Max vs. Max

ha ha ha...

In the very beginning of every Maximum Ride book, James Patterson has a note talking about how the original concept for Maximum Ride came from his previous books, When the Wind Blows and The Lake House, which are both adult novels. So recently I read When the Wind Blows, and it was pretty good

First Thought: I like this Max better.

Second Thought: This book is pretty good.

Third Thought: Why are the Maximum Ride books so bad then?

...

Fourth Thought: Does he think young adults are idiots or something?

I'm serious. There was a major difference between When the Wind Blows and Maximum Ride. Well besides the fact that it was definitely an adult novel (he he he *looks away*) the writing was considerably better. There was more development in the characters and whatnot, and the setting was a lot more... real.

There was still the random annoying spontaneity in the plot, what with Gillian, Adam and Micheal, Kit's boss, etc, but it wasn't as bad as Maximum Ride, what with their mutations and whatnot.

Maximum Ride
-14 years old
-just has wings
-headstrong
-leader of the flock

Maximum (from When the Wind Blows)
- 11 years old
- ...shares lots of characteristics of birds
- suspicious, jumpy
- older sister

to name a few differences...

blearg. There's a lot of differences, but when it comes to character development, I like Max (WTWB) better, but I like Max's (MR) personality a little better.

Bleh.

Comparing them makes my head hurt. Comparing the writing was especially bad. It was insulting. I'm rather offended that he's writing Maximum Ride with such a horrible quality. *shudder* Does he really think the writing has to be dumbed down for us? hellooo. We're young adults. We're not little kids. bleh.

His Daniel X series sucked, too...

Books Vs. Movies

So much for trying to blog more often. x.x

So, books and movies.

It should have never happened.

Okay, so that was a little harsh, but really, the movies are basically trying to get the book across, but instead, they're twisting the events and whatnot around. They were created so that those lazy bums can get the entire book (incorrectly) in a little less than 2 hours. I'm so glad I don't even watch many movies int he first place.

Onto ranting about differences.

First Example: The lightning thief.

What happened to the story?
What happened to the characters?
What happened to everything??

So. In the book, they're 12. Yes, 12. Yet Percy is being played by a seventeen year old (forgive me if I'm wrong) and Annabeth by a twenty one year old (WTF SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE BLOND TOO D:<)and why in the world if Grover African American? why? Heck, the only characters that turned out okay were the unimportant ones and Luke. So even before I watched that horrible movie, I knew it was gonna suck because of the cast. Ugh. *shudder*

Storyline: No. Just no. The hydra doesn't show up til the next book, the lightning bolt was NOT hidden in the shield, and why the heck would they bother carrying around a dismembered head? A lot of stuff is missing too: The Arch, Ares, the oracle, the hellhound, Clarisse (How could they forget Clarisse?!?!?), and other random crap I can't remember right now. Heck, the plot was pretty much entirely different. They're hunting after pearls. He trades Grover for his mom. WTF. WTF. WTF.

I can go on, but I feel like I'm gonna have to censor it if I do. So, onto another example: The Last Song.

The movie itself wasn't bad. In fact, it was really sad, and a lot of the things that happened really did happen in the book. But the order was screwed up, and I felt like a lot of stuff was missing. Like, Ronnie had purple streaks in her hair, didn't she? The actor (not even gonna bother mentioning her by name *puke*) didn't really match my image of her, although the others were okay. Also, Ronnie's father wasn't involed in the church fire, but in the movie he was? Augh, sigh... comparing books to movies honestly makes my brain melt. x.x

But I really liked the (anime) movie of Howl's Moving Castle, even though it was so unlike the book. I felt like the movie had way more development from the characters, as well as going into greater detail about the world they live in. The ending was sweet, too.

But other than that, I suggest read the books. The books are always better. The books gives more perspectives and can relay thoughts a lot easier without seeming cheesy with voice overs everywhere. So the producers basically banish the thoughts and hope they're implied as they create the horrible film adaptation of what used to be an awesome book.

Blargh. Done with rant. Just read the book. It's better, anyway.

Maximum Ride Series: Ugh...

Max by James Patterson




This series is really starting to annoy me.

when i started this series in (idk, 5th grade?)I thought it was epic. I loved the ideas, I loved the concept, and I loved the action.

But really, I feel like Patterson's young adult writing is turning into crap.

Sure, they're fun to read the first time around. They're interesting. They keep you hooked. But the writing was pretty bad in my opinion; it doesn't draw me in as much as other books with for a few reasons.

First off: It doesn't feel realistic. Sure, it's set in our world, blah dee dah de dah, but I can't see it as our world; it doesn't feel like half of the things could happen, but they do, and so easily. Since they're living in the real world, Patterson can't really get away with vague descriptions of the outside world because, well, THEY'RE THERE. I feel like I would have liked it more if, i dunno, he made the places more realistic.

The mutations are even more impossible, which makes the books much more annoying. This isn't a fantasy series. Or at least, it didn't start out as one. So the random spontaneous powers showing up makes me want to bash my head against the wall. Over and over again.

