Review: Angel

Title: Angel
Author: James Patterson
Publisher: Little, Brown
Pages: 272
Series: Maximum Ride #7
**WARNING: Spoilers for earlier books in the series (not for this book)**
Description from Goodreads:
In the seventh book in the bestselling series, evil scientists are still trying to convince Max that she needs to save the world, this time by providing the genetic link in speeding up the pace of evolution. Worse, they're trying to convince her that her perfect mate is Dylan, the newest addition to the flock. The problem is that, despite herself, Max is starting to believe it.

Fang travels the country collecting his own gang of evolved humans, but the two separate flocks must unite to defeat a frightening doomsday cult whose motto is Save the Planet: Kill the Humans. And this time, the true heroine, for once, might just be little Angel.

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I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked that it had some semblance of an actual plot and wasn't all just gushy-gushy. I adored the first three books in this series because there was a real story, and I feel like beginning with book four the series has slowly declined. The quality of the writing is a lot lower; the stories are less interesting; and Max, rather than being kick-butt, snarky, and totally independent, is whiny and lovestruck.

Angel basically fits into the same category because (MAJOR FANG SPOILER) Max spends almost the entire book moping about how Fang left her. I like Fang...I also like Dylan. I don't care which one she ends up with, not anymore, as long as she stops complaining about it! (END SPOILER.) And yet...

In this one, there's plot again. The scientists are back to telling Max she has to save the world... except now there's some sort of cult called the Doomsday Group that seems to be able to hypnotize people. Their motto: "Save the world. Kill the humans." In Angel, Max and the flock are investigating the DG, as are Fang and his own new group of genetically enhanced kids. The romance (which I thought was cute in Max and then blatantly overdone in Fang) is still drippy and overdone, BUT there's other stuff going on, too. Angel, who is apparently no longer interested in taking over the flock or betraying them to evil scientists, seems to know more about what is going on than anyone else because of her ability to read minds. She speaks and acts as if she were way older than seven.

I don't know. I like the snarky comments, I like the action, it was a fun read - but it's not the same quality as the first three books, and there's some stuff in here that's starting to seriously get on my nerves. I do think it's a step up from Fang and The Final Warning, and I think if you've enjoyed the others in the series you should definitely read it. I know I'll be reading Book 8 whenever it comes out, if only because despite all my frustrations, I do love these characters a lot.

If you're reading this review on the day I've posted it, take note - Angel releases in stores tomorrow!

Links:
James Patterson's website
Maximum Ride website

Review: Vesper

Title: Vesper
Author: Jeff Sampson
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 304
Series: Deviants #1
Rating: 4/5
From the back cover:
Emily Webb is a geek -- and happy that way. She's never been the kind of girl who sneaks out for parties. And she definitely doesn't start fights or flirt with other girls' boyfriends. Until one night Emily finds herself doing exactly that... the same night a classmate -- also named Emily -- is found mysteriously murdered.

The thing is, Emily doesn't know why she's doing this. Every night, she gets wilder, until it's not just her personality that changes; she's also becoming strong, fast, and utterly fearless. Has she been bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely -- something not human?

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Vesper surprised me, and it confused me. It bothered me in places. It made me laugh out loud, and it made me shudder. It definitely was not what I was expecting, but I enjoyed it.

Our story begins with shy, geeky Emily Webb dressed in an outfit she would never wear and attempting to climb out of her bedroom window. A few minutes later, she snaps back to reality, horrified by what she has almost done. Then she gets a phone call: Emily Cooke, a girl from her school, has been shot and killed. Her body was found barefoot, pajama-clad, three miles from her home.

Emily Webb is affected in a way she can't explain by the death of the other Emily, and even as she grieves the loss of a classmate she barely knew, she is changing. Each night, she is hit with a crippling pain, and then she changes into someone different - still Emily, but an Emily who is bold and brazen and maybe even a little slutty. And then she changes even more, into something that may not even be human. Mixed in with the story are transcripts of a conversation Emily has with someone called "F. Savage" describing her adventures.

At first, based on the transcripts, I was expecting a straight-up science fiction novel, but that wasn't what I got. It's a mystery - a murder mystery and a who-am-I mystery all wrapped into one. The plot was excellent. I just kept turning pages, eager to find out what was going on and what would happen next. I hope it doesn't take too long for the sequel, because I want it (a problem, since this one isn't even out until next week).

The only problem I had was Megan. I'm not sure why Emily and Megan were actually friends; it definitely wasn't the kind of friendship I'd want to have. I just didn't like her at all, and I wished we had gotten to know a little more about who she was.

Despite that, Vesper was an intriguing story that kept me reading and left me wanting more. I recommend it, especially if you like a nice dark blend of fantasy, science fiction, and murder mysteries...

Vesper comes out one week from today (on January 25, 2011), so be looking for it soon! :)

Vesper counts towards the Debut Author Challenge and my Missing Letters challenge.


Links:
Jeff Sampson's website

Review: The Gardener

*This review was originally written before the creation of Bookworm Boulevard. It has been reformatted and reposted here for archiving purposes.

Title: The Gardener
Author: S.A. Bodeen
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 232
Rating: 3.5 stars
From the book jacket: (I whited out parts of it because they're spoilery; highlight to read)
This greenhouse...grows humans.

Mason isn't supposed to know about the Greenhouse. He isn't supposed to meet the beautiful girl who is part of the experiment, and who doesn't need food or water to survive.

Now, Mason is on the run with the girl. And the Gardener, who is the mysterious mastermind of an institution that grows humans, wants them both, dead or alive.

Having read the description on the inside jacket of The Gardener, I was expecting certain things to be revealed early in the plot and have the rest of the story about what happened afterwards. Instead, it felt like the big mystery in the story was for Mason and the girl to find out all the things that the reader finds out just from reading the book jacket. This story was incredibly predictable, I thought; I figured out the ending well before I got there. That said, I still enjoyed the book.

The only connection Mason has ever had to is father is a DVD of the man, shoulders-down, reading The Runaway Bunny. So when a comatose girl at the hospital where his mother works suddenly wakes up when she hears the story on the DVD and begs to leave, Mason - who has a bit of a hero complex - rescues her.

The girl only remembers bits and pieces of who she is and what has happened to her, but Mason can tell that she's anything but normal. The circular scars covering her legs only add to the mystery of the girl's past. Add in that there's a tattoo on her arm that matches the one on Mason's father on the DVD and the fact that the least official police force Mason has ever encountered is chasing the girl he rescued. There's mystery and adventure brewing, and Mason may not like what he discovers.

This novel takes a real, present-day scientific crisis and gives it an impossible solution with just enough scientific backing that it just might happen. Add in two teenagers who are trying to figure out the truth behind the science and the mystery of the girl's past, and you've got The Gardener. Science fiction + global warming + eco-cyborgs = a pretty intense mix of stuff. The science-fiction part of the novel was really well done; the solution the Greenhouse proposes is totally ridiculous, but based in just enough truth to make it plausible, which is how I think science fiction should be. Mason and the girl were great characters, too, so they were fun to read about. I think the romance between the two was a little bit excessive and unbelievable, but besides that, I liked them.

All in all, The Gardener was not the best book I've ever read, but it wasn't bad, and I'm glad I read it. If you're looking for a quick, fun science-fiction story, consider this one.