The Fall of Five, by Pittacus Lore (Lorien Legacies #4)

My reviews of the previous books:

 I Am Number Four

 The Power of Six

The Rise of Nine

 
I wasn't going to write a review for this book, but I was so upset after finishing it that it didn't leave me much choice. I was convinced that this was the final book in the series and was crazy excited to read it because of that. Don't be mistaken-this series is no where near to being my favorite, just the plot was so interesting that it piqued my curiosity. When I got to the last page, I didn't believe it. Why didn't I believe it? Because there were around 80 PAGES LEFT! The publishers played a nasty trick where they stuck an entire freakin' novella after the end of the book that convinced me there was a ton left to the story when in reality it just had a bad ending.

Even ignoring my anger and disappointment about the non-ending, this book was still disappointing because of its lack of action. Most of the book was spent with the characters waiting around, bonding and learning how to fight. That probably should have been a clue that this book wasn't the last one, but because there were so many pages left I figured the author still had plenty of time to pick up the story. Sadly, no.

2.7 stars 


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.

Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction, edited by Carrie Ryan

The ideas connecting all the stories in this book was fascinating. Each author took the topic of prophecy and prediction and interpreted it completely differently. It was cool to read all the different takes and twists on this one topic, especially because none of them were as generic as I expected.

Gentlemen Send Phantoms, by Laini Taylor: I loved this story so much that it inspired me to read Laini Taylor's novels. It was light and sweet with hints of fantasy but with the uncertainty if whether what you're reading is fantasy at all.

Burned Bright, by Diana Peterfreund: Diana Peterfreund is one of my favorite authors and I found out about her when I read her short story in "Zombies and Unicorns". This story was absolutely fascinating. The twist at the end reminded me of the O'Henry stories I had to read in 8th grade, the ones with the shocking endings. After reading the last line of this story my jaw dropped and it took about five minutes for me to get it shut. It was totally unlike the killer unicorn or the Secret Society Girl books, which was quite unexpected and shows great talent on the author's part that she could write in such different styles.

The Angriest Man, by Lisa McMann: This story kind of scared me. I'm not sure how literally I was supposed to take it but I'm not much of a fan of symbolism so if there was any, I didn't get it. This take on prediction was one of self-fulfilled prophecy and for some reason I just thought of the movie "Megamind" in that everyone expects the main character to be bad. Don't be mistaken though-this story is NOTHING like Megamind.

Out of the Blue, by Meg Cabot: Cute, but typical Meg Cabot. One of my favorite stories in the book.

One True Love, by Malinda Lo: The only way I can describe this story is lesbian Oedipus Rex. But I think that was the point of the story.

This is a Mortal Wound, by Michael Grant: Very very interesting but I couldn't figure out how this story connected with prophecy and prediction.

Misery, by Heather Brewer: Fascinating and introspective. I didn't particularly enjoy it, but I did appreciate it.

The Mind is a Powerful Thing, by Matt de la Pena: Another story of self-fulfilled prophecy, just this time with a paranoid girl who thinks the world is out to get her.

The Chosen One, by Saundra Mitchell: Sweet and strong. A more classic take on the whole prophecy idea, but the main character was full of spunk.

Improbable Futures, by Kami Garcia: Not a particularly unique story, but definitely good. I wasn't a huge fan of Beautiful Creatures so I wasn't looking forward to reading this story or the next one, but this story was a lot darker than I realized. This story is about a fake fortune teller who realizes that everything she is predicting starts coming true.

Death for the Deathless, by Margaret Stohl: This story was the first that had a prediction loop which makes you question what comes first. I liked a few of the other stories, but this one was definitely my number one favorite. I was shocked when I looked at the author's name and realized that I thought her other books were stupid.

Fate, by Simone Elkeles: This story had no fantasy involved but was just a short contemporary romance. Another goodie.

The Killing Garden, by Carrie Ryan: This story was nasty. The concept was messed up and made me cringe multiple times. I felt bad for the main character for not realizing the truth behind her father's words until the end, but the end of the story was okay.

Homecoming, by Richelle Mead: To anyone who hasn't read the Vampire Academy books, this story will seem out of place and won't be fully understood. To anyone who has, it's nice to read about Dimitri's reunion with his family.

3.6 stars.

 Have you ever been tempted to look into the future? To challenge predictions? To question fate? It's human nature to wonder about life's twists and turns. But is the future already written—or do you have the power to alter it?

From fantastical prophecies to predictions of how the future will transpire, Foretold is a collection of stories about our universal fascination with life's unknowns and of what is yet to come as interpreted by 14 of young adult fiction's brightest stars.

The Rise of Nine, by Pittacus Lore (Lorien Legacies #3)

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.

After the events of the previous book, Four and Nine have just escaped from the Mogadorians, leaving Sam behind. Meanwhile, Six had just met up with Marina (Seven), Ella (Ten) and Ella's Cepan. The four of them go off to India to check out a mysterious local deity who they suspect is one of their kind while Four and Nine wander around the states arguing and fighting.

I wish I could say more in the summary but I don't want to give anything away. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I did the previous two, probably because I felt like we were actually getting somewhere in this one. The first one was a sweet intro to the series, but the second teased lots of secrets and information the reader has yet to learn without actually going anywhere with it. In this book, the plot moves and I loved how all the Numbers we know of were reunited at the end. That alone redeemed the other two books because finally the series is moving along and not keeping us at that suspenseful place where you want to pull out all your hair because you know something should be happening. It's like when you sit in the car waiting to leave-you know you'll be going eventually but at this point you're just losing patience, and in this book you finally hit the road. It was also cool to see how all the Numbers interacted with each other-the tentative camaraderie they start off with while they get to know each other and being forced to trust someone they barely know because they know they'll have to save the world with them eventually. Four and Nine were especially funny together because of how different they are from each other. Nine was a great foil for Four and provided many opportunities to learn more about our hero than we had from the previous books.

I don't have anything more to say but for anyone who has the patience to get through I Am Number Four and The Power of Six, this book is the reward.

5 stars.