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Animorphs #50
The Ultimate
"Really big trouble" is an understatement these days. The war between the Yeerks and the Animorphs is full on—and it's definitely going to get worse. But Cassie, the other Animorphs, and Ax have a lot more going on than just trying to stay alive. Now they've got to actively protect their families and the free Hork-Bajir. And they no longer believe they can do it alone. The Yeerks are just too powerful.
So Cassie and the others have to ask themselves a very important question: Is it time to increase their numbers? They all remember too well what happened with David—the Animorph gone bad. But this time do they really have a choice?
So Cassie and the others have to ask themselves a very important question: Is it time to increase their numbers? They all remember too well what happened with David—the Animorph gone bad. But this time do they really have a choice?
139 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2001
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942 people want to read
About the author
K.A. Applegate
249 books487 followersalso published under the name Katherine Applegate
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October 2, 2024
The Animorphs are in hiding. They know they’ve lost their biggest advantage against the Yeerks. And what’s worse, they’re only trying to prepare for the worst possible outcome, hoping to delay the inevitable. Because Jake, the leader of the Animorphs, is no longer himself after what happened. Something needs to change. They need to get an advantage again over the Yeerks before they can even think about striking back at them.
This is a Cassie book for a reason. Because the Animorphs have slowly but surely changed their views on what they’re willing to do and sacrifice for the greater good in the war against the Yeerks. And now they’re facing another difficult decision. Normally, Cassie would be all over the ethics of what the Animorphs are about to do to gain back an advantage over the Yeerks. But here, the Animorphs know they are losing the war and they’re desperate. So ethics are thrown out of the window by everyone. They need to do what needs to be done if they want to win the war, no matter the cost. And the question is subtly raised: is there still a line left that they aren’t willing to cross?
You can see how desperate the Animorphs are getting and how they’re suffering mentally from the battles they’ve fought. They’re preparing for the worst case scenario from the start. Some have even giving up on the idea of a possible life for them after the war, no matter the outcome. This book is here to show us the mental hardships of war, and it does so very brutally. But the decision the Animorphs make here changes everything and it will have a lasting effect on the war against the Yeerks. The characters that are introduced here definitely show some promise and potential. The climax of this story is also quite strong.
This is a Cassie book for a reason. Because the Animorphs have slowly but surely changed their views on what they’re willing to do and sacrifice for the greater good in the war against the Yeerks. And now they’re facing another difficult decision. Normally, Cassie would be all over the ethics of what the Animorphs are about to do to gain back an advantage over the Yeerks. But here, the Animorphs know they are losing the war and they’re desperate. So ethics are thrown out of the window by everyone. They need to do what needs to be done if they want to win the war, no matter the cost. And the question is subtly raised: is there still a line left that they aren’t willing to cross?
You can see how desperate the Animorphs are getting and how they’re suffering mentally from the battles they’ve fought. They’re preparing for the worst case scenario from the start. Some have even giving up on the idea of a possible life for them after the war, no matter the outcome. This book is here to show us the mental hardships of war, and it does so very brutally. But the decision the Animorphs make here changes everything and it will have a lasting effect on the war against the Yeerks. The characters that are introduced here definitely show some promise and potential. The climax of this story is also quite strong.
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
August 10, 2018
Ghostwriter: Kimberly Morris.
God, I've typed up so many quotes that it's ridiculous. I flat-out cannot discuss anything of what happens in this book because it'd be so spoilery for early Animorphs readers. So, as before, discussion under spoiler cut:
This is so good. At this point, each book is now escalating the war in leaps, adding another horrifying/terrifying/heartbreaking factor to the equation, and setting up all the pieces for the finale. I read all of these last few books in such a flurry that I'm not sure if they're an objective 5 stars -- I might have to revise these ratings later -- but for now, in the emotional kneejerk response, I'm just exploding stars everywhere.
Favourite quotes below:
Continued in comments...
God, I've typed up so many quotes that it's ridiculous. I flat-out cannot discuss anything of what happens in this book because it'd be so spoilery for early Animorphs readers. So, as before, discussion under spoiler cut:
This is so good. At this point, each book is now escalating the war in leaps, adding another horrifying/terrifying/heartbreaking factor to the equation, and setting up all the pieces for the finale. I read all of these last few books in such a flurry that I'm not sure if they're an objective 5 stars -- I might have to revise these ratings later -- but for now, in the emotional kneejerk response, I'm just exploding stars everywhere.
Favourite quotes below:
Continued in comments...
July 1, 2014
Why don't I remember James? What a dreamboat. Was I on drugs when I was 14 and reading these last books for the first time? I'm not usually one to forget dreamboats and soul-crushing heartbreak.
Speaking of soul-crushing heartbreak, there were a few moments in this that made me wonder if I should finish this series, or put it down and spare myself.
This is so much more than a children's science fiction series. Yes, it's dated, has a stupid name, stupid covers, it's juvenile in the beginning, and even silly and light-hearted at times, but God, what it transforms into is unlike anything I've ever read. These characters, I just can't believe or even stomach what's happening to them.
I don't know if I've ever ached for a fictional character the way I'm aching for Jake. I know what happens in the end to each of them, and no, no one gets out of this war easily, undamaged, unharmed. Maybe they don't even all get out alive. But from this point on, after everything he's been through, alive or dead, Jake will be the saddest thing I've ever seen shattered on a page.
Also, bless Cassie/fuck Cassie for what she does for/to him in the end.
These books are perfect. And absolutely dreadful.
Speaking of soul-crushing heartbreak, there were a few moments in this that made me wonder if I should finish this series, or put it down and spare myself.
This is so much more than a children's science fiction series. Yes, it's dated, has a stupid name, stupid covers, it's juvenile in the beginning, and even silly and light-hearted at times, but God, what it transforms into is unlike anything I've ever read. These characters, I just can't believe or even stomach what's happening to them.
I don't know if I've ever ached for a fictional character the way I'm aching for Jake. I know what happens in the end to each of them, and no, no one gets out of this war easily, undamaged, unharmed. Maybe they don't even all get out alive. But from this point on, after everything he's been through, alive or dead, Jake will be the saddest thing I've ever seen shattered on a page.
Also, bless Cassie/fuck Cassie for what she does for/to him in the end.
These books are perfect. And absolutely dreadful.
December 23, 2018
Last Cassie book is best Cassie book.
#50: The Ultimate is, quite simply, vicious. In its final arc the Animorphs series discards any pretense that this is anything less than a series about children being at war. Cassie, Jake, and the other Animorphs are the de facto leaders of a resistance comprising some free Hork Bajir, pacifistic Chee, and their parents (and maybe a peaceful group of Yeerks, but we haven’t heard from them lately). With their real identities now known to Visser One, the Animorphs are in hiding and feeling the heat. So they decide the only way to buy themselves, and therefore humanity, more time is to expand their ranks….
Cassie is the ideal narrator for the moral qualms in this book. Are the Animorphs doing the right thing by sharing morphing ability? Are they doing the right thing by putting targets on more childrens’ backs? In the end, they decide to side-step these ethical quandaries by simply saying: we don’t have time to debate this. It’s do or die. Thus Applegate and her ghostwriter demonstrate the brutal calculus that is war.
My friend Julie says it best when she says that “cracks are also starting to show” in the Animorphs’ unity. One of this series’ strengths has always been the diversity of its cast, and I don’t mean that in terms of their ethnicities. Each Animorph has always had distinctive personality traits that inform their decisions, and each of them has grown in different ways over the series. Cassie, while always kind and compassionate, has nevertheless seen her nascent adolescent sense of right and wrong tempered by the morally grey world we inhabit. The Ultimate proves this, well, ultimately: she prevents Jake from killing Tom, allowing the latter to escape with the morphing cube. Rather than sacrificing the few for the many, Cassie privileges her friend’s soul (as she might put it) at the expense of sacrificing a huge tactical asset. Jake resents Cassie, both for making this choice for everyone, and also perhaps for assuming the role of moral compass when he might prefer that she abdicate it and let them sink deeper into oblivion.
For, you see, Jake has decided that he’s not going to come back from this. It’s there in his interactions with Cassie. And who can blame him? His parents have been taken hostage. His brother has long been a hostage, and he was resigned to the fact he would have to kill Tom. And now the generalship of this entire war has been foisted upon him. It’s a heavy burden. And so Jake has decided he will take up that mantle, and he will do whatever needs to be done, but he’s not interested in thinking about a future beyond this war.
This is the ultimate tragedy happening to the Animorphs. It isn’t the potential loss of life, the disruption of their families’ lives, etc. It’s the simple fact that they have reached an event horizon of sorts. Once they cross this horizon, they won’t be able to see a way back. How can they possibly win against the Yeerks? They can only keep resisting, and resisting—what a dreary, dangerous prospect. The Ultimate is brutal not because of its battle scenes, or the Animorphs’ interactions with their new recruits, or Tom and Jake’s conversations: it’s brutal because there is no shred of hope here. There is no suggestion of light at the end of the tunnel. As far as the events in this book suggest, the Animorphs aren’t even beginning to think about taking the war to the Visser and kicking Yeerk butt once and for all. They’re fighting defense, and they’re losing.
And they know it.
Next time, the Animorphs have to foil another Yeerk plot, but it might cost them their secrecy. But is that even a bad thing?
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #49: The Diversion | #51: The Absolute →
#50: The Ultimate is, quite simply, vicious. In its final arc the Animorphs series discards any pretense that this is anything less than a series about children being at war. Cassie, Jake, and the other Animorphs are the de facto leaders of a resistance comprising some free Hork Bajir, pacifistic Chee, and their parents (and maybe a peaceful group of Yeerks, but we haven’t heard from them lately). With their real identities now known to Visser One, the Animorphs are in hiding and feeling the heat. So they decide the only way to buy themselves, and therefore humanity, more time is to expand their ranks….
Cassie is the ideal narrator for the moral qualms in this book. Are the Animorphs doing the right thing by sharing morphing ability? Are they doing the right thing by putting targets on more childrens’ backs? In the end, they decide to side-step these ethical quandaries by simply saying: we don’t have time to debate this. It’s do or die. Thus Applegate and her ghostwriter demonstrate the brutal calculus that is war.
My friend Julie says it best when she says that “cracks are also starting to show” in the Animorphs’ unity. One of this series’ strengths has always been the diversity of its cast, and I don’t mean that in terms of their ethnicities. Each Animorph has always had distinctive personality traits that inform their decisions, and each of them has grown in different ways over the series. Cassie, while always kind and compassionate, has nevertheless seen her nascent adolescent sense of right and wrong tempered by the morally grey world we inhabit. The Ultimate proves this, well, ultimately: she prevents Jake from killing Tom, allowing the latter to escape with the morphing cube. Rather than sacrificing the few for the many, Cassie privileges her friend’s soul (as she might put it) at the expense of sacrificing a huge tactical asset. Jake resents Cassie, both for making this choice for everyone, and also perhaps for assuming the role of moral compass when he might prefer that she abdicate it and let them sink deeper into oblivion.
For, you see, Jake has decided that he’s not going to come back from this. It’s there in his interactions with Cassie. And who can blame him? His parents have been taken hostage. His brother has long been a hostage, and he was resigned to the fact he would have to kill Tom. And now the generalship of this entire war has been foisted upon him. It’s a heavy burden. And so Jake has decided he will take up that mantle, and he will do whatever needs to be done, but he’s not interested in thinking about a future beyond this war.
This is the ultimate tragedy happening to the Animorphs. It isn’t the potential loss of life, the disruption of their families’ lives, etc. It’s the simple fact that they have reached an event horizon of sorts. Once they cross this horizon, they won’t be able to see a way back. How can they possibly win against the Yeerks? They can only keep resisting, and resisting—what a dreary, dangerous prospect. The Ultimate is brutal not because of its battle scenes, or the Animorphs’ interactions with their new recruits, or Tom and Jake’s conversations: it’s brutal because there is no shred of hope here. There is no suggestion of light at the end of the tunnel. As far as the events in this book suggest, the Animorphs aren’t even beginning to think about taking the war to the Visser and kicking Yeerk butt once and for all. They’re fighting defense, and they’re losing.
And they know it.
Next time, the Animorphs have to foil another Yeerk plot, but it might cost them their secrecy. But is that even a bad thing?
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #49: The Diversion | #51: The Absolute →
April 26, 2019
This review is more loosely structured because my notes have grown longer as the end of the series approaches, and this is one of the longest. Cassie's ability to read people has become a double-edged weapon: she has a frank, heartbreaking view of the increasingly grim situation, and of Jake's compromised leadership in particular. The violence of imminent war is almost less devastating than the strife within the Animorphs team. It's a bold, productive choice to further compromise the status quo and, like other changes, almost feels like a betrayal.
Speaking of betrayal: The end is strong but so frustrating. I appreciate that Cassie's choice has lasting repercussions--the increasing serialization in these last few books is great. But given her opinion of morphing Hork-Bajir (see below), it strains belief that one of her longterm goals was to . And false dichotomy between is forced--why not knock him out him, or any other third option?
But what interests me most in this Cassie-classic ethics-heavy installment is the issue of disability. The series handled it inconsistently, the probable result of general good intentions but a dated and imperfect approach. Conscripting disabled recruits does better than usual, largely because Cassie's realization that marginalized peoples, particularly the disabled, have the ability to make informed consent while still being vulnerable to exploitation is nuanced, thoughtful, and true. But there's a lack of thought elsewhere: James is a great advocate and a strong foil to Jake, but it's gross that the leaders of the auxiliary Animorphs are all those healed of their disabilities. Not giving morphing powers to the Hork-Bajir specifically because of their low intelligence, disregarding that Toby exists to help them navigate the issue of informed consent and safe behavior, immediately after a scene where the Animorphs practice tactical defensive morphs ("Besides, the Hork-Bajir didn't really need morphing ability, like we did. Their bodies were well equipped for battle as any Earth creature they could morph." my ass) is transparent ableism as well as frankly bad writing. This is still a strong book--surprisingly strong: it's harsh, dynamic, clever; it's Cassie fundamentally changed but still so capable--but conflicting. There's an undercurrent of something wrong in everything it does right.
Speaking of betrayal: The end is strong but so frustrating. I appreciate that Cassie's choice has lasting repercussions--the increasing serialization in these last few books is great. But given her opinion of morphing Hork-Bajir (see below), it strains belief that one of her longterm goals was to . And false dichotomy between is forced--why not knock him out him, or any other third option?
