 | The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore 355 pages Released: 2013 |
The Fall of Five is Lorien Legacies #4, so there may be spoilers for books #1-#3 in this review.
This is such a cool series! Teens who are actually aliens who aren't evil and plotting world domination. No stereotypes. I like that they're unpredictable. Since this is book #4, we already know the backstory and we know most of the characters pretty well, so the author is able to concentrate more on plot. That's fun.
Six of the ten are united and hiding out together in a Chicago penthouse when the book opens. They're busy working on their plot to fight and defeat the Mogadorians when they get a signal from Five. Yay! Finally! Once they collect him, all living Loriens will be together! However, things do not go as planned.
The whole "things don't go as planned" bit was actually a bit of a bummer for me. I don't know if I'm jaded or if I'm just not a teen or if the writing was just a little off in this book, but I saw it coming a mile away. Browsing some other reviews on Goodreads I see that I'm not alone. I hate that such a big plot point ended up being too obvious and therefore rather anticlimactic. I won't reveal what it is, just in case you're able to read The Fall of Five without guessing the outcome.
Five isn't the only character with a big reveal of a plot point! Tiny, quiet Ten/Ella also plays a large role in The Fall of Five. I'll admit, in the past I've gotten pretty frustrated with Ten. She seemed like an overly weak character... almost borderline sexism on the part of the author. But in The Fall of Five we get to see her strength. It's a quiet strength, but it's there. We get to see her struggle with and work through a kind of knotty situation.
While it's exciting to go along with the characters on their quest to save Earth, I also enjoy the quieter moments in these books, when the main characters act very much like everyday teens. When they tentatively date or go on a joyride or make up silly games. There are moments where I almost forget that they're aliens!
Overall, The Fall of Five is good but not excellent. I really enjoyed it, because it's a continuation of a story that I've been enjoying through the first three books. If you were picking it up without any context you might not like it at all. I would certainly recommend it to someone who had read the first books. I just hate that it wasn't very action-full.
This is such a cool series! Teens who are actually aliens who aren't evil and plotting world domination. No stereotypes. I like that they're unpredictable. Since this is book #4, we already know the backstory and we know most of the characters pretty well, so the author is able to concentrate more on plot. That's fun.
Six of the ten are united and hiding out together in a Chicago penthouse when the book opens. They're busy working on their plot to fight and defeat the Mogadorians when they get a signal from Five. Yay! Finally! Once they collect him, all living Loriens will be together! However, things do not go as planned.
The whole "things don't go as planned" bit was actually a bit of a bummer for me. I don't know if I'm jaded or if I'm just not a teen or if the writing was just a little off in this book, but I saw it coming a mile away. Browsing some other reviews on Goodreads I see that I'm not alone. I hate that such a big plot point ended up being too obvious and therefore rather anticlimactic. I won't reveal what it is, just in case you're able to read The Fall of Five without guessing the outcome.
Five isn't the only character with a big reveal of a plot point! Tiny, quiet Ten/Ella also plays a large role in The Fall of Five. I'll admit, in the past I've gotten pretty frustrated with Ten. She seemed like an overly weak character... almost borderline sexism on the part of the author. But in The Fall of Five we get to see her strength. It's a quiet strength, but it's there. We get to see her struggle with and work through a kind of knotty situation.
While it's exciting to go along with the characters on their quest to save Earth, I also enjoy the quieter moments in these books, when the main characters act very much like everyday teens. When they tentatively date or go on a joyride or make up silly games. There are moments where I almost forget that they're aliens!
Overall, The Fall of Five is good but not excellent. I really enjoyed it, because it's a continuation of a story that I've been enjoying through the first three books. If you were picking it up without any context you might not like it at all. I would certainly recommend it to someone who had read the first books. I just hate that it wasn't very action-full.
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