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Animorphs #3
The Encounter
When Tobias, Jake, Rachel, Marco, and Cassie were given the ability to morph, they were also given one very important warning: Never stay in a morph for more than two hours. It seemed a small price to pay, since the kids know that humans everywhere are being forced to let slimy, spineless creatures creep into their brains. And the only way the kids can fight back is not to be human.
But Tobias stayed in his morph too long. And now he's a hawk -- with a boy's mind -- forever. Tobias knows they can't give up. That they all made a promise. So now it's four kids and a hawk against a force that's determined to destroy them. Or die trying...
But Tobias stayed in his morph too long. And now he's a hawk -- with a boy's mind -- forever. Tobias knows they can't give up. That they all made a promise. So now it's four kids and a hawk against a force that's determined to destroy them. Or die trying...
154 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1996
About the author
K.A. Applegate
256 books504 followersalso published under the name Katherine Applegate
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April 1, 2016
I never cared as a kid, but as an adult, wow; this book is bleak.
Well, I shouldn't say "bleak," because ultimately, the book does have a relatively uplifting ending, and I tend to associate bleakness with a lack of hope or optimism, which isn't this series at all, no matter how dark it goes. But I think this book and what it's willing to do with Tobias's character is an example of one of the many reasons I loved this series so much when I was growing up. Kids don't live happy-go-lucky lives where darkness or confusion never touches them, and even if they don't have personal trauma, kids see a lot more of what's going on in the world around them than adults like to believe. It would be unhelpful for children's literature of any kind to portray a world where kids don't have to occasionally deal with some pretty terrible stuff, not least because reading a book about a character like Tobias would be helpful for a kid going through similar emotional confusion. This series is not afraid to Go There.
For much of The Encounter, Tobias (our third POV narrator, after Jake in book one, and Rachel in book two) is caught in the middle of a rather unique identity crisis. Back at the end of book one, Tobias passed the two hour limit in his red-tailed hawk morph, and is now stuck as a bird of prey, permanently. His presence in the first two books was mostly used as a way for Applegate to show that her world was one that had consequences, but here she takes the time to flesh him out, and to explore just exactly how something as far-fetched as suddenly finding yourself transformed from a thirteen year old boy to living full time as a hawk would affect Tobias psychologically, and how it would change his character.
While out coasting on the thermals one afternoon, Tobias notices a large absence in the sky heading towards the mountains. And it happens again the next day. The Animorphs soon learn it's a cloaked Yeerk ship on a supply run. Turns out the Yeerks don't have Star Trek level technology. The ability to create breathable air and clean water from nothing eludes them, and so they must rely on Earth's resources. The Animorphs hatch a plan to infiltrate the ship and bring its cloak down, exposing the enormous ship for all to see. They hope that in doing so, humans will be able to resist the Yeerks and stop the Yeerks before they get a real toehold on Earth. They believe this will work because the Yeerks are still taking great pains not to make their presence known, and conclude this is because they don't have the numbers to do more than a secret invasion of the planet.
Of course things go wrong. Don't they always.
But the real story here is Tobias, who is beginning to feel more and more isolated from the other Animorphs; he feels he is forgetting how to be human. He's drawn more and more to live life as a hawk, to leave his old life behind. As the line between Human Tobias and Hawk Tobias is smudged more and more, he doesn't know who "Tobias" is anymore. Near the climax of the book,
By the end, though, there's as much to be thankful for as to regret. Even though And even though Tobias still feels alone in his teenage hawk life, he is able to find the indispensable kernel of his selfhood that still exists as Tobias, separate from the hawk, and renews his commitment to fighting the Yeerks until the Andalites can arrive, hopefully bringing with them a way for Tobias to be human once again.
Up next: dolphins!
Well, I shouldn't say "bleak," because ultimately, the book does have a relatively uplifting ending, and I tend to associate bleakness with a lack of hope or optimism, which isn't this series at all, no matter how dark it goes. But I think this book and what it's willing to do with Tobias's character is an example of one of the many reasons I loved this series so much when I was growing up. Kids don't live happy-go-lucky lives where darkness or confusion never touches them, and even if they don't have personal trauma, kids see a lot more of what's going on in the world around them than adults like to believe. It would be unhelpful for children's literature of any kind to portray a world where kids don't have to occasionally deal with some pretty terrible stuff, not least because reading a book about a character like Tobias would be helpful for a kid going through similar emotional confusion. This series is not afraid to Go There.
For much of The Encounter, Tobias (our third POV narrator, after Jake in book one, and Rachel in book two) is caught in the middle of a rather unique identity crisis. Back at the end of book one, Tobias passed the two hour limit in his red-tailed hawk morph, and is now stuck as a bird of prey, permanently. His presence in the first two books was mostly used as a way for Applegate to show that her world was one that had consequences, but here she takes the time to flesh him out, and to explore just exactly how something as far-fetched as suddenly finding yourself transformed from a thirteen year old boy to living full time as a hawk would affect Tobias psychologically, and how it would change his character.
While out coasting on the thermals one afternoon, Tobias notices a large absence in the sky heading towards the mountains. And it happens again the next day. The Animorphs soon learn it's a cloaked Yeerk ship on a supply run. Turns out the Yeerks don't have Star Trek level technology. The ability to create breathable air and clean water from nothing eludes them, and so they must rely on Earth's resources. The Animorphs hatch a plan to infiltrate the ship and bring its cloak down, exposing the enormous ship for all to see. They hope that in doing so, humans will be able to resist the Yeerks and stop the Yeerks before they get a real toehold on Earth. They believe this will work because the Yeerks are still taking great pains not to make their presence known, and conclude this is because they don't have the numbers to do more than a secret invasion of the planet.
Of course things go wrong. Don't they always.
But the real story here is Tobias, who is beginning to feel more and more isolated from the other Animorphs; he feels he is forgetting how to be human. He's drawn more and more to live life as a hawk, to leave his old life behind. As the line between Human Tobias and Hawk Tobias is smudged more and more, he doesn't know who "Tobias" is anymore. Near the climax of the book,
By the end, though, there's as much to be thankful for as to regret. Even though And even though Tobias still feels alone in his teenage hawk life, he is able to find the indispensable kernel of his selfhood that still exists as Tobias, separate from the hawk, and renews his commitment to fighting the Yeerks until the Andalites can arrive, hopefully bringing with them a way for Tobias to be human once again.
Up next: dolphins!
July 2, 2020
"Be happy for me, and for all who fly free."
~~ Spoilers for the ending of Book 1~~
I used to pick up Animorphs books at random from garage sales as a kid (I probably read a total of 15 of them as a kid), but I don't think I've ever read any of the books that were from Tobias' POV, and wow, I was missing out. This is probably my favourite of the series that I've read so far!
(Ok I went and checked and I have actually read 1 Tobias book, No. 23, but that being much further into the series I guess he'd gotten more used to things so it wasn't really brought up)
This series gets real dark and I love it. This is the first book from Tobias' perspective and so it focuses on his massive inner conflicts now that he's trapped in the body of a hawk, and discusses what it means to be human. It is a childrens' book so it doesn't go into anything too deep or philosophical, but it didn't have to, I thought that it was still very effective nonetheless.
My favourite character as a kid was Rachel, and she's still awesome, but Marco is totally my new favourite character, he's just so freaking done with everyone and everything. I mean, relatable 😂
I read a few really long books in June so I'm gonna try to read as many Animorphs books as possible this month to balance it out :D
~~ Spoilers for the ending of Book 1~~
I used to pick up Animorphs books at random from garage sales as a kid (I probably read a total of 15 of them as a kid), but I don't think I've ever read any of the books that were from Tobias' POV, and wow, I was missing out. This is probably my favourite of the series that I've read so far!
(Ok I went and checked and I have actually read 1 Tobias book, No. 23, but that being much further into the series I guess he'd gotten more used to things so it wasn't really brought up)
This series gets real dark and I love it. This is the first book from Tobias' perspective and so it focuses on his massive inner conflicts now that he's trapped in the body of a hawk, and discusses what it means to be human. It is a childrens' book so it doesn't go into anything too deep or philosophical, but it didn't have to, I thought that it was still very effective nonetheless.
My favourite character as a kid was Rachel, and she's still awesome, but Marco is totally my new favourite character, he's just so freaking done with everyone and everything. I mean, relatable 😂
I read a few really long books in June so I'm gonna try to read as many Animorphs books as possible this month to balance it out :D
April 22, 2025
(Read in March 2015, January 2020, and April 2025.)
FIRST REVIEW / MAR 5, 2015
Tobias book! Cheer up, emo bird. I was really into him in the show (who wasn’t?), and of course I was deeply into the OTP – it gets gutting later, and there are already hints of it right here at the start, I forgot how early they set it up – but he was never actually my favourite character.
I love that in these early books – their first-ever POV books – they’re all sorting through their issues and discovering/deciding on their reasons for fighting this war. Because you need a motivation, you need that personal anchor. The big picture isn’t enough; it’s the personal stories that really drive home the point.
For Jake, it’s his brother. Rachel, it’s realising the personal impact of loved ones becoming Controllers. Tobias, it’s realising that all hosts are trapped just like he is. (Marco’s comes later, in his own book.)
Their adventure in this book goes terribly; these early ones are so jarring because their schemes are shambolic messes, always a hair’s breadth away from utter failure and death. I’m not so into the plot of this one, but it’s a necessary step towards Tobias’ character development and coming to terms with his new life. I also love these early explorations into Rachel’s characterisation, the fact that she gets off on adrenaline, that she’s partially drawn to the danger & violence.
(I’m also terribly ashamed of myself because now that I’m rereading the series, I’m weirdly into Marco/Rachel??? Probably because boys being dumb & pester-y pigtail-pulling dynamics are some of my favourite tropes ugghhh. ALSO APPARENTLY THEY DATED IN AN ALTERNATE TIMELINE, SO I’M NOT TOTALLY CRAZY. I’m restraining myself from reading the plot summary for that AU though, because I can barely remember what happens in the later books.)
---------------------------------
SECOND REVIEW / JAN 15, 2020
Other details that I’m thinking about now:
• How very, very early the seeds of the relationships are planted: Rachel and Tobias’ connection, Jake and Cassie’s even subtler fondness for each other, Marco’s crush on Rachel. It’s all there but never takes a forefront, and ~*~romance~*~ isn’t really a focus of these books.
• How very bleak this book is. Tobias literally tries to kill himself!! His identity issues wind up a bit too worn-out by the end of the series, but they’re handled so delicately right here at the start: him finding a new way to live, him accepting both sides of himself.
• When failing their mission, Rachel and the other Animorphs refuse to be captured alive and tell Tobias to find a way to kill them!! This is the THIRD BOOK. GUYS.
• Marco’s continuing reluctance, but how he’s still there for everyone when the chips are down, and his frustration with them for not thinking as coldly and tactically as he can. I love him. My old fave!!
• Jake and Rachel are still so wonderfully similar. The two of them all gung-ho and “YEAH!!” about their batshit infiltration plan in this book, my god.
• I love erryone in this bar. ♥ 3.5 stars, very very nearly rounded up.
Favourite quotes moved to Google docs!
---------------------------------
THIRD REVIEW / APR 18, 2025
There’s not much I can add to my existing reviews for this one, except that this time I’m rounding it up because Tobias’ journey in this book is just so heavy and heartbreaking.
FIRST REVIEW / MAR 5, 2015
Tobias book! Cheer up, emo bird. I was really into him in the show (who wasn’t?), and of course I was deeply into the OTP – it gets gutting later, and there are already hints of it right here at the start, I forgot how early they set it up – but he was never actually my favourite character.
I love that in these early books – their first-ever POV books – they’re all sorting through their issues and discovering/deciding on their reasons for fighting this war. Because you need a motivation, you need that personal anchor. The big picture isn’t enough; it’s the personal stories that really drive home the point.
For Jake, it’s his brother. Rachel, it’s realising the personal impact of loved ones becoming Controllers. Tobias, it’s realising that all hosts are trapped just like he is. (Marco’s comes later, in his own book.)
Their adventure in this book goes terribly; these early ones are so jarring because their schemes are shambolic messes, always a hair’s breadth away from utter failure and death. I’m not so into the plot of this one, but it’s a necessary step towards Tobias’ character development and coming to terms with his new life. I also love these early explorations into Rachel’s characterisation, the fact that she gets off on adrenaline, that she’s partially drawn to the danger & violence.
(I’m also terribly ashamed of myself because now that I’m rereading the series, I’m weirdly into Marco/Rachel??? Probably because boys being dumb & pester-y pigtail-pulling dynamics are some of my favourite tropes ugghhh. ALSO APPARENTLY THEY DATED IN AN ALTERNATE TIMELINE, SO I’M NOT TOTALLY CRAZY. I’m restraining myself from reading the plot summary for that AU though, because I can barely remember what happens in the later books.)
---------------------------------
SECOND REVIEW / JAN 15, 2020
Other details that I’m thinking about now:
• How very, very early the seeds of the relationships are planted: Rachel and Tobias’ connection, Jake and Cassie’s even subtler fondness for each other, Marco’s crush on Rachel. It’s all there but never takes a forefront, and ~*~romance~*~ isn’t really a focus of these books.
• How very bleak this book is. Tobias literally tries to kill himself!! His identity issues wind up a bit too worn-out by the end of the series, but they’re handled so delicately right here at the start: him finding a new way to live, him accepting both sides of himself.
• When failing their mission, Rachel and the other Animorphs refuse to be captured alive and tell Tobias to find a way to kill them!! This is the THIRD BOOK. GUYS.
• Marco’s continuing reluctance, but how he’s still there for everyone when the chips are down, and his frustration with them for not thinking as coldly and tactically as he can. I love him. My old fave!!
• Jake and Rachel are still so wonderfully similar. The two of them all gung-ho and “YEAH!!” about their batshit infiltration plan in this book, my god.
• I love erryone in this bar. ♥ 3.5 stars, very very nearly rounded up.
Favourite quotes moved to Google docs!
---------------------------------
THIRD REVIEW / APR 18, 2025
There’s not much I can add to my existing reviews for this one, except that this time I’m rounding it up because Tobias’ journey in this book is just so heavy and heartbreaking.
April 4, 2015
One of the most important parts of designing a magic system, or a set of superpowers, or anything that allows characters to defy the ordinary laws and assumptions of our universe, is deciding what the costs will be. You can’t get something for nothing, and if you break the rules, you have to pay a price. For the Animorphs, it’s a two-hour time limit. If you stay in a morph longer, you’re stuck there. No backsies.
The Animorphs run up against this in The Encounter. Our narrator this time is Tobias, who fell victim to the two-hour rule back in the first book. He is now stuck as a red-tailed hawk—an ordinary hawk, no morphing, nothing special except the mind of a human and the ability to telepathically communicate. So he’s got that going for him. But his entire life has changed, and he’s still reeling.
Tobias is a foil to the other four in so many ways. Setting aside his newfound place in the taxonomy, even as a human Tobias was different. He wasn’t Jake and Marco’s “friend” so much as a hanger-on whom the other two tolerated because they are nice guys. Tobias lacked the kind of stable family situation the other Animorphs mostly have; he gets shuttled betwixt an aunt and an uncle who don’t have time for him. So he was already the outsider of the group before he become a hawk.
Tobias is also unique in having stuck around long enough at the construction site to hear Elfangor’s dying words and receive a little more intel on the Yeerks. He doesn’t talk much about that experience in this book. If I recall correctly, however, Tobias eventually discovers much more inner strength and comes to play a very important role, especially once Ax comes on the scene—Ax and Tobias understand each other, as outsiders do.
Stuck as a hawk now, Tobias is a living warning to the other Animorphs about the dangerous side of morphing. Applegate spares nothing as she describes Tobias’ attempts to adapt to his new life—but not adapt too much. See, that’s the problem: it would be so easy for Tobias to give in, let the hawk take over, hunt and kill and live that life. He is trying to hold on to his humanity, and this entire book is him confronting the possibility that it is inexorably slipping out of his grasp.
The ways in which the other Animorphs react to Tobias’ condition and try to help him say a lot about their archetypes. Jake, the leader, makes a home for Tobias in his attic, and brings Tobias human food stolen under the nose of his family. Marco, as the most reluctant Animorph so far, seems the most disturbed by Tobias. He hides behind humour, of course, but sometimes it is shrill to the point of cutting. Rachel and Cassie try to be compassionate and caring—but I think that Cassie, since she works with animals so much, has trouble separating Tobias the person from Tobias the animal.
It’s Rachel who offers Tobias the most unconditional link back to humanity. He returns to her repeatedly, and she’s the one who reminds him why he is still human, despite being a hawk:
Clichéd? Maybe. Maybe not for a young adult series. Regardless, this is why I love Rachel. She takes Tobias for what he is: a human in a hawk body, someone in both worlds. She accepts it unconditionally, uncritically, and is ready to support him. She backs him up—even when he has crazy plans, like freeing a caged red-tailed hawk.
Sorry, I know this is a Tobias book. But Rachel is just awesome.
Anyway, The Encounter features the Animorphs’ first true action against the Yeerks. Infiltrating the Kandrona pool in The Invasion was kind of an accident, and in The Visitor they were always only gathering intel. This is the first time they agree to do something to strike back against the Yeerks, hopefully exposing them to the rest of the world.
And it goes horribly wrong, almost from the first step.
Once again, Applegate is not pulling punches here. We have to watch Tobias listen to Rachel saying goodbye because they are trapped aboard this Yeerk ship. No, scratch that—Rachel quite blatantly asks Tobias to somehow bring the ship down so that they will die before they are discovered and tortured or enslaved.
That’s a lot of responsibility to put on one bird’s shoulders.
It’s also a very dark thing to have a kid consider: we don’t want to be taken alive.
True, a last-minute flash of insight—human insight—allows Tobias to save the day. You didn’t really think the four other Animorphs were going to die in book 3, did you? But it remains one of the more sobering moments in a series that, three books in, actually has quite a few sobering moments. From broken families to black ops gone awry, Animorphs balances a blend of reality and fantasy that somehow results in great stories.
Next review, I’ll spend some time speculating about the Andalite morphing technology. And, oh yes, how Animorphs would work as a period drama.
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #2: The Visitor | #4: The Message →
The Animorphs run up against this in The Encounter. Our narrator this time is Tobias, who fell victim to the two-hour rule back in the first book. He is now stuck as a red-tailed hawk—an ordinary hawk, no morphing, nothing special except the mind of a human and the ability to telepathically communicate. So he’s got that going for him. But his entire life has changed, and he’s still reeling.
Tobias is a foil to the other four in so many ways. Setting aside his newfound place in the taxonomy, even as a human Tobias was different. He wasn’t Jake and Marco’s “friend” so much as a hanger-on whom the other two tolerated because they are nice guys. Tobias lacked the kind of stable family situation the other Animorphs mostly have; he gets shuttled betwixt an aunt and an uncle who don’t have time for him. So he was already the outsider of the group before he become a hawk.
Tobias is also unique in having stuck around long enough at the construction site to hear Elfangor’s dying words and receive a little more intel on the Yeerks. He doesn’t talk much about that experience in this book. If I recall correctly, however, Tobias eventually discovers much more inner strength and comes to play a very important role, especially once Ax comes on the scene—Ax and Tobias understand each other, as outsiders do.
Stuck as a hawk now, Tobias is a living warning to the other Animorphs about the dangerous side of morphing. Applegate spares nothing as she describes Tobias’ attempts to adapt to his new life—but not adapt too much. See, that’s the problem: it would be so easy for Tobias to give in, let the hawk take over, hunt and kill and live that life. He is trying to hold on to his humanity, and this entire book is him confronting the possibility that it is inexorably slipping out of his grasp.
The ways in which the other Animorphs react to Tobias’ condition and try to help him say a lot about their archetypes. Jake, the leader, makes a home for Tobias in his attic, and brings Tobias human food stolen under the nose of his family. Marco, as the most reluctant Animorph so far, seems the most disturbed by Tobias. He hides behind humour, of course, but sometimes it is shrill to the point of cutting. Rachel and Cassie try to be compassionate and caring—but I think that Cassie, since she works with animals so much, has trouble separating Tobias the person from Tobias the animal.
It’s Rachel who offers Tobias the most unconditional link back to humanity. He returns to her repeatedly, and she’s the one who reminds him why he is still human, despite being a hawk:
"Because what counts is what is in your head and in your heart," she said with sudden passion. "A person isn't his body. A person isn't what's on the outside."
Clichéd? Maybe. Maybe not for a young adult series. Regardless, this is why I love Rachel. She takes Tobias for what he is: a human in a hawk body, someone in both worlds. She accepts it unconditionally, uncritically, and is ready to support him. She backs him up—even when he has crazy plans, like freeing a caged red-tailed hawk.
Sorry, I know this is a Tobias book. But Rachel is just awesome.