But what interests me most in this Cassie-classic ethics-heavy installment is the issue of disability. The series handled it inconsistently, the probable result of general good intentions but a dated and imperfect approach. Conscripting disabled recruits does better than usual, largely because Cassie's realization that marginalized peoples, particularly the disabled, have the ability to make informed consent while still being vulnerable to exploitation is nuanced, thoughtful, and true. But there's a lack of thought elsewhere: James is a great advocate and a strong foil to Jake, but it's gross that the leaders of the auxiliary Animorphs are all those healed of their disabilities. Not giving morphing powers to the Hork-Bajir specifically because of their low intelligence, disregarding that Toby exists to help them navigate the issue of informed consent and safe behavior, immediately after a scene where the Animorphs practice tactical defensive morphs ("Besides, the Hork-Bajir didn't really need morphing ability, like we did. Their bodies were well equipped for battle as any Earth creature they could morph." my ass) is transparent ableism as well as frankly bad writing. This is still a strong book--surprisingly strong: it's harsh, dynamic, clever; it's Cassie fundamentally changed but still so capable--but conflicting. There's an undercurrent of something wrong in everything it does right.
October 12, 2016
Another intense adventure; as I'm nearing the end, I can't wait to see how this storyline wraps up!
July 31, 2022
Cassie is freaking out and the team is crumbling.
With Jake struggling to recover form the loss of his family and the constant high alert our main cast has to stay on at all times, Cassie is growing more agitated and, at times, apathetic.
The mission in this installment is particularly…interesting. A suggestion is made to recruit those with physical disabilities to gain the ability to morph and and join the war against Yeerks since they’re the demographic actively being ignored to enslave. The conversation gives us confirmation that Ax’s disgust towards disability has remain unchanged and the group continues to ignore it (except Marco) and it’s just…a choice, for sure, to continue the theme with this specific character flaw.
Applegate also lets some personal views surrounding slip when she has Disability Ally Marco discussing the risks of recruiting disabled kids when we know that the ability to morph restores a person’s DNA and form to how it existed before damage was done to it and Marco references and Marco describes a life where one’s disability disappears as a life with “newfound freedom”, heavily implying that all disabled people are imprisoned or trapped in their bodies.
Off-hand comments about how maybe these new recruits *weren’t* so helpless after all!! 😄 and references to a morphing changes being major miracles.
Deeply uncomfortable but unsurprising from this author.
Beyond this, Jake is the most broken version of himself and the Animorphs lose a major advantage they’ve had over the Yeerks this entire time.
Cassie is also becoming jaded and we’re seeing her moral compass blur. She’s the last Animorph to finally lose herself to this war and its painful to watch. Her optimism and hope is dying and shes becoming less and less of the Cassie we fell in love with.
Did not enjoy this one bit.
CW: war, violence, death, grief, slavery, murder, ableism and dated language referencing disability
With Jake struggling to recover form the loss of his family and the constant high alert our main cast has to stay on at all times, Cassie is growing more agitated and, at times, apathetic.
The mission in this installment is particularly…interesting. A suggestion is made to recruit those with physical disabilities to gain the ability to morph and and join the war against Yeerks since they’re the demographic actively being ignored to enslave. The conversation gives us confirmation that Ax’s disgust towards disability has remain unchanged and the group continues to ignore it (except Marco) and it’s just…a choice, for sure, to continue the theme with this specific character flaw.
Applegate also lets some personal views surrounding slip when she has Disability Ally Marco discussing the risks of recruiting disabled kids when we know that the ability to morph restores a person’s DNA and form to how it existed before damage was done to it and Marco references and Marco describes a life where one’s disability disappears as a life with “newfound freedom”, heavily implying that all disabled people are imprisoned or trapped in their bodies.
Off-hand comments about how maybe these new recruits *weren’t* so helpless after all!! 😄 and references to a morphing changes being major miracles.
Deeply uncomfortable but unsurprising from this author.
Beyond this, Jake is the most broken version of himself and the Animorphs lose a major advantage they’ve had over the Yeerks this entire time.
Cassie is also becoming jaded and we’re seeing her moral compass blur. She’s the last Animorph to finally lose herself to this war and its painful to watch. Her optimism and hope is dying and shes becoming less and less of the Cassie we fell in love with.
Did not enjoy this one bit.
CW: war, violence, death, grief, slavery, murder, ableism and dated language referencing disability
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2024
Its the army of disabled children for me
August 22, 2022
The Animorphs franchise has a complicated relationship with disability, which I think can charitably be described as author K. A. Applegate occasionally straying into insensitivity while generally having her heart in the right place. Thus, "crazy" is used as a go-to insult, but the battle trauma and other mental health issues of the team are taken seriously throughout. Just last book, a character healed of her blindness by the morphing technology -- yet expecting the condition to return upon demorphing -- acted as though death would be preferable to losing her sight again. But Ax and the other Andalites are regularly called out for their bigoted attitudes towards wounded warriors like Mertil the vecol in #40 The Other, as are the parasitic Yeerks for disprefering disabled hosts overall.
That last detail is what drives the heroes' decision in this volume to finally expand the human resistance corps by recruiting new members at a local children's hospital. At a tense meeting in the woods where they're all now living as refugees, the teens decide that their parents' slowness to accept the reality of their situation is probably how any adult would react, and so they instead need to focus on their fellow youths -- a viewpoint I find shortsighted as a grownup now, but which is wholly appropriate for the typical audience of a YA saga like this. And because their enemies have written off certain bodies as unattractive for potential Controllers, those are the exact kids they can safely reach out to without worrying about getting caught.
It's a fraught debate, especially after Cassie's dad overhears and makes his disapproval known, but the group (and the narrative at large) eventually comes down on the side of trusting disabled people with the choice of self-agency. Sure enough, the patients they talk to quickly overcome their initial skepticism and accept the mission to defend the earth, even though they don't know whether they'll be healed or not and might be exceedingly vulnerable anytime they're between morphs. Before long, there are seventeen new additions: a nearly threefold expansion of the Animorphs we've followed up until this point, and the first since the ill-fated David back in #20 The Discovery. Not all of them get much characterization, and none of them ever gets to narrate the action, which again is arguably a bit ableist on the part of Applegate and returning ghostwriter Kimberly Morris, confining these newcomers to the second string. But the representation is still commendable in my opinion, and I appreciate that we're explicitly told only three of them are made able-bodied by the process, a trope that could be problematic otherwise. It's neat that they seem to have an easier time resisting the instinctual animal minds too, which is explained by their greater experience with managing bodily frustrations.
On a plot level, this is a pretty propulsive installment. Beyond the introduction of the auxiliaries, we see the emotional fallout of everyone's secret identities being blown in the previous novel, which is hitting Jake particularly hard. Cassie is still the resident moralist, but she is far more jaded now than in the early days (as is evident by contrast with her naïve parents), and she spends a lot of this book manipulating her boyfriend into sticking with / reclaiming the mantle of leadership, longing for him to be the firm but compassionate commander that she recognizes their force needs. This leads to a rupture between the two lovebirds, and ultimately for the Yeerk infesting Tom to escape a deadly confrontation with the morphing cube in hand, since our narrator can't bear for Jake's soul to carry the weight of killing his brother. There's also an epic showdown against Visser One -- I believe the first since he got that promotion -- and his apparent rage and fear at the growing size of their army, coupled with the great lie that they've actually always had that many soldiers in their ranks. It marks a major escalation in the invasion conflict, which will of course be responded to in kind over the few remaining titles. And the recruits acquit themselves well in their debut fight, with everyone surviving… at least for now.
I do wish we were getting Jake's interior monologue in either this story or the prior one, given everything he's going through in this period of the series, but his struggle is still compelling to observe from the outside, as is Cassie's clear heartbreak over feeling him slip away. Her own final solo narration is a worthy sendoff to her unique perspective among the fighters, and possibly the last time there will be room to pause for her brand of ethical consideration here. After all, we are squarely in the endgame now, with our protagonists on the run with new allies but a villain holding the morphing power. Only four more books to see how it all finishes off.
