Book #59 of 2024:
Alien Blood by Chris Archer (Mindwarp #2)
This sequel is an improvement over the first book, but I’m still not yet loving the middle-grade 90s Mindwarp series on this adult reread. We’ve switched protagonists, and the new girl’s plot plays out along similar lines to the boy’s from the novel before: strange new powers on her thirteenth birthday, shapeshifting alien with jet-black eyes trying to kill her, the need to balance all that with her regular teenage school stuff a la the Animorph kids, etc. There’s the shared feeling that this is a junior version of the sci-fi conspiracy thrillers of the day like Terminator 2 or The X-Files, too. And I appreciate that Ethan is around as a background character attempting to talk to Ashley throughout, although that crossover element will probably be more fun once they can really team up and compare notes later on.
Her abilities aren’t quite the same as his — more survival skills like rapid healing and superhuman senses than his instinctive weapons training and combat reflexes — and that helps this from seeming like just a second-episode rehash. Yet it’s too short to land with much impact, and it keeps its best piece, the reason for a few puzzling irregularities in the heroine’s experiences, as a secret with a big reveal in the final pages of the text. I would much rather have read a story about her finding out right away and having to process that information than one that holds it back as a mystery like this. But hopefully, the subsequent volumes continue to improve as the broader narrative deepens.
★★★☆☆
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