Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

So, I just finished reading this book, and I absolutely LOVED it! I'm gonna have to get all cheesy and say that I'm already a fan of Max and Fang, or Fax (although I think Mang sounds cooler, but whatever). I need to either stop at the library or the bookstore and pick up the second book, because I am getting super antsy about it, and I've read every excerpt I could find, which is not a lot, mind you. I was so desperate that I looked at pretty much every spoiler of Mang (yeah, I'm gonna use my nickname for them, because you know what, it does sound cooler!) in every book. I have this "gut feeling" that I'm not going to enjoy Angel very much, but I've stuck with other book series that are very flip floppy, for instance The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I did need a little push from my good friend the internet, which told me where exactly in the series something would get figured out (which was two  books after the problem was created). I will save those books for another time, though. For now, let me just get started on this review. So this was another easy read for me, but again, a really good book. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.
     "Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it's like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the "flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time...like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the "School" where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs. Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare--this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb--now her betrayed and greatest enemy--that her purpose is save the world--but can she?" ( book description from Amazon.com)
     The first reason I loved this book was that it kept me reading, and I read it in one sitting. I tend to do that with a lot of books, but I just really liked this one. The second (I know from some of the other reviews I've read that some people disliked the book because of this) is the style of writing. It did seem like an inexperienced teenager wrote it, which is why some didn't like it. The way I see it though, is that it is in the perspective of Max, who is actually fourteen, so it's a good thing Patterson wrote it this way. I remember being 14 and saying/ thinking (is the space supposed to be there? I've always wondered...) in the same style and with the same kind of language.  
     Now onto the story itself. I thought it was kind of strange in the beginning that Angel was the only member of the flock that had a special power besides flying, obviously. I liked Fang from the beginning of the book, and I had a feeling there would be some chemistry between Max and Fang, but it took a long time to really get there in this book. I also thought that the Gasman was a kind of cheesy nickname, but at least he had something beside a number. There are a few somewhat predictable plot twists in the story, but sometimes, I like predictable. It was really frustrating that the flock was constantly running into the erasers, and they never had a break. Also, it was frustrating how long it took the flock to save Angel on account of Max. Over all I really liked the book, and I recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy. The book is mostly a 7th or 8th grade reading level, but I enjoyed it all the same, and I'm a just now a Junior in high school, so I really think it depends more on the content of the story, and not so much the difficulty level. I hope you enjoyed this review :)