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The Solution (Animorphs #22) by K.A. Applegate
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Loved (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)



This is the first Animorphs book I've looked forward to reading in a while. All during the day yesterday, many times last night, I thought about it. The last two books were build-up to this one, and I really wanted to see how it would come out.

And I was not let down at all.

In the last two books, a new Animorph was created. David. The previous six kids did it without any research into him, without knowing him at all, which of course was a bad bad idea.

And things went even worse than anyone could have expected.

Right from the get-go, there were signs that something was wrong with him. David killed animals without remorse or any thought at all. He was willing to rob and hurt people. Give him the power to morph into a lion, and things only got much worse much fast.

In the last book, he betrayed the group, completely willing to go over to the bad guys' side. In this book, it was even worse than that. He was trying to kill off all the other Animorphs.

How do you fight against someone who has all of your powers, and none of the morals that hold you back? David could become a flea and ride on any of the other six, listen to their plans, find out where their family lives, threaten them. David was willing to, and succeeded at, killing them*. Repeatedly.

[* I'm getting very, very, VERY tired at the fake character death in this series. Five or six times now, a major character has "died", only to turn out not to be dead. It's getting old, and it has made character death lose all effectiveness, since now I figure that somehow the character will end up alive in the end.]

I enjoyed the book's (and the arc's) conclusion. It's not the solution I would have picked, but it fit the group's moral-bound decisions.

Small issues with the book:
- David was too over the top evil for me. Alas, in general, this is not a subtle series, rarely are there shades of grey here.
- I wish the arc hadn't ended, I'd like to have the rest of the series been battling him instead of the brain slug aliens.

Last book I meant to start including a "worst sound effect of the book" section, but forgot. So here it is now.

Last book's worst sound effect. Can you guess what this sound is supposed to be? Deedly-deeedly-deedly. (Answer: A phone ringing...)

This book's worst sound effect. "Hhhrrrreeeyyaaahhhh!" "Hhhrrrreeee-uh!" (Angry elephants.)

Date: 2019-01-26 12:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jeane nevarez (from livejournal.com)
Ahh! I had to stop reading your review two sentences in. I'm gearing to catch up to you soon!!

Date: 2019-01-26 12:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thistle-chaser.livejournal.com
Yeah, sorry! Consider my reviews spoilery until you catch up.

One day work will get busy, then I'll slow way down on reading them.

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