[Content warning for body horror, gore, and a racial slur.]
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That last detail is what drives the heroes' decision in this volume to finally expand the human resistance corps by recruiting new members at a local children's hospital. At a tense meeting in the woods where they're all now living as refugees, the teens decide that their parents' slowness to accept the reality of their situation is probably how any adult would react, and so they instead need to focus on their fellow youths -- a viewpoint I find shortsighted as a grownup now, but which is wholly appropriate for the typical audience of a YA saga like this. And because their enemies have written off certain bodies as unattractive for potential Controllers, those are the exact kids they can safely reach out to without worrying about getting caught.
It's a fraught debate, especially after Cassie's dad overhears and makes his disapproval known, but the group (and the narrative at large) eventually comes down on the side of trusting disabled people with the choice of self-agency. Sure enough, the patients they talk to quickly overcome their initial skepticism and accept the mission to defend the earth, even though they don't know whether they'll be healed or not and might be exceedingly vulnerable anytime they're between morphs. Before long, there are seventeen new additions: a nearly threefold expansion of the Animorphs we've followed up until this point, and the first since the ill-fated David back in #20 The Discovery. Not all of them get much characterization, and none of them ever gets to narrate the action, which again is arguably a bit ableist on the part of Applegate and returning ghostwriter Kimberly Morris, confining these newcomers to the second string. But the representation is still commendable in my opinion, and I appreciate that we're explicitly told only three of them are made able-bodied by the process, a trope that could be problematic otherwise. It's neat that they seem to have an easier time resisting the instinctual animal minds too, which is explained by their greater experience with managing bodily frustrations.
On a plot level, this is a pretty propulsive installment. Beyond the introduction of the auxiliaries, we see the emotional fallout of everyone's secret identities being blown in the previous novel, which is hitting Jake particularly hard. Cassie is still the resident moralist, but she is far more jaded now than in the early days (as is evident by contrast with her naïve parents), and she spends a lot of this book manipulating her boyfriend into sticking with / reclaiming the mantle of leadership, longing for him to be the firm but compassionate commander that she recognizes their force needs. This leads to a rupture between the two lovebirds, and ultimately for the Yeerk infesting Tom to escape a deadly confrontation with the morphing cube in hand, since our narrator can't bear for Jake's soul to carry the weight of killing his brother. There's also an epic showdown against Visser One -- I believe the first since he got that promotion -- and his apparent rage and fear at the growing size of their army, coupled with the great lie that they've actually always had that many soldiers in their ranks. It marks a major escalation in the invasion conflict, which will of course be responded to in kind over the few remaining titles. And the recruits acquit themselves well in their debut fight, with everyone surviving… at least for now.
I do wish we were getting Jake's interior monologue in either this story or the prior one, given everything he's going through in this period of the series, but his struggle is still compelling to observe from the outside, as is Cassie's clear heartbreak over feeling him slip away. Her own final solo narration is a worthy sendoff to her unique perspective among the fighters, and possibly the last time there will be room to pause for her brand of ethical consideration here. After all, we are squarely in the endgame now, with our protagonists on the run with new allies but a villain holding the morphing power. Only four more books to see how it all finishes off.
[Content warning for body horror, gore, and a racial slur.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
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--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
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--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my previous reviews!
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August 7, 2014
It was so scary to watch Jake and the others make their decision about what to do instead of just hiding where it's safe with their families and the Hork-Bajir who are free. They've got to take the ultimate risk.
Notable moments and inconsistencies:
This book is ghostwritten by Kimberly Morris.
In this book, the absence of Rachel's father from the hideaway compound from the last book is acknowledged, but all the narration says is that "there was no time to find him." If it had to do with a family member--and Rachel is close to her dad--it doesn't seem like they'd just leave it hanging as a loose end. Rachel probably would have found a way to go check on him. There's also no mention of whether any of the Animorphs' extended families were checked out. We know Rachel and Jake have other cousins, and Cassie's possible grandparents or aunts/uncles aren't ever discussed.
It's noted in this book that the David/Rachel altercation from a previous book had an unknown resolution. The book did indeed end without revealing whether Rachel killed David or let him escape, but now it's shown that no one but Rachel knows, and she refuses to tell.
Ax's disgust toward disabled people is apparent again in this book, as it was in a previous book (though that was directed at people of his own species). In this book, his excuse for disapproving of the disabled is that they are useless to their people in battle. Seems like an inconsistent thing for anyone to say if the same person has also expressed elitist scorn over a species that fights members of its own species.
Dressing up in costumes and randomly joining up with a group of young thespians as cover would not work in real life. Groups that rehearse their acts and perform them will notice extra people who are not supposed to be there. The audience and bystanders wouldn't notice, but the troupe itself would.
In a later book, a character named Tuan shows up without having been mentioned before, while Timmy is no longer mentioned. They have the same morph that they chose. In supplementary materials, K.A. Applegate reveals that Tuan was the original name for the character who debuted as Timmy, but nobody updated the later book with the name change. Because there are seventeen auxiliary Animorphs and not all of them are given names, this is easy to miss and could have just been written off as minor characters being interchangeable, but this mix-up is on the record.
One of the auxiliary Animorphs, James, was healed from his handicap the first time he demorphed, because it was the result of something that happened to him in an accident. However, when he demorphed his legs were strong and muscled instead of withered. It seems possible that reconstructing him from his DNA would of course heal the injuries of improperly healed legs, but it doesn't make sense that it would also build the muscles for him when he hadn't used his legs in over a decade.
Only a few of the disabled children are "healed" by the morphing process, and the rest still have their various ailments when they return to human form. James, the leader of the auxiliary force, is one of them, and this makes perfect sense because he was completely a leader type before he was healed of his accident-caused leg issues. But when it turns out that the only other people who were healed by the morphing were Craig and Erica and then those two automatically became James's lieutenants, it starts to sound a bit suspicious. Giving disabled kids a major, brave role in a war was a gutsy writing decision, but then still handling the leadership roles to only the able-bodied takes away from the significance a little.
When James decides to sign on to the group, one of his conditions is that his bedridden roommate Pedro should get to acquire a morph. Pedro is never mentioned again after seeing his roommate and some others leave the facility in their new morphed bodies. It's not explained why Jake didn't give Pedro a morph or what condition he has that would prevent him from being recruited for the first wave. It became impossible to give Pedro a morph once the Animorphs lost the morphing cube, but it seems inconsistent that Pedro wasn't given a morph to start with, given that James so often goes to bat for his less capable friends.
Notable moments and inconsistencies:
This book is ghostwritten by Kimberly Morris.
In this book, the absence of Rachel's father from the hideaway compound from the last book is acknowledged, but all the narration says is that "there was no time to find him." If it had to do with a family member--and Rachel is close to her dad--it doesn't seem like they'd just leave it hanging as a loose end. Rachel probably would have found a way to go check on him. There's also no mention of whether any of the Animorphs' extended families were checked out. We know Rachel and Jake have other cousins, and Cassie's possible grandparents or aunts/uncles aren't ever discussed.
It's noted in this book that the David/Rachel altercation from a previous book had an unknown resolution. The book did indeed end without revealing whether Rachel killed David or let him escape, but now it's shown that no one but Rachel knows, and she refuses to tell.
