Customer Reviews

The Beginning (Animorphs, No 54)

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

I wanted to like this book. However, this was definately not a good ending for the series. It ended with everything haging, which was really NOT COOL. The same thing happened with Everworld, and I hope to God KA doesn't do this with Remnants. What would have made a much better ending in my opinion would be to have the entire book be the last battle, and then just little snippets of what happened afterward. WHERE ARE THE PARENTS? The Animorphs spent so much time saving them, and they just dissapear! Everyone was out of character. Marco was about as shallow as you can get,, Tobias left the woman he has been searching for since birth, and Cassie and Jake broke up so she could be with some guy named Ronnie! As bad as that last one would be, what makes it even worse is that in 53 Jake said he was thinking about marrying Cassie, and they suddenly break up. Sorry to rant like this; it just makes me mad that such a great series has such a mediocre and implausible ending

I have not been the most faithful animorphs reader- I stopped reading them about 2 years ago. I recently read #53 and was impressed by the pace of events, which was at something of a stand-still when I stopped reading. I looked to #54 with anticipation of an exciting read and- of course- a satisfying conclusion.I was sorely disappointed.

THe middle of the book was more like an ending. It explained the lives of all the animorphs after their wartime lives. Interesting for a while, but not in the least satisfying- what happened to the romances she was building up? What happened to the friendships that developed? The Animorphs series has never been too down to earth- but that's one of the reasons it is so popular!

And then the surprise ending- what a way to end a series to which many have dedicated 5 years of their lives to reading! It is perfectly understandable that this is a difficult kind of plot to bring to a close, but it could have been much more professionally done.

All in all, I hope that Ms. Applegate (like the famous Charels Dickens and his novel "Great Expectations") finds it in her heart to appease her shocked readers with an alternate ending that will be more gentle on both the characters in the story and the readers!

Recently, I just happened to stumble upon my old book collection and found "The Beginning", along with my other Animorphs books from long ago; a series that, despite the special place it held in my heart throughout childhood, I had begun to forget about.

For some reason I decided to re-read "The Beginning", and the familiar beloved memories of the series came rushing back to me after all those years. The themes of war and sacrifice, the emotional attachment, the standard characters and plot; things I had forgotten. I suddenly remembered how incredibley good Animorphs really was for a so-called "children's series".

This dramatic finale is not entirely flawless; there are ways it could have been richer in plot and character development. But the author is not trying to make this into another rockem-sockem franchise where the good guys kick some butt and then celebrate down at the pub. This book is about war. Plain and simple. The effects of war, sacrifices, and loss of innocence. Touchy themes for a young adult series, but perfectly done. The finale is depressing, and will stay with you long after you put the book down. In fact, it's the first book that's ever made me cry (the scene where Tobias arrives at Rachel's funeral in hawk form and carries her urn away still chokes me up thinking about it today). Even throughout these years that I moved on through my wretched adolescent life and forgot about the Animorphs series, it still subconciously remained with me- the effect it had on me as a person was undeniable.

It was a major influence of mine as far as my ongoing ambition to become a writer, and even at that youngish age it made me think of things such as innocence, brutality of war, sacrifices, and animal psychology. It was the best young adult series ever published, in my opinion. I can only hope that people of all ages (to call this a "children's series" is pure foolishness) will continue in the future to discover and read the extraordinary saga of the Animorphs. It is for all ages, anyone to enjoy. It will remain a fixture of my childhood life, and its creative influence on me is responsible for much of who I am today. It just took a chance encounter with the old book collection recently for me to remember this.

I thought this book was awful! It has no real ending. Instead, the story just stops. K.A. stops this book in the middle of a battle, and does not finish it! I have been a fan of Animorphs since the first book, The Invasion, came out many years ago. In all that time I have never found somthing I disaprove of as strongly as I do the ending to this series. I find it hard to beleive the K.A. would just leave of hanging, but she did. I don't see what is so hard about ending a series that she has worked so hard to conclude. I find it hard to beleive that I have read 54 regular books, 4 megamorphs, 2 alternitive animorphs, and many other books for it not to end. I don't see how anyone can justify the way she left us filled with questions that will never be answered. If anyone beleives they can justify her actions, please feel free to explain it to me. For anyone who agrees with me, there is a letter posted..., that was written by K.A. to her fans. I think anyone who disliked the last book might find it very interesting to read what she has to say about us not agreeing with the way she ended this series.

I wanted to like this book. However, It got constantly bogged down by some big problems. First of all, the cliffhanger ending. I could understand K.A. doing this with Everworld, because if sales pick up that series might come back. However, Animorphs is definitely never coming back. I hope to God she doesn't do this with Remnants. Everyone was out of character. Marco was as shallow as you can get. Tobias went into exile instead of staying with his mother, who he's been searching for since birth. Cassie and Jake broke up, and she hooked up with some guy we've never heard of before named Ronnie! This is made even worse by the fact that Jake was thinking of marrying her in 53, and now they're suddenly broken up. Speaking of Tobias' mother, none of the parents were anywhere to be found. The Animorphs spent so long saving them, and they just dissapear! I'm giving this one an extra star because it is an Animorphs book, but it's too bad that such a great series has such a mediocre and implausible ending.

This book is, without a doubt, a very bad installment in the animorphs series. K.A. admited that she had carried out the animorphs series for too long. It certainly is reflected in this book. Many events in the book seem rushed and simple and not very well thought out. One of my biggest gripes is that something big that happens in the book (Those who have read it know what I'm talking about) could have been easily prevented through simple planing. While reading the book at the end of the "big event" I thought to myself, why did that have to happen? And by the time I was done with the book I had thought of 3 ways it could have easily been prevented.

