Hello again!

 So, as promised, here is the first of a series of posts outlining the books I have read from January to August 2016. I didn't keep a record of the exact dates I finished each of these books, or how long they took me to read, so I'll just take my list and cover a few books per post. I will also try to add photos. These first ones aren't the best, but I'll try to make future ones Instagram-worthy. ;)

The Fate of Ten
{spoilers ahead if you haven't read the series}
At the beginning of the year, I was very much in the mood to finish off various series I had previously started and was getting weary of. Even though they are no longer my favourites, I feel the need to finish what I started. I was reading a couple at the same time, but only managed to finish The Fate of Ten by Pittacus Lore. It is the sixth book, released last September, in the Lorien Legacies series. I had been snatching the books up as soon as they were released until that point. But I wasn't really feeling the series anymore, so I didn't read this book until January. The seventh book, United As One was released this summer without much fanfare that I was made aware of. There is also a sub-series called The Lost Files which I never read.

As I mentioned, I really enjoyed the series in the beginning. It's a YA science fiction about a double alien invasion: the good guys (Loriens), whose planet was destroyed by the bad guys (Mogadorians). The nine Lorien elders sent their child-successors (called Garde) off to Earth with their trainer/guardians (Cepans) when their planet was attacked. They are all that's left of Lorien. Knowing that the Mogadorians would eventually find the children, the elders put a charm on them so that as long as they were separated they could only be killed in their numerical order, and the survivors all receive scars when the others are killed. At the beginning of the series, the first three have already been killed, and we meet Number Four (who goes by the name John Smith). As the series progresses, we slowly meet the other surviving Garde as they find each other. Once they came together the charm was broken, so now they are all fair game, so it is imperative that they all come together so that their Legacies (superpowers) are stronger.

This installment of the story picks up right where Revenge of Seven left off: the Mogadorians have officially invaded Earth and have New York City under attack, so some of the Garde are there fighting against the Mogs, while others are stranded in Mexico after finding the Sanctuary and awakening the Entity - the spirit of Lorien. Not much actually happens in this book to advance the story, except that we meet a few new characters, lots of Loriens get injured, and humans randomly become Garde.

That's really all I have to say about that. I'm glad I read it, because I do want to finish the series, but it wasn't great.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (a pseudonym of Catherine Webb) is another science fiction novel, which I absolutely loved! I believe I bought this one from Indigo merely because the title and cover caught my eye, and the synopsis was rather intriguing. It is a really interesting time travel/reincarnation story, which I always love.

Harry August keeps living the same life over and over, but he remembers everything from his past lives. At first this freaks him out, but eventually he finds others like himself and joins a community which helps him to adapt. As he progresses through his lives he is tasked with a mission, because of his special ability to remember everything, to help save the future of mankind. The time travel/living life over, is sometimes hard to get your head around, but I love that kind of mind bender. It's a great book and I highly recommend it, especially if you enjoyed Cloud Atlas and The Time Traveler's Wife.

The Arrivals
The next book I read was The Arrivals by Melissa Marr. This one I actually found on a trip to a Dollar Tree store in Vermont last year. I always check the books at Dollar Tree because you never know what you'll find there, and they're only $1 - can't go wrong, right?! The title didn't really do anything for me, but the cover art was interesting and then I recognized the author (I read and loved her Wicked Lovely series, about faeries), so I thought, "This should be great!"

It's a "weird west" novel set in an alternate universe, which appears to be a lot like an old Western. Featuring vampires, monsters, demons, and an Egyptian Pharoah... Somehow, murderers get transported from our world to this alternate universe where they band together (allied with the vampires) to fight off the monsters and demons and attempt to keep peace in the land, all the while trying to figure out how to get back to our world. It was kind of fun, but it was weird, you guys. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, unless you like that sort of thing.


Well, I think that's all for this post. Let me know if you've read any of these books and what your take on them was!

Book Review: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Ok, first off, I LOVED this book, AND movie. I saw the movie first, which I would almost recommend because you enjoy the movie, but then the book is that much better because it's got different stuff and more info. And I really don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I will really try to give the most basic of descriptions...

So, the story is about this group of 9 children from planet Lorien (who look like humans, but definitely are not) who were sent to Earth 10 years ago, each with their Cepan guardian, when Lorien was attacked by the Mogadorians (aliens from a different planet). The plan was that they would go to their space station to wait until it was safe to return, but the Mogadorians destroyed the planet and everything on it, so they were forced to come to Earth. Before they left, each child was given a number, and a charm was put on them so that should the Mogadorians ever find them, they had to be killed in numerical order. The only way the charm could be broken was if 2 or more of them were together, so they had to spread out and never make contact. And each time one is killed, no matter where they are, the others know because they painfully receive a circular scar on their leg. The first 2 have died years ago, and you see the third die right at the beginning of both book and movie. The main character is Number Four, so he and his Cepan (and father figure), Henri, know that he is next and that they must keep moving, keep changing identities. They've never stayed anywhere for more than 6 months. So after Number Three dies, they move to Paradise, Ohio, and Number Four takes on the new identity of John Smith.

Paradise, Ohio is where everything changes for Number Four (John). He starts to develop his Lorien Legacies - super powers - he meets and falls in love with Sarah Hart, he makes a best friend in Sam Goode (whose father was an alien enthusiast who disappeared years ago), an initial enemy in Mark James (police chief's son, football star, and Sarah's ex-boyfriend), and a pet Beagle who he names Bernie Kosar. Mark is pretty mean to John at first, but not so much after John throws him and his friends around in the woods one night. John eventually has to tell all 3 of them his secret, which is extremely dangerous, but turns out to be helpful when the Mogadorians finally find them.

But with the Mogadorians also comes Number Six, who is a great help, but also opens all the other Loric children up to be killed if the Mogadorians find them. Together they are stronger, but for the ones who aren't with them, it could be fatal. Four and Six's powers are different in the book from the movie, so I won't say what they are. The (intense) battle scene at the High School is also different, so I won't go into much detail there either, at this point. But the ending is the same - Four and Six defeat the Mogadorians. I also wouldn't want to completely spoil the ending for those who haven't seen/read it yet, but Four and Six do have to leave Paradise in the end.

Now for the author. Pittacus Lore, what a strange name, and so close to the name of the planet, you might say. Cool, you might say. Well, Pittacus Lore is the authors' (James Frey and Jobie Hughes) pseudonym, and also a character in the book. He is not mentioned in the movie, and only once in the book. But the back of the flyleaf reads:

"Pittacus Lore is Lorien's ruling Elder. He has been on Earth for the last twelve years, preparing for the war that will decide Earth's fate. His whereabouts are unknown."

I like it. Can't wait for the second book of the series - The Power of Six!!!

Overall story rating: 10/10
Recommendation: 13+