#2 The Visitor

Narrator : Rachel.

Personal Ranking : C.

Review

In this book, there are a lot more moral messages toward kids : an anti-hunt message, as well as a condamnation of sexual harassment, and an encouragment to get the rabies vaccine. Which is nice to see, though sometimes some passages aged like milk (i'm thinking about how Rachel talks about anorexia).

I find the plan to get Melissa's cat needlessly complicated. Why not just use the shrew they found instead of making Rachel morph it ? Maybe to avoid animal cruelty ? I don't know.

Rachel is not exactly yet the fierce warrior we'll know her to be. Like in the first book, there's emphasis on fear, with the specificity here being the emphasis on insecurities about her body (compared to Melissa, and right after that with the guy harassing Rachel).

Melissa acts here as a reflection of what Rachel could have been if she decided to not engage in the fight against the Yeerks. She's alone, and doesn't understand why her parents have changed so much. They share the same interests, they seem to have a similar personalities. Yet you can see the contrast within their families situation : Rachel's parents are divorced but they are happy, while Melissa's parents are together but without apparent love.

I like the moments of friendship between Rachel and the rest of the group : she sees Cassie as an angel (p. 26), she reassures Marco on their friendship (p.42). And, even though nothing is established explicitly, we could already see the premices of Rachel and Tobias's relationship, as Tobias seems to be the only person she's confortable being more vulnerable with.

Like the first book, who showed Jake's reason to fight (Tom), this book explores Rachel's, which is Melissa. It also takes the necessary steps to make the reader empathies with the volontary Controllers, to understand their choice.

Even though I can see the good points of this book, it didn't really leave a mark on me and I don't think it's very well written or structured. Again, it's one of the first books of the series, so the personality and worlbuilding still needs to be solidified.