Ax's disgust toward disabled people is apparent again in this book, as it was in a previous book (though that was directed at people of his own species). In this book, his excuse for disapproving of the disabled is that they are useless to their people in battle. Seems like an inconsistent thing for anyone to say if the same person has also expressed elitist scorn over a species that fights members of its own species.
Dressing up in costumes and randomly joining up with a group of young thespians as cover would not work in real life. Groups that rehearse their acts and perform them will notice extra people who are not supposed to be there. The audience and bystanders wouldn't notice, but the troupe itself would.
In a later book, a character named Tuan shows up without having been mentioned before, while Timmy is no longer mentioned. They have the same morph that they chose. In supplementary materials, K.A. Applegate reveals that Tuan was the original name for the character who debuted as Timmy, but nobody updated the later book with the name change. Because there are seventeen auxiliary Animorphs and not all of them are given names, this is easy to miss and could have just been written off as minor characters being interchangeable, but this mix-up is on the record.
One of the auxiliary Animorphs, James, was healed from his handicap the first time he demorphed, because it was the result of something that happened to him in an accident. However, when he demorphed his legs were strong and muscled instead of withered. It seems possible that reconstructing him from his DNA would of course heal the injuries of improperly healed legs, but it doesn't make sense that it would also build the muscles for him when he hadn't used his legs in over a decade.
Only a few of the disabled children are "healed" by the morphing process, and the rest still have their various ailments when they return to human form. James, the leader of the auxiliary force, is one of them, and this makes perfect sense because he was completely a leader type before he was healed of his accident-caused leg issues. But when it turns out that the only other people who were healed by the morphing were Craig and Erica and then those two automatically became James's lieutenants, it starts to sound a bit suspicious. Giving disabled kids a major, brave role in a war was a gutsy writing decision, but then still handling the leadership roles to only the able-bodied takes away from the significance a little.
When James decides to sign on to the group, one of his conditions is that his bedridden roommate Pedro should get to acquire a morph. Pedro is never mentioned again after seeing his roommate and some others leave the facility in their new morphed bodies. It's not explained why Jake didn't give Pedro a morph or what condition he has that would prevent him from being recruited for the first wave. It became impossible to give Pedro a morph once the Animorphs lost the morphing cube, but it seems inconsistent that Pedro wasn't given a morph to start with, given that James so often goes to bat for his less capable friends.
November 28, 2013
Cassie and the Animorphs are at a loss. They’re on the losing side of war continually upping the stakes – the next level is all-out invasion. With only six of them, and with Jake falling into a depression over the loss of his family, the Animorphs decide it’s time to expand their army. And the only kids they know the Yeerks won’t touch are the disabled.
This is the book where the reading audience turns on Cassie, if they haven’t done it already. All of her moralising almost gets in the way of action and her final act in her final book left many of us completely shocked. That’s not to say that this isn’t a valuable book – no no, you NEED to read this one. It’s one of the essentials. See, after the first half of the book delivers a poor drill and a group meeting of the ‘rebels’ with reassurance of faith in Jake’s leadership, they start recruiting. And they pick some good ones.
Read the full review on the Moonlight Library!
September 14, 2015
I remember, back in high school, while most kids wait for a letter from Hogwarts, I waited for some bird or cockroach to talk to me in thought-speak. It's just... I wanted to be a part of this team who don't go to school lolsjk.
Our favorite gang's in the real real bad thing now. Secrets revealed. troop expanded. Then fights within the team had started. Jake is losing it, my poor bruh. Oh Jake. Cassie can't even anymore. She's losing it too. "If Jake lost it, I'll lose it." I cannot decide if it's a fair thing to say or think. To depend on someone that much- that's just heavy.
Also, Cassie has these thoughts about Tobias my dear: she's not sure if his being a nothlit was an accident.
I have to say, I see why she thinks that way.
On more bad news, I can smell Tom's blood from here. Cassie can't, yet. Ah, humanitarians.
Anyway, *heavy breathing.
(dang I was supposed to read a manga tonight)
Our favorite gang's in the real real bad thing now. Secrets revealed. troop expanded. Then fights within the team had started. Jake is losing it, my poor bruh. Oh Jake. Cassie can't even anymore. She's losing it too. "If Jake lost it, I'll lose it." I cannot decide if it's a fair thing to say or think. To depend on someone that much- that's just heavy.
Also, Cassie has these thoughts about Tobias my dear: she's not sure if his being a nothlit was an accident.
I have to say, I see why she thinks that way.
On more bad news, I can smell Tom's blood from here. Cassie can't, yet. Ah, humanitarians.
Anyway, *heavy breathing.
(dang I was supposed to read a manga tonight)
December 7, 2022
These final stretch books are soooo good! Like I have to keep reminding myself these are preteens/teens that are the protaganists they're so mature! The parents having a hard time adjusting and the kids having to act as the mature adults in the situation was so jarring but in a good way. Like whoa!
I will say, I was really uncomfortable with the discussion of handicap/disabled children in this story. Like they had physical impairments but were of sound mind and able to verbally and clearly give consent to joining the Animorphs or not and everyone acted like this was a horrifying solution and it was even pulled into question if it was "humane". Like...yes? Their lives matter just as much and morphing gives them an ability to fight? And they're not being forced, they gave verbal consent after being presented the facts? What am I missing? Just cause they're paraplegic this means they can't turn into a beast to fight an alien invasion? Why?
Otherwise it was awesome. I still despise Cassie. She's not the leader she seems to think. And I had so much empathy for Jake.
I will say, I was really uncomfortable with the discussion of handicap/disabled children in this story. Like they had physical impairments but were of sound mind and able to verbally and clearly give consent to joining the Animorphs or not and everyone acted like this was a horrifying solution and it was even pulled into question if it was "humane". Like...yes? Their lives matter just as much and morphing gives them an ability to fight? And they're not being forced, they gave verbal consent after being presented the facts? What am I missing? Just cause they're paraplegic this means they can't turn into a beast to fight an alien invasion? Why?
Otherwise it was awesome. I still despise Cassie. She's not the leader she seems to think. And I had so much empathy for Jake.
August 6, 2021
I knew there was a reason I never liked Cassie. She was ALWAYS doing the most, attempting to be the voice of reason, and a bit of a hypocrite, but the ENDING solidified my annoyance for her. Smh. Cassie can choke.
August 18, 2017
They are so not children anymore...
Later, we were joined by another Andalite. Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. Ax. A cadet in training. A kid like us.
Like we were, once. Because none of us will ever really be kids again.
Now, a hundred or more battles later, I'm not sure exactly what we are. In the eyes of the innocent world, we're still children. But in our own eyes...
We've won some of those battles. Lost others. At least we've come out alive. But the war rages on.
The truth was, and it hurt me to admit it, Jake just wasn't Jake anymore.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, I was angry. Mad that my mother, a scientist, wouldn't -- or couldn't -- face the awful truth.
That we were at war. That the rules had changed. That we had to do things we'd never choose to do under peacetime circumstances. That we didn't have that luxury. That every single minute of every single day we had to make sacrifices we'd rather not make.
And I was angry that my mother was forcing me to confront her with this truth.
"That's right, Mom," I said, my voice hard. "The Hork-Bajir could die. Every single one of us, human and Hork-Bajir and Andalite, could die. Any day. At any time. I still don't get your point."
My mother gasped. It wasn't a fake gasp, either. She was shocked. "Cassie! How can you say that? We're talking about lives."
"I'm being realistic. This is a war, Mom. Do you understand what that means? Some of us are going to die. That's a fact. From disease or injury or deprivation. It doesn't much matter how, does it? Nothing we do now can change that fact. Not building a nicer shelter or being all pleasant to each other. Nothing will stop the dying except winning the war. And right now, our chances of winning don't look real good."
