Reviews with content warning for Body horror - The Andalite's Gift

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Andalite's Gift by K.A. Applegate

7 reviews

epsilina's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

I was excited to read a book from multiple perspectives in a single volume, but I was a little disappointed in how it was executed. I felt like they flit too quickly between viewpoints and had too much repetition, so it made it hard to really connect emotionally with what was going on. I think it makes sense to use multiple perspectives when the party is really split up like this, but I think it could have been executed better.

I am in the vast minority, but I didn't mind the amnesia storyline so much. I liked getting to see how much of that character is just innate to who they are.

In particular, I thought it was really interesting to see Rachel, confused and scared when the police are at the house, react not by trying to run away, but her instincts making her big and large and ready to confront. Same with when she is a bear. She doesn't know who she is, she doesn't know what's going on or what she's fighting for, but she won't go down without losing a few limbs first, and she won't simply run away. I also thought it was so interesting to get this weird glimpse into the former controller from the perspective of someone who had no context. Whoever this woman may be, Rachel in this book isn't able to connect any dots or find out anymore real information, and I don't think she'll really end up synthesizing that information in her head later on. But now we the readers have the stakes raised a little more, because we can see the effects having a yeerk in your head too long can have on you. Eventually, it may he too late even if the yeerk could be removed.

I loved the plan at the end, I thought it was really clever. This was more plot driven than character and I didn't totally mind that, but I do think the flow was weak. I also felt some character moments were overshadowed by the pacing and switching narratives.

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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tense

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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lynxpardinus's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense

4.25

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kaaaaaaaa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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dosxhime's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

4.0

They really did Rachel dirty in this book, dude.

I had to say that Megamorphs 1 wasn't quite what I was expecting. The total shift from child-soldiers fighting a hidden war to taking a chill day--when BAM. New weapon and its time to fight. It was silly and there wasn't any moral-questioning and merciless decision-making. It was fun, ig? Would love to see my babies in battle-morph, but we can't have everything.

3.8/5 C

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nick13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

AHHHH!!!! I started reading Megamorphs thinking it was gonna be some big side thing but omg this is a main thing! This book is just full of plot and characters! I know you are like, duh, but I thought this was side content ok! Okokok, calm down, so honestly I've never been the biggest fan of amnesia in stories, that's why I gave it 4.75 stars instead of 5, but even with that I think the characters and plot were built well enough to not really affect it so much.
The Veleek was so cool and interesting and the way they took it down was so cool and was some movie level shitata! I'm ranting about megamorphs, I know this, but I don't think anyone understands how much I loved this book! I couldn't out it down!!! I love these characters!!!! I LOVE ANIMORPHS!!!!!!! Ok, calm down again, so anyways

I think this book is one of the best in the series even with it being technically classified as side even though it isn't at all.
Overall, 4.75 stars.

And if you haven't read this book yet, what are you doing!? Read all of animorphs!!

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ramiel's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

"<What are you singing?> Jake asked her. <What are the words?>
<It isn't words, exactly,> Cassie said. <But if it were, it would be just one word: hope.>"

This Megamorphs book is Not one of my favorites in the series. Compared to everything that's come before it, it reads very clunky, especially at first. It also includes a very weird amnesia subplot for ??? some reason? which, despite centering around my favorite character (Rachel), I would say was the worst chapters to follow up until the end. I can't say anything about that, but the clunkiness can probably be attributed to the fact that this is the first time all character POVs are being used in the same book, which I'm sure it took some getting used to to write.

A short description of it would be: the kids have to deal with a strange monster chasing them and also Rachel is missing (her chapters also including some ableism with a strange woman who's yeerk had been starved out of her head who appears, burns down a house, and then... never shows up again). The first 20 chapters or so are the kids switching POV chapters where... not a lot happens, everyone is confused and things don't move much. However, despite not loving it, I can pinpoint things I enjoyed very much. The dialogue between Marco and Ax is always appreciated, the "Marco can't drive" gag is always good, and the closer we got to the end of the story - the more the kids started to understand what was going on with the creature chasing them, the more invested I felt to the story itself.

I also liked the creature itself, the Veleek - Animorphs has some fascinating and creative aliens and the Veleek is no different.

It held within it what I called "a rare gem", as one of the last chapters had a very good moment between Cassie and Tobias where they talk about fear and bravery. Cassie feels like a coward for allowing the monster to take Marco because she was too scared to morph in some earlier chapters, and it dwells in her up until the end, where she makes a plan and requests to be the one who carries it out. It's especially poignant as the last book was Rachel's, where she also struggles with feeling "weak" for being afraid and wanting to leave the war altogether. This, I would say, is the best side plot or storyline in the book, though it only takes up the last few chapters.

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