Team Max!

As you guys probably know, the girls over at YA Sisterhood are hosting the YA Heroine Tourney. Well guess what! I'm an advocate! I am supporting Max from the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson. She was 25th seed, but I have confidence in my girl!! But I can't do it alone! Please do me a favor. Grab a Team Max button and vote for her when the time comes!

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Don't like any of those? Feel free to make your own! But let's all vote for Max :)

Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme you can find HERE.

This weeks question:

You’ve just had a long, hard, exhausting day, and all you want to do is curl up with something light, fun, easy, fluffy, distracting, and entertaining.
What book do you pick up?

MY ANSWER:

Agh. That's a hard one, because there are so many!

I guess I'd say something from James Patterson's YA collection, like the Maximum Ride books or the Witch and Wizard books. They may not be the best books in the world, but the narration is witty and fun, the action definitely distracts me, and they are all really quick to read.

Another selection would be something from Kelley Armstrong's YA collection. All of her characters are fun and cute and her plots are super original.

What about you?



Maximum Ride: School's out - Forever (REVIEW)

In this stand-alone sequel to The Angel Experiment, bird-kid Max and her flock fly south to reunite with their parents. But their perilous mission runs into stiff winds when they are apprehended by an FBI agent who dispatches them to the worst nightmare destination: school! Max's homework assignment include decoding documents that might have help save the world and protect her from Max II, a clone who knows her every move. Action; suspense; plot surprises: all James Patterson specialties.

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MY THOUGHTS:

So, I've mixed feelings on this book. Because I kind of sort of loved it and couldn't stop reading it, but it wasn't actually that great. There's nothing especially phenomenal about the writing, and the premise is a little strange. These kids are pretty smart for a group that has never attended an actual school before this book. They haveseveral adult traits, and maybe that was because they have been through a lot and they were forced to mature early, but I kind of get the feeling that James Patterson forgets just how young each of the characters are.

Reasons I liked it:

• The protagonist. Despite my claims of the whole "acting too old" I happen to like Max a lot. I think she's funny and not entirely stupid. Okay, she's pretty damn smart and I like the whole mother hen thing she has going on with her flock. I like her total naivity when it comes to relationships and her romantic feelings. Max definitely makes the Ride much more enjoyable with her flippant and dry narration.
• The creepy wolf kid. Ari. I'm not sure why I like him. He's malicious and hateful and really confused about his feelings for Max. But come on, he goes into a store and causes all of this commotion just for a Game Boy. Gotta love it.
• The flock. They're fun and cute. Nuff said.

My rating:

3 out of 5 stars. Cute and light read and definitely worth a shot.

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

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?
(goodreads.com)

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MY THOUGHTS:

So, the only reason I began this series was because I recieved a lot of reccomendations for it. I was very hesitant to read, because--Come on! Bird people? I thought it sounded a bit...wonky. And then I saw that it was 422 pages and I thought "Oh man. Do I really want to read this? I do have a book about werewolves and vampires..."

But then I did begin to read it, and I must say it was much better than I had anticipated. The protagonist is fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride (a self proclaimed nickname) who is generally smart, caring, and humorous.

I was a little shocked at first by the narration, where James Patterson has his protagonist actually talk to the reader, but as I read further it began to really pull me and I found it quite cute, actually. One little quibble I have, though, is the intelligence level of the children. There are six in all: Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. Max, Fang, and Iggy are each 14 (also sort of self proclaimed); Nudge is 11; Gazzy is 8; and Angel is 6. I mean, I know that they are genetically modified and that their intelligence level should probably be above level, but I'm only slightly older than them and I consider myself fairly intelligent, yet the six year old knows more than I do! These kids don't even attend a school to educate them.

Reasons I liked it:

• The protagonist. She is tough yet soft, stoic yet vulnerable. There are several moments when she has to remind herself that she is only 14, and not exaclty cut out to raise children, but then she reminds herself that they are a family and that she would do anything for the other five. She is also sarcastic, which is undeniably awesome! She is always alert, even when she wants more than anything to relax. And instead of gushing about boys and her hair and what she's wearing, she focuses on her "flock" and their happiness--even when she begins to hear voices in her head.
• The variety of characters. There is a blind pyromaniac (Iggy, who happens to be my favorite!) who doesn't let his disability stop him from anything--even blowing up his enemies! There's a black little girl who is sweet and adorable and will talk your ears off (Nudge). There is the dark and brooding boy who actually kind of cares even though nobody but Max really knows it (Fang). There's an 8 year old boy who tries really hard to be tough and who is a junior pyromaniac (Gazzy, short for Gasman). And there is the precious little six year old who can control minds and breathe under water and a lot of other crazy things that I can't even begin to fathom (Angel).

My Rating:

3 out of 5 stars. Worth a shot!