Reviews

The Invasion by K.A. Applegate

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lostcadence's review against another edition

3.0

It Is Time - For an Inevitable Millennial Reread of that series I loved when I was 11.

I loooved Animorphs as a kid - I own every book - and have been enjoying the recent spate of articles by folks revisiting and enjoying the series as adults, especially for its mature content given the whole 'it's supposed to be for kids' thing.

Show up for cool animal transformations and stay for the body horror and war trauma.

In the end, The Invasion was just fine. Given how much exposition it had to get through, it started pretty clunkily. I was also surprised by how awful some of the teen dialogue was (even with 90s slang - it seems to me that an adult wrote what they thought kids sounded like; I hope this improves).

But the book really shines in the back third, when the action begins, the stakes become clear, and the characters interact in more meaningful ways. I expect the series to have some highs and lows, but the Invasion was a relatively okay start. Besides, Jake was never my favourite character.

I also found it interesting how (at least at this point in the series) violence is enacted or described. Horrible injuries delivered to aliens like Hork Baijr and Andalites? No problem, let's talk about death and dismemberment. But are some humans involved? Violence is implied, mitigated, or happens off camera. I'm curious to see how this component of the series evolves. On to Book 2!

empoi's review against another edition

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4.0

Nostalgia read for me and this book is definitely for a younger person than I am now.

Simple characters that talk their feelings and problems out loud. The plot is clear but definitely lacking in neuance.

simonlorden's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm like 20 years late to this series. Earth is being invaded by aliens, and the only ones who know about them and can fight against them are five kids. That nobody believes, obviously. Thankfully, they can turn into animals! But that comes with its own drawbacks, horror and complications. I liked that when morphing, they actually get the animal's mind so to speak, which leads to some struggle with their own bodies.

seadvst's review against another edition

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adventurous

5.0

As a kid, I didn't take much interest in the series cause the covers looked goofy to me 😂 But! I finally decided to give this series a chance, and boy did this first book not disappoint! From the get-go, the story drew me in with the various alien species that showed up. Also, the group of Animorphs was all pretty likable, and I like how each one is unique. The action at the end in the cavern really hooked me and had me stressed!

Also, the ending with Tom and Tobias really broke my heart though 😭

weedleeedle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

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

5.0

I never had the chance to read Animorphs as a kid. It's unfortunate because I feel like this series would've been foundational for me as a young age. But fortunately, I think that Animorphs is one of those series that ages surprisingly well and appeals to adults as well as kids. Animorphs doesn't talk down to its audience, or dismiss them for their age. Much has been said about Animorphs and its author's determination to represent things like war accurately and not make it easily digestible or palatable, which I think is awesome.

The prose is fairly pragmatic and straightforwards due to the young intended audience, but it's never dry or feels poorly written. The humorous parts are a dry humor that I actually love. Such as this line:

> My mom and dad have sworn to ground me until I’m twenty if they ever find out I’ve cut through the construction site. So anyway, we crossed the road and headed into the abandoned construction site.

The plot is fairly straightforwards but sensible.

You would think that a secret alien invasion using an actual cult to indoctrinate humans would be difficult to make work as a plot that feels plausible, but as much as possible this book pulls it off well.

All in all I think for other adults who never got to read Animorphs as a kid, I would highly recommend giving it a try. It's still a page turner even as an adult, and I think it's worth the read even today.

e_reading's review against another edition

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5.0

Okay so I read these books a looooong time ago and only remember bits and pieces of them. Some cool things about these books (and Applegate books in general):

The characters are all well-developed and have a lot of depth, but they are still at an appropriate level for younger kids to understand and enjoy.

The plot is bananas and doesn't apologize for it.

Literally this entire premise is like 3rd grade wish-fulfillment, so I love it.

Other people have said this better than me, but the story really tries to be realistic in all the important ways, like with the characters. The kids have real feelings and real reactions to events and it's a great counterpoint to the aliens and all that.

I'm so glad I decided to reread this series.