School’s Out Forever ~ Review

Title: School’s Out Forever (Maximum Ride, Book 2)
Author: James Patterson
Pages: 399
Genre: Young Adult
Published: May 23, 2006

First Sentence: Sweeping, swooping, soaring, air-current thrill rides — there’s nothing better.

Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride and the other members of the “Flock”–Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel–are just like ordinary kids–only they have wings and can fly. It seems like a dream come true–except that they’re being hunted by half-human, half-wolf “Erasers” who can fly, too.

In Book 2 of the series, the Flock members are taken under the wing of an FBI agent and try to live “normal” lives by going to school, making friends–and continuing their relentless search for their parents. But the Erasers return, forcing the Flock to abandon their search and make their escape once again. The voice inside Max’s head keeps telling her that it’s up to her to save the world, but this is especially challenging to do when she is faced with her ultimate match: a newer and better version of herself, Maximum Ride II. Max’s heart-stopping quest to investigate the mind-blowing mystery of her ultimate destiny continues in the scariest, strangest, and funniest James Patterson novel yet.

First, let me start by saying that the description above is misleading. Out of the three things it describes this book to be — the “scariest, strangest, and funniest James Patterson novel yet” — the only one I agree with is “strangest”. And I don’t mean that to be a compliment.

James Patterson is one of my favorite authors, and I’ve read quite a few of his books. There are quite a few that I would rank higher in the “scary” category. And as far as humor goes, I would even rate his Women’s Murder Club series higher in that category. Patterson tries really hard in this series to be funny — to the point that it becomes obvious that he’s trying too hard. A lot of the lines that he believes would be appealing to young teens came off as lame and, quite frankly, annoying. Here are a couple that actually made me stop reading in order to write them down because they were so atrocious to me:

“Dean looked at me, I dunno, as if a hamster had just snarled at me.”

~Page 39

“”The agent guys had come in with some, like, yoga mats for us, and they weren’t bad.”

~Page 50

“After that I gave them candy bars and they looked at me as if I’d just given them — Uh . . . Candy bars.”

~Page 304

Maybe it’s just me and my pickiness, but I really can’t see these sentences appealing to anyone, even teens. Sure, it fits with Max’s character and gives her a personality that can’t be ignored, but it’s unfortunate that Patterson couldn’t find a better, less distracting way to do that.

Other than the language, the book was good. It was full of Patterson’s famous plot twists and surprises, and there were a few scenes that were actually quite touching. There were also some action scenes that impressed me quite a bit. The book is fast-paced, and highly entertaining. Patterson answers a few questions from the first book, but he also brings about a whole new set of questions — something that will keep me reading this series. Even though the language annoys me, I have to admit that I am attached to the characters and am curious as to how their adventure turns out. Though, I think it’s necessary for me to take a break from Maximum Ride and her flock for a while.

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