A somewhat spoiler-ish and very emotional review just a mere twenty minutes after I finished the book, by yours truly.
After having been reading the series for five years, it's over. James Patterson seemed to write as much of a suspenseful, thrilling novel as he could to close out the saga. Sometimes, all I can say was, as a reader, I felt like he was REALLY pushing it. There's only so much you can throw at a reader in the last book.
Overall, I was satisfied with the ending in the Max-love-triangle way. Really, I think what bothered me the most was that I wished this one, final novel was more about the core flock together again, ready to take on the world. Instead, it was a lot about Dylan, who I did like, but I think if the previous book dealt with the outcome of the love triangle, this book would have been infinitely better to me. In respect to a few other important characters, there was little closure. James Patterson could have ended this book with a lot more meaning if he devoted just one more chapter to every other character who had featured so prominently in the series. If I were to pick up any book in the series to read again, it probably wouldn't be this one. It was just too much.
Although certain aspects of the ending weren't what I wanted, the ending and the new world that arises is something beautiful. It's something that I wish would be continued in another book. It's almost as if we waited for this moment, and once you get a taste of it, it's gone.
That being said, the whole, eight book story was incredibly well told. I love Maximum Ride. There is something so uniquely personal about the way the entire series has been told; you feel as if Max is your friend as she narrates. She lets you in on everything, and as a reader you're by her side- through the good and the bad. I've felt more apart of her journey than I ever expected. To me, it's so sad that it's over, it really, really is.
