Retro Book Review

In this Retro Review I will going over the second book in the Animorphs series: The Visitor.

After the battle at the Yeerk pool located under the school/town, the Animorphs regroup for their next encounter with the Yeerks. This book is in Rachel’s point of view and we get invited to some non-Animorphs activities to get more familiar with Rachel’s character. We learn that Rachel is a gymnast and participates in her local gym’s gymnastics club. This is where we also learn that Rachel used to hang out with her fellow gymnast/classmate Melissa Chapman. Rachel explains that not too long ago Melissa became withdrawn and stopped talking and hanging out with her. We also see this when Rachel attempts to become close with her again at the behest of Jake (more on that later.) We also learn a little bit about Rachel’s family. Her parents are divorced and she is being raised by her mom who is a lawyer. She also has 2 younger sisters. Her dad isn’t in the picture, but it’s implied that he still contact’s Rachel and her sisters.

Since finding out that the assistant principal of their school is a human-controller (human host of the Yeerk slug) the Animorphs decide that they need to find a way to get close to Chapman and find out a new way to enter the Yeerk pool (the entrance they previously used has now been closed.) When the group finds out that Rachel has close ties with Chapman through his daughter Melissa, they instruct Rachel to get close with her once more. Even though part of this plan to get close with Melissa was Rachel’s idea, she still feels bad about it. She worries that either she will put Melissa in danger or that Rachel will make it easier for the Yeerks to capture the Animorphs if Melissa is a human-controller herself. Rachel tells the group that she knows a way into the Chapman residence and that way is by acquiring the DNA of Melissa’s cat Fluffer McKitty (haha!) and morphing into Fluffer and entering the house.

The execution of the plan turns a bit wonky when the group have difficulty catching Fluffer in order to get his DNA. Once acquired, Rachel morphs and enters the residence via the kitty door and then discovers that Chapman and his wife (who we learn is also a human-controller) have a secret room in the basement where they can communicate with Visser Three via a holographic image. Tensions rise as Visser Three notices Rachel’s cat morph, but Chapman assures the Yeerk that the cat is harmless and is a pet of his host’s daughter. The best moment from this section in the story is when Rachel (in cat morph) comforts a depressed Melissa. This is when Rachel decides that she must fight for Melissa and all who have lost someone due to the Yeerks.

After regrouping with the rest of her team, Rachel decides that she must once again infiltrate the Chapman house to attempt to get more Intel. Before Rachel enters the house, Cassie pets her back for a long moment and we learn in the next chapter that she was depositing Jake (in flea morph) on Rachel’s back. This go-round in the Chapman house goes awry and Visser Three demands Chapman seize Fluffer (Rachel) and bring it to him. Visser Three is sure that she is one of the “Andalite” bandits that attacked the Yerrk pool before. Rachel and Jake are then captured and are taken to the construction site and handed over to the Visser. Before anything can be done to them, the rest of the Animorphs arrive and attack the Visser’s ships.

This installment of the Animorphs saga was pretty fun. The main issue I have with this book and will probably have for the rest are the countless times events of the previous book are retold again and again. Understandably, when these books were being published months apart in their first run, there needed to be a small recap of the events prior. However, because these books are 150-175 pages in length, I feel that the recap in the story itself is unnecessary. The recap from the previous book should be 1-2 pages before the main story starts. Something similar to how comic books have a paragraph synopsis of the previous issue in the beginning of the new one.

This book wasted no time showing us the negative effects that the Yeerks are having on the family unit. From the previous book we learn that Jake’s brother Tom is a human-controller and of course this troubles Jake. However, to see the mental anguish Melissa Chapman is going through because her once loving parents are now essentially callous strangers to her is heartbreaking. We also see that some of the Yeerks have trouble keeping their hosts under control, especially when their hosts are experiencing high emotional responses.

The ending “battle” or rather the big escape really was unnecessary. Of course Rachel and Jake needed to find a way to escape from harm’s way, but the small battle/fight that ensues to help them escape takes away from the tension and emotional response that the story was building earlier. I wonder if the author(s) didn’t think that children could handle heavy subjects without a big crazy ending fight that takes some of the edge off?

All in all, I really enjoyed The Visitor and I would give it 4 out of 5 Fluffer McKitty’s.

The next book for my Animorphs Retro Review, is book #3 The Encounter.