If you haven’t been reading this series, this certainly isn’t the place to start! Go back to the beginning, to the two gloriously entertaining and cinematically fun books Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment and Maximum Ride: School’s Out – Forever. I can’t guarantee you won’t be disappointed after those first two, though… I know I was.
Point is, don’t read this review if you don’t want to be spoiled by future plots. Only seasoned Maximum Ride vets should be reading beyond this point…
Max and her flock – minus the recent loss of one of the beloved members and the abandonment of another – are trying out school again. Max really can’t stand it, but Nudge is so desperate to be normal she figured there in enough of a lull in the whole “Save the World” mission to let her try.
She knew it wouldn’t end well.
And while things are going kablooey, yet again, Max also finds herself more and more drawn to Dylan’s polar opposite personality to Fang’s (his leaving still stings) and his undeniable attractiveness.
But romance has to be put to the side when new information comes in that the plan the crazies have been coming up with to wipe out a significant portion of humanity to make way for a “better world” is beginning to take place… and events force Fang back into the fold.
Um, awkward…
How will it all end? You gotta read Nevermore to find out.
Okay – so. Nevermore.
First off, I have to say that it is really sad for me, as a devout bibliophile, to see a series that I LOVED so much at the start take such a nosedive creatively. Of course, this is only my opinion. I know that there are many readers that still adore the series. But for me, I’ve been very disenchanted as its continued.
Plus, before reading Nevermore I accidentally heard a couple things about the end and inadvertently may have glimpsed a spoiler (you know how I hate spoilers!) and I had to really try and not let that possible knowledge affect my opinion as I was reading. It ended up not being quite accurate, actually. What I read happened, but then there was a weird "twist" that changed it. That's all I'll say on that for now.
Nevermore started off weak for me. It was focusing far too much on the romance, and even that was frustrating since I don’t know of anybody (sure you’re out there!) that wants Dylan and Max together, or even Fang and Maya to hook up. But, really, especially in a last book – I want the flock! Where’s Iggy, Gazzy, and Nudge? In the background – not given much to do, unfortunately.
Surprisingly, as Nevermore continued, all of a sudden touches of the early books pop in, like Erasers and the haunting memories of their lab experiment pasts. It helped, but I couldn’t dare trust that it would really get better. And, in my opinion, it did not.
Repeating storylines, occasional cliché scenes, overall lackluster plot – yet still whip-fast with characters I once loved so much that they break my heart to see how much they’ve changed, and not for the better.
Nevermore really kinda brought me down. The end seems to appear out of nowhere with nothing really feeling resolved or satisfied. The explanation given for the Voice doesn’t make sense to me when I think back to the first book – made me feel like there was never a planned answer on that, which is even more disappointing.
Don’t get me wrong – Nevermore is not a terrible book. I’m sure many of you will enjoy it. For me, it was a letdown to what was an explosive series full of action and twists – not political/inspirational messages or some kind of mushy romance.
To be honest, I’m less likely to read James Patterson going forward.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, though!
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