Nevermore discussion

Don't get me wrong, I love Maximum Ride, and I always have, ever since the first book. But this book...the ending made NO SENSE and there were so many loose ends! This was so unlike James Patterson and I was really disappointed.

1. Angel's goes blind. And then she's suddenly fine...? It was like in one chapter she couldn't see and then in the next it never even mentioned if she could see or not. So the reader is left to ASSUME that she can see.

2. Angel's wings are clipped? She couldn't fly. And yup, you guessed it, James Patterson doesn't mention that either. So again, the reader is left to ASSUME that she miraculously can fly again, with absolutely zero explanation.

3. Max's character totally changed. She used to be as tough as nails and would fight to the death to protect her flock. But now? THE ENTIRE WORLD IS ENDING AND ALL SHE DOES IS MAKE OUT WITH FANG. -_- And most of the book focused on Max, Fang, and Dylan and some Angel. Nudge, and especially Iggy and Gazzy, were BARELY mentioned at all. The whole book was more of a love triangle between her, Fang, and Dylan than the whole saving-the-world thing. You know that's kinda important.

4. Oh yeah, saving the world? We have all been looking forward to this since Book 1. How is Max going to save the world? Well guess what? SHE DOESN'T SAVE IT. The world ends! And she didn't do ANYTHING. It was just that lovey stuff between her and Fang and she doesn't even TRY to save the world.

5. Dylan and Fang's relationship = so underdeveloped. On one page, Dylan literally tries to kill Fang. Then, the sweet-talking, gentle Dylan that we know, GOES ON A PSYHCOTIC RAMPAGE AND STARTS TERRORIZING THE TOWN. Totally random. And then, after all that, he is suddenly just okay with Max and Fang making out at the end. It barely even mentions him, it just says he was there. So he just tried to murder Fang...and now he's perfectly fine? There is absolutely no purpose to Dylan by the end. He should have just been killed off. Or, if not killed, then he should have left. Because having him sitting there silently while Max and Fang are sucking the lips off each other is just wrong.

6. Fang's gang. Okay, I never liked them in the first place. But it was so rushed and totally illogical the way they were let go. Star and Kate turn out to be traitors (there really isn't much expansion on that) so Fang leaves. Yup, he leaves. Which means he just left Ratchet and Holden in the middle of the desert and they are never mentioned again.

7. Repetition. Repetition repetition repetition. Ari comes back. Again? Really? Alright, so first he was alive and then they killed him. When he came back to life, it was like "OMG HUGE TWIST *gasp*" And then they kill him again. But now he comes back AGAIN and they kill him AGAIN. That's way overkill. It was like "Ugh Ari again?" It's like Patterson couldn't think of another villain to create. And they go to school AGAIN and there is YET ANOTHER evil teacher. And Nudge gets caught up in normal life AGAIN and swears she is going to take off her wings AGAIN.

8. What happened to Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Dr. Martinez, Ella, Jeb, and Total? NONE of them were mentioned at the end of the book. At the end, it's only Max, Fang, Dylan, and Angel. And does Max go nuts looking for them because she's all mama-bear? Nope, she just continues making out with Fang. For all she knows, they could all be dead, but nothing matters in the world anymore except Fang. -_-

9. Angel is the Voice. Okay...? You would have thought that when the Voice is revealed, everything would make sense. But no. Most of the stuff the Voice said still didn't make sense even after Angel revealed herself. Like when the Voice told Dylan that he had to win Max's heart and that the world depended on it. What? That was never explained. The Voice also told all the members of the flock to do something, like when Nudge was told that she had to record everything because it would be important later on. Well, it never explained why Nudge had to record anything. Nor did it explain whether or not Nudge was ALIVE. Also, Angel said she was MAX'S Voice. So the reader assumes she is the Voice of the rest of the flock too? But then who is ANGEL'S Voice?! Didn't she have a Voice in (I think it was) the book Fang? So she's her own Voice?

10. The end of the world made no sense. First it's trying to stop the 99%ers and then the SKY EXPLODES?!?!?! That was a totally different plot that had nothing to do with the 99% plan at all. I mean, how many ways could the world possibly end in one book?!

11. At the end...they die...then they're still alive...then Max says she can see the end of the tunnel...and then they're alive again. At the end, you can't even tell if they are alive or if they are in some parallel universe or Heaven or something and it's a new beginning.

12. Throughout the entire series, Jeb kept flipflopping from being good to being evil. And in the end, we are not entirely sure if he is good or bad. Again, no explanation, unanswered questions, yada yada yada.

The only things I liked about it were that Maya died, they found Angel, and Max ended up with Fang and not Dylan. But even that, I hated all the love stuff. Max and Fang were better when they were super tough and they played off each other well but now they're all love love love kiss kiss kiss. The only reason I was happy was because I didn't like Dylan and if I had to pick one, it would be Fang. Honestly it would be better if Patterson never introduced the love thing waaaaay back and just stuck to saving the world. Which, again, NEVER HAPPENED.

