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Mindwarp #6
Alien Shock
On her 13th birthday Toni Douglas got the shock of her life. A group of people who were chasing her suddenly got struck by lightning. Maybe a birthday gift from above? But then she realizes that the bolt never came from above, but from herself.
128 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 7, 2024
Another excellent and propulsive installment of this 90s middle-grade alien conspiracy series. We've got time travel now! The latest protagonist to turn thirteen and unlock special powers from her extraterrestrial heritage is one of the popular kids in school -- not quite a mean girl, but someone of that social strata, which is different from the nerds and outcasts we've previously been following. (If you're looking for Animorphs parallels, this newcomer is very much the Rachel of the team.) She learns that she can absorb electricity from the machines around her and then discharge it back into the atmosphere, which she uses both as a weapon and to punch a hole in spacetime and temporarily visit the past.
That leads to some fun sequences of culture shock -- 80s fashions! -- and Back to the Future-esque moments of her dodging her earlier self, interacting with her now-dead mom, and the like. It all builds to a climactic showdown at the local mall, and an ending that rockets the storyline even further ahead. I don't remember much of what comes after this, but it feels like we're finally out of the episodic formula that's driven these books so far, which is pretty exciting. At this point, our teen heroes are all assembled and their enemies are intent on actually destroying them, rather than just sending one-off shapeshifter assassins on their birthdays with no particular follow-through. Let's see where the resistance effort goes from here.
[Content warning for racism and implied threat of sexual assault.]
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That leads to some fun sequences of culture shock -- 80s fashions! -- and Back to the Future-esque moments of her dodging her earlier self, interacting with her now-dead mom, and the like. It all builds to a climactic showdown at the local mall, and an ending that rockets the storyline even further ahead. I don't remember much of what comes after this, but it feels like we're finally out of the episodic formula that's driven these books so far, which is pretty exciting. At this point, our teen heroes are all assembled and their enemies are intent on actually destroying them, rather than just sending one-off shapeshifter assassins on their birthdays with no particular follow-through. Let's see where the resistance effort goes from here.
[Content warning for racism and implied threat of sexual assault.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
January 10, 2022
Toni’s the best narrator so far. I like her a lot.
August 31, 2019
Just finished the series after reading 1-9 as a kid! Toni is bomb. Would love to see a “adult” version of the series!!
December 19, 2014
Toni Douglas is having the worst thirteenth birthday ever. Her shopping trip has turned into an absolute disaster, and then to top it off a gang of boys decides to harass her. She can't believe she has power, but even more unbelievable is the alien assassins that come after her next.
Toni is nothing if not over the top. Her temper tantrums and spoiled attitude could easily ruin the book, but most of the time it comes off as amusing instead. Behind the shopping mania lies a girl who still misses her mom, won't back down from a fight, and finds creative ways to get even.
The bulk of the story is nothing new: with the thirteenth birthday, powers appear along with aliens, but the end of the story takes the series in a completely new direction. Again, the four who are left don't really get a lot of time to talk to each other, beyond the initial warning. Hopefully future books will develop each of them more.
Overall this keeps hitting hard and fast, and I love the twist at the end. It signals a definite change and it will be interesting to see how everyone keeps going from here. I rate this book Recommended.
Toni is nothing if not over the top. Her temper tantrums and spoiled attitude could easily ruin the book, but most of the time it comes off as amusing instead. Behind the shopping mania lies a girl who still misses her mom, won't back down from a fight, and finds creative ways to get even.
The bulk of the story is nothing new: with the thirteenth birthday, powers appear along with aliens, but the end of the story takes the series in a completely new direction. Again, the four who are left don't really get a lot of time to talk to each other, beyond the initial warning. Hopefully future books will develop each of them more.
Overall this keeps hitting hard and fast, and I love the twist at the end. It signals a definite change and it will be interesting to see how everyone keeps going from here. I rate this book Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews