Good Evening Book Nerds,

This late-night edition of a book review is brought to you by my compulsive reading habit.

No, but really, I was super excited to get back into Animorphs after reading my first graphic novel, as great as a departure as it was. Speaking of departures, this book review is for Animorphs #19, The Departure.

I actually didn’t remember a thing about this story from my childhood reading of the series, so I was super happy to give it a go. Let’s get right into it!

Blurb:

Cassie’s had it. After the last mission, she realizes she’s getting tired of missions. Tired of battles. Tired of being an Animorph. She decides that she just can’t do it anymore. So she quits.

The Review:

It pains me to give this score to an Animorphs book, but I ended up giving this one three and a half stars. I guess after how great #18 & 18.5 were, this was bound to happen.

This time around, we follow along in Cassie’s POV.

After what she and the others have been through in the last two books, it’s no surprise that Cassie isn’t feeling their most recent mission, which ended up bloody and relentless.

Everything just doesn’t seem worth it anymore to her. She feels numb, devoid of emotion. When will the battles stop? It never ends, it just never ends…

As they leave the battle victorious, Cassie makes a decision. She doesn’t want to be an Animorph anymore, and this time she means it. But when she crosses paths with a young girl, the Animorphs’ secret is threatened. Can Cassie figure out a way to fix things, or will she just end up with more blood on her hands?

I had high hopes that this continuation of Cassie’s POV would be a redemption from #14, but alas, KA Applegate seems to give Cassie only the lamest of missions.

As always, I enjoyed our beloved characters. The others are portrayed very well, even if they only really get mild appearances throughout.

I can certainly understand where Cassie is coming from, given what she and the others have been through. She’s a pacifist by nature, and she doesn’t feel that they should seek out violence all the time. There’s got to be a better way, only there isn’t.

A lot of this book is Cassie coming to terms with the way things are, but that being said, I felt like this adventure she went on wasn’t nearly as entertaining as the others.

Most of this journey Cassie spends in the forest with this young girl, who almost immediately exposes herself as a Yeerk controller. Throughout the book, she spends her time trying to convince this girl that she isn’t who the girl accuses of being.

It just got old kind of quick for me. Cassie has numerous chances to take out this little girl, but doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity. Believe me, I get that, although I would’ve done things differently.

But Cassie crosses the line even further when she endangers the Animorphs as well as herself. I just don’t think that in the end, Cassie’s actions are really all that justifiable. It seemed more suicidal if you ask me.

There was some good action in the beginning and near the end, and I really like that, but everything else felt a bit too slow for my liking.

Ultimately, I was a bit disappointed by this book, so if you’re looking for another action-packed Animorphs journey, you may want to sit this one out and move on to #20. I hear that one’s pretty good!

That’s a Wrap!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy reading!

Have you read this book before? What did you think? Do you have a book recommendation similar to this one? Feel free to share in the comments!

If you’d like to see other reviews of mine, feel free to check out my blog homepage or my GoodReads. You can also follow my GoodReads reviews here. There are some great binge-worthy books on there!

Have a great day!

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