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magpiewithpebbles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jackbylund's review against another edition
Three down. Fifty-one or something to go.
This third volume should have our most interesting narrative voice, but the confines of the story actually make him the dullest. Tobias became permanently trapped as a red-tailed hawk—the dangerous bioproduct of staying animorphed in one form for over two hours. He grapples with his human identity (and soul?) as well as the animal instincts now living in his brain that drive him to kill and eat…as well as to run off with a girl hawk? Yes, middle school-age Tobias very nearly forsakes his humanity to have a bird wife.
Now, what’s notable about that is that the Animorphs series does not romanticize animals; it emphasizes again and again that animals think differently from us, feel fewer emotions than us. It’s a franker and starker position than you’d expect from a series like this.
All this ends up making Tobias our least interesting narrator of the Animorph squad so far because he spends time away from the other characters. Almost all his drama is internal. It’s worth addressing, but interest in it pales compared to what his comrades get up to. Meanwhile, other previous and future narrators deal with the terror of their own family members being secret agents of the invading alien space slugs. Or turn into fish to get sucked into a giant water logistics invasion spaceship and explore it. While Tobias just kind of watches from outside.
Once again, the series surprises with how dark it can be proportionate to its audience. Our heroes try to do good things (like setting an imprisoned hawk free) only for those well-intended actions to lead to bad consequences (the villainous Yeerks mistake the freed hawk for Tobias and kill her).
Craziest thing: characters’ gender does not necessarily align with their animorph. If you commune with a male animal and are female, you will animorph into a male animal, and vice versa. A delightful little bit of gender exploration I hope gets developed further. There’s definitely enough pages going forward.
Also, turns out the majority of the Animorphs books have individual Wikipedia pages with plot summaries and extremely inconsistent subheadings covering anything from the morphs that happen in the book, the contribution to characters’ arcs, and (in this book’s case) inconsistencies and contradictions to the continuity of previous volumes. For instance, the article claims the characters take longer than would be realistic to fall 700 feet from the water ship. My guy, if you can’t suspend your disbelief over something that small in a story like *this*, go read The Martian again.
This third volume should have our most interesting narrative voice, but the confines of the story actually make him the dullest. Tobias became permanently trapped as a red-tailed hawk—the dangerous bioproduct of staying animorphed in one form for over two hours. He grapples with his human identity (and soul?) as well as the animal instincts now living in his brain that drive him to kill and eat…as well as to run off with a girl hawk? Yes, middle school-age Tobias very nearly forsakes his humanity to have a bird wife.
Now, what’s notable about that is that the Animorphs series does not romanticize animals; it emphasizes again and again that animals think differently from us, feel fewer emotions than us. It’s a franker and starker position than you’d expect from a series like this.
All this ends up making Tobias our least interesting narrator of the Animorph squad so far because he spends time away from the other characters. Almost all his drama is internal. It’s worth addressing, but interest in it pales compared to what his comrades get up to. Meanwhile, other previous and future narrators deal with the terror of their own family members being secret agents of the invading alien space slugs. Or turn into fish to get sucked into a giant water logistics invasion spaceship and explore it. While Tobias just kind of watches from outside.
Once again, the series surprises with how dark it can be proportionate to its audience. Our heroes try to do good things (like setting an imprisoned hawk free) only for those well-intended actions to lead to bad consequences (the villainous Yeerks mistake the freed hawk for Tobias and kill her).
Craziest thing: characters’ gender does not necessarily align with their animorph. If you commune with a male animal and are female, you will animorph into a male animal, and vice versa. A delightful little bit of gender exploration I hope gets developed further. There’s definitely enough pages going forward.
Also, turns out the majority of the Animorphs books have individual Wikipedia pages with plot summaries and extremely inconsistent subheadings covering anything from the morphs that happen in the book, the contribution to characters’ arcs, and (in this book’s case) inconsistencies and contradictions to the continuity of previous volumes. For instance, the article claims the characters take longer than would be realistic to fall 700 feet from the water ship. My guy, if you can’t suspend your disbelief over something that small in a story like *this*, go read The Martian again.
foxxie52's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I liked reading from Tobias' point of view while he struggles to come to grips with his new life. In the later books it is implied that he did it deliberately which is an interesting idea.
sleepysage_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
theproblemily's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
This was probably the best of the 3 I’ve read so far. Tobias is an interesting character to follow. I did see a handful of errors in the ebook, though, weird for a book that was published 20+ years ago. I didn’t find any typos in the previous 2 books.
gorgonine's review against another edition
4.0
1. Look, the hitting the glass scene was excellent and I love the many nods to the adrenaline cousins being adrenaline cousins. I even appreciate stupid plans, because it's not like their last couple of plans were not dumb (CHILDREN) but I draw the line at plot convenient suicide-missions for the sake of giving Tobias a chance to save the gang.
