Book Review: The Power Of Six (Pittacus Lore)

The Lorien Legacies #2

Plot:

I’ve seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he’s a mystery. But to me . . . he’s one of us.

Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us—if we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We’re hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another . . . but our Legacies are developing, and soon we’ll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I’ve been waiting for? 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 may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?

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.

I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.

And I’m ready to fight.

Rating: 7/10

Before I start this review I have to say that I am really pleased that I am reading new books this year. I’m really a problem child when it comes to reading new books. I love to read my favorite novels on a loop, and while that isn’t an unforgivable crime, it certainly limits the amount of literature you get exposed to.

The Power of Six is the second book in the Lorien Legacies, which co-written by James Frey and Jobie Hughes. I noticed and appreciated that it doesn’t have that thing where the book doesn’t make sense because it received input from too many people. The pacing of the books are good, the content interesting and quite unique in the overpopulated genre where people most often than not “borrow” a few ideas. The characters aren’t as annoying as one might expect teenager characters to be, and the books lack melodrama.

The Power of Six introduces Marina, who is the Sixth Garde that was sent down to earth in a hope to preserve the Lorien race after an attack by the Mogadorians. Her Cepan, Maria, has lost all courage and is content to live in a quiet nunnery in Spain. This results in Marina not being trained or informed properly by her Cepan of her heritage, and she becomes increasingly desperate to escape. Her Legacies are also developing and she has trouble hiding them all the time. A little bit of light at the end of the tunnel occurs when she meets Ella, an orphan who quickly becomes a form of a confidante.

Meanwhile Four, Sam, Seven and Bernie Kosar is still on the run from the FBI after the destruction of their high school in Paradise. Here an irritating little love triangle develops and Four starts to pay more attention to Seven than which would be appropriate considering his good friend likes her and he is already in a relationship. It is a part of the story I really didn’t find enjoyable. I’d really hoped that they would omit love triangles, but I guess that is too much to ask.

For the girls here, I like Seven’s proactive attitude but I do not appreciate her playing with the emotions of both boys. Marina has amazing powers and I thoroughly enjoyed that, but she had a bit of an apathetic attitude that got grating quickly. Ella has to be mentioned because (spoiler): she is number 10. Her gift is by far the most impressive thus far.

The boys: Four (or John Smith) is a pretty cool character and I enjoy him, though he can be too impulsive and selfish at times. I am a huge fan of Sam and he does great work representing the human race. The later inclusion of Number 9 was unexpected but decent too, and I think the next book, which focuses primarily on him if I look just at the title.

A real problem I had with the book is the constant switching between characters without any indication except a font change. It happened more than once that I was confused about why everything was different. I also feel that the fighting scenes really get out of hand. It takes pages to resolve something and I get bored at the third strange animal attacking a character. Ugh.

Overall I enjoyed The Power Of Six. The different Legacies keep me quite entertained, they are really ingenious and fun! I hope the third book continues to interest me. They are fast paced novels that aren’t too intense. I’m planning to get to book three after I finish my current book, so you’ll definitely end up knowing what I thought of it!

Have you read the The Power of Six? Tell me all about it!

February 8, 2017February 8, 2017 by Natasha Categories: Books, reading, Review, UncategorizedTags: Bernie Kosar, Books, Cepan, Garde, James Frey, Jobie Hughes, John Smith, Lorien, Marina, Mogadorians, Pittacus Lore, Reading, Reviews, The Lorien Legacies 4 Comments

Book review: I am Number Four (Pittacus Lore)

Plot: Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books–but we are real.

Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. We have lived among you without you knowing.

But they know.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

I am next

Rating: 8/10

This book was part of my #BookShopDisaster last month, where I lost my head completely and just piled in the books. I didn’t really know what the book was about when I bought it, and the most I knew was that it was 1) Dystopian and that 2) a movie had been made and everyone hated it. Neither of those were good signs, but I lacked reason and bought the book anyway.

It paid off – my venture into Pittacus Lore’s world was successful and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is really well written, the characters are likable, and if I have to hazard a guess I’d say that the book was published at the beginning of the Dystopian craze – the ideas are original, the mythology have actual names (not just a Capital Something) and we get to enjoy a well thought out plot line. The author obviously spent active time developing his characters and building their existence, something that really doesn’t happen all that often with Dystopian novels.

The characters are all likeable – Henry and John and Sam and even the love interest Sarah. I really, really appreciated that there wasn’t some really drawn out, grinding love triangle. I also liked Sarah, she’s shockingly stable and tolerable for a teenage female book-character. We can laugh a little at Sam and Sarah’s meek acceptance that aliens exist, but it was all good fun and would have sucked anyway if they had run away screaming in terror. I really loved little Bernie Kosar, he’s the sweetest and the author obviously had an appreciation for animals. I also liked everything about Lorien and the Legacies, and the war with the Mogodorians.

There is quite a bit that happens in one book – information is constantly supplied. It could have been draining and frustrating, but it was more enjoyable and seemed like a natural progression. I thought the final fight at the school was way too drawn out – it kept running and running and running. I must also say that that was about the only thing that didn’t work out 100% in the entire novel, which makes it as a crime not so severe.

I will definitely be looking at the rest of the series and might for interest sake watch the movie just to grasp everyone’s outrage. Recommended for people that still have time for Dystopia – it really was quite good.

November 23, 2016November 20, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Books, reading, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Books, I am Number Four, Lorien Legacies, Mogadorians, Number Four, Pittacus Lore, Reading, Reviews 6 Comments