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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hawk by James Patterson, audiobook narrated by Chloe Cannon, published by Bolinda audio, listened to using BorrowBox via Norfolk Library and Information Service 4 stars š
The first book by James Patterson I ever read was āWhen the Winds Blowā it and it blew me away, if you. Have never read it, the main character is a young girl who has escaped from a research facility. She escapes by flying as she has wings, but she is not the only one to have been modified.
This book the main character is Hawk who as a young child was left on a street corner at the age of 5. She was told someone was on their way to get her and they would be back as soon as they can and to wait for them at this spot. Ten years later Hawk is still waiting for an hour every day at that spot. The city is at the mercy of the gangs and McCullum who seems to have a hand in everything prisons, childrenās homes, factories and blasts this information out from screens all around the city.
Although I enjoyed this book, I wonāt be listening to any of the others in this series. This one is aimed at YA and there were times when Hawk, who is a teenager herself brought back too many flashbacks of being a mum to teenagers myself šš
A teen I know loved this book so much they asked me to read it. I applaud the book for getting a teen passionate about reading, but from an adult perspective...this book is not very good.
The heroes/heroines are all invicible "badasses", as they'll be sure to tell you repeatedly. They get in fights every other page and they'll survive unbelievable odds through plot holes. Things like someone supposedly near death for chapters, then fighting off a dozen soldiers, and then no mention of injuries again.
While fighting like flying black belt ninjas, they spout of what are supposed to be clever comebacks and pithy one liners. And while a few made me laugh, most made me roll my eyes.
The plot holes/contradictions are throughout. Things appear and disappear - for example, Hawk's pet bird being left behind in her hometown one chapter then with her the next. Tracking devices being a bit plot device then never mentioned again.
A group of children who have been experimented on live in an abandoned children's home in the same complex as the lab that experimented on them and a prison. The children have steady jobs in the prison, but also live in hiding from the lab scientists. Scientists who, for some reason, need only them for experiments despite more easily accessible prisoners or drug addicts throughout the town? Who don't know they can easily find the children while they are at work?
The romance is pretty bad too. We see the main heroine meet a childhood friend - and totally nice rich (dystopian druglord) prince - and say 2 sentences before he's in a big street fight. Then the next time they meet, they're making out. It's clear he knows like 1% of what is going on in her life. Where's the actual relationship?
McCallum was an interesting villain though - definite vibes of a certain former US president...
The heroes/heroines are all invicible "badasses", as they'll be sure to tell you repeatedly. They get in fights every other page and they'll survive unbelievable odds through plot holes. Things like someone supposedly near death for chapters, then fighting off a dozen soldiers, and then no mention of injuries again.
While fighting like flying black belt ninjas, they spout of what are supposed to be clever comebacks and pithy one liners. And while a few made me laugh, most made me roll my eyes.
The plot holes/contradictions are throughout. Things appear and disappear - for example, Hawk's pet bird being left behind in her hometown one chapter then with her the next. Tracking devices being a bit plot device then never mentioned again.
A group of children who have been experimented on live in an abandoned children's home in the same complex as the lab that experimented on them and a prison. The children have steady jobs in the prison, but also live in hiding from the lab scientists. Scientists who, for some reason, need only them for experiments despite more easily accessible prisoners or drug addicts throughout the town? Who don't know they can easily find the children while they are at work?
The romance is pretty bad too. We see the main heroine meet a childhood friend - and totally nice rich (dystopian druglord) prince - and say 2 sentences before he's in a big street fight. Then the next time they meet, they're making out. It's clear he knows like 1% of what is going on in her life. Where's the actual relationship?
McCallum was an interesting villain though - definite vibes of a certain former US president...
Max is back!
If you're a fan of the Maximum Ride series and, like me, have really missed Max and the flock, then put your glasses on (unless you don't wear any), grab a box of tissues and get ready for a rollercoaster of thrills.
Fast-paced (as you'd expect), full of surprises (as you'd expect), with villains (ditto) and nail-biting situations ("), it's everything I wanted...
...and more... you'll never guess who Hawk is. [squeal] I should have guessed.
If you're a fan of the Maximum Ride series and, like me, have really missed Max and the flock, then put your glasses on (unless you don't wear any), grab a box of tissues and get ready for a rollercoaster of thrills.
Fast-paced (as you'd expect), full of surprises (as you'd expect), with villains (ditto) and nail-biting situations ("), it's everything I wanted...
...and more... you'll never guess who Hawk is. [squeal] I should have guessed.
I wrote Maximum Ride fan fiction better than this when I was 15. The only reason Hawk gets two stars instead of one is nostalgia.
