Book Review - " The Power of Six " by Pittacus Lore

THEY are getting closer.

THEY are tracking us.

THEY know about the charm.

THEY know about our legacies.

THEY know too much for us to believe

WE will ever be safe again.

WE must find each other.

WE must unite.

WE must fight and we must win.

WE ARE THE LAST DEFENSE.

My Review:

So last year I reviewed " I am Number Four " and LOVED IT!  I have been harassing Harper for this for a while and made sure I got my hands on a copy as soon as it came out.  What's funny is I actually watched "I Am Number Four" on Friday and thought it was really cool.  Obviously a lot from the book was cut, but it was definitely a refresher for me before tearing The Power of Six apart!

SO MUCH happens in this book, I don't know where to begin.  Ill try to keep it short and sweet BUT if you liked the first one, this was an awesome sequel.  Did not disappoint and making me wish the next one was out already.  More of "them", more Legacies (OMG, I want them all!), and more info that you are all looking for in the sequel, including what is in those stinkin chests!  Ill start by telling you this, once I finished the book, I knew about #'s four, six, seven, and nine.  Nine comes in at the end, but he's a cool dude.  The other thing that we learn (BIT OF A SPOILER SO SKIP THIS IF YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW) is that the Gardes ship was NOT the only one that came.

So here's the breakdown- Four, Six (who you met in the first book), and Sam run from Paradise, leaving Sarah behind.  No choice- for her safety.  They basically spend the book running, training, and killing so many Mogs I wonder how there are any left out there.  A lot more background info about what their purpose is and more about their planet is explained in this one. What is really super cool is the chests.  A few were opened in the book and although we don't know what a lot of the stuff inside does, its all still really cool.  Some of the Legacies that the others have is also really cool.  Let's give you a few examples BESIDES the ridiculous fighting skills they all have that make Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and everyone's favorite this week- The Terminator, look like American Girl Dolls.  A few- underwater breathing, healing (which you can imagine comes in handy many, many times throughout the book, and invisibility.  Don't want to give them all away :o)

While Four and Six and Sam are doing their thing, there is also a crazy love triangle-quadrangle goin on because remember John (four) loves Sarah, and he is only supposed to have one love of his life, as Henri told him.  BUT as he spends all this time with Six, he really starts to like her.  Sucky part is Sam likes Six too.  The rest is left for the next book....  While they are figuring this stuff out, always on the move, we go to number Seven.

A good part of the book is from the point of Seven, who is somewhere in a Church/Orphanage with her Cepian hiding away in Spain.  Not only are her legacies just starting to show, her Cepian seems to be fallen for the Church and doesn't remember their ultimate goal of saving Lorien.  Throughout the book, the stories get closer until Six finds Seven (as well as Ella and Crayton, who all you will get out of me is they are from a second ship that came to Earth....ok-ok-ok Ella happens to be the 10th Garde BUT THAT'S ALL IM SAYING!) and Four finds Nine.  BTW, six and seven are females and four and nine are males.  Just thought i'd share that in case you were counting.  I am a bit curious about five and eight, but that will be for the next book i guess.

Something interesting here is that Sam actually has a purpose.  A HUGE one.  All of you remember how Sam was looking for his Dad who was crazy into aliens??  Well, his dad was actually a big part of how Four and Henri started their life on Earth.  Again, more for later. There was a twist at one point where Four goes back to Paradise, OH and runs into Sarah, but it is possible she turned him in, so I am not really sure about where that is going.  He does have a kiss with both her and Six in the book, so right now it's kind of up in the air about who likes who. I did notice that although four was mostly 70/30 in favor of Sarah throughout most of the book, I think that shifted to 70/30 in favor of Six by the end.  Just my thought.  I could be wrong. 

Anyway, tons of new info, cool weapons and cool toys in their chests, some romance, and a ton of killing, the book was just as good as the first, if not better.  I've been pondering how many of these will come out and as much as I was thinking originally a trilogy, I don't know if I can keep that thought.  I am definitely going to guess at minimum 4 with definitely more possible.  Honestly, Bring Em On!!  Loved and and can't wait for it to hit shelves for everyone to read.  

BY THE WAY- Mara and I are going to BEA again this year, so if things go well, we can hold a big contest like we did last year with a ton of ARC's.  Please do us a favor and let us know if you guys would be interested in that.  I know it sounds corny, but shlepping around 50 lb bags of books for 12 hours a day isn't the funnest thing to do. But if you guys are interested, we are happy to do it.  Dashner should be there, so maybe we can convince him with some New York street pretzels and cart dogs to share some secrets about Death Cure.  Probably not, but it will be fun trying!  

Lastly, I want to say that recently Mara was really sick and had to go in for surgery.  I am sorry it took me a few weeks to put something new up, but life around here has been crazy for the last 2-3 weeks.  You know how things are fine and then all of a sudden- WHAM! you are slapped with something HORRIBLE...... It happened.  Good news is she is all recovered and better again.  That will give me more time for reviews.  I do owe a big review to Laura Bingham and Wings of Light.  She was SO super kind to get me a copy AND share with me that my blurbs made her book!  OMG, it was the most exciting thing..... I have to re-read Wings, which I like to call "A2" for Alvor 2, and once I do I will put up a review.  I can tell you this, it was excellent.  I mean that.  I had a chance to read it early on and then again when it was finished.  Loved it.  I haven't read it in months though and want to give it a quick whirl before reviewing it.  Who knows, Laura may even stop by the site to talk about it?!?!?!  Thanks to you all and looking forward to more!

DAVE