Maximum Ride is an eight-book series (excluding the sequel novels—though I have only read the first eight books because I was satisfied with the ending) that follows a 14-year-old girl named Max. I have had these books sitting on my bookshelf since I was probably 10 years old, so I decided to pick them up again for nostalgia’s sake. I found that it was not written as well as I remember, but that can likely be credited to the fact that the writing is meant to be for children. Nonetheless, the story counteracts this with its dark and mature plotlines, making it for an easy and interesting read.

   The story follows Max and her flock, a group of six mutated kids ranging in ages six to fourteen. They were all grafted with avian DNA in a lab when they were infants, and as a result, they have wings and can fly. One of the characters is blind as a result of a lab experiment gone wrong. Just the premise of the series is dark in itself, but following a group of troubled kids who have no parents and are constantly on the run makes for an inherently mature plot.

   Each flock member develops their own special powers as the series progresses, and though it is never truly explained why, it is speculated by the characters that it is a result of ongoing DNA mutations and that it is an unintended consequence of the lab experiments. The youngest member, Angel, was completely decked out with the most valuable powers: she can read minds, control minds, send thoughts to people, talk to sea creatures and breathe underwater. Couple that with the accelerated healing and strength that every flock member has, and you have got a totally overpowered six-year-old.

   Angel is perhaps my biggest grievance with the series as a whole; she is written as if she is the oldest when she is six. I get that growing up, being painfully experimented on in a lab and being on the run from human-wolf hybrids made in the said lab can force a kid to grow up fast, but she is on the same level as Max, who is the oldest. It made no sense to me, and almost ruined her character for me. Almost.

  Patterson redeemed Angel’s character by giving her so much development and making her a focal point for a lot of the plot. Sometimes, she was an enemy of the flock. Then it turns out she was only pretending to be an enemy in order to infiltrate their actual enemies. She kicked Max out of the flock and took over leadership, twice. But it always turned out that they needed Max, and Angel was on her side again. At one point, Angel even died. Supposedly. You can probably guess whether she actually did or not (not).

   The series is broken up into two sub-series: The first three books are named “The Fugitives,” and the last five are “The Protectors.” The first section is action-packed; the series starts off with a mission to save Angel from her evil scientist kidnappers, and the rest of the plot follows a subsequent “saving the world” archetype. After that, in the second part of the series, we see more of the actual characterization of the flock. Cheesy romances, parent searching and the likes.

   The overarching conflict is that Max has to save the world from a largely unknown threat; she was made for this purpose, actually. First, the flock infiltrates a large corporation called Itex that aims to eliminate all mutated people (i.e. Max and her entourage). However, there are so many more layers to this. The same scientists that created the flock concocted a plan to eliminate the human race in order to preserve the declining environment, and in the final book, this world-ending event actually takes place. The ending was predictable, considering Patterson never seems to kill off his characters, but it was still enjoyable.

   An easy read, but the intricately layered plot, makes this series a seven out of ten for me. If it was written by an author that specializes in a more sophisticated style, I would have enjoyed it much more. Nonetheless, I would still recommend Maximum Ride to readers looking for lovable characters and an action-packed storyline.