thumped my feet on the floor. “Uh-ur-ulph.”
Tobias turned. < Did you say something, Marco? >
“Uh-ur-ulph. UH. UR. ULPH!”
Ax looked at me. Tilted his head. < I believe Marco is trying to tell us that while he is extremely happy to see us, he enjoys being trussed up, and could we please not remove the filthy satchel from his mouth as he finds it quite tasty. >
June 6, 2024
Automatic 5 star because of the duck morph 🦆
The animorphs are in their “I don’t give a fuck” era which includes
-stealing a tank
-attacking the national guard
-kidnapping the governor
-stealing a limo and crashing it along with several other cars
-jumping off a bridge onto a yacht, which was then sunk
-exploding a helicopter
-instilling fear in the world by announcing on television the nature of the yeerk invasion and that you can’t trust anyone in your life
The animorphs are in their “I don’t give a fuck” era which includes
-stealing a tank
-attacking the national guard
-kidnapping the governor
-stealing a limo and crashing it along with several other cars
-jumping off a bridge onto a yacht, which was then sunk
-exploding a helicopter
-instilling fear in the world by announcing on television the nature of the yeerk invasion and that you can’t trust anyone in your life
October 5, 2023
Sometimes finesse just doesn't work like you want. Sometimes your rolls are just bad and you have to muscle your way through.
This book brings in a bit of much needed levity, along with the usual fight to save the world.
This book brings in a bit of much needed levity, along with the usual fight to save the world.
July 1, 2022
Not much character development, but that's okay, Marco has had QUITE the character arc already. And plot development? Oh boy was there plot development.
January 1, 2025
Hoooolllyyyyyy shit that ending!! I won't be able to finish the series by midnight as planned but I've really loved this marathon!
October 31, 2023
(originally reviewed at
thelibraryladies.com
)
Narrator: Marco
Plot: This book was pretty much a mess from start to finish for me. I didn’t remember much of this book, and it’s pretty clear why. Sure, on paper, big things happen, but the story itself is pretty lackluster, all the more so for feeling like a waste of one of the few remaining books we have left.
My feelings throughout the book. But mostly about the decision to leave out half of the characters.
Marco and Tobias are on a reconnaissance mission to scout out a train bringing in large numbers of the National Guard. Given there is no holiday coming up, the Animorphs are suspicious that the Yeerks may be planning a mass infestation of the units, now that the war is coming out to the public more and more. It turns out that yes, the train is under surveillance by the Yeerks, now able to morph and watching it in the form of several birds of prey lead by no other than their own red tailed hawk. Tobias and Marco have to put their bird skills to use to try to escape, and even then, they only make it out by stealing a tank that Marco has to drive. Yet again, Marco’s driving abilities leave something to be desired, and Chapman’s house is the latest victim to his inability to steer or brake.
Back in the Hork Bajir valley, they decide they need to take a big step to prevent this: inform someone high up of what’s going on. Jake splits the team into two groups. The first, made up of Marco, Tobias, and Ax (the “finesse” group) is to find the governor and convince them of what’s going on and try to prevent the National Guard from all coming to town. The remaining Animorphs and James and his group will try to create a diversion to also delay the troop movements. During the conversation, Jake makes it clear that he doesn’t want Cassie out of his sight because he no longer trusts her, though the others don’t understand what has happened between the two of them.
Marco, Tobias, and Ax make their way to the Gardens to get some long distance flyers. The manage to acquire ducks, but end up being spotted and chased by Controllers as well. They make their way to the capitol but realize they don’t know where the governor lives or what his name is. They get the address for the mansion, eventually, and once there, morph cockroach and go on a wild ride clinging to the limo that they see a pair of shoes they assume is the governor enter. They end up at a fundraising event and follow the governor and a woman in heels into the bathroom. Once there, they demorph and begin the rundown on the situation (they then also realize that not only did they not know where the governor lived or what their name was, the governor was in fact the woman in heels, not a man at all). As they’re attempting to convince her, it becomes clear that her husband is a Controller and they have to make a wild escape with a brave bodyguard named Collins helping to hold the Yeerks at bay.
Many high-jinks ensue involving Tobias driving a limo, them having to jump off a bridge and on to a yacht, and said yacht getting blown apart and sinking beneath them with Marco having to rescue the governor who had been attempting to steer it to ground to save the people on it. They end up retreating back to the governor’s mansion and finish explaining the entire situation. Collins, the brave body guard, meets them there. They ask whether the governor knows anyone high up in the National Guard who has been gone for at least three days and she mentions a high rank member of the service and his unit of several hundred soldiers who have been out of the country for the past two weeks.
Later, back in the valley, they all gather to watch TV and see the fight that Jake and the others were in on TV. It hadn’t been going well until a unit of the National Guard showed up as support (the governor’s troops). The governor then gets on air herself and explains what is going on: aliens have invaded and the world is in a war for its survival.
The Comic Relief: This might be in the running for one of the books where the main character has the least interesting things happening to them. Really, there’s practically no emotional arc or character development in this book. It’s a real shame as now that his mom is back in his life, I feel like there could have been some really good stuff there. We’ve barely seen them together, and it’s always only been briefly in other character’s books. It’s too bad because it seems like there would be a lot there with them having been on opposite sides of this war for so long.
We also see very little of Marco the practical, ruthless strategist. Big things are finally happening in this war and with those events come some big moral situations and Marco’s perspective on these types of choices has always been unique. But again, we don’t get any of that. We get a few good comedic lines and a return of Marco driving poorly, but this late in the series, I would have really appreciated more for him.
Our Fearless Leader: Frankly, I think we saw the wrong two characters highlighted in this third to last book. We’ve seen very little from Jake ever since his sinking into depression, and there’s ton to be mined there. Even more so from the perspective of his best friend, Marco. Early in the book, Marco notes how badly Jake is doing and Marco’s own guilt about being happy about his own family situation in comparison. But then Jake’s gone for the rest of the book. We don’t see him facing his ongoing challenges as a leader. We don’t have any moments between Jake and Marco as best friends whose roles have been swapped. It’s all really unfortunate.
Xena, Warrior Princess: Again, another character who I’m super frustrated to not see more of. As I’ve said in the past, other than Jake, Rachel has one of the most interesting arcs over the entire series. And then, of course, knowing her end…it just seems incredibly wasteful to not get to see more of her here. She has a few good lines, but then is off page for most of the book. The governor is compared favorably to Rachel several times with her ability to stay cool under heavy fire and say “Let’s do it!” to crazy plans. But there’s no replacing the real Rachel, especially this close to us losing her for good.
A Hawk’s Life: Tobias puts his flying knowledge to good use early in the book and then gets to actually drive a vehicle in the end, something usually Marco does. Marco did get to drive a tank in this one, though. I will say, however, the descriptions of Tobias’s driving sound much more “Bourne-esque” than Marco’s. Yes there is still a lot of damage, but he’s also in a high speed chase and weaving around to avoid gun/Dracon beam fire. It comes off a bit more badass than, say, taking out garbage cans in a pickup. Tobias and Marco both assume the governor is a man, and take some flack from Ax for not knowing anything about her, even her name. Tobias has an excuse having been out of society for quite a while now, but Marco has a rather poor showing, all things considered.
There’s also a strange bit where Tobias jumps off a bridge in his Hork Bajir morph and somehow manages to morph hawk before hitting the water. The timing mechanics of morphing seem to be yet another casualty to the rushed feel and lack of thought that went into this story.
Peace, Love, and Animals: And our third character who we lose out on. After the major events of the last book, it’s really a shame to not see more of Cassie and how she’s working within the group. Especially her relationship with Jake. We see that it is strained, even from the small moments we get, but we don’t see how else Cassie is dealing with the fallout of her choice. In this mission, it would have been interesting to have Cassie there when they’re dealing with the Controllers in morph. It’s also clear that no one knows how exactly the blue box fell into the Yeerks hands. Probably a good choice by Jake on that one. I can’t see the others taking it very well, maybe especially Marco, who has been known to be practical to the point of ruthlessness in the past.
E.T./Ax Phone Home: For being on the main mission of this book, Ax had very little of note. Again, he served as “proof” of the alien invasion story by showing up in his real form to greet the governor. He also had a few funny lines, at one point whipping out a line of sarcasm that Marco notes is a new level of humor for Ax, though it comes at an inopportune time.
Best (?) Body Horror Moment: Not a lot really. When they’re acquiring the ducks, Marco, rightly, questions why they never thought of getting an endurance flyer like this before (really, this is a major strike against Cassie and her animal knowledge that it never came up before. Not only can ducks go long distances, but they can fly together without it being strange), Marco brings up the unfortunate fly!Jake swat incident for years ago. He mentions that if they had thought of duck morphs then, that could have been avoided. That really was one of the more gruesome animal injuries any of them sustained. There are also some passing comments about the extreme levels of bodily injuries a cockroach can sustain. But other than that, not a lot other than the typical morph explanations.
Couples Watch!: Zilch. Though the governor does seem to take it rather easily that her husband has been infested by an alien, mind-controlling parasite…so that’s odd.
If Only Visser Three had Mustache to Twirl: Visser One makes a brief, pointless appearance towards the end of the book. In all honestly, I just finished reading it and I can’t remember anything notable about him being there and am pretty sure I forgot that he was one of the human “Controllers” running around during all of the action. The one notable thing about the villains that stood out in this book was the way the morphing has changed things. At one point, Marco notes that this constant paranoia must be how Visser One has been existing for the past several years, suspecting every animals is an enemy in morph. I thought it was clever how the book highlights that while the ability to morph is huge, the Animorphs still have a slight advantage in being more familiar with their morphs’ abilities, as seen in the bird chase in the beginning of the book. I also thought it was notable that the red tail hawk seemed to be leading the charge for the bird!Yeerks. Golden eagles are much bigger, stronger birds, but you have to wonder if the Yeerks assumed that red tailed hawks had some mystical advantage since one of the “Andalite bandits” had been using it as a battle morph this entire time. So the honor of getting that morph went to the head Yeerk in that situation.
Adult Ugly Crying at a Middle Grade Book: Not much of anything. This book is almost entirely taken up by action pieces and chases. So maybe that’s the most sad thing: we’re getting so close to the end of the series and huge things have been happening for all of the characters. And yet, when all of these great characters moments could be happening, instead we’re reading back-to-back generic chase scenes. It feels like a huge waste and missed opportunity. The saddest bit of it all is that we have an entire book that is missing half of the team. The strongest part of the entire series has been reading about this team of very different characters working together to save the world. Why you would lose one of your few remaining opportunities to play to this strength and instead only focus on only three of them (and arguably the less important three) is beyond me.
What a Terrible Plan, Guys!: Whenever the plan to “reveal all” to people comes up, it’s always landed in this area. And really, this one isn’t any different. Yes, the stakes are higher now and their secret out there anyways, so if there’s a time to do it, this is probably it. But the whole thing hinges on the governor just happening to be a super chill lady who just accepts this bizarre story out of nowhere. Even more so, high ranking members of the National Guard are willing to just go with it too when the governor calls on them. It’s all a bit unbelievable. The crazy levels people will go to to not have their comfortable world-view challenged has always been the problem with this plan, and it feels like it works out here more because it had to for the sake of the story than for any actual reason. The only way the world “finding out” really works is if it’s all revealed to a large number of people and recorded, or something. These one-on-ones are just hard to buy and the fact that members of a military branch would believe it enough to fight their own, based on zero evidence, is also highly questionable.
On a smaller scale, the beginning little antics that somehow ends with Marco running a tank over Chapman’s house…It’s never quite clear how the tank goes from “middle of nowhere on a train line” to “Chapman’s house.” It seems like that would be quite a distance, and any benefit of speed would be lost once you ended up in an urban neighborhood and off highways. What’s worse, they’re being followed by Controllers the whole time, and it’s not like a tank is very inconspicuous. The story conveniently skates over how Marco and the others managed to escape the whole situation after the destruction of Chapman’s house. We have to assume they go fly or something. But overall, it still reads like one of those throw-away action scenes that is supposed to be fun to read but doesn’t hold up to much thought.
Favorite Quote:
Before gorilla!Marco jumps off a bridge with the governor, one of several Rachel comparisons.
I said.