I honestly donāt even know where to begin with this book, and describing the incredibly lazy writing would take more time than this review is worth. Iāll just say that teenagers arenāt stupid and the plots of YA novels shouldnāt treat them like they are.
I honestly donāt even know where to begin with this book, and describing the incredibly lazy writing would take more time than this review is worth. Iāll just say that teenagers arenāt stupid and the plots of YA novels shouldnāt treat them like they are.
Okay, final thoughts coming from an O.G. Max Ride Fan: This book was traaaaaaash. Obviously I liked a couple things about it or I wouldāve given it one star, but honestly Iām chalking that up to nostalgia. I canāt even waste my time explaining every little thing thatās wrong with this book. PSA: If you are an O.G. Maximum Ride fan, donāt waste your time. And if your curiosity is just too great, I recommend going to Piera Fordeās channel on YouTube because she no doubt already has a video up trashing this book that only we could truly relate to.
One thing about James Patterson's books, they are always reliable. They're often predictable, and you don't get a lot of twists and turns, but you can rely on them to be decent, steady reads. Not fabulous, but decent.
I enjoyed the Maximum Ride series, so I was happy to see another book. Of all of Patterson's many (many) books, I think the Maximum Ride series is actually the least predictable and reliable. Meaning, the action is more interesting and the characters more well-rounded.
Plus, the series has a lot of my favorite elements of novels, especially YA novels: futuristic dystopias, rebellions, mutants/superheroes. All wins! I hope we see more of Hawk and the Flock in the future, because they are such an interesting cast of characters.
I enjoyed the Maximum Ride series, so I was happy to see another book. Of all of Patterson's many (many) books, I think the Maximum Ride series is actually the least predictable and reliable. Meaning, the action is more interesting and the characters more well-rounded.
Plus, the series has a lot of my favorite elements of novels, especially YA novels: futuristic dystopias, rebellions, mutants/superheroes. All wins! I hope we see more of Hawk and the Flock in the future, because they are such an interesting cast of characters.
Alright yāall, this review will have spoilers and cursing.
FIRST OF ALL, as a die-hard Maximum Ride fan, but also as someone who recognizes that the series went downhill and that JP shouldāve stopped writing it after a certain point, I had mixed feelings when this book was announced. Max Ride was my favorite series for a huge part of my adolescence, and itās what inspired me to really start writing. The original series - at least the first 5 books - are so dear and close to my heart, and even when the last books got disappointing, I still loved them. Always will, and will make my kids read them when Iām older. But I knew that JP was beating a dead horse by keeping it going when it shouldāve ended, so the announcement of this book made me wary. But I couldnāt help but feel excited at the same time, because of how much Maximum Ride means to me.
I wanted so badly to give this book 5 stars, and I think emotionally?? It gets 5 stars, but holy fuck the writing is just so horrible. Hawk/Phoenix is 1000 times more annoying and immature than Max ever was. The characters were useless and empty. The villain was just so incredibly stupid, and there were so many fucking plot holes and things that made no sense whatsoever, it was like every page was just thrown together with no care or thought. I want James Patterson to retire. I donāt ever want him to write another Maximum Ride book and I want him to hire me to edit and rewrite the series into the much better version it should be. But I also know that if he does continue this ānew generationā of Max Ride, Iāll still read it (which I fucking HATE. I canāt let go of it. Iām so mad.) I hated this because it was such a letdown, but part of me loved it at the same time.
What I loved about it was the original flock, all grown up (physically, at least. Mentally they were all still written like young teenagers instead of the adults in their TWENTIES AND THIRTIES they should be in this book. Nudge and Gazzy and Angel I felt were the only ones who matured. Max and Fang, as much as I love them, had no growth). I've always wanted to see them as adults, and I love that they actually curse now, because they should've been able to curse the whole time.
What I loved about it was the sentimental emotion and nostalgia it brought me, and the fact that it was nonstop action-packed like a true Maximum Ride book. What I loved was seeing all my babies again, and always Max and Fang. Thatās why it gets 3 stars.
But good fucking lord, the writing is a goddamn mess. Itās like James Patterson doesnāt even try anymore. He or his ghost writers just spit words on a page and theyāre like āsure, that works.ā The dialogue was so childish and so immature and I rolled my eyes so many times. And the post-apocalyptic world is confusing because there is no world-building to how it got that way after the events of Maximum Ride Forever, there is no explanation, itās just there. And itās stupid. Itās supposed to be former England, I guess, because they describe everything in meters and centimeters throughout the book, which I hated. There are just so many things about this book that donāt make sense at all. Like I donāt even know what to say. What is anyone supposed to take from this? The plot is so loose. Like so, so loose. Itās barely even there. The events are so random and there is no explanation for almost anything.
But just.... ugh. Fuck me. Iām so torn over this and canāt even properly put my words down cohesively. Like, I hated this book and I wanted to give it 1 star because of the horrendous cheesy writing, but I also loved it and want to give it 5 stars purely because of the old flock and Max and Fang, as undeveloped as they were. Their reunion scene got to me. I hate that Iām always gonna love them so much. Like so, so much.
I wish this book was different, and we had an older, more mature, darker, more New Adult-genre version of Maximum Ride, because I would eat that shit up like thereās no tomorrow. I would DEVOUR a book like that, of an older flock exploring a wasteland post-apocalyptic world while they have to deal with baby Phoenix. I want to see them all raising her. I want to see the flock growing up like they should and dealing with their traumas, and maturing into complicated adults. I wish someone else would rewrite Maximum Ride and make it into what it deserves to be. But this is what we have, this unfortunate train wreck.
Does part of me love this train wreck though? Yeah, and I always will. Iām a sucker.
FIRST OF ALL, as a die-hard Maximum Ride fan, but also as someone who recognizes that the series went downhill and that JP shouldāve stopped writing it after a certain point, I had mixed feelings when this book was announced. Max Ride was my favorite series for a huge part of my adolescence, and itās what inspired me to really start writing. The original series - at least the first 5 books - are so dear and close to my heart, and even when the last books got disappointing, I still loved them. Always will, and will make my kids read them when Iām older. But I knew that JP was beating a dead horse by keeping it going when it shouldāve ended, so the announcement of this book made me wary. But I couldnāt help but feel excited at the same time, because of how much Maximum Ride means to me.
I wanted so badly to give this book 5 stars, and I think emotionally?? It gets 5 stars, but holy fuck the writing is just so horrible. Hawk/Phoenix is 1000 times more annoying and immature than Max ever was. The characters were useless and empty. The villain was just so incredibly stupid, and there were so many fucking plot holes and things that made no sense whatsoever, it was like every page was just thrown together with no care or thought. I want James Patterson to retire. I donāt ever want him to write another Maximum Ride book and I want him to hire me to edit and rewrite the series into the much better version it should be. But I also know that if he does continue this ānew generationā of Max Ride, Iāll still read it (which I fucking HATE. I canāt let go of it. Iām so mad.) I hated this because it was such a letdown, but part of me loved it at the same time.
What I loved about it was the original flock, all grown up (physically, at least. Mentally they were all still written like young teenagers instead of the adults in their TWENTIES AND THIRTIES they should be in this book. Nudge and Gazzy and Angel I felt were the only ones who matured. Max and Fang, as much as I love them, had no growth). I've always wanted to see them as adults, and I love that they actually curse now, because they should've been able to curse the whole time.
What I loved about it was the sentimental emotion and nostalgia it brought me, and the fact that it was nonstop action-packed like a true Maximum Ride book. What I loved was seeing all my babies again, and always Max and Fang. Thatās why it gets 3 stars.
But good fucking lord, the writing is a goddamn mess. Itās like James Patterson doesnāt even try anymore. He or his ghost writers just spit words on a page and theyāre like āsure, that works.ā The dialogue was so childish and so immature and I rolled my eyes so many times. And the post-apocalyptic world is confusing because there is no world-building to how it got that way after the events of Maximum Ride Forever, there is no explanation, itās just there. And itās stupid. Itās supposed to be former England, I guess, because they describe everything in meters and centimeters throughout the book, which I hated. There are just so many things about this book that donāt make sense at all. Like I donāt even know what to say. What is anyone supposed to take from this? The plot is so loose. Like so, so loose. Itās barely even there. The events are so random and there is no explanation for almost anything.
But just.... ugh. Fuck me. Iām so torn over this and canāt even properly put my words down cohesively. Like, I hated this book and I wanted to give it 1 star because of the horrendous cheesy writing, but I also loved it and want to give it 5 stars purely because of the old flock and Max and Fang, as undeveloped as they were. Their reunion scene got to me. I hate that Iām always gonna love them so much. Like so, so much.
I wish this book was different, and we had an older, more mature, darker, more New Adult-genre version of Maximum Ride, because I would eat that shit up like thereās no tomorrow. I would DEVOUR a book like that, of an older flock exploring a wasteland post-apocalyptic world while they have to deal with baby Phoenix. I want to see them all raising her. I want to see the flock growing up like they should and dealing with their traumas, and maturing into complicated adults. I wish someone else would rewrite Maximum Ride and make it into what it deserves to be. But this is what we have, this unfortunate train wreck.
Does part of me love this train wreck though? Yeah, and I always will. Iām a sucker.
I admit to not reading any of the Maximum Ride books but I just dived into this new release. And it was nice. Easy to read, good characters.