Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment (edition 2007)

Rereading these because the last one just came out. Loved these when I read them the first time. ( )

I started by reading the graphic novels and decided I wanted more details. Premise of a group of children having 2% avaian DNA added to them is not more unrealistic than many movies & TV shows. The characterization is good, the bad guys are believable and you really can't tell what is happening next. It is a good read and once I can recommend to anyone. ( )

I really thought this book was overrated. Slow slow slow and Max is kinda boring. Not interested enough to continue the series.
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Originally posted at Novel Reveries

I borrowed this book from the library because my little brother has to read it in class, and I figured he might need some help understanding it with it being by James Patterson and all. This is officially my first James Patterson book and it's quite good for that age range. I have no problem that my brother will (mostly) understand it, and that he may actually enjoy it. He's not a big reader– other than Naruto, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants– so I should probably reserve judgement on whether he'll enjoy it, or even finish it.

"We were bird kids, a flock of six. And the Erasers wanted to kill us." (26)

Max and the rest of her mutant flock are a rare breed that have been experimented on and tortured before breaking loose and finding their safe haven. After being found and kidnapped by their torturers, they must find and keep freedom again all while searching for answers of their past and evolving their own powers. They learn that flying isn't all they can do. In a rush of fast paced adventure, Max, Fang, Gasman, Iggy, Nudge and little Angel try to survive the Whitecoats and Erasers on their journey of liberation and self-discovery.

"Sometimes it felt as if we would never be free, be safe. Never, ever, as long as we lived. Which might not be that much longer, anyway." (326)

On my part, I found the adventure that Max and her flock are thrust into, quite thrilling. On the other hand, 134 chapters Prologue Epilogue is extremely excessive, especially since the chapters were only 2-3 pages long and could have easily been combined. Perhaps this is a method by Patterson to make his young reader's feel like they have achieved a lot, but I'm not sure. I also found everything in the book to become redundant. Repetitive actions and scenarios just added more paper throughout the book and just kept putting the characters through the same ringer every time. Something else that nagged me in the book (mostly during the first, oh, 40 chapters) is how we, the reader, continued to be put through switches of point of view. Sometimes it would be in first and second person (Max) and then other times it would be in third person. After a while I just shrugged it off and ignored it because after a certain point it only continued in first person. All this being said, I did like the plot and with the unfinished ending I may, one day, seek out the next book in the series and give it a read. I'm also more interested in reading other James Patterson works as well, and as I found while browsing in the bookstore, there's a lot out there.

"Is it important to be right or is it important to do what's right? That's one of the hardest lessons to learn." (427)

First Line: "Congratulations. The fact that you're reading this means you've taken one giant step closer to surviving till you next birthday." (1)
Last Line: "You know, Voice, I thought finally, my friends are my world." (454)
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Quotes

"It's in my nature to fight for the underdog. Jeb had always told me it was my fatal flaw. Jeb had been right." (79)



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3.5 stars

Maximum Ride is a girl whose DNA is crossed with avian DNA (angel-like appearance) and who with her band of bird-pals, has escaped the shadowy School that experimented on them and now lives together in a rural house.

The book opens with a chase scene and pretty much that's what happens throughout the book. Max and her friend are chased, punched, jumped on, and kidnapped by werewolf-like servants of the School called Erasers. One particular Eraser, Ari, keeps showing up at inopportune moments throughout the book.

Max's voice is snarky and fun, but it reads a bit like James Patterson was trying to hard to sound like a teenage girl. I think I would have stuck with a male protagonist if I were him. Write what you know and all that.

The story was fairly plotless on its own. I understand the need for an over-arching story line in a series, but each book needs to have a POINT, you know? This book's point seemed to be, "We are mutant bird children and we don't know what to do with ourselves!" That's pretty much what they do the whole book: Sit around thinking about how they don't know what to do, until Erasers show up and chase them away. The story seemed to drag itself forward, even going so far as to have a VOICE in Max's head that prompted her what to do next, because she couldn't figure it out on her own. Not that I blame her TOO much. She's only 14. They're faster, stronger, etc. than regular humans, but apparently not smarter or more mature.

I think my biggest beef with this book was the fact that I listened to the audiobook for the first 2/3 to 3/4 of the book, and the narrator was awful. I mean, her voice in itself was fine, but she emphasized the wrong words in sentences, paused in awkward places, and was more monotone than she should have been, for sure. I read the last part, and that was a MUCH more enjoyable experience!

The low rating aside, I do kinda want to know how to story ends... especially after that kiss....! I just hope the later books actually have a plot instead of just being a sequence of action scenes! ( )