Nevermore by James Patterson (Maximum Ride #8)

The end of the world. It's been a looming threat in Max's life, and she's always been told that when the end comes, it will be her job to save it. Now it's time for the flock to embrace their destiny. A doomsday group sweeps across the country, and a terrible plan is in effect to wipe out 99% of the population, including the humans. The flock has to stay together and find safety, and there's no room for arguing members or second thoughts. Even so, Max refuses to let go of her friends, and the flock is intent to find and free Angel. In the meantime, Fang is still gone, and Max needs her right-wing man back and her family complete.

There was some good character development, which I liked. In theory. It wasn't very positive. Nudge wants to be normal, and she's sick of people treating her like a freak because she has wings. Now, on one hand, I admire Max's capacity to love and forgive. She would welcome Fang back with open arms if he decided to come back, and she wouldn't hold a grudge.

However, her little love triangle with Fang and Dylan is cringe-worthy. Max isn't trying to hurt Dylan, but Fang will always come first for her and she can't hide it. It's not kind of her to lead Dylan on the way she does, from kissing him to letting him sleep in her room. On the other hand, Dylan and Fang are also being awful to each other. Fang's going all alpha male on Dylan, and the two have more than their fair share of fistfights. I didn't enjoy the drama and the borderline cruelty of the three of them.

Other than that, there's not a ton to say about the characters. But the book itself, on the other hand? Well, here's the thing with Nevermore: I'm rereading the book to get my bearings before I read Forever, which I just got my copy of on Monday. (Expect the review on Friday, aka tomorrow!) If I had been writing this after reading it for the first time, which was about a year ago, this would be a lot more heated. When I thought this was the last book in the series, I was pissed. For the last book in the series, the ending was unsatisfactory and frustrating with too many questions left unanswered and far too many what ifs.

That being said, (and keeping in mind that this was supposed to be the last book in the series) I didn't hate Nevermore, but I can't say it was the best. I had hoped for some better character development for a book so late in the series, and I disliked the relationship drama between Max, Fang, and Dylan. The ending seemed a bit awkward and definitely rushed, and I wasn't comfortable with it, next book or not. Patterson has very fast-paced plots, which I feel like serves as a blessing and a curse. Plenty of action got into Nevermore, and there were several good twists. Nevertheless, sometimes it was hard for me to figure out what was going on, and I couldn't quite take everything in because so many things were happening one after the other. I wasn't impressed with this (intended) final volume. I very much hope that Forever is more satisfying. 3/5 stars.

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