Chapter 1: Fly my pretties, fly!
At least they’re not flying robot werewolves yet
I get that flying Erasers were supposed to up the ante, but they make no sense (even by this series' standards). We know the flock has special bones and lungs to be able to fly, air sacs even, and different blood, but Erasers don’t have any of that that.
Fang hiding his injury is very classic Fang (and very classic fanfiction)
The Voice ought to teach first aid classes.
Jokes aside, the Voice sometimes detracts from Max’s character by reducing her from a leader in her own right to a conduit for it’s orders. Also there’s no way Jeb wouldn’t have taught them first aid.
“Our parents are missionaries” is a little absurd, but honestly not a bad explanation for a very large, clearly not biologically related group of kids. Fundies would adopt a flock of children and then make the eldest daughter act as a mom
The doctors are honestly handling the whole bird-kid thing really well.
The FBI agents, on the other hand, are not
The interview scene is hilarious, especially when you remember the flock are 6-14 years old.
“Captain Terror” is not any weirder than Gazzy’s actual name.
“I looked directly at the sun, you know, the way they always tell you not to. If only I had listened.”
Max’s response to being called out on the missionary claim is gold: ”No? Well, for Gods sake, don't tell them. They'd be crushed. Thinking they're doing the lords work and all.”
“Dean looked at me, I dunno, as if a hamster had just snarled at him“ - I'm not sure what this expression would be but it’s a fun mental image.
Max’s “life isn’t fair” rant is simultaneously a big mood and horribly cringely edgy.
Anne is scary good at manipulation.
The sheer number of times Fang is referred to as Max’s brother in this book makes their romance deeply uncomfortable.
Anne ignoring Max’s joke about how two agents would be a “snack for an Eraser” should honestly have raised more red flags. You don’t have to know what an “Eraser” is specifically to get the implication that the flock has some nasty people after them that maybe you’d want to know more about.
The Voice being able to induce hallucinations (of Eraser-Max) is really something that should have come up more. The implications are terrifying
School’s Out Forever is off to a weirder start than I remembered. The tone definitely doesn’t seem to quite match either the first or second half of The Angel Experiment. It seems lighter, and pays less attention to the flock’s mental state (Max could barely stand being in a veterinary clinic in the first book). While in The Angel Experiment the plot was focused on finding Angel, then on finding The Institute, this time there isn’t really a central goal holding things together.
There are some excellent lines, and the idea of the plot is interesting, a sort of parallel to Max getting help from the Martinez family in the first book, this time illustrating how Max’s reluctance to ask for help was somewhat justified. Unfortunately the plot doesn’t flow very naturally, and there are so many retcons and interesting elements brushed aside.
Finally, I’m really not sure how I feel about the treatment of Iggy’s blindness, it’s definitely changed from the last book. Seems more realistic in some ways, but builds in a kind of “woe is Iggy” way that feels vaguely exploitative.