Paperback, 422 pages
Published
April 1st 2007
by Little, Brown and Company
(first published April 11th 2005)
ISBN
0316067954
(ISBN13: 9780316067959)
edition language
English
original title
The Angel Experiment
series
characters
literary awards
In James Patterson's
blockbuster series, fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max,
knows what it's like to soar above the world. She and all the members
of the "flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like
ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a
dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living
nightmare at any time...like when Angel, the youngest member of the
flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the "School" where she and the
others were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs. Her friends brave a
journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough,
they find themselves in yet another nightmare--this one involving
fighting off the half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" in New York City.
Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the
Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of
their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and
father-figure Jeb--now her betrayed and greatest enemy--that her purpose
is save the world--but can she?
My Review
I wasn't really sure what all the hype was about James Patterson. Everyone seemed to be wanting to read him but he only seemed to write crime sort of novels and that was just not my sort of thing. However when a friend recommended this series to me, I thought hell why not. It seems different, probably a series that not a lot of people are reading at the moment and its an easy series to get hold of. So I got hold of it and boy am I glad that I did. it was like modern society rolled into fantasy which is every fantasy readers dream and idea of a fantastic and amazing book because it means you get a bigger sense of what is going on and you can really relate to it in the best way possible. However, do you ever paint a picture of the main character only to then find a few pages later that you just got it all seriously wrong? well that certainly happened for me here. When I started to read the book I painted this image of a male figure in my head. He was the lead character, a loving father figure that was meant to be protective of everyone. Perhaps this was because of the name, or the authors writing style or maybee it was just the expectation of the lead character being a male like they usually are. therefore you can imagine my shock and confusion when I discovered that actually the he I had created was in fact a girl. And a well written character she is. I loved the whole fact that it seemed to be the sort of story that has not been written before, that it was an experiement that had yet to be understood and had yet to be written about or discussed.
Perhaps this is what made the novel itself an exciting novel, the very fact that it was something different in that it wasnt something that was so cliche and like all the other young adult books out there. it was a group of kids who were human but not 100% human and who were having to live on there own, running and hiding from a danger that was likely to end in death if they were caught. The novel was just so well written that you couldnt actually help but feel like you were being drawn into the pages, becoming a part of it, understanding it and living it. Of course I think my favorite characters were probably angel and nudge, just because they seemed to hold characteristics that I am familiar with. I think others might complain that perhaps the book was drawn out far to long, but I feel the opposite. the book was an open door, that despite the fact it had ended, there were still so many more stories to go through and so many things to understand and pull through with. it left you with that itch to carry on reading, to not put it down even when your eyes are doing everything they can to close and to sleep. Its exciting alive and just well presented in its own sort of way.
Max was wonderfully presented and I liked the fact that it was a female because it showed the females are not always weaklings and that they dont have to stand in the background doing nothing at all, or rather doing as there told. I think that was a huge highlight to the book because in this one in particular the females were the main cause of all the plans, they were the task makers and the plan makers and that showed a powerful representation to the female population. however the page was always moving, it was always twisting with something new and I just seriously never ever got bored of it. I even sat in mcdonalds refusing to move until I had actually finished the book. So in answer to whether I would recommend this book to anyone else, then that is easy. its a big fat yesso.
It most certainly deserves a five star rating just because of what it has within it. It was well written, the characters although not entirely human, were still relatable to in that you could really understand the conflicting emotions and the actions that they were taking. It was a powerful book that was alive with imagery, it became real in my mind and I seriously can not wait to get reading the next one. thankfully I have already borrowed it from the library so I wont have to wait forever and ever to get hold of it. READ IT!!!!! YOU MUST!!!!
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