I turned away from my mother's stricken face. Walked away.
Still angry at her for making me say the things I'd said.
Angry at myself because I knew I had hurt her.
Angry mostly because I had wanted to hurt her.
Because she was making me be the grown-up. And even after all the endless months of fighting, with all the disgusting acts I had witnessed -- or committed -- I still sometimes wanted to be normal again.
Also, because I was worried. Not just about my own parents.
If the adults didn't accept the reality of the war, they would never be prepared when the time came to fight.
And if they weren't prepared, they wouldn't survive.
And Jake is so close to breaking...
"...Anyone. Anyone but me. You know why I was in charge in the first place, Cassie? Because once upon a time, a long time ago, Marco said I was."
"Jake, that's not the whole truth..."
"Well, now my term of office is over," he continued bitterly. "So how about for once you guys figure things out and tell me what to do."
Then he turned and walked away.
And just kept walking.
Ok, so in this one we see the true aftermath of #49, the pain and anger they all carry at being uprooted and Jake especially at , as he sees it, failing his parents and Tom.
We also learn the first name of all the parents here.
The idea to recruit disabled kids is actually really good, because they have a point about the Yeerks not wanting damaged host bodies, although I would have thought that Taylor would have proved that wrong? Or was she back when they were after the voluntaries only?????
One thing that bugged me was them not knowing that those kids in the rehab who were not born sick would go back to healthy. Just because Lauren did not get her memories back. Like Cassie said memories are not in your DNA, so no she would not get them back. All her injuries did heal, at least the physical ones for sure, so yes the kids who were just injured would be ok after a morph. And also, James not having anything but a nursing home to look forward to? Um, he is just paralyzed from the waist down. He could still work and drive and everything else.
Unfortunately, as good as these late books are getting, I seam to find even more inconstancies in them.
Also, I do not have book 51!!!!!! GAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
Later, we were joined by another Andalite. Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. Ax. A cadet in training. A kid like us.
Like we were, once. Because none of us will ever really be kids again.
Now, a hundred or more battles later, I'm not sure exactly what we are. In the eyes of the innocent world, we're still children. But in our own eyes...
We've won some of those battles. Lost others. At least we've come out alive. But the war rages on.
The truth was, and it hurt me to admit it, Jake just wasn't Jake anymore.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, I was angry. Mad that my mother, a scientist, wouldn't -- or couldn't -- face the awful truth.
That we were at war. That the rules had changed. That we had to do things we'd never choose to do under peacetime circumstances. That we didn't have that luxury. That every single minute of every single day we had to make sacrifices we'd rather not make.
And I was angry that my mother was forcing me to confront her with this truth.
"That's right, Mom," I said, my voice hard. "The Hork-Bajir could die. Every single one of us, human and Hork-Bajir and Andalite, could die. Any day. At any time. I still don't get your point."
My mother gasped. It wasn't a fake gasp, either. She was shocked. "Cassie! How can you say that? We're talking about lives."
"I'm being realistic. This is a war, Mom. Do you understand what that means? Some of us are going to die. That's a fact. From disease or injury or deprivation. It doesn't much matter how, does it? Nothing we do now can change that fact. Not building a nicer shelter or being all pleasant to each other. Nothing will stop the dying except winning the war. And right now, our chances of winning don't look real good."
I turned away from my mother's stricken face. Walked away.
Still angry at her for making me say the things I'd said.
Angry at myself because I knew I had hurt her.
Angry mostly because I had wanted to hurt her.
Because she was making me be the grown-up. And even after all the endless months of fighting, with all the disgusting acts I had witnessed -- or committed -- I still sometimes wanted to be normal again.
Also, because I was worried. Not just about my own parents.
If the adults didn't accept the reality of the war, they would never be prepared when the time came to fight.
And if they weren't prepared, they wouldn't survive.
And Jake is so close to breaking...
"...Anyone. Anyone but me. You know why I was in charge in the first place, Cassie? Because once upon a time, a long time ago, Marco said I was."
"Jake, that's not the whole truth..."
"Well, now my term of office is over," he continued bitterly. "So how about for once you guys figure things out and tell me what to do."
Then he turned and walked away.
And just kept walking.
Ok, so in this one we see the true aftermath of #49, the pain and anger they all carry at being uprooted and Jake especially at , as he sees it, failing his parents and Tom.
We also learn the first name of all the parents here.
The idea to recruit disabled kids is actually really good, because they have a point about the Yeerks not wanting damaged host bodies, although I would have thought that Taylor would have proved that wrong? Or was she back when they were after the voluntaries only?????
One thing that bugged me was them not knowing that those kids in the rehab who were not born sick would go back to healthy. Just because Lauren did not get her memories back. Like Cassie said memories are not in your DNA, so no she would not get them back. All her injuries did heal, at least the physical ones for sure, so yes the kids who were just injured would be ok after a morph. And also, James not having anything but a nursing home to look forward to? Um, he is just paralyzed from the waist down. He could still work and drive and everything else.
Unfortunately, as good as these late books are getting, I seam to find even more inconstancies in them.
Also, I do not have book 51!!!!!! GAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2024
I had just finished re-reading the David saga for the umpteenth time ( books 20-22, for those interested ) and then I decided to read this one. And what a coincidence, that the next book I decide to read once again deals with the Animorphs recruiting more people. I swear that was unintentional. :)
This was a really interesting book! Ethics plays a huge role in this, as the Animorphs debate over the morality of recruiting differently abled children to their cause to increase their numbers. They're the ideal candidates because their bodies are not desirable by Yeerk standards, and thus unlikely to be Controllers. Obviously, no one is thrilled by this idea, but they don't have much of a choice as their small guerrilla band is simply not enough to take on Visser One's forces.
The character interaction in this is fantastic, and Applegate does an amazing job showing just how much impact the war is having on everyone. It was so heart breaking to see Cassie, usually so sentimental and caring, becoming so jaded and disgusted at herself for what she had to become. And then there's Jake, who after the last book is a completely different person. This new Jake is ruthless and cold. Ax on the other hand, was a huge jerk, and his opinion that disabled people are worthless really angered me. Kudos to Marco for not loosing his cool for explaining to Ax that it's not acceptable to be saying that. I would not have been very polite about it.
I feel like Applegate comes up with some crazy interesting ideas and I feel like a million spin off series could happen. I would read stories of the Auxiliary Animorphs in a heart beat. I really liked James and really felt for the other children and want to read more about them.
That ending, though. I won't spoil it, but it was a big game changer, and not for the better. And Cassie's self righteous attitude made it all the worse. Ugh. At least feel a little bad for what you've done!
This was a really interesting book! Ethics plays a huge role in this, as the Animorphs debate over the morality of recruiting differently abled children to their cause to increase their numbers. They're the ideal candidates because their bodies are not desirable by Yeerk standards, and thus unlikely to be Controllers. Obviously, no one is thrilled by this idea, but they don't have much of a choice as their small guerrilla band is simply not enough to take on Visser One's forces.
The character interaction in this is fantastic, and Applegate does an amazing job showing just how much impact the war is having on everyone. It was so heart breaking to see Cassie, usually so sentimental and caring, becoming so jaded and disgusted at herself for what she had to become. And then there's Jake, who after the last book is a completely different person. This new Jake is ruthless and cold. Ax on the other hand, was a huge jerk, and his opinion that disabled people are worthless really angered me. Kudos to Marco for not loosing his cool for explaining to Ax that it's not acceptable to be saying that. I would not have been very polite about it.
