Book Review: The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

THEY know the charm is broken.

THEY know we're all in danger now.

THEY are determined to find us before

WE find each other

WE must come together.

WE are Lorien and Earth's only hope, and

WE are prepared to sacrifice everything.

POWER IN NUMBERS WILL SAVE US ALL.

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. 

The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (August 21, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061974587
• ISBN-13: 978-0061974588

REVIEW:
 This was the first book I read from The Lorien Legacies, I haven't read the novellas, I haven't read the prequels, I haven't even seen the movie, but since I thought it was the last and the movie was just so famous, I need to read it ASAP. But as it turned out, this isn't the end and from what I heard, there's still the fourth,fifth, sixth book, maybe even upto nine **sigh**

This review is mainly for those who had not any inkling about the Lorien Legacies, but would like to start reading it. This may be a little bit longer, since I want to introduce the characters and as much as I can, I will not put any spoilers. :D that's why if you had read this book or the others, you might find the things I'll said here, to be common. I couldn't also compare it with the first two books.

The Summary:
Six, Seven, Ten and her Cepan, Crayton flew to India to find another member of the Garde. There they met Eight, who had been training his legacies and living without his cepan. Four and Nine had just excaped from the Mogadorians and the US Government. Four constantly thinks about Sam and Sarah. Nine constantly reminds him that they are here to train and protect the earth and Lorien.

In between reuniting with the members, each group faced threats, mysteries, self-discoveries, answers and more questions.

THE PROS:
In this book, we see more on the character development and discovery. The Garde's members discover themselves, their abilities, their chest, their past. Also, some of the mysteries are solved ( I wonder what will the other books' conflicts are).
The characters have different strengths and flaws, most of them I loved.
There's action, random action in the book. It's also intense and well-defined.
The different POV's have different depths, different voices, you'll know when it change.
I love the painting on the walls, it just shows someone already knew what will happen.
I love the twists at the end ( especially what happened with eight :))
Nine and Eight save the book. (Nine is hilarious, hot and has some sense, Eight is hot, powerful, light and friendly)

IN THE MIDDLE:
The whole series has a lot of things going on, there are numerous subplots, backstories, conflicts and protagonists.
It's an interesting mix of characters but it also lead to some of them being just shadows.
The end doesn't leave in a cliffhanger.
The writing is okay, once you get settled reading.
The book focuses mostly on FOUR and NINE. They always fight, bicker, outsmart each other. But amidst that, there's really what we call the brotherly bond.Hope to hear Nine's narration. it might be better than four
I didn't get to really know Sam, FOUR's bestfriend, except in the dreams of FOUR.

THE CONS:
At first, I really had difficulty in following the story. Not just because I don't have knowledge about the characters' backstories but also of the changing POV's (SIX, SEVEN and FOUR). There's not a signal as to who's talking, this would have been better if Lore indicated it. I was lost but after a few chapters, two or three I think, I fell in love with the book.
There are some boring parts, well, mostly the first chapters. I feel like there's nothing really happening. The story felt stagnant, it really doesn't move anywhere.
The author tried to do romance, but it's not good. He tried doing love triangles (six, seven, eight), but only one of them knew that there is such thing. The pairings are complex. (Six likes four, four isn't sure about Sarah because of six, nine shows interest to six, six has some bond with eight, seven hates six for being too close with eight, then eight suddenly loves seven and seven's happy). I don't want eight to end up with seven ( and really, what's up with that kiss, it's random, no one expects it, it felt pushed, just so seven would feel better)
I understand that FOUR worries about Sam, but Sarah?!... Not only that, instead of training and preparing for the battle, he moans for them (Agh). Good thing, NINE is there to remind him.
The fight was long and intense, but I felt like it ended too soon, as if with all that trouble, they didn't get anything?! And Setrakus Ra just let them get away (Hey, I thought he could copy their powers, so why is he acting like he's inferior?) I mean, I'm sure ten is the reason why they defeat him, but they let that issue go, without any explanation.
The author made it clear he's against the US Government. It looks like US is helping the aliens to capture teens just for money and power. I know it's fiction but I can't help thinking this is some sort of propaganda.

Here's a summary of the characters:

FOUR

FOUR- played by Alex Pettyfer in the movie. I considered him as the main protagonist since he was the first to be introduced and reading the book through his POV, give me the thrills which the others failed to. He is a good friend, compassionate and loyal. It annoyed me how naïve he was, or maybe we could call him crazy- crazy for being impulsive-- for thinking he could do anything for others even if it means he'll suffer the consequences. It even come to a time, I want to punch him just to make him come to his senses.

SIX

FIVE- I'm curious about FIVE. Didn't made an appearance in this book. I didn't know if he's a boy or a girl.


SIX – is a badass and a warrior. She's very brave and very powerful. She has telekinesis and controls the weather. She's also impulsive, in the book she put herself to risk just to give time for the others to arrive.

couldn't find a picture of seven..

SEVEN- is very insecure, I quite hate her for thinking SIX is getting everything she wants. Also, her POV's are boring but among the others, she's the one who admits mistakes and learn from it. She fades together with the scene.

do not know who this is.. comment for a better substitute?

EIGHT- is HOT. We first met him in this book. He has super cool powers and from the description and the one-sided rivalry SEVEN felt against SIX, he's handsome too. Among them, he's the better thinker, almost like he had solutions for all their problems. He's also the one who found the portals. One thing I hate though, why would he ever feel for SEVEN?!

well, his hair should have been longer and should have shown muscle.>:D

NINE- is what you call the womanizer. He always talk about how sexy gils are.:D He might act like a jerk but he always defeat FOUR in combat. He seem cold but deep inside he cares for him and the other Garde.

TEN

TEN- is an unexpected addition to the original nine. She was just a baby when they were sent to Earth.
She's sweet and she has powers that if could be harnessed is an asset in the group. She may be the youngest, but sh'es also brave. And she has powers (in my theory) that saved them from Setrakus Ra.

FOUR AND SARAH

Sarah- redeemed herself, but I'd really want her to stay as the villain (lol) Or maybe Lore should just put her off the pages (unlikely).

THis is what should happen to Sarah lol

Mogadorians- they are the villain aliens. They're out to destroy the Garde and the Earth. But they are so weak, SIX could kill hundreads without a sweat (and she's injured in that stae).

THE RISE OF NINE is action-packed and fast-paced. This book isn't perfect but it made me think, happy and annoyed. I still enjoyed reading it, it kept me sit at the edges at times.

I'm gonna read I AM NUMBER FOUR first to know for myself how good it is. I'm gonna read the next books in this series, because I'd like to know who carries Pittacus Lore's power (eight claim it, four claim it, and six has a msyterious voice calling to her) and really I just wanna know how this would end.

Recommeded to anyone who loves reading about aliens, sci-fi, thrillers and action-packed books.


View all my reviews