Originally posted 18th November 2016
“The Mogadorian invasion has come to Earth, and they have all but won the battle for our planet. Their warships loom over our most populous cities – like New York City, Tokyo, Moscow, Beijing, and New Delhi – and no army will risk making a move against them. The Garde are all that stand in their way . . . but they are no longer alone in this fight. Human teens from across the globe, like John Smith’s best friend, Sam Goode, have begun to develop Legacies of their own.
The Garde have always known there is power in numbers. If they can find these new allies and join forces with them, they just might be able to win this war. The time has come for the Garde to make their final stand.”
Can I just start off by saying that I am so sad this series is over?!
The I Am Number Four Series. I found this not long after the movie came out, it’s how I heard it was based off a book etc. and I enjoyed the film.. little did I know what I had in store.
Let me give you some backstory. So, I was going on holiday and I needed to download some books for the flight and the time spent away and I remember seeing it, liking the film, so I thought ‘Why not? I’ll give it a go’ – and I am so happy I did! I enjoyed that so much that I actually had a) wait to download the second in the series Power of Six because it wasn’t out yet and b) find a WI-FI spot where I could download it on my Kindle (no easy feat as mine doesn’t like connecting to new ones). But I did it and I was obsessed.
I am so sad this series is over. I loved all of it from the characters, to the plot line, the villains (well I didn’t love them but I loved that they were believable enough to absolutely despise). You get the idea.
I loved Johns edge in this series and while I don’t agree with the majority of his decisions it really showed his grief and what he was willing to do in order to make sure it didn’t control him in those crucial moments. I loved that he kept on fighting. Battle after battle he was at the point of exhaustion, his legacies pushed to the brink and he was basically broken after what happened (I won’t say, but anyone who has read it will know what I’m talking about) and, yes there were times where you felt he wouldn’t care if he didn’t make it out alive, he kept on fighting. Partly for revenge but also I think the majority for his friends, for the rest of the planet and whatever the motivation I liked that he kept on going.
I liked how the points of view were split between John/Four and Six. It was a great way to close as these Garde have been around from the beginning but also because they’re quite similar – for example there was a scene where John asked Adam to blow up the mountain if he singled that they were fighting a losing battle. Adam confronted Six about this and her reaction of just “Yeah, and?” – she understood his logic and reasoning for that decision, as I think do most people. Yes, they’ll die but at least the person they’re fighting will die right along with them. Aside from that I also thought Adam was brilliant in this book.
The involvement of the government in this way was very new but also very refreshing. Yes there was distrust on both sides however, it’s still different to what we’ve seen before and so I enjoyed the new outlook – it was an interesting development.
I like how it ended up being both Six and Four to really defeat him. How Six went back for Four because ‘she was still standing’.
My favourite lines of this book are “I am not Pittacus Lore, I am Number Four. I am the one who kills you” – I legitimately got chills! Also “I’m done with numbers” I think summed things up really well because we really are done with numbers, it’s over. And I’m sad but it was beautiful.
I liked some of the more emotional moments we saw between the Garde when Marina confided in Six and told her that she had never had a best friend before but that’s what she was to her and then, I think there are a couple of times, where we see John and Nine and it’s the brotherly moments which I thought was really lovely.
The ending was beautiful, I liked how we got to see where each character is in their lives after the events which took place, what they’re up to etc. I also think the Epilogue was the only part that I actually liked Ella in this book.
I felt awful for Marina, but once John took her to the place where he told everyone else to meet also when they were ready, it was like there was a sense of calm in her that we haven’t seen in a while. I thought Marina was fantastic in this book specifically but it was nice to see her get back to her old self now that peoples live’s aren’t on the line (I’m talking about the decision to spare Phiri Dun-Ra of course) and I think some people will have a problem with the moment that took place between them. It leaves it open to interpretation so you can do what you like with it so I don’t think people can complain too much but personally I thought it was intriguing and could potentially get on board with it.
There were very few things I didn’t like about this series.
1. Sam and Six
2. .. that’s about it.
But, if I’m being honest I know that’s my own personal opinion and not a reflection of the series itself.
All in all it was a beautiful end to a beautiful series.
I didn’t want to talk about everything but I think those are some key points that stood out to me. Once again a completely jumbled review because I’m still learning however, I still want to keep these more on the conversational side and would love to hear your opinions if you’ve read the book.
If you’re planning on reading the book.. I’m sorry for the spoilers I’ve probably given away.
