Book 49: The Diversion
Publishing Date: January 2001
Narrator: Tobias
My rating:
The Yeerks are finally on to the possibility of the Animorphs being human, and have started collecting blood samples to track the animal DNA floating in blood collected from previous fights. This means the Animorphs need to pull their families out now and run for the hills. Even Tobias, who has finally been reunited with a mother that doesn’t even remember him…
So this is not so much a review but my brain barfing my feels.
This is the book where everything kicks back into gear and you need to read it because everything happens and it’s huge and just read it come on! Stuff happens. Awesome stuff. Cassie’s mother is awesome. Rachel’s mother is awesome. Tobias’ mother is awesome. Everyone is awesome!
Except Jake. He makes some terrible decisions in this novel, but because he’s Applegate’s favourite no harm can come to him.
You know, Applegate once said (and it’s impossible for me to find discussions held on deleted forums I read fifteen years ago, so you’ll just have to take my word for it) that Elfangor will never return. He won’t come back from the dead. We get the Andalite Chronicles and that’s it. You need a martry and he’s it. But seeing Loren again comes a pretty close second, especially when you realise she’s basically a heroic Good Samaritan, blind and brain damaged and still volunteering at a crisis centre at her local church. What a woman.
I just want to know what the catalyst for the Yeerks deciding the Andalite bandits might actually be humans is! This is three years’ worth of war. What was the turning point? Visser Three became Visser One and that made him softer and more likely to listen to an underling’s suggestion that the entire Yeerk army is being outwitted by a bunch of humans? I DON’T THINK SO.
Maybe Visser One finally realised he only ever sees one Andalite and the others refuse to de-morph.
Ax and Marco stalk Tobias as he stalks his mother and we see a return of the ‘homeless boys’ Dream Team I love so much (remember, we first saw them band together in #40, you know the ones with the gay Andalites, which seems like a lifetime ago idk maybe a year in book terms who knows).
ALSO REMEMBER IN THE BEAVER BOOK HOW THE ANIMORPHS JUST ‘HAPPENED’ TO HAVE LEARNED HOW TO MORPH PROPER CLOTHES BECAUSE IT FIT THE STORY? APPARENTLY THEY FORGOT AND ARE NOW BACK TO SKINTIGHT.
SURPRISE TANGENT: And besides, I always had a problem with the idea of ‘animal DNA floating around in our own human blood.’ DNA is an actual physical thing, not a concept. Wouldn’t the body fight it out?
Also, apparently Tobias’ uncle moved house. I imagine his thought process as such: ‘Oh good, now that brat’s run away or possibly dead in a ditch I’ll move house so he’ll have no chance of finding me when he finally returns to murder me in my sleep for being such a neglectful abusive drunk.’
This book is one of the most important ones in the series, and it’s beautifully written as well. You absolutely should not miss it, regardless of whether or not you’ve read the Andalite Chronicles or even like Tobias. But who doesn’t like Tobias? Come on!
Join me for a review of #50: The Ultimate next week!
Eve
This book…GOD IN HEAVEN, THIS BOOK.
I can’t even. Too many feels!! This book is awesome!
Nemo
YES, ALL THE FEELS.