The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 352pgs

The Story

The Garde are finally reunited, but do they have what it takes to win the war against the Mogadorians?

John Smith—Number Four—thought that things would change once the Garde found each other. They would stop running. They would fight the Mogadorians. And they would win.

But he was wrong. After facing off with the Mogadorian ruler and almost being annihilated, the Garde know they are drastically unprepared and hopelessly outgunned. Now they’re hiding out in Nine’s Chicago penthouse, trying to figure out their next move.

The six of them are powerful, but they’re not strong enough yet to take on an entire army—even with the return of an old ally. To defeat their enemy, the Garde must master their Legacies and learn to work together as a team. More importantly, they’ll have to discover the truth about the Elders and their plan for the Loric survivors.

And when the Garde receive a sign from Number Five—a crop circle in the shape of a Loric symbol—they know they are so close to being reunited. But could it be a trap? Time is running out, and the only thing they know for certain is that they have to get to Five before it’s too late.

The Garde may have lost battles, but they will not lose this war.

Lorien will rise again.

The Review

I'm not going to lie. This book was so close to being five-star perfect (so very close in fact), but considering the ending (which was still awesome mind you) and the fact that the author decides to do something pretty horrible - and almost unexpected - to one of my two favourite characters in the series, let's just say the story was almost perfect and we'll just leave it at that before my rant mode comes along to mess this review up.

But moving on, while I thought THE FALL OF FIVE may have had less action scenes than I initially thought it would contain more of, especially when you compare the action scenes to the previous three books which was full of these epic battles, but regardless of that, I still found that this book was just as enjoyable as those other three predecessors. I mean, it wasn't necessarily a weaker book per se, but it was certainly a much more character-oriented type of book, and for me personally I thought it was a nice change because I didn't have to always rely on the action scenes to get me excited for what's to come in the story, so again it was a nice change indeed.

In regards to what made me enjoy this book a little more than I expected, I honestly think it was because of Sam's perspective, which happened to be my favourite perspective in the entire book - well except for Marina's because I absolutely love that girl more than any other character out there and that's because she's awesome in her own way. But yeah, adding Sam's perspective was a very clever move, particularly a much more detailed perspective and away from the other Number people, because I've always found that Sam was more of a background character than anything else and I thought he had so much more to offer since he is apart of what is going on in this world of Lore's, so I'm glad in this particular book he finally gets a chance to show people what he's made of because I've always had a soft spot for our dear Sam. He's such a sweetie.

Now of course, last but not least, I have to mention John, Number Four, and his love interest, Sarah, and let me just point out that they were definitely not my favourite characters in this book. More so with Sarah. In fact, I don't even understand why Sarah is even in this book in the first place . . . honestly why is she here? I just don't understand her purpose in all of this and to me she's just distracting John rather than helping people . . . yeah I've never liked that girl. And speaking of John, I thought he was the weaker character in this entire book despite him being the main character and all, which surprised me a lot, but considering he's not my favourite character . . . then it's no biggie so whatever hehe. I have Sam, Marina, and Number Eight to keep me more than entertained!

Overall, THE FALL OF FIVE was an excellent addition to the series and I'm seriously looking forward to the next book despite the killer and so-not-fair ending which was unforgivable through my eyes (because the author did a very bad, bad thing with a favourite character of mine that meanie and I mean HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME OF ALL READERS!).

The Rating

4 1/2 / 5 stars

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Penguin Australia

Pages: 384pgs

The Story

Until the day I met John Smith, Number Four, I'd been on the run alone, hiding and fighting to stay alive.

Together, we are much more powerful. But it could only last so long before we had to separate to find the others . . .

I went to Spain to find Seven, and I found even more, including a tenth member of the Garde who escaped from Lorien alive. Ella is younger than the rest of us, but just as brave. Now we're looking for the others - including John.

But so are they.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.

Number Two in England.

And Number Three in Kenya.

They caught me in New York - but I escaped.

I am Number Six.

They want to finish what they started.

But they'll have to fight us first.

The Review

A big thanks to the publisher on netGalley for accepting my request in reading this book early!

It's action-packed, it's addictive, it's fun and it's explosive! And in case you were wondering about what I'm talking about . . . YES I'm clearly talking about Pittacus Lore's third installment of the Lorien Legacies series, THE RISE OF NINE, and Number Four and his numbered little gang are back better than ever before!

This time round the book's events are narrated back-and-forth between several of the characters - Four, Six and Seven's perspectives. Now from the previous installment Four (John) is still with number Nine who are continually making small - and sometimes MAJOR - discoveries about their chests, their powered legacies and many other important things about themselves as well. Whereas on the other side of the globe, Six and Seven (Marina) are now in the company of Ten (Ella) and Clayton who end up finding someone else like them . . . number Eight that is. But as both groups fight to stay alive and try to find each other there are many shocking twists coming their way and ones they didn't see coming which was a real treat for, even if this book wasn't my favourite in the series so far.