I feel like Applegate comes up with some crazy interesting ideas and I feel like a million spin off series could happen. I would read stories of the Auxiliary Animorphs in a heart beat. I really liked James and really felt for the other children and want to read more about them.
That ending, though. I won't spoil it, but it was a big game changer, and not for the better. And Cassie's self righteous attitude made it all the worse. Ugh. At least feel a little bad for what you've done!
December 14, 2020
The Animorphs need more firepower, so they decide they need to make more Animorphs. But who? They consider their parents, they consider the free Hork-Bajir... but then they decide the safest population for them to tap, the population the Yeerks are most likely to ignore? ....Physically disabled teens.
Sit with that for a moment. Cassie, IIRC, is the one to suggest the idea, then regrets it. Ax is like, hey, humans seem to cast off disabled people, so why would we use them in this way? Are they really ideal warriors? It’s mighty uncomfortable to think about the Animorphs using these kids for their war (after all, don’t the most disenfranchised individuals tend to be the foot soldiers in war?) but since the Yeerks would likely kill them since their bodies are “useless” to them... I guess they have something to fight for. Plus, being in morph gives them sight, mobility, etc.
So they gather like twenty or so kids, give them morphing power, and some of them lose their disabilities (any disabilities present at birth remain, but if someone was in, say, a car accident, morphing would repair all damage), so that’s heartwarming.
Meanwhile, Jake is not doing well as a leader- he’s paralyzed by his parents being taken, isn’t making the best decisions, and Cassie finds herself making small manipulative decisions in order to get him to act like a leader. Jake had always been fairly charming, but in The Ultimate he’s coming off at times like Rachel, which is not a good thing.
The new gigantic Animorphs team fights against Visser One and succeeds, but Tom gets the morphing cube. Jake is going to kill (!) his brother, but Cassie stops him- she feels like it’s the right choice so he can face himself after the war. Jake is furious with her, but she still feels like she made the right decision, EVEN THOUGH TOM HAS THE MORPHING CUBE. 😬
The stakes are high and I’m looooviiing it.
Sit with that for a moment. Cassie, IIRC, is the one to suggest the idea, then regrets it. Ax is like, hey, humans seem to cast off disabled people, so why would we use them in this way? Are they really ideal warriors? It’s mighty uncomfortable to think about the Animorphs using these kids for their war (after all, don’t the most disenfranchised individuals tend to be the foot soldiers in war?) but since the Yeerks would likely kill them since their bodies are “useless” to them... I guess they have something to fight for. Plus, being in morph gives them sight, mobility, etc.
So they gather like twenty or so kids, give them morphing power, and some of them lose their disabilities (any disabilities present at birth remain, but if someone was in, say, a car accident, morphing would repair all damage), so that’s heartwarming.
Meanwhile, Jake is not doing well as a leader- he’s paralyzed by his parents being taken, isn’t making the best decisions, and Cassie finds herself making small manipulative decisions in order to get him to act like a leader. Jake had always been fairly charming, but in The Ultimate he’s coming off at times like Rachel, which is not a good thing.
The new gigantic Animorphs team fights against Visser One and succeeds, but Tom gets the morphing cube. Jake is going to kill (!) his brother, but Cassie stops him- she feels like it’s the right choice so he can face himself after the war. Jake is furious with her, but she still feels like she made the right decision, EVEN THOUGH TOM HAS THE MORPHING CUBE. 😬
The stakes are high and I’m looooviiing it.
July 5, 2016
"Look, Ax," Marco interrupted. "We've had this conversation before. This is Earth. All people are valuable in some way or another. Humans value one another. Whether they're disabled or not."
Ax blinked.
Trust Ax to put his finger right on the ugly truth.
I'm not comfortable with reviewing this book. I like to think it handled the issue of disability well. I love that Marco constantly calls out Ax on his ableism. But still, I'd love to have an opinion of a differently abled person on this.
Cassie was amazing as always. I'm very worried about Jake. I'm glad Tobias is bonding with his mom. The boy needs something good in his life. And I love the new recruits.
Ax blinked.
Trust Ax to put his finger right on the ugly truth.
I'm not comfortable with reviewing this book. I like to think it handled the issue of disability well. I love that Marco constantly calls out Ax on his ableism. But still, I'd love to have an opinion of a differently abled person on this.
Cassie was amazing as always. I'm very worried about Jake. I'm glad Tobias is bonding with his mom. The boy needs something good in his life. And I love the new recruits.
October 4, 2023
This is a difficult one. A lot of these books have problematic elements, but this one targets disabled youths. It says a lot of good things about them. Overall it's a powerful message. Is it disability porn? I don't think so, but its still a tough call. My main problem with it I guess other than the whole child soldiers thing is that the children whose disabilities were redacted by the morphing are the ones in charge. The whole point of this seems to be disabled people are people too disabled people are strong, but then it has the children who are abled in control? Like they're more capable?
September 10, 2018
I remember Cassie giving the morphing cube to the bad guys really pissed me off when I read this as a kid. She was a traitor. But in retrospect it's the most brilliant part of the series, Cassie reframing the problem from that of a war to something closer to an ecological problem. Anyways I always feel embarrassed for remembering so much about these books.
June 13, 2023
Still one of the best crip stories I’ve ever seen. Which in a way is sad, I mean this book was written before nine-fucking-eleven that’s how far back in my life it is. Possibly the best crip sci-fi story too? I mean it’s not perfect but it is MOSTLY PERFECT. I hope some day there are better crip stories in my lifetime for me to enjoy, but for now this exists in a realm all its own. If there are equal or better will someone please fucking tell me, I do not care what kind of media at this point, like if I have to watch 100 hours of a TTRPG story to get to this kinda good stuff it would be less time than I’d spent just reading Animorphs to get to this fucking pinnacle, this hyper echelon of storytelling. FUCK. FUCK!!!! It’s just so damn good. Like I’m all for mental health-related crip stories but heroic badass stories about crips with physical health issues is something I don’t need one hand to count on. Because most of those stories I see are either 1) one eyed samurai type stories where you have no sense whatsoever that losing an eye even bogs the character down or 2) are stories where the health issue is magically resolved which I goddamn HATE. This book manages so much and it is just so vital and beautiful. Fuck Cassie’s dad for his whole thing trying to interrupt this story and be like “mmmmmm but doesn’t empowering crip kids make you just as bad as the Yeerks????” sir I will fucking deck you for that any time any place, let us square tf up and I will whack u with my fucking cane SEE IF I DON’T. 😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤😤
FUCK! FUCK I LOVE THIS BOOK! It’s so good it seems like it woulda been hit with a book ban the moment it came out. Fuck!
FUCK! FUCK I LOVE THIS BOOK! It’s so good it seems like it woulda been hit with a book ban the moment it came out. Fuck!
August 10, 2018
One of the best Cassie books yet. That said, I hate you Cassie. Just ... go away would you.
This is such a twisted book.
SPOILERS
Hey, lets take physically handicapped kids, and talk them into risking their lives by becoming animorphs. WTF. I mean, sure, you probably had bad luck with David, and you can't really know who is or isn't a Yeerk host. But still... They have to know how fucked up this seems. I mean, it's ludicrous. I wanted to knock stars off for it, honestly. Really? Disabled kids? As if life isn't hard enough for them, you toss them into a war that seems unlikely they'll win. I know they aren't saying that disabled kids are cannon fodder, but by jeez, it sure looks that way.