“As opposed to what? Bullets? Laser beams that vaporize solid concrete? A bridge that might collapse under me at any moment?” She shook her head. Took a deep breath. “Let’s do it.”
“Let’s do it?” A vision flashed into my head, the governor when she was a kid. She looked like . . . Rachel?
And a good line about Tobias’s driving:
I said.
Scorecard: Yeerks 15, Animorphs 18
We’ll give this one to the Animorphs. Getting a high-ranking official to believe them and mobilize human troops against the Yeerks is huge. And as it seems like the secrecy game was going to be shot anyways by Visser One’s insistence on speeding up efforts, the fact that the Animorphs have been able to keep up as well as they have is pretty big.
Rating: This was an unfortunate book all around, I think. I mean, on its own, it’s fine. But given how late we are in the series, it felt pretty wasted. We get tons of action scenes, but at this point, those are fairly low on my priority list, especially when they just feel like generic chase scenes and take up about 80% of the book. Maybe these were more fun to read when I was a kid, but as I’ve re-read this series, these types of escapades are always the parts that I found myself skimming. So to come up on one of the last books and have it so devoted to only that…*sigh* And, again, big changes are happening, this time with the reveal of the war to the general public. But there is very little emotional build up and absolutely zero follow-up action as the book immediately ends after the TV announcement from the governor. Like several of the last books, I feel like they’re all ending right before we get to the good stuff of the Animorphs having to actually unpack these huge changes in a war that has largely stayed the same as they’ve fought it for the last several years. You can’t help but feel that either the author(s) just didn’t care about this part of the story, figuring kids will be distracted by tons of action scenes. Or that the ghost writers weren’t challenged with taking on bigger character moments like these. Whatever the reason, I’ve found myself more often mourning the things that are left off the page than appreciating what’s actually there. Well, one more book before we’re there! We’ll see how Ax fairs in all of this.
Narrator: Marco
Plot: This book was pretty much a mess from start to finish for me. I didn’t remember much of this book, and it’s pretty clear why. Sure, on paper, big things happen, but the story itself is pretty lackluster, all the more so for feeling like a waste of one of the few remaining books we have left.
My feelings throughout the book. But mostly about the decision to leave out half of the characters.
Marco and Tobias are on a reconnaissance mission to scout out a train bringing in large numbers of the National Guard. Given there is no holiday coming up, the Animorphs are suspicious that the Yeerks may be planning a mass infestation of the units, now that the war is coming out to the public more and more. It turns out that yes, the train is under surveillance by the Yeerks, now able to morph and watching it in the form of several birds of prey lead by no other than their own red tailed hawk. Tobias and Marco have to put their bird skills to use to try to escape, and even then, they only make it out by stealing a tank that Marco has to drive. Yet again, Marco’s driving abilities leave something to be desired, and Chapman’s house is the latest victim to his inability to steer or brake.
Back in the Hork Bajir valley, they decide they need to take a big step to prevent this: inform someone high up of what’s going on. Jake splits the team into two groups. The first, made up of Marco, Tobias, and Ax (the “finesse” group) is to find the governor and convince them of what’s going on and try to prevent the National Guard from all coming to town. The remaining Animorphs and James and his group will try to create a diversion to also delay the troop movements. During the conversation, Jake makes it clear that he doesn’t want Cassie out of his sight because he no longer trusts her, though the others don’t understand what has happened between the two of them.
Marco, Tobias, and Ax make their way to the Gardens to get some long distance flyers. The manage to acquire ducks, but end up being spotted and chased by Controllers as well. They make their way to the capitol but realize they don’t know where the governor lives or what his name is. They get the address for the mansion, eventually, and once there, morph cockroach and go on a wild ride clinging to the limo that they see a pair of shoes they assume is the governor enter. They end up at a fundraising event and follow the governor and a woman in heels into the bathroom. Once there, they demorph and begin the rundown on the situation (they then also realize that not only did they not know where the governor lived or what their name was, the governor was in fact the woman in heels, not a man at all). As they’re attempting to convince her, it becomes clear that her husband is a Controller and they have to make a wild escape with a brave bodyguard named Collins helping to hold the Yeerks at bay.
Many high-jinks ensue involving Tobias driving a limo, them having to jump off a bridge and on to a yacht, and said yacht getting blown apart and sinking beneath them with Marco having to rescue the governor who had been attempting to steer it to ground to save the people on it. They end up retreating back to the governor’s mansion and finish explaining the entire situation. Collins, the brave body guard, meets them there. They ask whether the governor knows anyone high up in the National Guard who has been gone for at least three days and she mentions a high rank member of the service and his unit of several hundred soldiers who have been out of the country for the past two weeks.
Later, back in the valley, they all gather to watch TV and see the fight that Jake and the others were in on TV. It hadn’t been going well until a unit of the National Guard showed up as support (the governor’s troops). The governor then gets on air herself and explains what is going on: aliens have invaded and the world is in a war for its survival.
The Comic Relief: This might be in the running for one of the books where the main character has the least interesting things happening to them. Really, there’s practically no emotional arc or character development in this book. It’s a real shame as now that his mom is back in his life, I feel like there could have been some really good stuff there. We’ve barely seen them together, and it’s always only been briefly in other character’s books. It’s too bad because it seems like there would be a lot there with them having been on opposite sides of this war for so long.
We also see very little of Marco the practical, ruthless strategist. Big things are finally happening in this war and with those events come some big moral situations and Marco’s perspective on these types of choices has always been unique. But again, we don’t get any of that. We get a few good comedic lines and a return of Marco driving poorly, but this late in the series, I would have really appreciated more for him.
Our Fearless Leader: Frankly, I think we saw the wrong two characters highlighted in this third to last book. We’ve seen very little from Jake ever since his sinking into depression, and there’s ton to be mined there. Even more so from the perspective of his best friend, Marco. Early in the book, Marco notes how badly Jake is doing and Marco’s own guilt about being happy about his own family situation in comparison. But then Jake’s gone for the rest of the book. We don’t see him facing his ongoing challenges as a leader. We don’t have any moments between Jake and Marco as best friends whose roles have been swapped. It’s all really unfortunate.
Xena, Warrior Princess: Again, another character who I’m super frustrated to not see more of. As I’ve said in the past, other than Jake, Rachel has one of the most interesting arcs over the entire series. And then, of course, knowing her end…it just seems incredibly wasteful to not get to see more of her here. She has a few good lines, but then is off page for most of the book. The governor is compared favorably to Rachel several times with her ability to stay cool under heavy fire and say “Let’s do it!” to crazy plans. But there’s no replacing the real Rachel, especially this close to us losing her for good.
A Hawk’s Life: Tobias puts his flying knowledge to good use early in the book and then gets to actually drive a vehicle in the end, something usually Marco does. Marco did get to drive a tank in this one, though. I will say, however, the descriptions of Tobias’s driving sound much more “Bourne-esque” than Marco’s. Yes there is still a lot of damage, but he’s also in a high speed chase and weaving around to avoid gun/Dracon beam fire. It comes off a bit more badass than, say, taking out garbage cans in a pickup. Tobias and Marco both assume the governor is a man, and take some flack from Ax for not knowing anything about her, even her name. Tobias has an excuse having been out of society for quite a while now, but Marco has a rather poor showing, all things considered.
There’s also a strange bit where Tobias jumps off a bridge in his Hork Bajir morph and somehow manages to morph hawk before hitting the water. The timing mechanics of morphing seem to be yet another casualty to the rushed feel and lack of thought that went into this story.
Peace, Love, and Animals: And our third character who we lose out on. After the major events of the last book, it’s really a shame to not see more of Cassie and how she’s working within the group. Especially her relationship with Jake. We see that it is strained, even from the small moments we get, but we don’t see how else Cassie is dealing with the fallout of her choice. In this mission, it would have been interesting to have Cassie there when they’re dealing with the Controllers in morph. It’s also clear that no one knows how exactly the blue box fell into the Yeerks hands. Probably a good choice by Jake on that one. I can’t see the others taking it very well, maybe especially Marco, who has been known to be practical to the point of ruthlessness in the past.
E.T./Ax Phone Home: For being on the main mission of this book, Ax had very little of note. Again, he served as “proof” of the alien invasion story by showing up in his real form to greet the governor. He also had a few funny lines, at one point whipping out a line of sarcasm that Marco notes is a new level of humor for Ax, though it comes at an inopportune time.
