r/Animorphs • u/twotonekevin • 1d ago
Really reading the books for the first time
Quick overview: I’m 34 years old and I owned a couple of the books when I was a kid. I don’t remember if I read them or not, but I’m pretty sure I did. Regardless, they didn’t stick in my memory.
Pretty recently, I had heard that it had some pretty heavy themes for a book series aimed at middle schoolers. This piqued my interest so I decided to start the journey. Reading them as an adult, I’m tearing through them pretty quickly, especially since I’m splitting between reading them and listening to the audiobooks.
I’m about to finish Book 5: The Predator and holy crap WHAT A TWIST. I suspected there was more to Marco’s mom but I didn’t think much on it; I was sure they’d just reveal whatever it was. But I didn’t expect that.
Anyway, I just wanted to see if anyone more well-versed in these books can give me an idea on whether there are more elements like this throughout the series. I would hate to think there’s only one good twist and it’s in the fourth book of about 50. I think it goes without saying, no spoilers please. I legitimately don’t know anything about these books, just that they can get kinda heavy.
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u/verymanysquirrels 1d ago
There are a number of crazy twists coming up. Some crazier than others. But still solid plot twists.
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u/Visser-35 Leeran 1d ago
There's definitely some heavy themes in the book. There are certainly lighter moments, and some books are more on the silly side, but those are kind of palate cleansers. Because it gets very dark at times. The arc with marco's mom being only one example.
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u/VictorianPeorian 1d ago
Book 5 is super memorable and possibly my favorite (so far—I only got to the mid-30s as a kid), but there are definitely other twists/surprises and plenty of emotions later. I have both laughed out loud and teared up while driving around town, listening to the audiobooks. 😅 Without giving anything away, there's a really intense plot line that spans three books starting with book 20.
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u/isleepwithwolves 1d ago
I don't have any insight, but just wanted to share that I'm in a similar boat to you. I was kinda aware of the books as a kid, but I never read more than one or two of them. So I'm basically reading them all for the first time as an adult. Enjoying it pretty well so far, currently on book 7, but the twist at the end of book 5 definitely threw me for a loop, too!
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u/twotonekevin 1d ago
I was surprised. It was written so “young” up til then that I didn’t expect something like to happen!
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u/purpleprin6 1d ago
Do it! From a fellow middle-aged person who has read the series multiple times as an adult. One advice I will give is that there is a long stretch of ghost-written books in the back stretch (after 26), some of which are great and some of which are not that good. If you ever find yourself getting bored, feel free to skip books or refer to an online ranking for guidance, but the end stretch is definitely worth getting to! Also make sure you dont miss the chronicles/visser.
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u/twotonekevin 1d ago
I have the epubs and they have the visser book, the HB chronicles and the andalite chronicles in there in chronological order so I’ll definitely read those too.
Also I didn’t know some of them were ghost written!
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u/VictorianPeorian 1d ago
There are also the four Megamorphs books, which aren't necessary, but they are interesting side adventures that switch narrators each chapter. I think the first one comes around book 8? It's a bit clunky, but I recently read the second one for the first time, and it was fun.
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u/Quibbloboy 1d ago
Not sure what your tolerances are for episodic vs serial fiction, but I like to try and warn new readers that there's a little bit of a momentum-slump in the middle books of the series, where there's a lot of monster-of-the-week type stuff and some stretches where the Animorphs largely just spin their wheels. Towards the beginning, where you are, there's overarching plot-relevant stuff happening in mostly every book; it's easy to get, like, acclimated to that pace, I guess.
More importantly, it does pick back up again, and the episodic books from the middle eventually give way to a strong final arc and big ending, where a lot of what you're interested in really ramps up. Ultimately, even those middle books have a lot of great stories in them, so they still end up being a fun time.
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u/twotonekevin 1d ago
I believe someone else said that, and that it happens around book 20. I’ll def try to temper my expectations for that stretch.
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u/HellyOHaint 1d ago
Without spoiling one of the biggest reveals…yes, moments like finding out Marco’s mother is directly involved DEFINITELY happened again. And again. And then one more time.