1. The main premise of this book is Marco's morphing mishaps. What do you think about his mixed morphs? Is it a plausible excuse for stress? Why do you think that none of the other Animorphs have been 'afflicted' yet? They're all under quite a bit of stress, after all...
Well, if we think about it, stress can hinder any thought process.
Much like with Rachel in
#The Reaction, this story addresses the affects of emotion in the morphing process.
I'd like to ponder, whether Cassie, perhaps because she's so empathic, and always deals with the deep sentiments, whether this is the factor that makes her an estreen?!
And isn't it interesting how this story also has a plot involving discrediting a celebrity who is endorsing The Sharing (and it also ends in a the filming set), just like in
The Reaction, as
AniDragon also pointed out.
2. Do you think that the Animorphs approached discrediting William Roger Tennant in an effective way?
I think there was an attempt to make it as simple as possible on the Animorphs' part. A demorilization tactic was sound, to passively fight the enemy. But, all the attempts failed, until the third one, eventually.
3. What do you think about the added dilemma of Marco's father getting remarried.
I say it was about the right time for Marco's dad to move on. Pity, it had to be a Controller.
And surely enough, through Marco's book, the character gets a sense of emotional progress throughout the series. Don't forget, he's about to scrap the surface of breakthrough Z-Space tech.
4. What do you think about Cassie's attempts at helping Marco cope? What about Jake's very different tactic?
Marco was getting too bogged down. He's full of psychological defensive barriers, and Cassie was kind of unintentionally feeding this. Jake, however, was blended the fact that he was a leader and at the same time the one who knew Marco best, and was best suited to drag Marco out of it.
5. This book ends with Visser One/Eva calling Marco. Was this a good place in the series to have this happen, or should it have taken place in a more critical book??
See, this is where it gets somewhat ambiguious to me. It feels like this scene should have been added at the very end of
#The Reunion. I kind of treat this book and
#The Reunion as one. Almost as if the writer split the plot into two, to make fillers for Marco's narrations.
Nevertheless, the choice to end like this was a brilliant way to slip in the events of
Visser. We can actually deduce what went through Marco and the other Anis right after he hangs up. Still... To have that call come in right after a wedding... KA really likes to push it, huh?!
6. Anything else?
Why the heck was this book subtitled
The Proposal?! I can't make the link...
Out of all the Anis, why is that that Marco seemed to have it worst in terms of Controllers in this relations?! A mother who is a host to none other than the mighty V1; he almost dated a controller his age; and now he gets a 'step-mum' who is also the enemy-- Jeez!
