Author: James Patterson
Series: Maximum Ride #1
First Published: April 2005
Publisher: Little Brown & Company
422 pages (paperback)
I’ve always wanted to read a James Patterson book, and I thought picking a YA one would be a good place to start since I like YA books. I guess I had higher expectations since he is such a big name author. I felt a little let down, but I still want to see where this series goes. Also, this book is “YA”, and I opened this book up with that in mind, but it is actually more of a middle grade book.
The Angel Experiment is the first book in an eight book series about a girl named Maximum Ride and her friends. Max and her six friends are 98% human and 2% avian. They were lab experiments created by scientists. Each of them have a magnificent pair of wings on their back, and each of them also have unique powers. The six of them were rescued from the lab by a sympathetic scientist named Jeb and for the last four years were raised in a secluded house high in the mountains. Two years ago Jeb disappeared though, most likely dead. One day, out of the blue, Erasers — werewolf-like creatures also created by those same scientists — crash their hiding place and kidnap the youngest of their group, a little six year old named Angel. Determined to get their friend back, Max and the others prepare to journey to rescue her, while at the same time, hoping they will be able to find more about their past before they became ‘mutants’.
I think my problem with this book was the way the story progressed. The characters had clear goals to get to, but for some odd reason, would get extremely easily distracted and do something else for a few chapters before remembering, “Oh yeah, we have to rescue Angel.” There were also chapters where they did things that didn’t seem necessary to the plot, like attend a concert or eat in a restaurant. Granted, the chapters were very, very short, so it’s not as if I had to spend an agonizing number of pages reading about mundane activities, but still. The Erasers also showed up at regular points in the story to shake up Max and her friends, but they always win the fight and manage to get away. Very predictable, and kind of reminded me of children’s cartoon shows where the bad guys show up but the good guys always, always win.
The ending was also rather disappointing as well. The climax was not very climactic and it all happened very, very quickly. I was pretty surprised to realize I have reached the end of the book. The ending didn’t feel very conclusive, which I suppose is intended as it is the first book of a series, but it felt rushed and abrupt.
Other things I was not too happy about was the juvenile style writing (I do realize it’s a kid’s book, but the writing was still pretty lackluster) and the characters being rather one dimensional.
However, I did really like the concept of the lab created mutants and it was actually a pretty fun and humorous book as well, even if it is kids’ humor. I do find myself wanting to find out more about Maximum Ride and why the scientists think she will one day “save the world”. The book definitely has appeal, I was just not too crazy about the actual flow of events in the story. If you are looking for a book aimed at actual young adults, I think this series is a little too young, but if you don’t mind middle grade books, I think the book was pretty fun. It has its flaws, but I hope it gets better in the next installment. Admittedly, I am not this book’s target audience; I think actual kids would find this book pretty engrossing.
My Rating: 2/5
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