2. I mean, Tobias is pretty goddamned hardcore as it is. (the badass birb comments were only numerically second to the adrenaline cousins comments in my notes) I feel like maybe concentrating on that would have been better than giving him an action subplot he's maybe not all that suited for? Idk.
3. There is also WAY more Rachel/Tobias stuff in here than I expected.
4. I love Rachel because she is a badass but also because she knows how to be emotionally supportive WHILE giving space to people. You go girl. Also the idea of Rachel and Cassie desperately trying to figure out something to do to make Tobias feel a bit better about the whole Clusterfuck was sweet.
5. Hey Tobias look on the bright side! You may be a bird having to live off rats but at least you have people who genuinely give a fuck if you live or die now. Yay?
6. On a more serious note, there's a lot of stuff in this book indicating Tobias grappling with the depression of his transformation and latching on to saving the world as a coping mechanism. Which makes sense because Human!Tobias also latched on to saving the world as a coping mechanism. This kid is a depressed kid with no aim in life if I ever saw one. I feel you, dude.
2. I mean, Tobias is pretty goddamned hardcore as it is. (the badass birb comments were only numerically second to the adrenaline cousins comments in my notes) I feel like maybe concentrating on that would have been better than giving him an action subplot he's maybe not all that suited for? Idk.
3. There is also WAY more Rachel/Tobias stuff in here than I expected.
4. I love Rachel because she is a badass but also because she knows how to be emotionally supportive WHILE giving space to people. You go girl. Also the idea of Rachel and Cassie desperately trying to figure out something to do to make Tobias feel a bit better about the whole Clusterfuck was sweet.
5. Hey Tobias look on the bright side! You may be a bird having to live off rats but at least you have people who genuinely give a fuck if you live or die now. Yay?
6. On a more serious note, there's a lot of stuff in this book indicating Tobias grappling with the depression of his transformation and latching on to saving the world as a coping mechanism. Which makes sense because Human!Tobias also latched on to saving the world as a coping mechanism. This kid is a depressed kid with no aim in life if I ever saw one. I feel you, dude.
samanttha__'s review against another edition
5.0
Tobias, Tobias y Tobias cuando existe alguien más tierno que el me avisan.
Al quedar atrapado como un halcon para toda su vida Tobias tiene adaptarse a esa vida y comienza a tener problemas de identidad ya que no es ni completamente humano ni tampoco halcon, y a la vez los Animorphs descubren que los Yeerks necesitan agua para sus caza-insectos y que hacen viajes a un lago cerca de la montaña usando un tipo de naves tanques de agua que son invisibles y planean entrar en uno de esos y desactivar el modo de invisibilidad pero algo sale mal..
Al quedar atrapado como un halcon para toda su vida Tobias tiene adaptarse a esa vida y comienza a tener problemas de identidad ya que no es ni completamente humano ni tampoco halcon, y a la vez los Animorphs descubren que los Yeerks necesitan agua para sus caza-insectos y que hacen viajes a un lago cerca de la montaña usando un tipo de naves tanques de agua que son invisibles y planean entrar en uno de esos y desactivar el modo de invisibilidad pero algo sale mal..
cosbrarian's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
TW: Attempted Suicide (briefly mentioned in this review, a fleshed out scene in the book)
Animorphs can collect the DNA of any animal they touch and bond with, filing it away for the perfect opportunity to transform into an elephant, a tiger, a flea. But you cannot stay in your animal form for over two hours, or you will be stuck in that form permanently. Tobias learned this the hard way. He used to be a middle schooler, a little nerdy, an outcast among his peers and even his family. Now he’s a red-tailed hawk, and the transition has had its ups and downs. Navigating his new body is an adventure in itself; but in addition, he and his friends are still struggling to hinder the Yeerts, an alien army of manipulative slug creatures who are trying to enslave humans (and any other species they can worm their way inside of – literally). The kids have found a hideout where the Yeerts store up on vital resources. If they can disrupt their spaceship, maybe the world will finally see the havoc the Yeerts have wrought on Earth and its people.