Best (?) Body Horror Moment: Not a lot really. When they’re acquiring the ducks, Marco, rightly, questions why they never thought of getting an endurance flyer like this before (really, this is a major strike against Cassie and her animal knowledge that it never came up before. Not only can ducks go long distances, but they can fly together without it being strange), Marco brings up the unfortunate fly!Jake swat incident for years ago. He mentions that if they had thought of duck morphs then, that could have been avoided. That really was one of the more gruesome animal injuries any of them sustained. There are also some passing comments about the extreme levels of bodily injuries a cockroach can sustain. But other than that, not a lot other than the typical morph explanations.
Couples Watch!: Zilch. Though the governor does seem to take it rather easily that her husband has been infested by an alien, mind-controlling parasite…so that’s odd.
If Only Visser Three had Mustache to Twirl: Visser One makes a brief, pointless appearance towards the end of the book. In all honestly, I just finished reading it and I can’t remember anything notable about him being there and am pretty sure I forgot that he was one of the human “Controllers” running around during all of the action. The one notable thing about the villains that stood out in this book was the way the morphing has changed things. At one point, Marco notes that this constant paranoia must be how Visser One has been existing for the past several years, suspecting every animals is an enemy in morph. I thought it was clever how the book highlights that while the ability to morph is huge, the Animorphs still have a slight advantage in being more familiar with their morphs’ abilities, as seen in the bird chase in the beginning of the book. I also thought it was notable that the red tail hawk seemed to be leading the charge for the bird!Yeerks. Golden eagles are much bigger, stronger birds, but you have to wonder if the Yeerks assumed that red tailed hawks had some mystical advantage since one of the “Andalite bandits” had been using it as a battle morph this entire time. So the honor of getting that morph went to the head Yeerk in that situation.
Adult Ugly Crying at a Middle Grade Book: Not much of anything. This book is almost entirely taken up by action pieces and chases. So maybe that’s the most sad thing: we’re getting so close to the end of the series and huge things have been happening for all of the characters. And yet, when all of these great characters moments could be happening, instead we’re reading back-to-back generic chase scenes. It feels like a huge waste and missed opportunity. The saddest bit of it all is that we have an entire book that is missing half of the team. The strongest part of the entire series has been reading about this team of very different characters working together to save the world. Why you would lose one of your few remaining opportunities to play to this strength and instead only focus on only three of them (and arguably the less important three) is beyond me.
What a Terrible Plan, Guys!: Whenever the plan to “reveal all” to people comes up, it’s always landed in this area. And really, this one isn’t any different. Yes, the stakes are higher now and their secret out there anyways, so if there’s a time to do it, this is probably it. But the whole thing hinges on the governor just happening to be a super chill lady who just accepts this bizarre story out of nowhere. Even more so, high ranking members of the National Guard are willing to just go with it too when the governor calls on them. It’s all a bit unbelievable. The crazy levels people will go to to not have their comfortable world-view challenged has always been the problem with this plan, and it feels like it works out here more because it had to for the sake of the story than for any actual reason. The only way the world “finding out” really works is if it’s all revealed to a large number of people and recorded, or something. These one-on-ones are just hard to buy and the fact that members of a military branch would believe it enough to fight their own, based on zero evidence, is also highly questionable.
On a smaller scale, the beginning little antics that somehow ends with Marco running a tank over Chapman’s house…It’s never quite clear how the tank goes from “middle of nowhere on a train line” to “Chapman’s house.” It seems like that would be quite a distance, and any benefit of speed would be lost once you ended up in an urban neighborhood and off highways. What’s worse, they’re being followed by Controllers the whole time, and it’s not like a tank is very inconspicuous. The story conveniently skates over how Marco and the others managed to escape the whole situation after the destruction of Chapman’s house. We have to assume they go fly or something. But overall, it still reads like one of those throw-away action scenes that is supposed to be fun to read but doesn’t hold up to much thought.
Favorite Quote:
Before gorilla!Marco jumps off a bridge with the governor, one of several Rachel comparisons.
I said.
“As opposed to what? Bullets? Laser beams that vaporize solid concrete? A bridge that might collapse under me at any moment?” She shook her head. Took a deep breath. “Let’s do it.”
“Let’s do it?” A vision flashed into my head, the governor when she was a kid. She looked like . . . Rachel?
And a good line about Tobias’s driving:
I said.
Scorecard: Yeerks 15, Animorphs 18
We’ll give this one to the Animorphs. Getting a high-ranking official to believe them and mobilize human troops against the Yeerks is huge. And as it seems like the secrecy game was going to be shot anyways by Visser One’s insistence on speeding up efforts, the fact that the Animorphs have been able to keep up as well as they have is pretty big.
Rating: This was an unfortunate book all around, I think. I mean, on its own, it’s fine. But given how late we are in the series, it felt pretty wasted. We get tons of action scenes, but at this point, those are fairly low on my priority list, especially when they just feel like generic chase scenes and take up about 80% of the book. Maybe these were more fun to read when I was a kid, but as I’ve re-read this series, these types of escapades are always the parts that I found myself skimming. So to come up on one of the last books and have it so devoted to only that…*sigh* And, again, big changes are happening, this time with the reveal of the war to the general public. But there is very little emotional build up and absolutely zero follow-up action as the book immediately ends after the TV announcement from the governor. Like several of the last books, I feel like they’re all ending right before we get to the good stuff of the Animorphs having to actually unpack these huge changes in a war that has largely stayed the same as they’ve fought it for the last several years. You can’t help but feel that either the author(s) just didn’t care about this part of the story, figuring kids will be distracted by tons of action scenes. Or that the ghost writers weren’t challenged with taking on bigger character moments like these. Whatever the reason, I’ve found myself more often mourning the things that are left off the page than appreciating what’s actually there. Well, one more book before we’re there! We’ll see how Ax fairs in all of this.
May 29, 2023
Marco's final book as a narrator. A political book as the Animorphs speculate the yerks are going to try to infest both national guard and key political figures en masse. Jake sends Marco, Tobias, and Ax to the state capital to warn the governor of the invasion, while he, Cassie, Rachel, and Auxiliary Animorphs attempt to slow down the assault.
We see Jake still holding Cassie at fault for morphing getting out, the others still don't have a clue. We see Marco be a great strategist once more, and despite how high the stakes are at this point, him, Tobias, and Ax are still able to crack jokes.
They manage to make it to the Governor and convince her the seriousness of the situation, who gets it out on live TV that aliens are among us..... with the repercussions of those actions yet to come.
We see Jake still holding Cassie at fault for morphing getting out, the others still don't have a clue. We see Marco be a great strategist once more, and despite how high the stakes are at this point, him, Tobias, and Ax are still able to crack jokes.
They manage to make it to the Governor and convince her the seriousness of the situation, who gets it out on live TV that aliens are among us..... with the repercussions of those actions yet to come.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2023
I’m really procrastinating my read through of these final books. I am loving how high the stakes are! We follow Marco, Tobias, and Ax as they have to convince the governor that aliens are invading the earth! There wasn’t a whole lot said about the other animorphs, mostly moody jake, sad cassie, and a very excitable rachel. But i really liked following a smaller crew. I wonder where things are gonna go from here. Everybody knows now, and the animorphs are nearing the final battle of this war. I’m excited and a little sad to near the end of this series.
November 28, 2023
read this wicked fast for my reading speed while at work but tbh that’s because i digested like 15% of the entire book. it wasn’t bad like tbh it was fun but lowkey like entirely unforgettable. it’s kind of boring when an animorphs book literally just covers one mission start to finish with no under/over-lining plot in between. like it’s just straight up mission and action. regardless that governor was cool as fuck literally the coolest character in this entire book series why did we have to wait so long to meet her. like she fucking ROCKED. they knew they ate when they created her character like i was floored by her. she made this book worth reading DEADASS. also i’m always a fan of the tobias marco and ax team ups. i wish they had more shenanigans because they’re the Ultimate shenanigan trio and they can get so goofy. but it’s fine because the governor is the truest definition of Girlboss that there has ever been which is an insane thing to say in the year of 2023 but i’m being so deadass…
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