So there you have it. This book was terrible. Maximum Ride was my favorite series, but this was just plain horrible. I thought Patterson was a better author that that. I read a comment on another site that I totally agree with. It said that it was like reading a really bad fanfiction. And it was.

Oh yeah, one more thing.

Remember when Max saw herself as an Eraser in the mirror? Never explained that one either.

I agree. The book had loose ends. I didnt like that part of it. I liked the romance, but this book was romance and a little bit of action. I like books with action, and a LITTLE bit of romance. The book could have been better. Oh and Nudge, Gazzy, Iggy, Max's mom, and Total all went to the caves and were safe. Angel at the end of the book read into Dr. M's mind and they were all there. BUT I think she said that she didnt know how to get to the caves because the only way she knew of was now underwater? Loose end...

I TOTALLY AGREE. Read my review for my in-depth thoughts about the book, which I gave three stars.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Here are my additions to your twelve points:
1 and 2) Correct.
3) She became some sort of lost lover, and let the romance influence her decisions as flock leader. I thought her character development went really downhill, as well.
4) I was really disappointed that the world ended and Max is just like "K. I love you, Fang."
5) I don't even know what happened. Dylan was probably the sweetest person ever to Max and suddenly Fang swoops in and takes Max. And Max is okay with being swooped. I was so confused.
6) I agree, there were some aspects of the book that seemed to just happen for no apparent reason. Like, "let's kill off Maya and never revisit that again in the book." "Oh, by the way, Star and Kate are traitors." What?!
7) Ari? A third time? I agree.
8) Most of them were in the cave-- Angel, Max, Fang and Dylan were the only ones who didn't go to the cave's safety. Dr. Martinez was mentioned, by the way. I'd like to know what happened to Jeb.
9) Yeah.
10) I know! The end of the world was supposed to come from crazed humans, but it was because of natural causes? There was nothing whatsoever to foreshadow that that was coming.
11) They're alive... Max feels a sense of renewal and contentment that the flock really belongs there, in the world of water (they have gills) and sky (wings). It's real life. They never died
12) I want to know what happened to Jeb.

I dislike that one of the last lines of the book was Max telling Fang she loves him, making her love life one of the most important aspects of the whole series. The ending should have been more significant.

Agreed

I didn't really even know what was going on at the end. So all the humans are dead? So she didn't actually save the world. So we read the entire series for nothing cause she let everyone down.

Magenta wrote: "I didn't really even know what was going on at the end. So all the humans are dead? So she didn't actually save the world. So we read the entire series for nothing cause she let everyone down."

Pretty much...

Dont get me wrong. I loved the series... but this book.... what was the point of the book series? She is destined to save the world but never does?!

I totally agree, everything was rushed and i didnt have time to absorb any new information. It was just like right this happened, then this happened ect..
Sorry but i found the end disappointing and although i love the series i thought this was an atrocious end.

Yeah what was the point of the series if she didn't save the world? I like how you said that.

But I really want to know about the eraser in the mirror...

I am really curious about that too.... maybe it was a test? Or she was hallucinating it? I dont know

I agree completely and I'd like to add that I found the Max's Last Words epilogue so annoying. She's just telling us what we're told all the time in school and she even addresses the readers as "kiddos"! I mean, come on!

I used to recommend this book series to everyone but why would I now with that ending? I mean, really? I understand some authors don't do the "good guys always win thing," but this is a bit too far...

I'm happy I didn't waste my money on this book, I just read it at the bookstore. And Magenta, I also used to recommend this to everyone but now it's like "That was a joke...right?" *sigh*

Tbh, i was hoping he would leave it when max and fang got killed by the wave and then made it so angel lead the flock inside the caves. that would have been better

Ya and then ended the chapter and continued on from another persons perspective...

It's like I read a bad fan fiction or something. I feel like James Patterson is gonna come out and be like "Just kidding!"

I hope he is....

what happened to iggy, gazzy ella, jeb, nudge, ratchet, holden, star, and kate?

oh yeah, and max's mom?

Yeah, that's was I was thinking Emma. What happened to Ratchet and Holden? It's totally not fair if they both died.

Sara Quiggles ECLARE wrote: "Does anyone know if Angel really turned out to be blind or not?"

i'm pretty sure she was fine, at some point it said she was regaining sight

i'm still basically crying over the end :`(
like, i know the whole flock survived but i feel like i just lost my role model. max was everything i wanted to be, and then she just...failed.
i know james patterson usually has a co-author, so maybe that lady was the reason behind this horrible ending.

also, what was with that random credit card max found in the first book? still never explained

It didnt explain a lot of things...... I think the scientest may have put that there for her to use... Im not sure?

There were so many loose ends from the previous books in the series that weren't cleared up. WHAT. THE. HECK.
I'm disappointed.
So disappointed.

I still feel like the ending was some kind of sick joke.

I agree. I wanted to throw the book across my room, but have a peeve against creased pages, so I restrained myself and settled on banging my head against the wall instead.
It wasn't even an ending! It was like, oh, awesome, the apocalypse just happened. Max loves Fang. Dylan's okay with it. Angel and Max are okay in. Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy's fates will never be known. Oh hey, did I mention the apocalypse just happened? And Max did nothing? After seven books of expecting her to save the world...
I'm really sad.