Anyway, The Encounter features the Animorphs’ first true action against the Yeerks. Infiltrating the Kandrona pool in The Invasion was kind of an accident, and in The Visitor they were always only gathering intel. This is the first time they agree to do something to strike back against the Yeerks, hopefully exposing them to the rest of the world.
And it goes horribly wrong, almost from the first step.
Once again, Applegate is not pulling punches here. We have to watch Tobias listen to Rachel saying goodbye because they are trapped aboard this Yeerk ship. No, scratch that—Rachel quite blatantly asks Tobias to somehow bring the ship down so that they will die before they are discovered and tortured or enslaved.
That’s a lot of responsibility to put on one bird’s shoulders.
It’s also a very dark thing to have a kid consider: we don’t want to be taken alive.
True, a last-minute flash of insight—human insight—allows Tobias to save the day. You didn’t really think the four other Animorphs were going to die in book 3, did you? But it remains one of the more sobering moments in a series that, three books in, actually has quite a few sobering moments. From broken families to black ops gone awry, Animorphs balances a blend of reality and fantasy that somehow results in great stories.
Next review, I’ll spend some time speculating about the Andalite morphing technology. And, oh yes, how Animorphs would work as a period drama.
My reviews of Animorphs:
← #2: The Visitor | #4: The Message →
January 16, 2024
It’s only book three out of fifty-four and already these kids are traumatized beyond belief.
Is no one going to acknowledge that Tobias literally attempted suicide multiple times in the span of minutes? Or that he was going to deliberately get himself killed at one point to save his friends? This poor child is losing his mind, his humanity, and his sense of self. And there’s 51 more books to go!
They don’t make children’s books like they used to I guess. I wonder if this ever got banned from schools. It’s definitely graphic and traumatizing enough.
I’m so invested. This is going to be my new obsession for 2024.
Is no one going to acknowledge that Tobias literally attempted suicide multiple times in the span of minutes? Or that he was going to deliberately get himself killed at one point to save his friends? This poor child is losing his mind, his humanity, and his sense of self. And there’s 51 more books to go!
They don’t make children’s books like they used to I guess. I wonder if this ever got banned from schools. It’s definitely graphic and traumatizing enough.
I’m so invested. This is going to be my new obsession for 2024.
April 5, 2024
Tobias stayed in his morph too long. Now he’s forever trapped in a hawk’s body.
Great world building. Setting the boundaries of the “magic system” reminds me of Sanderson's laws of magic. Very character-driven, with Tobias’ character in particular being explored though other characters do leave a mark of their own here.
Great world building. Setting the boundaries of the “magic system” reminds me of Sanderson's laws of magic. Very character-driven, with Tobias’ character in particular being explored though other characters do leave a mark of their own here.
January 16, 2020
Ugh, those final lines gave me ALL the feels. Sending some love to our local red-shouldered hawk, and hoping we see him again come spring.
February 4, 2024
Oh Tobias, you break my poor fool heart 🪶
January 22, 2022
Come check out my 4 hour 35 minute deep dive into reading every single Animorphs book for the first time on YouTube. I recap and review all of the books from the main series: https://youtu.be/H8kUM2q3CIU
December 3, 2017
Be happy for me, and for all who fly free.
March 15, 2024
Tobias' POV.
March 20, 2020
Third review March 20, 2020 for the audiobook.
Second review January 18, 2020 here.
Original Review: April 14, 2015
Tobias is the narrator. I couldn't be happier :)
"Because what counts is what's in your head and in your heart," [Rachel] said with sudden passion. A person isn't his body. A person isn't what's on the outside."
"The gift of the Andalite. The curse of the Andalite -- the power to morph." pg. 110
This book does an excellent job of showing Tobias' struggle with being stuck as a red-tailed hawk, the ups and downs of basically embracing his new reality. And as with Jake and Rachel before him, this book also reveals to Tobias his own, personal reason to fight the Yeerks.
Quotes inside spoiler, largely about how he's dealing with being a hawk permanently:
Second review January 18, 2020 here.
Original Review: April 14, 2015
Tobias is the narrator. I couldn't be happier :)
"Because what counts is what's in your head and in your heart," [Rachel] said with sudden passion. A person isn't his body. A person isn't what's on the outside."
"The gift of the Andalite. The curse of the Andalite -- the power to morph." pg. 110
This book does an excellent job of showing Tobias' struggle with being stuck as a red-tailed hawk, the ups and downs of basically embracing his new reality. And as with Jake and Rachel before him, this book also reveals to Tobias his own, personal reason to fight the Yeerks.
Quotes inside spoiler, largely about how he's dealing with being a hawk permanently:
October 9, 2023
Animorphs was the defining series of my childhood. More than any other this book series shaped me into the person I would become, it ignited the interest in animals that is my driving force to this day, and instilled within me the moral groundwork that defined my values as an adult. Animorphs was everything to me - and now for the first time since the books were published I'm doing a full reread of the series.
Thank you, Clara.
Cheer up, emo bird.
This is the first Tobias book in the series, and the very first Animorph book I ever picked up. Tobias' perspective is one of the most interesting ones in the series for obvious reasons - a boy stuck in the body of a hawk. Human and hawk clash for dominance, and Tobias can feel his humanity melting away. If he hunts, does that make him human or hawk? If he starts hunting, starts giving into the hawk's needs, will his humanity all just fade away? Can he even remember what he looked like anymore?
