Maximum Ride 3: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

Book review by Matt Berman, Common Sense Media
Maximum Ride 3: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 12+

Flabby finale to senseless yet exciting series.

James Patterson Science Fiction 2007
Rate book

Parents say

age 10+

Based on 2 reviews

Kids say

age 10+

Based on 42 reviews

Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.
Rate book

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this book.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that the violence level is about the same as the previous two books, so if your kids have read this far, more won't hurt. There's nothing much else of concern here.

Community Reviews

Squirrelgirl
Squirrelgirl Adult
June 9, 2010
age 10+

What Happened?

The last book in this series, while trying to be perfect for all ages made itself unreadable for all ages. How they end up SAVING the world is utterly ridiculous, only a small child would find it entertaining, but at the same time the relationships and violence would make that child uneasy throughout most of the book. It was like he gave up on writing WELL.
crystal1983art
crystal1983art Adult
April 9, 2008
not rated for age

Great Book!!! So Glad there is going the be a fourth book!

This was a great book. It does have some language not appropriate for young child, but is a awesome, fast paced joy ride of a book. It's a Re-Read over and over again book. Max is great yet again. Iggy and Max are my favorite characters.
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Max and the Flock have escaped from the evil scientists. Again. After some more fighting, being captured, and escaping, they end up with Ari on their side, which causes them to split up. Max, along with Nudge and Angel, are finally led by the Voice to Germany -- but only after it leads them to England and France, for no apparent reason. But then you know how these Deep Throat types are -- they never tell you anything straight out.

So after some European site-seeing, they find the Itex master headquarters, where they are ... captured again! There the evil corporation is having some sort of pep rally/gladiator bout, in which Max is to be the feature attraction. Good thing Fang has been keeping that blog.

Is It Any Good?

To his catalog of empty thrills and nearly plotless to-ing and fro-ing, author James Patterson adds something new -- a series of pointless plot twists. The long-awaited climax turns out to be pretty much a joke and doesn't even succeed in tying up the loose ends.

The book's ending suggests the author is hoping to continue the series (at the end of the second book, he actually asked readers to vote on it). Well, for an utterly pointless series that makes no sense at all, that, at least, makes perfect sense. When you're making tons of money, why stop?

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the flabby finale. Is there anything realistic or believable about it? Why did the author have his heroes genetically enhanced when that ended up having nothing to do with saving the world?

Book Details

Our Editors Recommend

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate