Review: The Final Warning by James Patterson (MRRC)

So, who out there is participating in the Maximum Ride Reading Challenge? 

I'm actually hosting it, along with the delightful Ella from Musings in Ink. Basically, the point of the Challenge is to read (or re-read) all seven of the already-released Max Ride books, in preparation for the release of the LAST ONE, Nevermore! All the details are on the Official MRRC Blog. It's never too late to sign up!


(Don't forget that because this is the fourth book in the series, my review may have slight spoilers for the first three books, but not the fourth! You've been warned! ;D) 

The Final Warning by James Patterson 

In this breathtaking new story from the astonishing imagination of James Patterson, a girl has to save herself from an army assembled just to capture her-and maybe save the planet while she's at it. 

Maximum Ride is a perfectly normal teenager who just happens to be able to fly, the result of an out-of-control government experiment.

Max and the other members of the Flock-six kids who share her remarkable ability-have been asked to aid a group of environmental scientists studying the causes of global warming. The expedition seems like a perfect combination of adventure, activism--and escaping government forces who watch the Flock like a hawk. 

But even in Antarctica, trapped in the harshest weather on our planet, Maximum Ride is an irresistible target in constant danger. For whoever controls her powers could also control the world. Maximum Ride is James Patterson's greatest character, a heroine who manages to be human and fearless at once. 

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The Final Warning is probably the Max Ride book I remembered the least of all of them. I'm not sure why that is (possibly because I owned the first three and the last few were read most recently.) Despite that, as I reread it I remembered just how great it was, just like the others!

In the Final Warning, the flock is still on their mission to "save the world." Next on the agenda is a trip to Antarctica to do research on global warming. (Just for the record, I don't think global warming is as big a deal as people would have you think. I've seen statistics showing that the world is getting slightly warmer, yes, but the temperature is also going up AND down, not straight up. But I won't get into that.) Yeah, Antarctica. Like, ice. And penguins. And ICE.

But there's more going on than just ice (how many times can I say ice before it gets repetitive?) and global warming. When have any problems come forward one at a time for Max? No, she also has to deal with the fact that her relationship with Fang is changing in ways she isn't sure she's ready for, plus the fact that he may or may not be flirting with a pretty scientist seven years older than him.

Oh, and it seems that the flock may be mutating even more. Great.

Same as the other books in the series, you're instantly sucked into a whirlwind of action, sarcasm, awesome kick-butt-ness...and maybe even some romance.

One of the greatest things about the Max Ride series is its narrator. Some books tell their story to the world. Max is talking straight to you, and she's not afraid to get in your face and tell it like it is.

Altogether, the Final Warning is another excellent addition to the Max Ride series, and it gets <*><*><*><*><*>

(:D)
~Mag