This book is primarily an introspective view of what it means to be human. Tobias is trying to find himself and where he fits in with the team. During one of his flights he finds a hole in the sky that he believes to be an alien spaceship. The rest of the book is a plan to infiltrate and sabotage, a mission that Tobias himself can't go on. Like Tobias, we the readers are stuck on the sidelines trying to do what we can and largely feeling impotent throughout it. It's effective, if annoying at times. We want in the action.
This book wasn't as good as the first two, although I understand why it ended up being the way that it was. It's interesting to see things from Tobias' perspective and to understand just how hard it is to step aside when your only friends in the world are risking their lives. It's a bad situation made worse by the sudden feelings Tobias is getting for a female hawk...
What a wild ride, and the Animorphs journey is still only just beginning.
Thank you, Clara.
Cheer up, emo bird.
This is the first Tobias book in the series, and the very first Animorph book I ever picked up. Tobias' perspective is one of the most interesting ones in the series for obvious reasons - a boy stuck in the body of a hawk. Human and hawk clash for dominance, and Tobias can feel his humanity melting away. If he hunts, does that make him human or hawk? If he starts hunting, starts giving into the hawk's needs, will his humanity all just fade away? Can he even remember what he looked like anymore?
This book is primarily an introspective view of what it means to be human. Tobias is trying to find himself and where he fits in with the team. During one of his flights he finds a hole in the sky that he believes to be an alien spaceship. The rest of the book is a plan to infiltrate and sabotage, a mission that Tobias himself can't go on. Like Tobias, we the readers are stuck on the sidelines trying to do what we can and largely feeling impotent throughout it. It's effective, if annoying at times. We want in the action.
This book wasn't as good as the first two, although I understand why it ended up being the way that it was. It's interesting to see things from Tobias' perspective and to understand just how hard it is to step aside when your only friends in the world are risking their lives. It's a bad situation made worse by the sudden feelings Tobias is getting for a female hawk...
What a wild ride, and the Animorphs journey is still only just beginning.
October 8, 2022
Die, Hawkboy.
January 4, 2023
every animorphs book so far has found some way to mention star trek at least once and i'm not saying this is inflating my rating so much as it's justifying it
September 7, 2022
Reading The Encounter was fitting for 2020, in that both the book and this year are so full of immediate and ever-present danger that it’s hard not to become inured and apathetic to
a)risk of dying
b)risk of societal take-over by evil, despotic slug-creatures (yes, I mean Trump).
Tobias may be trapped and claustrophobic inside his hawk-body, and I’m trapped and claustrophobic inside my house. The major difference is that I have to read 54 Animorphs, 4 Animorphs Chronicles, 6 Megamorphs, and 3 Alternamorphs books, and all Tobias has to do is save the world.
There is a plot to The Encounter. It’s high-stakes as always: Tobias is flying and being emo and thinking about hitting on Rachel even though she’s a pretty blonde human and he’s a red-tailed hawk. Tobias sees a shimmer in the sky, and follows it: It is reaveled to be a giant space-truck that is taking water from earth and transporting it to the Yeerks in outer-space.
Tobias “Can we tell the cops?”
Rachel “No, some of the cops are controllers.”
Me, ear-splittingly loud, screaming at a bunch of fictional teens from 1996, “All cops are controllers, kids.”
Marco stops making terrible jokes for one goddam second and suggests that they figure out a way to break the invisibility barrier on the space-truck, causing the whole world (or their whole small suburban town) to see that aliens have invaded so they can get reinforcements in their fight against the aliens, instead of just being three teens and an emo hawk fighting off an entire alien race.
The plan to do this was kind of convoluted and involved turning into wolves, whereupon Jake almost gets into a fight with another wolf and Cassie calls him an alpha, and I’m again yelling at fictional teens from 1996,
“There’s no such thing as an alpha male, that’s based on faulty, debunked research, and I know you’re just teens in 1996, but would you believe that I still have to have this conversation with shitty dudes on Tinder in the year of Our Lord 2020? Yes, teens in 1996, I know it’s a waste of energy positively roasting shitty dudes on Tinder, but I have some scientific integrity”
The Teens™ turn into fish and get sucked up into the Yeerk ship and almost die. Rachel pleads with Tobias to kill them rather than let them get taken over by the Yeerks (because KA APPLEGATE DON’T FUCK AROUND) but Tobias gets a gun in his little hawk talons (adorable) and uses it to shoot aliens and then the ship explodes. The Animorphs are sad that they didn’t manage to do much to accomplish their plan, but they cheer themselves up by saying, “at least we blew up one tiny transport ship” which is the same half-hearted, exhausted, “this is better than nothing”energy I felt when Biden won the 2020 election.
1 star for being an absolutely apropos book for 2020
PS: More astute readers may recognize that this was published in 2022, not 2020, and to that I say: It’s still functionally 2020, what are you talking about?
a)risk of dying
b)risk of societal take-over by evil, despotic slug-creatures (yes, I mean Trump).
Tobias may be trapped and claustrophobic inside his hawk-body, and I’m trapped and claustrophobic inside my house. The major difference is that I have to read 54 Animorphs, 4 Animorphs Chronicles, 6 Megamorphs, and 3 Alternamorphs books, and all Tobias has to do is save the world.