So glad i didn't waste time and money actually reading the book. I read the synopsis because i couldn't wait and was like wtf??? Totally anticlimatic. You all are totally right, way to many loose ends. I might get it from the library though, just so i can throw it across the room. I would never do that with one of my books, but with a library book, maybe. Seriously. Worst. Ending. Ever.

Way to go Patterson. You just wasted so much of my life. I might as well burn books 4-7 because things seriously went down hill after #3. We should all start a riot and demand a better ending. My 10 year old sister could do better than this.

Oh well... back to my headcanon, where everything actually MAKES SENSE!!!!

LolzAngelxxxx wrote: "This book should've been called "Maximum Ride- Anti-Climax"
seriously it sums up the book in one and "climax" has "Max"in it. Oh the irony XD"

So true!

He should have made the book longer and changed it so it wouldnt have been so horrible. I was expecting a lot of action and butt-kicking with a little bit of romance with a great ending. This was the opposite. Horrible ending, lots of romance :P (a little bit is ok, not the whole book based on it...) hardly any butt-kicking action..... dissappointed..

Maddy wrote: "He should have made the book longer and changed it so it wouldnt have been so horrible. I was expecting a lot of action and butt-kicking with a little bit of romance with a great ending. This was t..."

You changed your mind? :) This is what you said on my post: "I think the ending was pretty good. You should have read that Iggy, Gazzy and Nudge left to go to the caves, so they were ok. The ending was otherwise well explained...."

I agree with your changed opinion, the ending was pretty bad.

did anyone like this book?!

Avani wrote: "Maddy wrote: "He should have made the book longer and changed it so it wouldnt have been so horrible. I was expecting a lot of action and butt-kicking with a little bit of romance with a great endi..."

At first I was like, sweet! Then I started reading comments and now.... not so much... haha :)

Maddy wrote: "Avani wrote: "Maddy wrote: "He should have made the book longer and changed it so it wouldnt have been so horrible. I was expecting a lot of action and butt-kicking with a little bit of romance wit..."

Yeah, the power of opinionated people ;)

Emma3501 wrote: "what happened to iggy, gazzy ella, jeb, nudge, ratchet, holden, star, and kate?"

They are safe in the caves below. Remember Dylan saying they needed to find a new tunnel down there and Angel saying she wasmonitoring Dr. M. down n the caves, which wre full of technology where the whole gang except Max, Fang, Dyla and Angel were for safety.

oh good, at least they aren't all dead! wait, will they ever be able to see each other again?

Oh yeah I forgot about Angel morphing into the bird! I mean, where did that go? It was never mentioned again. Like alot of things -_-

He never addressed what happened when dylan almost died why the eraser fell to the ground?

Kyra wrote: "He never addressed what happened when dylan almost died why the eraser fell to the ground?"

Kyra, I know this sounds really really really weird, but I know a girl from school whose name is Kyra spelled the same way and she also loves Maximum Ride...do you have a sister named Kelsey? I know this sounds weird I'm so sorry xD

Oh wait if that's you on your profile picture, then never mind you're not who I thought you were xD Ignore everything I just said!

YOu know what...this might sound weird but I am just glad it is over. I would not want to wait around nother year to find out what has hppened. I did glance at the new series he gave a sample of at the end. Might be interesting.

Me too Dana, and we'd probably only be disappointed again :(

The really annoying thing is that at the moment this book is the highest rated in the series even though it wasn't that good and so many things weren't resolved. I myself even rated it 4 star but I'm not really sure it deserved that after all the disappointment and the terrible ending. Maybe we should all give the book the rating it really deserves instead of rating it highly because it's a series that's really great. After all, this wasn't the best in the series, it was one of the worst

I just finished the book and I agree that it had too many loose endings. I felt like there should be another book or series to explain things.

Shawn wrote: "I just finished the book and I agree that it had too many loose endings. I felt like there should be another book or series to explain things."

Yes

I was really excited about his new series, but now I'm not even going to read it. I thought this would end better because the ending of Witch and Wizard was really good.

i wasn't either although to be honest, i wasn't expecting anything better. the last few books have been a mess of scrambled and unfinished plot lines. nevermore was no exception. i am just glad it is over. after the first book, the whole series just went down hill.

Alex wrote: "Oh yeah I forgot about Angel morphing into the bird! I mean, where did that go? It was never mentioned again. Like alot of things -_-"

or gazzy being able to mimic voices? mentioned like once since the 1st book. or angle being able to control people? that would have helped her A LOT in this book :/

What about the purpose for Max's super speed or Nudge's ability with computers? Its almost funny how so many things are mentioned once and then disappear.

Did anyone get the point behind Angel being the Voice? It seemed like a random addition. Quite frankly, I found it creepy. Okay, Angel explained herself a bit, but still, making Max kill Ari? Allowing Max to go crazy and cut her arm to get the chip out, almost allowing her to die, was just... Ugh :$