Second: They're. So. Unreal. The characters don't really change at all. Heck, I can't even tell if Max has changed because she still feels the same as she did at the beginning of this series. Same attitude. same decisions. Sure, she likes Fang now. She admits it. But there's no change. no shocking revelation. No development. It makes these books maddeningly annoying to reread (which I am notorious for). Angel was always a little brat (would use worse word here, but ._.). And the rest of them... Nudge wants to be normal. Fang opens up more to Max. But why? I don't know. There's no real indication of their thoughts changing, it was just BANG they changed their minds. It. Was. Annoying. It was too spontaneous, too sudden. It bothered me.

There are probably more problems I have with this series, but it's not bad if you're reading it for the plot, like I am. I just want to know how all of this ends. Maybe Angel will die (Yes! >:D).

But I'm reading the rest of the books anyway.



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So. New Blog. and Rant on Unwind by Neal Shusterman

So what's the point in this blog? easy. I hated my old one.

Tumblr never really appealed to me, so I've decided to waste my time writing about stuff here. Sure, I like to write, but I'm usually my worst critic. Rereading my own writing can actually be torturous sometimes, because I hate the way it's written. Then I edit it and revise it a few times, but I'm never really content with my end result. probably the closest I'll get to being content with my writing is when I'm too lazy to change anything else. Hooray. Watch me die in high school.

So, as the title says: Reading, Writing, and Other Addictions. I love to read. I love reading dark types of books, where the concepts and characters are original and NOT cliche. So even though vampire books and fairy tales appeal to me, they're definitely not my genre. So Sci-Fi is where I turn for my fix of awesome books.

First book I'm gonna mention: Unwind by Neal Shusterman. LOVED this book. I loved all the books I've read by Neal Shusterman, because they're different. I don't find a lot of books like his, and I'm glad. It's nice to see something different. I'm beginning to find Paranormal Romance (where the girl meets the creepy guy who tells her to stay away but falls hopelessly in love with him anyway) almost disgustingly cliche. Well, there are exceptions, but that's mainly with the strong, female protagonist (i.e. Katniss of The Hunger Games Trilogy and Rose from the Vampire Academy series) because their attitude and actions make them different; instead of the poor, lovestruck girl pining after the one they love and waiting for him to save her, they can stand by themselves, even if it hurts them.

Anyway, back to Unwind. The concept of teenagers being hunted down for their body parts is rather grotesque when put in that manner, but Connor's society is using a euphemism to nullify the immorality of it by declaring that the kids aren't really "dead", but rather they're in a "divided state". every single body part is being used to replace faulty ones in other people's bodies. It's creepy. It's amazing. And it draws you in.

My review full on Goodreads:



Unwind by Neal Shusterman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


MY GOSH ITS SO GOOD!!!!!



There might be some spoilers. read it if you want.



Here is an attempt to write a book review. Normally I'm too lazy, so here goes...



First: The concept. I love futuristic science fiction-y stuff, like Ender's game. I love to see how geniuses think-- it's why mysteries and other things like that appeal to me. Anyway, I found the concept of having kids "unwound" was awesome--not that I approved-- but it had a dark side to it that appealed to me, mainly because, well, it was probably possible. Which kind of creeped me out. After finishing the book, I hoped there were enough moral and ethical people out there to prevent that from really happening. But the fact that they were brainwashing people into thinking that it was okay to be unwound, convincing them that they were technically still "alive", was what intrigued me the most. In the beginning, the truck driver had a hand from a teenager who did card tricks, and the hand could still do it independently, which drew me in immediately. Thinking back on it now (about 2 years? after I read it) it was almost... violating. Like the people receiving the parts were stealing the skills the teens had spent years working on, like Risa's piano skills.



I also loved (in a way) the concept of storking, where a baby child is left on a doorstep for the family to take care of. When Connor told the story about the baby being passed around his neighborhood, it showed how evil mankind was. It brought out the faults and showed how cruel human beings can be, to refuse a helpless baby, thinking the next person will take it.



Second: the tense. Instead of writing in past tense (i.e. Risa said...) Shusterman writes in present tense, which makes everything more suspenseful without really meaning to. Actually, when I first read this book, I didn't notice it, I only noticed that it felt slightly short and choppy, but it was mainly because it was narrated in present tense-- there wasn't the hindsight of a first person narrator either, which made it feel choppier. But it suits this type of story, where the characters are basically fighting against society to live, whole, as themselves. There's not a lot of deep, deep thought, and if there is, it's kind of woven in so that you can tell they were thinking deeply without actually being told. It drew me in more, too, because I wanted to know what was going to happen, and when things did happen, it had more of an effect on me, making me go, "whoa..." like when Connor shot the officer in the leg with his tranq gun. Not expected. I didn't even expect his dad to track his phone, that's how unexpected it was for me. So if others hate the writing style, I must disagree.



Third: The characters. There's not a lot to say about this, except for the fact that I loved how well developed they were. I can see how Connor started out wanting to run away, but he becomes a symbol for all the other runaways, and in the end, he's protesting against unwinding kids-- in a non-blow-up-everything way. Lev started out as a completely dedicated tithe, but you can feel his unease and confusion and you can see his transition from brainwashed to martyr. You could see the pain in a lot of the other, more minor characters too. I loved it.



Fourth and finally: It was awesome. The plot was complex, but it all fit together to show the development of each character and overall make it an amazing book.



And this is about 2 years after reading it. And I'm rereading it. And it still hits me the way it did two years ago.



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