Review - Power of Six - Pittacus Lore

The Power of SixTitle: The Power of Six
Author: Pittacus Lore
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Publication: 2011, Penguin Books
Pages: 380 pages, Paperback
Source: Library book/own 
We are the last defence.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.
After reading I Am Number Four, and after reading that heart-breaking ending, I was lucky that I could delve right into Power of Six.
I enjoyed I Am number Four so much and I was super excited to start reading the second one. I really enjoyed The Power of Six, however, it did feel like something was missing, therefore I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous one, but it was still an enjoyable, action-packed science fiction young adult novel. The Power of Six was a great follow up to I Am Number Four, just a warning for those who haven't yet read IANF, you do need to preferably read the first book in order to understand what happens in The Power of Six. There were lots of revelations in I Am Number Four, but we weren't always told the full story, therefore it left a lot of loose, unfinished endings, and a lot of the unanswered questions raised in I Am Number Four, were now revealed in The Power of Six. Its a series you definitely need to read in chronological order. You'll also feel more sympathy towards the characters, knowing the background story on Four, and the tragedy that happened towards his Cepan in  the end of the first book.
The title has had me and quite a few readers confused. At first, upon finishing I Am Number Four, I thought perhaps the second book would be from Six's point of view, however it wasn't, and I did find myself a bit disappointed. Six is my most favourite character in the Lorien Legacies, and I would have loved it if it were her narration in The Power of Six. When I had read the first few chapters, I came to the conclusion that The Power of Six, didn't really have any relation to Six, but it merely meant, the power of the six Garde left when they are united. But its okay, I was enjoying reading about the new characters introduced and reminiscing with the characters introduced in the previous book. I do think that the author should perhaps have given more of an indication to the meaning of the title though.
The writing didn't seem as good to me as I Am Number Four. There was no descriptiveness, it was mostly a few similes and metaphors scattered here and there. And the writing didn't really have any depth woven into it. I've learnt when writing   a story to show not tell, and a great deal of The Power of Six, was just the author telling what was happening, instead of using excellent vocabulary and similies/metaphors to make the story beautiful. The writing was very basic and I would've preferred it if the author had used better synonyms for the primary words that were printed in The Power of Six. I really do hope that he will show his true talent that he exposed in I Am Number Four, in The Rise of Nine.

I enjoyed being introduced to the new characters and learning more of the previous characters' pasts. In I Am Number Four, we heard Four's voice, we heard his past story, we heard his current story. Towards the end, we were introduced to a new number, number 6. I instantly warmed to Six, I could tell she was a head-strong, kick-butt girl that had an unfortunate past. A girl that had learnt from previous mistakes. I was also insanely impressed at the amount of fighting and survival techniques that she had taught herself after her Cepan died, Six age just thirteen. I was also clapping in glee when Six kicked Four and Sam's butt during their training sessions, I would absolutely love to be able to do all her fighting moves.

So Six was a newish character, introduced in book one, and developed in book two. One of my favourite new characters is number Seven, also going by the name, Marina. I loved listening to her voice resonate throughout the story. Her voice is sweet and gentle. She loves painting and quite a few of her legacies have to do with nurturing others and to do with nature. She was different to the others in my eyes. She seemed sensitive, more like an artist than an alien sent to Earth to kick evil alien butt.  Her life as a Garde was also unfair. Her Cepan wouldn't accept or acknowledge the fact that they had been sent to earth, from an alien planet, Lorien, in order to keep the world from being destructed by filthy, war-driven Mogadorians. When her Cepan finally showed some emotion towards Marina, and jumped into action to start preparing I was so relieved. It must have been awful for Marina, being bullied by the convent girls, and not having her Cepan to talk to when her legacies started showing. My favourite characters so far are Six and Seven. Six for her toughness and for her emotional story that has changed the way I see her. As you read about her, bit by bit of her hard edge will be chipped away, revealing the true person she is beneath. Seven for her caring gentleness and her eager ,urgent enthusiasm to learn how to control her legacies and defend Lorien and Earth.


The plot was interesting. I was constantly in suspense, on the edge of my seat, waiting for the Mogadorians to strike. Waiting for them to kill number Four, "John", to continue the rest of the assassination of the other Garde remaining. Whenever the Garde escaped another near-death run-in, I would breathe a sigh of relief and continue reading, but my relief would be short-lived as the Mogadorians, or the human police (convinced that John, Sam and Six are terrorists) continued chasing them, trying to track them down and kill them.

SPOILER AHEAD


I don't like Sarah anymore. How could she do that?! You don't betray your  boyfriend to the FBI! He isn't even just an ordinary boyfriend, but a special alien, who is one of six left to SAVE MANKIND. It was a pretty good twist though, and I'm a sucker for good twists. And I'm also cross with John, as you don't make out with your gorgeous, powerful alien friend, while you are dating someone else. He is a cheater and I can not stand cheaters.  AND John betrayed Sam, as Sam has got a MEGA crush on Six. The other thing is that I knew that John and Sarah's relationship wasn't going to last that long, his an alien that people are claiming to be a terrorist and she's miss popular, that has now become an outcast since John "blew up" a school. Maybe she traded him in for revenge? Who knows...
I really do think that the romance could have been a bit more structured and well developed.

SPOILER OVER


I also found the ending, where Sam was locked in the Mogadorian cave, unnecessary. The author should have done a more well-rounded up ending. As Sam being in the cave wasn't the best cliffhanger, if that's what it were intended to be. It also didn't have me in tears, as I didn't feel that emotionally connected to Sam in the second installment of I Am Number Four. The only emotion that this event left me with was annoyance. John was such a jerk to not immediately go in there and save his friend. If my best friend was locked in a cave filled with aliens out for her and my blood, I would risk my life for her. But not John. He needs to grow up a bit more me think.

Its also getting a bit much with the Cepans being killed off at the ending of every book, it seems quite pointless to me. If you're going to kill a character, at least have us be introduced to the character and get to know them, so that when they die we will be able to show some emotion, like in I Am Number Four. When one of the Cepans died in there, there were tears rolling down my eyes. The author needs to try and recreate those scenes in his next books when the characters die.

The Power of Six was a good sequel to the outstanding first book in a new Young Adult science fiction, The Lorien Legacies. However, it was a slight let-down after reading I Am Number Four. The first installment in the series I found I had my heart wrenched out and my heart racing, the Power of Six didn't produce such strong feelings in me. The action was great and it was the best part of the book. I was constantly in awe watching their fight for survival unfold before me. I'm hoping in the next book to see better writing skills, a more developed romance and better plot twists. I did enjoy this book, but I think it could've been a lot better.


I give it: 4/5 CUPCAKES!