The Encounter, book three of The Animorphs series, is the most emotional so far. All three books take time to showcase its character’s feelings and reactions to the otherwordly events happening to their planet (and their bodies). But the first two books have been more plot-motivated, and this one, while still fast-paced, is very internal. Not only do we learn more about Tobias’s difficulties in adapting to his hawk persona, but we see his struggle between his two personalities – his hawk mind is as present as his human one is, and the more he is stuck in the hawk’s body, the more he forgets about being a boy. He is especially reluctant to give into hunting, afraid that the hawk’s fervor for a live dinner will isolate him further from his experience as a human. The isolation feels so severe that at one point he tries to brutally end his life. Luckily, his friends are there for him even if he eats the occasional cute and fluffy creature. I have learned that some consider Tobias a trans character, due to this internal conflict, and it’s a compelling head-canon! It also reminded me of The Sword in the Stone and The Dark is Rising, two books where boys turn into hawks.
I adore how much the series leans into the body horror of transformation. Bones crunching, eyes migrating to the sides of your head, and the struggle of controlling the animal’s mind is described vividly and sometimes grotesquely. If you hate that scene where Pinocchio and friends turn into donkeys, this is definitely not the series for you. I can’t wait to read the graphic novels and see how these moments are drawn. OH! A fun aspect of the original paperbacks, if you can get your hands on them, is that they have a little drawing in the bottom corner of the main character morphing into the animal as the book goes on, and it operates as a flip book! Very clever feature.
Animorphs can collect the DNA of any animal they touch and bond with, filing it away for the perfect opportunity to transform into an elephant, a tiger, a flea. But you cannot stay in your animal form for over two hours, or you will be stuck in that form permanently. Tobias learned this the hard way. He used to be a middle schooler, a little nerdy, an outcast among his peers and even his family. Now he’s a red-tailed hawk, and the transition has had its ups and downs. Navigating his new body is an adventure in itself; but in addition, he and his friends are still struggling to hinder the Yeerts, an alien army of manipulative slug creatures who are trying to enslave humans (and any other species they can worm their way inside of – literally). The kids have found a hideout where the Yeerts store up on vital resources. If they can disrupt their spaceship, maybe the world will finally see the havoc the Yeerts have wrought on Earth and its people.
The Encounter, book three of The Animorphs series, is the most emotional so far. All three books take time to showcase its character’s feelings and reactions to the otherwordly events happening to their planet (and their bodies). But the first two books have been more plot-motivated, and this one, while still fast-paced, is very internal. Not only do we learn more about Tobias’s difficulties in adapting to his hawk persona, but we see his struggle between his two personalities – his hawk mind is as present as his human one is, and the more he is stuck in the hawk’s body, the more he forgets about being a boy. He is especially reluctant to give into hunting, afraid that the hawk’s fervor for a live dinner will isolate him further from his experience as a human. The isolation feels so severe that at one point he tries to brutally end his life. Luckily, his friends are there for him even if he eats the occasional cute and fluffy creature. I have learned that some consider Tobias a trans character, due to this internal conflict, and it’s a compelling head-canon! It also reminded me of The Sword in the Stone and The Dark is Rising, two books where boys turn into hawks.
I adore how much the series leans into the body horror of transformation. Bones crunching, eyes migrating to the sides of your head, and the struggle of controlling the animal’s mind is described vividly and sometimes grotesquely. If you hate that scene where Pinocchio and friends turn into donkeys, this is definitely not the series for you. I can’t wait to read the graphic novels and see how these moments are drawn. OH! A fun aspect of the original paperbacks, if you can get your hands on them, is that they have a little drawing in the bottom corner of the main character morphing into the animal as the book goes on, and it operates as a flip book! Very clever feature.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
venneh's review against another edition
4.0
Have to admit, putting the character that's stuck as a falcon as your center character of the third book in your series is one of those bold moves. Even more bold to openly describe dysphoria/dissociation for the audience it's aimed at.
millieindeed's review against another edition
5.0
Still loving these books, the story of Tobias continues to be complex and fascinating.