2026 Media Log
legend💐 good | ⭕ ok | 🍅 bad
💗 liked it | 💔 didn't like it
(click each title for more detail; may contain spoilers)
was really surprised how much I didn't like this one after all the hype. shallow and muddled themes, treated the audience like they're dumb (why did we need like four flashbacks/overlays to confirm the nurse was the old man), and 30min too long. some great effects and successful body horror but even then it felt arbitrary sometimes. oh well
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2026 is my year of Animorphs. I read a few books as a kid, and then listened to all of a podcast about it in college, but I've been collecting the physical books for almost five years now and I'm finally going to read through them all.
I knew Animorphs tackled pretty heavy themes head on but I still wasn't quite prepared for how truly grim these books are right off the bat. I loved reading this, they're so tightly written and use their short lengths so effectively!!!
this book carried the first book's momentum and style strengths, I absolutely love reading how they put an animal's instincts and personality into words so well. I cried in public while reading about Rachel pushing the time limit on her cat morph to spend some time comforting her crying former friend. every character is layered and lovable in these books but I think I'm a Rachel girl above all...
only took three books to get to the first suicide attempt. again, even with full advanced warning of how grim these books get I still wasn't quite prepared! my favourite little moment was when Tobias made a self-deprecating joke about wanting a mouse for lunch and Marco laughed his ass off while everyone else just stood there looking uncomfortable.
after telling my girlfriend about the plot of the first three books in detail, I ended up reading this one out loud to her, which was great luck because she's a sea creature fan. we got such a kick of everyone constantly dragging and poking at each other. feels organic. like these kids are friends in different capacities but also all the five were never besties with each other. they're like coworkers now. it also gets me every single time when they're like "okay guys we gotta wrap up this save-the-world meeting, I have math homework". they're just kids...
also read this one out loud, somehow all in one sitting. I knew the twist that was coming at the end and waited in dread the whole time. really big fan of everything Ax brings to the table. king of being ambiguous and building space technology from Radio Shack
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