The Separation (Animorphs #32)

i can't think of a single trope, children's media or otherwise, that i hate more than the 'whoops the protag has been split into primary facets of themselves' trope. literally there is no character development here that cant be done in other ways, and in this particular case, /this particular exploration has already happened./ I recognize that this is a large series of rapid-fire published children's books, but between this instalment and #30 both rehashing old ground with new tools, I'm beginning to think the writer is running out of ideas. At least #30 had good writing and none of this trope going on.

further, this just felt like a general shitting on Rachel as a character, to the point where I had to check the wiki to see if this was show more one of the ones that were ghostwritten. it isn't. horrifying. show less

Rachel's falling apart, seems to be experiencing some pretty bad PTSD. She's jumpy, easily angered, and does some stupid stuff, morphs a starfish on a field trip within view of other kids in order to retrieve her earring from a tide pool. Being a starfish didn't last long- a kid comes along with a shovel and chops starfish/Rachel in half. In a panic Rachel morphs back to human, avoiding death- but now there's two of her. With two different parts of her personality, and two different parts of her brain. She's impossible to work with- one side of her being indecisive and timid, the other incredibly volatile and violent. While trying to deal with the Rachel issue, the Animorphs also have to find out where the enemy is keeping a secret show more weapon that could defeat their morphing abilities. They don't want the two Rachels involved, but they need the Nice Rachel along to have enough numbers to cover all the bases and can't avoid the other as Mean Rachel is furious at being left behind. Luckily in the scramble to avoid disaster when (of course) they confront the enemy in the final scenes, the two Rachels realize they need each other to be whole and functional (Mean Rachel does so very grudgingly) and with some help from the Chee, the Animorphs are able to fuse the two halves of Rachel back into one. There were -as always- some completely ridiculous situations, but for the most part I found this one interesting. Seems like the Animorphs are using their abilities more cleverly, too- not always barging into the fray with large, dangerous morphs but using the small ones to be sneaky and pose a threat from the inside. I liked that.

from the Dogear Diary show less

Disturbing but a good look into Rachel's character. I had to read this on my phone because the library didn't have a kindle copy and honestly it added to the expirience because I felt weird and uncomfortable reading it that way which tied in well with what was happening in the story.

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.

The best books appeal to *readers* universally - not children versus adults. These may not be quite worthy of the adjective 'best' but they do have that crossover appeal.

This series is one that kept me reading through childhood.

00007069