There is a plot to The Encounter. It’s high-stakes as always: Tobias is flying and being emo and thinking about hitting on Rachel even though she’s a pretty blonde human and he’s a red-tailed hawk. Tobias sees a shimmer in the sky, and follows it: It is reaveled to be a giant space-truck that is taking water from earth and transporting it to the Yeerks in outer-space.
Tobias “Can we tell the cops?”
Rachel “No, some of the cops are controllers.”
Me, ear-splittingly loud, screaming at a bunch of fictional teens from 1996, “All cops are controllers, kids.”
Marco stops making terrible jokes for one goddam second and suggests that they figure out a way to break the invisibility barrier on the space-truck, causing the whole world (or their whole small suburban town) to see that aliens have invaded so they can get reinforcements in their fight against the aliens, instead of just being three teens and an emo hawk fighting off an entire alien race.
The plan to do this was kind of convoluted and involved turning into wolves, whereupon Jake almost gets into a fight with another wolf and Cassie calls him an alpha, and I’m again yelling at fictional teens from 1996,
“There’s no such thing as an alpha male, that’s based on faulty, debunked research, and I know you’re just teens in 1996, but would you believe that I still have to have this conversation with shitty dudes on Tinder in the year of Our Lord 2020? Yes, teens in 1996, I know it’s a waste of energy positively roasting shitty dudes on Tinder, but I have some scientific integrity”
The Teens™ turn into fish and get sucked up into the Yeerk ship and almost die. Rachel pleads with Tobias to kill them rather than let them get taken over by the Yeerks (because KA APPLEGATE DON’T FUCK AROUND) but Tobias gets a gun in his little hawk talons (adorable) and uses it to shoot aliens and then the ship explodes. The Animorphs are sad that they didn’t manage to do much to accomplish their plan, but they cheer themselves up by saying, “at least we blew up one tiny transport ship” which is the same half-hearted, exhausted, “this is better than nothing”energy I felt when Biden won the 2020 election.
1 star for being an absolutely apropos book for 2020
PS: More astute readers may recognize that this was published in 2022, not 2020, and to that I say: It’s still functionally 2020, what are you talking about?
January 24, 2013
Brought to you by The Moonlight Library!
Book #3 is Tobias’ time to shine. I don’t know why he was selected as the third character in our merry-go-round of narrators, but it’s a good spot in the story. He’s been a hawk for about a month, and he’s struggling with the instincts that, to him, mean he is losing his humanity: namely hunting and the desire to find a mate. The animal instincts don’t seem to be as well written as the previous two books because this one is more plot-driven than its predecessors, but we still see a lot of Tobias struggling with what he’s become.
OK it’s not gross or anything. It’s still children’s fiction. But he’s inexplicitly drawn to a female hawk, with the feeling that he belongs with her. It’s strange for a thirteen year old child in the body of a hawk to realise, but that’s the mating instinct. It’s weird to think that the child is trapped in an adult hawk body, and a sexually mature one at that.
In this book, Tobias’s whole trapped-in-morph thing is the instigator of the plot and also the resolver of the conflict. Because he’s a bird, he sees something he wouldn’t have seen as a human: namely a Yeerk supply ship taking resources from the mountains nearby. Also, at the end of the book, Tobias is the only Animorph unable to morph and consequently as an outsider to the mission, he’s the only one who can take the ship down.
The best thing about this book is Tobias’ deepening relationship with Rachel. She’s the one he turns to when he needs comfort, and she’s always there to give it. She’ll even lie to him, but probably understands that he can tell she’s lying. And Rachel shows intense affection for the strange, lost boy in the body of a hawk. Rachel’s also showing more of her trademark recklessness, and the others are beginning to realise that maybe she likes the fighting and the violence and the danger. Did I mention Rachel is my favourite character? I find her fascinating.
Tobias shines in the climax of this book, as he’s the one who takes action and saves the day. It’s disappointing that the other Animorphs aren’t/can’t be involved, but hey, every book has to end at some point and it has to kept relatively short. Tobias is a hero, and the others need him even though he feels useless just as much as he needs them to keep feeling human. Overall it’s a great introduction to Tobias as a character, plot driven by his unique position within the Animorphs, and resolves several issues revolving around his character.
Also, did I mention the cover art is about a billionty times better than the previous two?
February 5, 2023
bro that's kinda fucked up
January 16, 2016
I love this. Tobias is such a deeply emotional character and I love how this book explores what makes us human. I'm blown away by the maturity of this kids series.
May 20, 2022
This is the first of the series where the body horror gets uncomfortably real, in an almost Junji Ito way
August 4, 2022
4 stars - English Ebook
Review follows later.
Review follows later.
February 18, 2025
Ok so this book definitely had a slow start but built up to an amazing finale! It was also packed full of emotion which had me smiling then tearing up at times 🥺
July 24, 2020
Tobias stans rise up.
March 26, 2019
2019: The Year of the Animorphs
HOLY SHIT, K.A. Applegate, YOU ARE BRINGING THE FEELS.
In this book for children, one of the main characters, Tobias, has been trapped in a hawk body for three books now, and is feeling lonely and lost, because he apparently just has to live as a hawk forever. Later, in this book for children, his hawk instincts overtake him and he kills and eats a rat. Subsequently, in this book for children, he has his first experience with true existential dread, which doesn't normally come until you hit your mid twenties, but I suppose he's PRECOCIOUS. After completely losing his sense of self and diving headlong into body-horror-hell, the main character in this book for children, tries to kill himself, succumbing to the nihilism of losing total contact with humanity, and dissociating from the sense of his being Tobias at all. He also contemplates fucking a sexy lady hawk.
