The Capture (Animorphs #6)

Did I already say these were super dark? The team commits their first war crime by executing hundreds of the enemy in an unarmed and defenseless state. Furthermore, they feel little to no remorse afterward as team leader Jake has been captured and turned.

The last third of the book was very well done as the alien parasite slowly starves to death and Jake gains insight into the life of the creature that has taken over his body.

Spring 2020 (Feb);

Book 6 returns us to the beginning of our POV wheel, with Jake, leader of the Animorphs, keeper of Marco's Big Secret, and anything-but-secret-boyfriend of Cassie.

This book is early in the series but I felt out kid (like many kids do) copped out of making the hard choices the situations put in front of him needed him to make. As a reader this frustrates me, for wanting to see more realistic handling of what is in front of then, but at the same time I wouldn't expect a child to step up to that plate immediately.

I was really raptly interested in the chapters devoted to being in Jake's head, while he was trapped with the Yerk in his head, controlling his body, shuffling through his memories. It was a little too show more convenient for me to say the one Yerk of hundreds in the pool that managed to get in his head was the one from his brother (so Jake could be horrified about his brother's terror and horror and defeat). But aside from that I really liked it.

Finally getting a little more one or on with the bad guys aside from the mini-clashes, or chases, or two-seconds of grandstanding before the kids all managed to flee safely. That was exciting and chilling all at once, giving us the inside to how all the parents, siblings, friends, and etc dealing with controllers are inside their own heads. I was really pleased to see this happen so early and give more context.

I'm definitely keeping a list of the glimpses of things we're getting without explanations, too. Snide comments without explanation; dreams; appearances of things. (Yes, I totally reread that red-eye thing three times because it came out of nowhere suddenly and obviously is going to be important in the future.) show less

The inevitable has happened - one of the Animorphs is a controller. It was facsinating to see the process, what it's like having a Yeerk in the head, and how the Animorphs took care of the situation. It also gives some more character development to Tom - which was nice.

Jake's Review: This book is the most boring of the series so far, because there wasn't any exciting stuff in it. They did way to much talking and not enough fighting. I would have changed the story so when a Morph thought talked to a human the human could actually thought talk back to the morph. My favorite character is Ax because he is like the last living Andalite and that is pretty cool. I kinda feel sad for Marco because he doesn't have a Mom because she died (Mom's note: What is this a Disney movie where we have to kill off the mom). I don't like Jake's brother Tom because he threw food at Jake and generally he's being controlled by an alien slug in his brain which is sorta scary. Kids who like aliens and fighting will like this show more book, even though the other books are better because there is more fighting in them. I still want to read the rest of the series and hopefully the next one will have more butt kicking of the aliens and less talking.

Jake's Rating: 6/10

Mom's Review: Jake totally loves this series and I can definitely see the appeal in them. Honestly at my age I would have have adored these too. I won't lie it was a bit of a struggle to get through it as I am obviously way too old to be reading these. The series probably could have ended already as this installment really goes nowhere. It was interesting to see the thought process' of the Yerks, but other than that it really is the same old story, very formulaic . But enough about my thoughts, the kids will dig this as the kids are saving the day without the help of bumbling adults. Good message about working together and friendship also done in a non shmalzy way which kids will appreciate -- they hate it when you force feed them the moral crap. Also giggled when they used the phrase "resistance is futile" - yes I am that much of a nerd. Also for those who read these when they first came out, they have updated many of the pop culture and technology references to be a little more modern.

Mom's Rating: 6/10 show less

A short comment for every book of the series until I get a chance to re-read them. All three of my sons and I loved this series and read every single book - I even bought every single book (most, but not all, used; some through school book sales). I'm excited to re-read them to see how the five main characters develop and to watch all the different transformations again.

Fun fluff with moments of seriousness.

I have been searching for a series for my grandsons to read. While I found a number of things intriguing in this book, it would not be one I think he would enjoy.