I will be honest and say the fourth and the fifth one was exactly the best ones. 1+2+3 are potentially the best, then it goes way down hill for number 4 picks it up slightly for number five, so I didn't really have high expectations when I started reading the book this morning. Though I can now say that I thought that the book was actually really good. It lead on for an obvious seventh book, and delivered more or less on the point of the novel. Though it claims in the summary that Dylan would play a bigger part than he did.
Beware this could contain spoilers for those who have not read the book yet! I know it hasn't come out in the States yet... so yeah, just be warned....
This is the summary for the book:
Fang will be the first to die. For years, Max has been on the run from evil forces threatening her and the Flock - but nothing could have prepared her for this horrifying prophesy delivered to her by Angel. Fang is Max's best friend, her soulmate, her partner in leadership of her flock of winged children. A life without Fang is a life unimaginable. Max's desperate desire to protect Fang brings the two closer than ever. But their world is turned upside down yet again when the Flock meet a wealthy scientist who has a great interest in the birdkids. He introduces them to another winged boy, the beautiful Dylan. Raised in a lab like the Flock, he exists for only one reason: he was created to be Max's perfect other half. Now, a battle of science against soul, perfection versus passion unfolds, twists, and turns ...and meanwhile, the apocalypse is coming.
Okay, so lets go through the book on points that I liked and points that I didn't like...
The thing I really liked was that it focused on Max and Fang's relationship. The relationship came really out of the blue in some aspects and it really delved deeper into the relationship, explained a lot about the relationship, and for the first time I felt as though I was truly connecting with the fragile side of Max that we never really get to see because she hides it from the flock.
This leads me to my next point. Max develops in my opinion, wonderfully in this book. We see another side to Max, the teenage Max. Not the Max that thinks of the flock before herself. I was actually really liked to see this side of Max, and I felt really sorry for her when the flock kicked her out because she was thinking of herself and Fang more than the flock at the current time. Teen love, eh?
The main villain, whose name keeps changing Dr. Something or other. I'm not good with names like that, he worked for Mr Chu anyway. The main villain from the last book. He was actually a pretty decent villain and I felt like I was going to kill him when he killed Fang. Now that was potentially one of the most upsetting parts of the novel. I actually cried when Max found him dead on the lab table.... (Not to put too many spoilers in or anything, eh?)
The writing seemed to be pretty decent in this one too. Though not as good as some authors, but it is a YA novel and perfect grammar and such is not really expected, especially on my standards. It's only when I read Twilight that I find the lack of grammar to be thoroughly annoying. It flowed and it got me addicted to it to the point it only took me 2 and a half hours to read.... that counts for something though, right?
One of the things I wasn't too keen on in the novel was Dylan. I thought he was a great character to the novel and I hope to see more of him as the novels keep coming. I just thought he was a bit 2 dimensional. His history and stuff wasn't really explored like I hoped it would. He said about being a clone, but he never said why he was cloned and how the original died. Why he was Max's perfect other half wasn't really explained or how. And why did the Labs want to make a perfect other half for Max. But I guess that will be explained later on in the series. I hope.
There just seemed to be a lot of unexplained or poorly explained this in the novel. I'm guessing that those too will hopefully be explained in the sequel. That is if one gets written, eh, Mr Patterson?
The Erasers were another curiosity. They weren't explained either, or how Angel, Iggy, Gazzy and Dylan got that illness. It was sort of, but a definite answer was never given. It was brushed aside. Both things were in my opinion. But as I frequently say, it might be explained in future sequels. Or even if could become one of them things where you have to find your own answer to. Either way. Though I would like to have an answer. The institute was another thing. They were mentioned about being part of this thing, but never explored. Oh well. That's what sequels are for, eh? To keep you on your toes about what's going to happen.
But yeah, overall it was an enjoyable read. I can't wait to see my friends face when I take it into school tomorrow, she doesn't know I have it and she's a fan too. I have a free with her sixth and I'll probably see her before reg too. Ah, the joys, eh?
I'd rate the entire book 6-7/10. Taking into account that there's probably going to be a sequel to hopefully lighten some of the confusion there is. Though it's not much of a contributing factor.
P.S. The British cover is better in my opinion. But meh, its down to opinion I guess...
