Nevermore (Maximum ride #8), James Patterson

Okay, I want to tell you guys something before I start. In my humble opinion, Nevermore was the second-to-worst book in the entire Maximum Ride series, after The Final Warning. I just didn't like it. So most of this review is going to be a rant, and then I'll calm down and coherently talk about the good, the bad, and the meh. JP, you broke my heart, man, you really did.

Before my rant begins, here's a what it's about. (Warning, there WILL be spoilers in this review) ready? set? Boom, here goes the synopsis:

One last chance...
For Max, Fang, Angel, Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy.
Before it all ends.

Are you ready for the final chapter? Are you ready for the ultimate flight? Because THIS IS IT. One last incredible, explosive adventure with an astonishing ending that no one could have seen coming.

It's from goodreads, by the way.

Let's face it, guys, the series was dying. The first three books were incredibly awesomely amazing, and then it feels like James Patterson just gave up on the storyline, which is upsetting for the reader. WHY, JAMES? WHY?!? The only thing that kept me reading is some weird loyalty to the characters, possibly the only thing holding the books together at this point. There is some character development, no doubt, but some just makes the characters irritating. For example, what the eff happened to Max in Angel? She went from being a badass, sarcastic fighting machine to being some kind of mushy, whiney excuse for a flock leader (Bella Swan, much?). And since when does Fang talk? Now that was just weird. AND BAD.


Another problem I have with Patterson is the fact that he just can't kill characters. Why did Ari have to come back? What is with that? There was no need, it was just pure randomness. And why is Jeb not dead yet? What is the point of his character since, like, book four? He should be dead, and Ari should have stayed dead. I'll admit that I wanted Fang and Max to end up together, but there had to be some other way to do it! Why did Ari's clone have to come back and kill Maya? And what is it with Patterson and his clones?

I think eight books is way to long for a series like this. The story feels forced and stretched out, and it seems like JP just doesn't know what to do after the third book, and it just kind of falls apart. Once you finish this book, you'll be like "What the eff just happened?". I mean, the book just kind of ends. it's like BANG, it's over. Goodbye, and thanks for reading! And the reader's like "I read 8 books for this? for THIS?!?". It feels like the whole series was a red-herring, which is confusing and just irritating. It was just so anti-climactic! There's this huge buildup to the virus thingy, and then a meteor explodes and rains fire on everyone. Why would you do that? It just makes 90% of the book unnecessary!

Okay, we've got through most of the bad, now we can focus on the good.

Fang and Dylan's character developments were interesting, with Fang becoming less sulky and more mature, even managing to man up and return to Max (as if nothing had happened, which is another thing wrong with this book), and Dylan wasn't as irritating in the other books, as in, I didn't wan to punch him in the face (as much). He had a bit more depth to him in this one, and he malfunctions and stuff, so we see some character development in him in this one. Unfortunately, the same can't be said about the previous two books.

We had some good action, which kept me entertained for a while, until I realized that it was the equivalent of dangling something shiny in front of a baby, all you're really doing is distracting it from what's really going on. And what was really going on is that THERE IS NO PLOT. But anyway, we had some kick-as fight scenes which were pretty cool, I mean, it's always cool when the flock goes all 'Avengers' on the bad guys.

I'm not quite sure what to make of the fact that Angel was the Voice that manipulated the computers and stuff in the first book. It just seems a bit far-fetched to me and, to be honest, I don't really buy it. JP was just trying to answer questions for the sake of it at this point, and the answer he came up with for this one was a bit absurd. I was just like: "Angel? Really?", which is NOT something the author wants his readers to think, because it affects the credibility of his storyline.

In conclusion, I think that James Patterson gave up on this book and just wanted to end it in any way possible. Doesn't he normally take input from co-authors and then steal the credit when this stuff happens? But no, he didn't even had the decency to do that. It was a bad book all around, there wasn't much structure to it, the writing was nothing special, and there was just no substance to it. If you've read the rest of the series, I recommend you read it just for the closure you'll get from it but, be warned, it pretty much sucks. It could have been a bit worse, I guess, but for an author of his calibre it was just disappointing.

Did you like it? Did you hate it? Who did you like more, Fang or Dylan? Leave your comments below, I'd love to hear what you think!  Buh-bye for now.

(Not so) Happy reading,

JRD