Scan barcode
A review by lesserjoke
The Secret by K.A. Applegate
3.0
This is perhaps the classic example of a disposable Animorphs volume, one which doesn't really move the plot forward or tell us anything new about the characters or their universe. The crisis du jour is so quintessentially 90s too: the Yeerks are illegally logging in the nearby forest! This FernGully situation is a problem since that's where Ax grazes, and the evil slugs are trying to flush him and the rest of the 'Andalite bandits' out of hiding. Only for Cassie, the unintended consequence that innocent animals are being displaced and slaughtered is enough justification to fight back. This leads to one of the strangest arguments ever held amongst the team, wherein our protagonist insists that they take a stand to protect the natural world and the others repeat that they have to do so in order to save their ally. There's no actual disagreement on what needs to be done! I don't know why they're fighting!
Even the detail that it's the established bad guys creating an ecological disaster is a bit of a boring writing choice. If it were Aximili's people tearing up the woods, or the Yeerks doing something nature-friendly but with deadly consequences for the group, there could be legitimate conflict and difficult decisions to weigh respective priorities. Elsewhere in the series, we get that exact sort of murky moral conundrum. But here everything is simplistic as a Saturday morning cartoon, with no need whatsoever to agonize over the right course of action.
The enemies' whole plan is so bizarre, too. Spoiler alert, but their big aim is to get the proper permit for their lumber business -- because body-snatching aliens for some reason care about honoring local zoning regulations now -- and the best way to do that is apparently to capture and control the member of the forestry board who would cast the swing vote on the application. And instead of just taking him as a host like usual, they decide to bring him out to the job site first, where our heroes are able to stage a rescue. At which point the dastardly villains simply accept defeat and make no further efforts to either turn him or resume the operation regardless.
It's all very cartoonish, but luckily, there are a few bright spots that keep this from being a complete farce. The blind hivemind of the termite morph is another terrifying ordeal, evocative yet distinctive of a similar experience with ants a few books ago. It's vividly traumatizing for Cassie, who has to be physically restrained upon becoming human again. And she does struggle with her pacifism, both in the face of the bloody resistance war she's helping to wage against earth's invaders and in the fact that so many species must kill to survive. Can she judge Tobias for eating a baby skunk in his hawk form? Is it appropriate for her to potentially starve such predators by guarding the remaining littermates until their mother can return? She's the sole Animorph who seems to worry about these issues, and those moments help rehabilitate the novel to a certain extent. But it's still a weaker effort overall.
[Content warning for gore, body horror, and claustrophobia.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
Even the detail that it's the established bad guys creating an ecological disaster is a bit of a boring writing choice. If it were Aximili's people tearing up the woods, or the Yeerks doing something nature-friendly but with deadly consequences for the group, there could be legitimate conflict and difficult decisions to weigh respective priorities. Elsewhere in the series, we get that exact sort of murky moral conundrum. But here everything is simplistic as a Saturday morning cartoon, with no need whatsoever to agonize over the right course of action.
The enemies' whole plan is so bizarre, too. Spoiler alert, but their big aim is to get the proper permit for their lumber business -- because body-snatching aliens for some reason care about honoring local zoning regulations now -- and the best way to do that is apparently to capture and control the member of the forestry board who would cast the swing vote on the application. And instead of just taking him as a host like usual, they decide to bring him out to the job site first, where our heroes are able to stage a rescue. At which point the dastardly villains simply accept defeat and make no further efforts to either turn him or resume the operation regardless.
It's all very cartoonish, but luckily, there are a few bright spots that keep this from being a complete farce. The blind hivemind of the termite morph is another terrifying ordeal, evocative yet distinctive of a similar experience with ants a few books ago. It's vividly traumatizing for Cassie, who has to be physically restrained upon becoming human again. And she does struggle with her pacifism, both in the face of the bloody resistance war she's helping to wage against earth's invaders and in the fact that so many species must kill to survive. Can she judge Tobias for eating a baby skunk in his hawk form? Is it appropriate for her to potentially starve such predators by guarding the remaining littermates until their mother can return? She's the sole Animorph who seems to worry about these issues, and those moments help rehabilitate the novel to a certain extent. But it's still a weaker effort overall.
[Content warning for gore, body horror, and claustrophobia.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter