Beyond the introduction of the auxiliaries, we see the emotional fallout of everyone’s secret identities being blown in the previous novel, which is hitting Jake particularly hard. On a plot level, this is a pretty propulsive installment. It’s neat that they seem to have an easier time resisting the instinctual animal minds too, which is explained by their greater experience with managing bodily frustrations. But the representation is still commendable in my opinion, and I appreciate that we’re explicitly told only three of them are made able-bodied by the process, a trope that could be problematic otherwise. ![]() Not all of them get much characterization, and none of them ever gets to narrate the action, which again is arguably a bit ableist on the part of Applegate and returning ghostwriter Kimberly Morris, confining these newcomers to the second string. ![]() Before long, there are seventeen new additions: a nearly threefold expansion of the Animorphs we’ve followed up until this point, and the first since the ill-fated David back in #20 The Discovery. ![]() Sure enough, the patients they talk to quickly overcome their initial skepticism and accept the mission to defend the earth, even though they don’t know whether they’ll be healed or not and might be exceedingly vulnerable anytime they’re between morphs. It’s a fraught debate, especially after Cassie’s dad overhears and makes his disapproval known, but the group (and the narrative at large) eventually comes down on the side of trusting disabled people with the choice of self-agency.
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