THAT SAID, I liked this. James was cool. Collette and Marco seem to have a "thing" which is interesting. I was really saddened when she wasn't healed after morphing. So sad. So sad.
This book tugs the heart strings.
This book also annoys you with Cassie. Some days I think this series would be better without her, but then, here would they get their moral compass from?
This is such a twisted book.
SPOILERS
Hey, lets take physically handicapped kids, and talk them into risking their lives by becoming animorphs. WTF. I mean, sure, you probably had bad luck with David, and you can't really know who is or isn't a Yeerk host. But still... They have to know how fucked up this seems. I mean, it's ludicrous. I wanted to knock stars off for it, honestly. Really? Disabled kids? As if life isn't hard enough for them, you toss them into a war that seems unlikely they'll win. I know they aren't saying that disabled kids are cannon fodder, but by jeez, it sure looks that way.
THAT SAID, I liked this. James was cool. Collette and Marco seem to have a "thing" which is interesting. I was really saddened when she wasn't healed after morphing. So sad. So sad.
This book tugs the heart strings.
This book also annoys you with Cassie. Some days I think this series would be better without her, but then, here would they get their moral compass from?
July 29, 2020
We're so far from the team as they had been initially - Jake is no longer the same Jake he was at the beginning in this book, he's harsher, darker, depressed. Cassie's moral code is in tatters, that humanity which made her such a beautiful character. Rachel's fearsomeness has amped into something almost more animal than human..... and your heart breaks for these characters when they realise that they have to bring the same misery of guerilla warfare on other children.
They have a back-up team now, a team with more focus and perhaps cohesion. The original team are at breaking point and there's an air that perhaps they won't last or even be alive for much longer. There is so much sadness to these books, with moments of humour thrown in, the reader slowly witnesses war crush these children emotionally, hone their battle skills and makes them responsible for the safety of their families and the world but the team which has managed to strike the yeerks so well in the past months has almost certainly reached the end. I can't imagine it ends well for them.
They have a back-up team now, a team with more focus and perhaps cohesion. The original team are at breaking point and there's an air that perhaps they won't last or even be alive for much longer. There is so much sadness to these books, with moments of humour thrown in, the reader slowly witnesses war crush these children emotionally, hone their battle skills and makes them responsible for the safety of their families and the world but the team which has managed to strike the yeerks so well in the past months has almost certainly reached the end. I can't imagine it ends well for them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2023
I had a vague idea that this would happen eventually, as the series has been out for a couple decades, but no idea on which exact book it happens in.
We see things start to get tense, as the parents are in shell shock after the last book. We see Jake doubt his own leadership after everything that happened in the last book as well. We see Cassie, sort of manipulate those around her. How she puts the stress on herself to always be the ear and the heart, but how someone like that could manipulate those around her.
The Animorphs recruit a bunch of disabled kids from a hospital, as the aliens are space-ableists, as we have seen before with Ax. The kids take to their new morphs, but aren't necessarily battle ready just yet.
We also see that Cassie lets Tom get away with the morphing cube, and how her and Jake's relationship start to fray from that.
I'm excited and terrified to see the fall-out, even if I have approximate knowledge of what happens.
We see things start to get tense, as the parents are in shell shock after the last book. We see Jake doubt his own leadership after everything that happened in the last book as well. We see Cassie, sort of manipulate those around her. How she puts the stress on herself to always be the ear and the heart, but how someone like that could manipulate those around her.
The Animorphs recruit a bunch of disabled kids from a hospital, as the aliens are space-ableists, as we have seen before with Ax. The kids take to their new morphs, but aren't necessarily battle ready just yet.
We also see that Cassie lets Tom get away with the morphing cube, and how her and Jake's relationship start to fray from that.
I'm excited and terrified to see the fall-out, even if I have approximate knowledge of what happens.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 28, 2023
the second i finished this book i had to rush to take a walkthrough because i was so worried i’d burst into tears throughout the whole story. god i don’t even know what to say. it’s hard. it’s sad. it’s terrible. something that i love that is simultaneously frustrating about animorphs books is the dilemmas they face are written so well that i quite literally can’t figure out what is the right decision and what is the wrong one. creating more animorphs feels like the wrong choice, but also they’re losing a fight and have very few capable soldiers and they can’t do it alone. choosing more children to be animorphs feels like the wrong choice, but they’re correct in their thinking that adults cannot grasp the reality of the situation quite like a kid can. it feels crazy, but in their situation, it’s just true and adults just can’t understand. choosing disabled kids IS THE WRONG CHOICE. but..? but then you read this book, you see how these children have been robbed of anatomy and choices their entire lives, that they’re treated as less than and inhuman. you see that morphing and unmorphing has the ability to change some kids’ dna, effectively curing them and turning them into able bodied children. and you see that the kids who dna isn’t changed are still filled with a brand new sense of life when they have the ability to be an animal and do incredible things, even if it’s a short amount of time and they will inevitably morph back to their disabled bodies when their time is up. seeing how the ability to morph gives all of those children life again, is it fair to say that giving them that ability was the wrong choice, especially when you know that in the event of complete yeerk invasion, these kids would undoubtedly be killed? is it fair to say that it was the wrong choice to forever change their lives in what they see as a positive way? but then again, it’s not right to ignore the fact that the reason these kids were chosen is because at the end of the day, they aren’t able to say no. there’s no way that the animorphs didn’t know that it’s inherently manipulative to show these disabled kids what their life could be and expect their decision to be completely unbiased. and in choosing to become an animorph and potentially cure themselves of their disability/illness, they have become soldiers in war they didn’t even know about and can’t back out of. these kids were targeted because the animorphs knew they couldn’t refuse this offer and they hid these intentions under the guise of giving these children a choice when they had been mistreated and ignored for potentially their entire lives, when in reality they’re treating them with that same unfairness by giving them a choice that’s not really a choice after all. i feel like i have so many thoughts about what is covered in this book and none of them are complete. my conclusion is i don’t know if this was the right choice or not, and i think that’s exactly how the animorphs feel as well. it’s a situation that’s so nuanced and specific and it’s not black and white, there is no concrete right or wrong. i can’t even give a witty one liner to end the review. back with another review in a couple hours Byeee
May 11, 2023
The writing in this volume is impeccable! It's heartbreaking to think that the kids we met in book 1 would never have done the things they do in this book. Corruption happens slowly over time, but the fact that most of these kids have lost their sense of morality while still remaining children is devastating.
And all of this framed by a poignant discussion of how society disregards the disabled community? Incredible.
And all of this framed by a poignant discussion of how society disregards the disabled community? Incredible.
June 30, 2023
Loving how hardcore these are getting. The Cassie-Jake relationship is fraying! Very 90s analysis of ableism as usual, maybe better than some things, pretty embarrassing to read today. Also highlights how nonsensical the “rules” of morphing and DNA are. I can’t wait to find out how this story ends!!!
May 13, 2025
Damn.
Skulle litt ønske denne kom litt tidligere i serien fordi på grunn av eskaleringen og det den eskalerer. De fire siste bøkene i serien kommer til å være helt ville og forferdelige vil jeg tro så jeg finner vel ut om jeg er klar for det når jeg hører dem…
Skulle litt ønske denne kom litt tidligere i serien fordi på grunn av eskaleringen og det den eskalerer. De fire siste bøkene i serien kommer til å være helt ville og forferdelige vil jeg tro så jeg finner vel ut om jeg er klar for det når jeg hører dem…
March 2, 2024
Ok I hated the Helmacrons but I could really use some of their light-hearted hijinks right now.
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