#5 The Predator

Narrator : Marco.

Personal Ranking : B.

Review

This book is about Marco's reasons to fight. You could see it as a similar situation than Jake's, as both of them have a close family member lost to the Yeerks that they want to save. But honestly, the emotional impact is much stronger with Marco than with Jake, as it's not just about Marco's mother but also about her absence in his life and how he has to deal with that. And also the possibility that, maybe, the life he knew with her wasn't real in the first place. It's built up during most of the book before the plot twist with some foreshadowing (chapter 9), so you have time to empathize with Marco. Honestly every time Marco talks about his mom in his books, it makes me cry.

We also get to see that Marco seems a little bit jealous of Cassie and Jake's relationship. He spends a lot of time describing Cassie in the introduction, and he feels lonely when he sees them being together as they get captured. I don't really know if the purpose of these scenes were to potentially create a love triangle ? It's not really important. But ! I need to note that we don't really know if Marco is jealous of Jake or of Cassie. In my head, Marco could be bisexual, so I guess both.

Every events of this book are caused by Ax. He's an ally but also a weight to carry for the team, and Marco is aware of that : « S'il reste ici, il constitue un danger permanent pour nous » (« If he stays here, he poses a constant danger to us ») said Marco (chapter 10). And to be honest I don't understand why Ax is acting like that in the supermarket. He's kinda sabotaging the mission on his own. Also, I noted that Ax and Visser Three literally have the same line in different chapters about Earth having interesting animals to morph : it seems like a clear similitude between the two that might raise Marco's suspicion. Yet, Marco learns to empathize with Ax, as he projects his own situation on him, thinking about his parents grieving their kids. And by the end of the book, in chapter 23, Marco even likes to fight with Ax, which seals the reconciliation between them in a way.

It's also a bit frustrating to read that Marco doesn't understand Ax when no one seems interested in talking to him.

The ant sequence is really good, it has a clear impact on the team as you feel they almost died. But the lobster sequence feels unecessary, I don't really know what to make of it.

In short, this book is unbalanced, but it's fun to read with good emotional sequences.