The Fall of Five

Actually listened to this one. It was definitely different but I didn't want to put it down. I actually am really enjoying this series. No, the writing isn't great. Lack of adverbs many times but it is a fun story-line and I plan on seeing where it goes.

Another one down!

I've mentioned before that the Lorien Legacies series is formulaic and no great works of literature. But then came "The Fall of Five!" I stand by my earlier assessment. It's fun enough to keep reading the series, but it's definitely just all empty calories with no healthy nutritional value. There's also slopping proofreading from someone - Six, a main character, who's been described in detail repeatedly, is noted to have blonde hair almost throughout...and then black hair at one point...and back to blonde. I initially chalked it up to disguises, thinking I forgot something...but no, it was just careless editing/writing.

The presentation of a couple key story points early in this installment were so blatant with their show more foreshadowing that I was thinking they were surely intentionally placed as misdirects. But they weren't. Based on the info I received in the first quarter of the book, I could have written the last 3/4 fairly accurately to how it turned out.

Another gripe - I get this is a YA book... but I don't get why they need to include curses (super rare but still). There is at least one instance of the f*** word, sh** and a couple other minor ones. It doesn't add...I don't think teens or pre-teens reading these books would get less out of them without the curses. It just seems unnecessary and lazy.

All that said, I'm more than halfway through, no turning back now! show less

So we re-enter the hectic world that is the Loric's fight to save humanity from the Mogadorians. The remaining Loric are reunited with the exception of Five, who they are trying desperately to find.

I have made no secret of the fact that I can't stand Number Four/John Smith. The good thing about the alternate perspectives is I don't have to read a whole book of Four's blathering about how much he loves Sarah but oh no he kissed Six and he thinks he's a reincarnation of Pittacus Lore and blah blah blah. Seven/Marina is the voice of reason and I enjoy her view. Sam, as one of the only humans in the groups, also provides a different insight which I did think was interesting but he also had a lot of rubbish in his head too.

Nevertheless, I show more did enjoy this latest installment and JUST QUICKLY I never thought that these books would be able to surprise me but they did! And now I'm looking forward to the next one way more than I thought I would! But also I should mention that I left this book at work and didn't pick it up for a week, read about three other books in between and didn't really miss it so that's why this is only getting three stars. show less

Allora... Che dire? L'ho cominciato mentre avevo una sorta di blocco del lettore e alla fine l'ho praticamente letto tutto ieri notte.
Aspettavo da parecchio di leggere questo libro, e in effetti mi ha un po' deluso.
Il libro è scritto in prima persona e ci sono i POV di vari personaggi, e quando il POV cambia si entra un po' in confusione perché non c'è scritto di chi sia il POV. Bisogna quindi prendersi un momento per orientarsi.
Inoltre, non è successo praticamente nulla nel libro... Okay, ci sono due nuovi personaggi, entrambi molto sospetti (e alla fine si capirà perché). E poi c'è uno nuovo personaggio che in pratica appare in due scene, una all'inizio e una alla fine... E non capisco che senso abbia. Anche lui molto sospetto, show more tra l'altro.
Non nego che sia stato interessante vedere i Garde allenarsi e prepararsi alla guerra, anche perché la maggior parte di loro non sono ben addestrati. Però La sfida del Numero Cinque, a parte il plot twist che mi aspettavo find dall'apparizione di un certo personaggio, mi sembra tanto un filler book. In effetti, sono sette libri, e questo è il quarto.
Si risolve anche quel dannato triangolo amoroso Quattro/Sei/Sam che mi stava davvero sulle scatole. E poi boh, sarò io, ma Sarah mi sembra il personaggio più inutile della storia... La romance Quattro/Sarah sarebbe stato meglio che non ci fosse stata anche perché c'è una guerra in corso tra Garde e Mogadorian e Quattro pensa a sbaciucchiarsi la sua ragazza umana... Seriamente? Avrebbe dovuto fare come Sei con Sam.
Boh, vedremo come andrà ne Il Ritorno del Numero Sette, anche se non so quando riuscirò a metterci le mani sopra.


Recensione presente anche sul blog thereadingpal.blogspot.it show less

Actually listened to this one. It was definitely different but I didn't want to put it down. I actually am really enjoying this series. No, the writing isn't great. Lack of adverbs many times but it is a fun story-line and I plan on seeing where it goes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved getting to see the character development and the budding romances (and I don't usually like the romance aspect of books!). The ending had me nearly in tears. I can't wait for the next installment!

Rating: 3 of 5

Being the fourth book in the series, there was way, way, WAY too much time spent on everyone's histories, feelings, talking, and training sessions. Had this been a movie, all that training would've been pure eye candy. But having to slog through all of the above to reach honest to goodness forward motion on the story/series plot was the main reason I rated The Fall of Five 3 stars instead of 4. I will say that the two twists, one confirmed death, and one possible death at the end made up for all the effort it took to keep on reading. Still, I won't re-read this one when/if I do an entire series marathon.

Fans of the series who don't need (or want) a refresher in the characters' upbringing or love lives could read Chapters show more 1-3 and Chapters 30-37 and be up to speed on the story's progress, ready for the fifth book. show less