"Angel" (Maximum Ride, #7) by James Patterson

Warning. This isn't really a proper review.
My opinions on this book are kind of confused. I'll talk about them.. and you know, the epic Maximum Ride series as whole (even with its flaws).

I love the Maximum Ride series. I've been reading them since the beginning and I REALLY loved the first three books... then along came the fourth book called "The Final Warning". Supposedly, this would be the end. I recall excitedly heading to the book store the day it came out. Upon picking up the book, I was confused. It was small-- first off. I finished it in a day and not simply because I devoured it but also because it was REALLY SHORT. The first three books were pretty long. I was so disappointed. It was short. It seemed like a novel written only to make teens aware of global warming, and in a kind of sneaky way.

Fast forward to Max (#5). I was apprehensive, but picked it up immediately. That was better. Much better. I still didn't feel it was as good as the first three but I was happy and began to feel that Maximum Ride was coming back; the way I remembered it.

And then Fang (#6). Again, happily going to the book store, less apprehensive as I enjoyed MAX. That book took all of my emotions and all of my opinions and ripped them into miniscule pieces. So began the issue of what I'm going to call confused-character-decision-making. In Fang, I felt the characters were all over the place. I don't know if you personally know, but a lot of people, upon finishing Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins said that Gale, Katniss, and many of the other characters just weren't behaving like themselves to the point of it making no sense. It was JUST LIKE THAT. My reactions: WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME JAMES PATTERSON? THIS DOESN"T MAKE ANY SENSE. WHAT IS GOING ON?!? That was in-between all the tears at the end. Which ripped my heart out: Oh my gosh. Like whoa, what is going on *SNIFFLE*.

Now, to Angel. I did not pick up Angel when it came out in February. I didn't like the sound of the summary. I didn't like how Fang left off. I had a feeling I wouldn't like it. Another problem is that it was supposedly "THE END". I don't know if you all know, but apparently now the end is coming out next February. Also, the Maximum Ride books have been advertised as "THE END" since the third book. Yeah. Confused? Me too.
I was in the library the other day and saw Angel. I picked it up. I put it back. I finally decided that I needed to know what happened I wanted to see if it was any better than Fang.

It was better than Fang. It was not as good as the first three. It was better than the Final Warning. I'd probably put it at the same level as Max. I liked it the same way I've liked all the Maximum Ride books; for the breath-taking pace, the action, and Max's narrative which drips with brut honesty, sarcasm, and personality. I did feel that there was more character confusion. I like Dylan more than I liked him before. Really, I would've liked it a lot if it weren't for the character confusion/out-of-character-ness/whatever it's called. That, and there were plot issues because there was really no resolve at the end; and at the same time it didn't really feel like a cliffhanger, along with several other problems.

Supposedly THE END is next February. I'm sure I'll still probably read it. If it's better than this, it'd be quite good! I hope it's the actual end, because the series seems to have been seriously stretched out.

My consensus is that I highly recommend the Maximum Ride series-- just prepare for some turbulence around the 4th, 6th, and the 7th books. And yes, that was a bad, albeit unintentional pun. Turbulence. Flying kids? Yep. Hopefully, all the fans who have stuck with the series even if they weren't a fan of some of the books will be rewarded with an actual, ideally very GOOD ending to the series in February!