Book Review: Maximum Ride 3

*This review was originally shared on our homeschooling site as part of a MotherTalk blog tour*

For my first Blog Tour with MotherTalk I was given the chance to review James Patterson's Maximum Ride 3: Saving The World and Other Extreme Sports. My biggest worry when I received the book was that since I'm not a big Sci-Fi Fantasy fan, I would end up hating the book and spend two weeks trying to figure out how to nicely say it stunk. Thankfully that was not even remotely the case.

Maximum Ride 3 is the third installment in James Patterson's series (with rumor of a fourth coming out next year) featuring the winged teenage hero, Max, and her flying "Flock". After reading this book I can say my only regrets are that I had never heard of the Maximum Ride book series before and that I didn't read the first two books first. Since finding the books at the local library was next to impossible I was relieved that Mr. Patterson recaps the first two books throughout the story so you understand what's going on now.

Knowing that there is a Maximum Ride website complete with forums, that Fang's blog really does exist, and that Max even has her own MySpace made it even more fun as my kids and I read through each site. Having the characters as part of the "blogosphere" gives them a new dimension that young readers are usually not able to see with their favorite book characters.

My oldest son who is sixteen read the book before I could grab it so I decided to not only give my opinion on the book but his as well. My son loves to read and is very hard to please so I felt his thoughts on this were important. Here are some questions we both answered...

1- What was your favorite thing about the book?

**Jolene**- The story had great imagery, showed teens in a positive light (smart, responsible, and brave), and whenever I read the parts about flying it was almost like you were there yourself. I also really enjoyed Max because her sarcasm and attitude reminded me of myself at her age.

**Big B**- Whenever Max tries to balance the roles of leader, mother, and friend for the whole Flock. Also when Fang, Iggy, and Gasman battle the robot Erasers.

2- What did you dislike about the book?

**Jolene**- One of the deaths was a little sad and it got confusing at times trying to figure out if it was Max talking, one of the Flock, or if it was like Max was writing in her diary. I also thought the ending was kind of flat after all the build up and excitement throughout the book. It just lacked "umph" at the end.

**Big B**- When Max finds out who her biological father is. It was just disappointing who it was.

3- What kind of person or group would you recommend this book to?

**Jolene**- I would recommend it to youth ages 10-15, to teachers for use in the classroom as maybe a Unit Study or project, and to people who are interested in mythical winged creatures already (gargoyles, vampires, angels, etc).

**Big B**- I would recommend it to people younger than 15 mostly but I would still tell my friends about it. After reading this book I put the first two on hold at the library so I can read them as well. It was definitely interesting and a nice change from just Harry Potter books all the time.

4- How was the book different than what you expected, or surprising?

**Jolene**- Since the book is actually for kids I figured the story would be nice but not enough to actually draw me in. Surprisingly, I was just as eager to finish the book and find out what happened to the Flock as my son was!!

**Big B**- It wasn't a little kids book. It actually dealt with the problems that face teenagers such as love, identifying yourself, and wanting to fit in, which was cool.

So all in all we both enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the first two as well. I personally enjoyed having yet another book that I could read and discuss with one of my kids. Hopefully my thirteen year old daughter will take an interest in the book soon and we can all three have a discussion on it.