Book Reviews: Animorphs by K.A. Applegate, books 1-5

[juushika]

Title: The Invasion (Animorphs Book 1)
Author: K.A. Applegate
Published: Scholastic, 1996
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 185
Total Page Count: 284,975
Text Number: 923
Read Because: reading the series
Review: This is a more robust beginning than I expected, establishing the series's premise and major worldbuilding, also the character dynamics, and it has a mini-conflict and climactic action scene. The writing is workman-like and telepathy makes for convenient infodumping, but these aren't bad things: they make it possible to cram a lot into a short book. And I'm surprised by how well I remembered it, given that I haven't touched this series in 20 years. It's a phenomenal combination of elements—the tension between body horror and wish-fulfillment; the distinct characters made emotionally accessible by morphing into animals (the seductiveness of an animal's mind is great; the scenes where characters pet other-characters-as-animals is even better).

I imagine my response to the sequels will frequently be "same! but with various additions/exceptions" and so I won't review them in this much detail. But this was a great start. I can see why I loved it as a kid, and I'm excited to read more now.


Title: The Visitor (Animorphs Book 2)
Author: K.A. Applegate
Published: Scholastic, 1996
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 175
Total Page Count: 285,150
Text Number: 924
Read Because: reading the series
Review: Less happens here, and what does happen is rather more tedious: Rachel makes well-intended mistakes (and the rest of the group compensates for them). The saving grace is the way that these kids interact with the minds of their morphs, being overwhelmed by them, taking solace in them; I suppose that in the long run it could grow repetitive, but so far it serves to illustrate the intense emotional strain they're experiencing. The emotional element here, each character's internal conflicts and the way the group looks out for its members, is unexpectedly strong.


Title: The Encounter (Animorphs Book 3)
Author: K.A. Applegate
Published: Scholastic, 1996
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 155
Total Page Count: 285,305
Text Number: 925
Read Because: reading the series
Review:

I flew out through her window into the night. Rachel's sad eyes seemed to follow me. I hated the way they all felt sorry for me. All they could see was that I was not what I used to be. All they saw was that I had no home.

But they didn't really understand. I hadn't had a real home since my parents died. I was used to being alone.

And I had the sky.

If it were a competition, Cassie would obviously be the best Animorph—but since it's not, I can understand why we love(d) Tobias. What a classic woobie! A book from his PoV is a delight. While these kids persist in doing dumb things (granted, they are kids), in Tobias it's evidence of his displacement and turmoil. I only wish we saw more into his connection with the Andalite prince, which gets pulled out for convenient infodumping, but would be interesting to examine.


Title: The Message (Animorphs Book 4)
Author: K.A. Applegate
Published: Scholastic, 1996
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 150
Total Page Count: 285,455
Text Number: 926
Read Because: reading the series
Review: Cassie is great, and so are whales. This is one of the more philosophical installments, and while Cassie's issues of ethics and motives feels a little redundant given the emotional core of books 2 and 3, it ties nicely to her character and I love what she brings to the series. This book also has the first major plot progression as well as the requisite action sequence—a lot of few pages.


Title: The Predator (Animorphs Book 5)
Author: K.A. Applegate
Published: Scholastic, 1996
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 150
Total Page Count: 288,010
Text Number: 940
Read Because: reading the series
Review: I came into the first Marco book fully prepared to find his PoV annoying, and he's still my least favorite character, but: 1) The plot progression is broadcasted and exceptionally angsty, but also a strong emotional counterpoint to Marco's sarcastic personality. 2) This is top-tier body horror. I'm finding that I remember these books surprisingly well, and when ants came up I legitimately closed the book for the evening; and I was right, it's nightmarish as I remember. It's that balance of elements, normal kids with angsty arcs exploring the wondrous and awful world of existential/body horror, which is making the series successful—so this turns out to be a solid installment.


On account of how there are 54 main + 10 side books in this series, and because they're short and I'm reading them in bursts, I'll post these reviews in groups of ~5 at a time. Some overarching thoughts on reading the series so far:

• I normally alternate books in series with books not in series; because of the number/length of the Animorph books, that would stretch this project unreasonably long. Instead, I've been alternating with parts of other books and/or, and this has worked really well, short stories. I'll probably take a book-long break every ~5 books or so, to prevent burnout.
  
  
• This is wildly inflating my books-read-2019 count & I embrace it. Reading statistics absolutely affect the quality and length of what I read, often in negative ways; it's hard to turn off the bit of my brain which thinks that more, bigger numbers = good. Inflating the count proves the point that numbers are ridiculous while also fulfilling that sense of obligation; when my reading slows after I finish the series, I will have already appeased the "but, numbers!" part of me and perhaps can move on to slower, denser books.
  
  
• I remember these books unexpectedly well given that I haven't read them in 20 years! The association between cover image and morphs used within each book is strong, even when cover image morphs are deceptive (like the 5th Marco -> gorilla cover, which is not the least indicative of the content). I wonder if I read them more than once as a kid?
  
  
• If I were an Animorph, I'd spend the first week acquiring and practicing a diverse selection of morphs. There are various reasons the cast doesn't do this, but the underlying reason is that user error, time limits, limited resources, &c. create narrative tension. I struggle with this in books about and for this age group—when must I suspend disbelief for the sake of action? how frustrated can I reasonably be with the characters? I wish I could better remember how I felt about these books when I first read them, to know if these things bother younger readers.
  
  
• There is exactly 0 correlation between titles and contents. "Encounter" isn't the one where they encounter aliens. "Invasion" isn't the one where they learn about the extent, and personal effect, of the invasion. If you told me that Applegate had no influence on the titles and that they were instead pulled from a randomly generated list of Exciting Sci-Fi/Action Words, I'd believe you.
  
  
• I have the reoccurring petty instinct to catch Applegate out on inaccurate/anthropomorphized/idealized depictions of animals or animals's cognitive processes, and there is absolutely elements of that (dolphins and whales) and I'm sure some of it has aged poorly, but approximately every time I do a quick Google I find that Applegate did her research too. Reading is learning! I should just unwind and enjoy the thing!
  
  
• Those early scenes where characters pet or pat each other when morphed into household pets 1) helps quickly bond an initially disparate cast, 2) is cute AF, 3) absolutely imprinted on me when I read these as a kid. It's the interpersonal dynamic I've been looking for my entire life. It makes me jealous.

Comments

[starshipfox]

Clearly they had a strong impact on a lot of us. I think the other titles were much more episodic and much more forgettable -- the Animorphs had an intensity because they had much higher stakes as well, which I know had a hold on my imagination.