The Lost Files: The Fallen Legacies by Pittacus Lore

The Lost Files: The Fallen Legacies (Lorien Legacies #0.5) by Pittacus Lore ☆☆☆☆☆

This was not what I expected at all! The first Lost Files installment to be published was Six's Legacy, which came out after I Am Number Four to chronicle the backstory of Six who appeared towards the end of that novel. The second installment, Nine's Legacy, appeared after The Power of Six where Nine is briefly introduced toward the end without much in the way of backstory. Both of these installments were great in giving a deeper look into these characters and what made them into who they became when Number Four finally met them.

It was great hearing that the story behind the three fallen legacies would be introduced before the final novel in the series, The Rise of Nine. So part of me thought there would be these three broken stories detailed where One, Two, and Three started, and where they ended up when they were found by the Mogadorians. And that's not what happened at all. The Fallen Legacies chronicles, instead, the point-of-view of a young Mogadorian that gets introduced to truths of the Loriens that his culture ignores in their quest for absolute power. I loved watching him transform, and how he often felt helpless in his own personal battles. Best of all, I'm left with the abundant hope that he'll become a central part of the final novel and I'm now eagerly waiting to see how that novel plays out. Now if only they'd finish the movie franchise instead of stopping with the first.

The Lost Files: Nine's Legacy by Pittacus Lore

The Lost Files: Nine's Legacy (Lorien Legacies #2.5) by Pittacus Lore ☆☆☆☆☆

I was lucky enough to borrow this from someone because I just couldn't wait to read it. And it didn't disappoint.

When first meeting Nine in The Power of Six, he's almost wicked. He's described as being about the same age as Four, but there's something scary about him and you crave to know why. Starting Nine's Legacy you would never anticipate that they were the same person. Nine is a regular teenage boy that's impulsive and even a little shy. And all that changes so effortlessly that you can't help but hurt and feel a little wicked with him. I loved getting to know Nine and I can't wait to see how much further, and how he can change Four in the process.

The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

The Power of Six (Lorien Legacies #2) by Pittacus Lore ☆☆☆☆☆

This book went in so many directions I would have never expected, especially as the sequel to I Am Number Four. The most interesting was that this book was told in alternating narratives between John and number Seven, Marina. While alternating narratives isn't necessarily strange (as many books use it now), what was strange was how they used it. As you started a chapter, there was never any indication who was narrating. There was no name at the top of the chapter as a clue. You have to figure it out as you read based on contextual clues. And swapping between a male perspective and a female perspective is even more jarring. At first it happens two chapters at a time, and once you get used to the pattern it changes. A couple chapters even have both narratives speaking in tandem. It was incredibly interesting.

I loved how far John and Sam's friendship grew, and how their friendship with Six further developed. I loved getting to know Marina and how she relates to her Cepan and the people around them. I even love that I got to hate two characters that I should have loved. One I loved and then hated, the other I hated and grew to admire in the end. This book was incredibly complex in how everything was pulled together, and the battles with the Mogs were extremely detailed. There was even small things that became so interesting. Parts of Six's backstory were pulled into the narrative, but I still found it beneficial that I read the Lost Files: Six's Legacy before picking up the sequel. I can't wait to read the next novella installment, Lost Files: Nine's Legacy, (hurry up library and get this ebook), and the next full book, The Rise of Nine, in August!

The Lost Files: Six's Legacy by Pittacus Lore

The Lost Files: Six's Legacy (Lorien Legacies #1.5) by Pittacus Lore ☆☆☆☆

Much thanks to my local library for carrying this ebook so I didn't have to buy it :)

I really liked this book. I Am Number Four is one of the few instances where I watched the movie before reading the book, and yet I loved them both nearly equally in the end. And one of my favorite parts of both is Six. I especially loved her toughness in the movie with her motorcycle and leather jacket (and Australian accent haha). So, getting to see her story and her background after seeing Four for so long was pretty awesome.

There wasn't anything in particular I disliked about this book to give it four stars instead of five. I guess mostly it was just because I didn't love it. I liked it a lot, but didn't love it. Part of that may have been because it skipped through time very quickly to be able to cover all her backstory over the course of about eight years in about eighty or so pages. Definitely a recommended read though for anyone interested in this series.

I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies 1) by Pittacus Lore

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore ☆☆☆☆☆

I must confess that in this instance I saw the movie before I read the book. I saw the movie as soon as it came out in theaters, only finding out a week before that it was even based on a series, and with that in mind I didn't have time to read the book before the movie. So, of course, this review ends up addressing both.

I do love the book and the movie equally. On the movie side, it had an amazing scene where they have an image recognition software program that searches the internet for their pictures and instantly deletes their existence. This is Hollywood magic and not in the book sadly. The movie also had a side plot involving why they were in Paradise, OH, how Sam is involved as more than a friend, and how it all ties their pasts and futures together. This was vaguely mentioned at the end of the book, obviously to become a key point of the sequel, and I like that the movie addressed it sooner.

Now the book was just plain awesome in its own right. Rather than a whirlwind Hollywood romance, John and Sarah get to know each other for months rather than days, and their relationship is natural and real. My favorite part of the book is all his flashbacks of Lorien so that as readers we can see the planet in all its glory (and subsequent destruction) which isn't available in the movie. These scenes not only explain where he came from, but who he is, and it shows his family on the planet. This also allows for information on how he gets his Legacy powers, who they come from, etc. And as for his Legacies, there are more of them and they are more interesting than the movie could even handle.

I highly recommend this book and I can't wait for the sequel to it that comes out at the end of the month!

Book: 5 stars
Movie: 4.5 stars