With a sad and lacking of no reappearance from Sam (I know how could they do that to me!), I still loved getting back into the Lorien Legacies world and no longer missing out on these wide variety of characters that I love so, so much from the other two books. So while John (Four) and his fiery sidekick Nine didn't interest me whatsoever in this book (mostly this was due to nothing much really happening between them), but I absolutely LOVED the perspectives exchanged between Six and Seven. Now I liked Six in the first book but I found her too annoying for her own good in the sequel because she was becoming a love interest for Four rather than that strange, kick-ass girl friend that I just loved having around. But not to worry dear readers Six is back and totally badass than ever before. She rocked in this book! But it wasn't Six that did it for me this time . . . it was Seven all the way and the newly introduced character Eight who made me smile every single time he came onto the page. Those two were just so adorable alone and together as well! Eight in particular was a total hottie and whom I wanted all to myself. He was SO cute, sweet, resourceful and was totally perfect for our sweet Seven, and it was really cute seeing her boy-crushing over him. It was so nice to see her grow. But Eight . . . *melts* I blab too much, right? Okay I'll stop here.

Overall, I don't want to spoil too many things that happened in the book but I'm really excited to see what will happen next in this series and how far the author is willing to go in wrapping things up in this explosive YA series! With plenty of action, drama, teen angst and film-like sequences running through everyone of the pages and into my mind, I have to say while this book wasn't my favourite compared to the sequel but THE RISE OF NINE was definitely a worthy follow-up for fans of this series and I'm glad everything from the characters to the unique elements of sci-fi keeps getting better and better! It's such a sweet little delight to say the least!

The Rating

4/5 stars

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

Release Date: 29th August, 2011

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 352pgs

The Story

We Are Hunted. We Will Fight. We Have the Power of Six.

In the beginning we were a group of nine. The first three were killed in the order of their numbers. They caught Number One in Malaysia. Number Two in England. And Number Three in Kenya. They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio . . . and failed. There are six of us left. And we are ready to fight.

We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another, but our Legacies are developing and soon we'll be ready to fight. Is John Number Four? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who might be strong enough to bring the six of us together?

The Review

A big thanks to Tina from Penguin for sending me a review copy of this book!

Okay so last year when I read I Am Number Four I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and of course I loved the movie adaptation of the book. As far as readers know, in the first book we were introduced to Number Four, John Smith (don't you just love that name), a young alien on the run and after his people, The Lorien, whom one-by-one are being wiped out by the brutal Mogadorians. Then we met the lovely human friend, Sam, the human girlfriend, Sarah, and of course the unforgettable-but-very-kickass chick Number Six who brought this awesome YA story to life. So now you're wondering . . . how does the sequel measure up? Well, let's just say when it comes to THE POWER OF SIX book . . . this much anticipated sequel blew the series out of the water!

THE POWER OF SIX picks up almost after the events of I Am Number Four. John has recovered from the battles fought in Paradise, Ohio, and is now on the road with his friends - Six, Sam, and Bernie Kosar the dog. Now unlike the first book in the series, THE POWER OF SIX's perspective shifts between John and his friends travels around America to the newcomer Marina (Number Seven) who lives in a convent in Spain with her Cepan Adelina. After learning the events of John Smith, Marina is eager to join the fight and unite with her fellow Garde's. But with her guardian Adelina losing the will to fight and refusing to teach Marina of her legacy, it's up to Marina to find John and the others.

I admit it was great to see John and the others again. However the gang had a different feel in this sequel and maybe that's because something changes within the group of friends. John still loves Sarah - the girl he left behind in Ohio - and then there's Sam who has a boy crush on Six, but then things start to get complicated when Mogadorians are chasing them and then John gets a little closer with Six. Which is a problem for my dear boy Sam, whom I love so much and despite my sad feelings for his "crush", I was glad to see he played a much bigger part in the book and he still cracks a few good one-liners!

Without giving away too much of the storyline, I can say while readers will love the return of John Smith, Sam, and Six, but I must say I loved LOVED number seven's (Marina) point of view! My heart went out to her because of the way she was hidden away in Spain and because of her reluctant guardian, whom had fallen for the church rather than follow through with the plan of saving Lorien. Despite her troubles I loved every once of her personality - with the willingness to fight! Truth be told, I loved her the best of all the characters . . . shhhh don't tell anyone! I also loved her little friend, Ella, who was the ultimate sweetheart throughout the book and when secrets are revealed about her . . . it was just awesome!

Anyway this book is by far the best one of the series and talk about a major cliffhanger! So cruel author . . . so so cruel! With enemies coming from every direction, new characters you will grow to love (I'm talking to you Number Seven, Number Nine, and Number Ten), with shocking reveals and powers developing, I can definitely say that the author has outdone himself with this amazing action-packed adventure! I demand the sequel to be made into a film. If you were a big fan of I Am Number Four then you'll have to read and devour the words of THE POWER OF SIX. Trust me when I say this: You won't be disappointed!

The Rating

5/5 stars