Jesus. Christ.
Yeah, these books are pretty good.
HOLY SHIT, K.A. Applegate, YOU ARE BRINGING THE FEELS.
In this book for children, one of the main characters, Tobias, has been trapped in a hawk body for three books now, and is feeling lonely and lost, because he apparently just has to live as a hawk forever. Later, in this book for children, his hawk instincts overtake him and he kills and eats a rat. Subsequently, in this book for children, he has his first experience with true existential dread, which doesn't normally come until you hit your mid twenties, but I suppose he's PRECOCIOUS. After completely losing his sense of self and diving headlong into body-horror-hell, the main character in this book for children, tries to kill himself, succumbing to the nihilism of losing total contact with humanity, and dissociating from the sense of his being Tobias at all. He also contemplates fucking a sexy lady hawk.
Jesus. Christ.
Yeah, these books are pretty good.
June 22, 2020
Wow
This one got heavy. It was fascinating, depressing, and personal. The constant struggle of Tobias and his battle to stay human. The fight for mental control, hawk and human. You felt the despair, the hopelessness, even when he seemed optimistic.
The potrayl of these depressed, suicidal and darker feelings are all to real. The way he reassures himself that it's fine, the way he keeps thinking of reasons to keep going. All while listening to none of them. It captures a very real feeling, knowing there's people there for you, and telling yourself you're going to be okay, all for the dark thoughts to still persist. Getting louder each day.
Then for him to give in, and let the Hawk take over. The description of his total disconnect from his human side. It was all so stunning and well written.
I'm scared to keep reading because I know it only gets darker from here! Tobias is definitely my favorite character, and is by far the best writen.
The binge read continues!
This one got heavy. It was fascinating, depressing, and personal. The constant struggle of Tobias and his battle to stay human. The fight for mental control, hawk and human. You felt the despair, the hopelessness, even when he seemed optimistic.
The potrayl of these depressed, suicidal and darker feelings are all to real. The way he reassures himself that it's fine, the way he keeps thinking of reasons to keep going. All while listening to none of them. It captures a very real feeling, knowing there's people there for you, and telling yourself you're going to be okay, all for the dark thoughts to still persist. Getting louder each day.
Then for him to give in, and let the Hawk take over. The description of his total disconnect from his human side. It was all so stunning and well written.
I'm scared to keep reading because I know it only gets darker from here! Tobias is definitely my favorite character, and is by far the best writen.
The binge read continues!
March 30, 2019
This book, just like the first two, was a wonderful experience. This time around, we are in Tobias's POV, the unfortunate Animorph who stayed too long in his hawk morph and must now live the rest of his life that way, or at least until the Andalites come to rescue them.
One day Tobias notices a strange presence in the air. When he learns that it is a Yeerk ship using camouflaging technology, he and the other Animorphs make a plan to expose the ship to the human race in an effort to end all of this madness. Can the Animorphs expose the Yeerks, or will they continue to fight them off alone?
I enjoyed Tobias's mindset. He was distinctly different from jake and Rachel, and has this intriguing duality about him since he shares the mind of both a hawk and human at all times, unlike the others. This was a great read, and I fully recommend this book!
One day Tobias notices a strange presence in the air. When he learns that it is a Yeerk ship using camouflaging technology, he and the other Animorphs make a plan to expose the ship to the human race in an effort to end all of this madness. Can the Animorphs expose the Yeerks, or will they continue to fight them off alone?
I enjoyed Tobias's mindset. He was distinctly different from jake and Rachel, and has this intriguing duality about him since he shares the mind of both a hawk and human at all times, unlike the others. This was a great read, and I fully recommend this book!
April 7, 2026
i guess this time around i'm just going to be posting a Harrowing Summary Quote and saying things like "oh, god, my baby". anyway. oh, god. my baby.
“No, everyone was fine. But what were you going to do if Marco had missed with that baseball? You would have hit the glass awfully hard."
I didn't know what to say.
Rachel came closer and stroked my crest with her hand. It made the hawk in me uncomfortable. But at the same time, it was similar to preening, which is kind of pleasurable.
"What I told you the other day, Tobias . . . remember? You're not lost as long as you have Jake and Cassie and me. Even Marco. He came through for you, big time. We're your friends. You're not alone."
I think I would have cried then. But hawks can't cry.”
April 24, 2024
when your friends look at your smiling face and all they see is the carved glare of a hawk. when you share your thoughts and all you can see in their eyes is fear, disgust, pity. no parents, no home to come back to, you’re desperately trying to remember what being a kid feels like, but that was stolen from you and not only does it feel like your fault, but you can’t talk to anyone about it because your feelings seem incommunicable and inhuman. at least you can fly.
I get existential and so strange
I hear no sounds when I'm shouting
I just wanna go to parties
Up high, wanna feel the heat from all the bodies
– Charli XCX
April 24, 2020
Ahh, yes, Tobias. The emo boy before emo was cool. This book explores his dilemma of being a human trapped in a hawk's body forever. Already, the Animorphs series is showing that it's going to tackle some tough subjects. And the band has another close call.
Read
November 29, 2014Another exciting installment.
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