There's her dawning self-awareness of what she's really like, and her realisation of how Jake has used her like a sharp blade. (She's wise, however, in pointing out that Jake won't be able to just go back to normal life either.) These words are an ominous foreshadowing for what will come later in the series.

I love this book for Rachel's increasing darkness (this girl is honestly frightening sometimes) - Jake and Rachel finally drop some real talk on each other, comparing her lust for battle to alcoholism, and wondering what she'll do once the war is over and she no longer has this outlet. I think so far, the one time it was shown that they consciously did so, it was Cassie ripping a Hork-Bajir's throat out, and the psychological repercussions for her were dire.īut now they're finally at the prospect of crossing that line, and they're not even facing a Controller or Yeerk. They hit Controllers just hard enough to drop them they leave Hork-Bajir unconscious but breathing even as a venomous snake, they (somehow) bite just enough to knock a man out but not kill him Ax hits people with the flat of his tail. It's notable because the series has always been very conscious of showing that they try to minimise damage, even to the extent of sending money to a store later if they steal clothes. The haunting conclusion to the David trilogy, the series taking an even darker turn as they finally contemplate killing another human being, another not-even-teenager like them.

The Solution by K.A. Applegate