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Alright y’all, 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 should’ve 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 it’s 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 I’m older. But I knew that JP was beating a dead horse by keeping it going when it should’ve ended, so the announcement of this book made me wary. But I couldn’t 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 don’t 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 “new generation” of Max Ride, I’ll still read it (which I fucking HATE. I can’t let go of it. I’m 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. That’s why it gets 3 stars.
But good fucking lord, the writing is a goddamn mess. It’s like James Patterson doesn’t even try anymore. He or his ghost writers just spit words on a page and they’re like “sure, that works.” 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, it’s just there. And it’s stupid. It’s 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 don’t make sense at all. Like I don’t even know what to say. What is anyone supposed to take from this? The plot is so loose. Like so, so loose. It’s barely even there. The events are so random and there is no explanation for almost anything.
But just.... ugh. Fuck me. I’m so torn over this and can’t 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 I’m 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 there’s 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. I’m 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 should’ve 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 it’s 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 I’m older. But I knew that JP was beating a dead horse by keeping it going when it should’ve ended, so the announcement of this book made me wary. But I couldn’t 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 don’t 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 “new generation” of Max Ride, I’ll still read it (which I fucking HATE. I can’t let go of it. I’m 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. That’s why it gets 3 stars.
But good fucking lord, the writing is a goddamn mess. It’s like James Patterson doesn’t even try anymore. He or his ghost writers just spit words on a page and they’re like “sure, that works.” 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, it’s just there. And it’s stupid. It’s 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 don’t make sense at all. Like I don’t even know what to say. What is anyone supposed to take from this? The plot is so loose. Like so, so loose. It’s barely even there. The events are so random and there is no explanation for almost anything.
But just.... ugh. Fuck me. I’m so torn over this and can’t 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 I’m 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 there’s 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. I’m a sucker.