Despite this, it was clear to me K.A. just felt she needed one of these "big events" in the book to end the series. Overall I was very dissapointed with the way this developed and the way it turned out.

Another problem in the book involves characters acting severly out of their usual personalities. The simple fact is that the choices made by the main characters were astounding and very unlike what you would expect.

And one more word of warning, the book overall is not happy and will not leave you in a good mood. It doesn't even try to. In fact, the author has decided to make this book a demonstration of the after effects of war, instead of a clearly insightful or happy ending like it should have.

I'm not saying a book has to have a clear and resounding or even a happy ending, but cliff hangers (Yes the series ends in a cliff hanger.) are not a good way to end series. There were two much more appealing options. A. Would have been to end it with a negative "unhappy" note but with some actual character development in the animorphs. Like have the characters actually grow up but still be scarred from the past. (Those who have read the book KNOW who i'm talking about.) Option B. Would have a happy ending. While I'm not as much in favor of this as Option A. I still believe this would have been much more satisfying and a better ending overall then the current one.

And last but not least, there are only two reasons to use cliffhangers.

A. You want to make a hook for the next chapter/book or you are unsure where you want the next book to take off before you write it or

B. You are not confident enough to write an ending or "can't think of something"

I think it's fairly easy to say that option B. was in play here.

After all this I almost forgot the positives which are-
It IS an animorphs book and it was written by K.A.

Which, suffice to say, instantly promotes it to 2 stars.

Last but not least, this book was a disspointment. You could tell from my review and I still believe it. Simply bad choices were made and I think that they can be forgiven only because she gave us 50+ great books. Thanks for the series K.A.

After reading Animorphs for 5 years and having just reread the series I am extremely dissapointed with #54 the beginning. Im not complaining about Jake and Cassie breaking up b/c that is realistic and understandable. Im not complaining about Rachel's death (even though her and tobias were my favorites) or how she didnt fight because it was a war and she accepted her fate as it happened. You cannot fight a polar bear and I doubt she could have morphed before it killed her anyway. I am going to complain about the change in character in all of the animorphs. Tobias whod always wanted someone to love ran away from the world and jake but you would think hed go with his mother. Marco, though he always wanted fame covers over his old personality with shallowness and greed. Yeah If I was him id take the fame but he seemed to change so much until Jake invited him to save Ax. It was like Marco needed the war to be real as much as Jake needed it to live. All of them just left each other especially Ax. You would think after all those times deciding that his people were those of earth that he might just stay there a while. Also, theres the obvious void of the parents and the auxiliary animorphs. little is mentioned about the taxxons and arbron is killed like its no big deal. It was like KA wanted to keep thje book short and waste space on stupid details like naming every show Marco appeared on. Lastly, the cliffhanger ticked me off bigtime. I mean shes been writing these books for 5 years and cant end it? Ive read so many fanfics that are better than the end of this book and I wish they had been in the real ending. She introduces a new species, a new empire and a new alien and then ends the series. I think "the one" is the power greater than crayak but I guess I'll never know because we learn nothing of it. We dont know if Ax is dead or if they survive raming the blade ship or if the blade ship survives the crash. Theres so many questions left unanswered. Also, we never see chapman or alloran or loren again. Anyway I just felt the readers deserved more. I understood the sad aspects of war like death and jake's depression but wheres the dialogue and characters we know. Its like anything that they could throw into the book was put in so as to avoid the real important questions. Anyway sorry this is so long

The ending sucks. If you read KA's statement at morphz.com, you'd see that she ended the way she did to keep the "realism" of war in her books, that she "always wrote that way and ended it that way." Well, that's total bull. Animorphs RARELY had the effects of a real, true, war. While you could match certain points up to an actual war, Animorphs was totally different for the most part, and not just because the bad guys were aliens. So for her to say that she wrote and ended the story like a real war, it's giving her writing skills too much credit. Now, I agree that KA is a great writer, but for goodness sake she specializes in romance novels. She wrote a good sci fi series, but thats all it was. Sci fi. Not heavy drama or a "war story."

KA: This was not a real war. No one cares how real wars end. No one cares if wars start other wars. This is a fiction series read for entertainment, and a cliffhanger that leaves questions may happen in real wars, but it shouldn't happen in books. People read books to have a nice story that wraps up. It may be an unhappy ending, like Rachel dying, I can live with that, but the point is they END. You did not give your series an ending, and fans everywhere are wondering why you wasted their time.

(caution: this review contains spoilers)

The book is a climactic conclusion to the series. While the action is good, the rest [stinks]. KAA said that the ending was realistic. Having Rachel die, sure. I can even understand Cassie and Jake breaking up, and ending up like they did. And Marco and Ax. But what about Tobias? He recedes to a minor role, and ends the book wracked in grief because of Rachel's death. Okay. But where are the others? They just leave him as a hawk in the forest to cry until his hawk life naturally ends? Give me a break. Are the others really that uncaring and messed up? No. And with nobody there for him and all of his grief for Rachel, he would leave a pretty miserable life.

The ending also ruins the rest of the books. I can no longer go and read #13, in which Tobias gets his morphing power back. He hopes for so many things, and at the end it sounds so optimistic, but he ends up as a grief-stricken hawk living alone. This is actually one of the best books, but I give it one star because it ruins 53 others.

I enjoyed the book. It was a decent ending, with plausible character developments. It was Applegate's pregorative to destroy the Jake-Cassie romance, and in war, it does not matter how brave you are, if you are cut down by 30 guns you will die. I had no problems with most of the book. Unfortunatly, then I read the ending. I was outraged. I am 17, and have been following this series since I was 12 years old and saw an interesting cover, of a girl changing into a cat, in a school book fair. Since then, I have faithfully bought the next book every month. Not actually concluding the series was a betrayal of myself and every other faithful Animorphs fan out there.