I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore |

Novel Facts:

Published: August 3rd, 2010
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction
Series: Lorien Legacies
Pages in Hardback: 440
Followed by: The Power of Six
Quote: “When you have lost hope, you have lost everything. And when you think all is lost, when all is dire and bleak, there is always hope.”
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Plot:

In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorian. Nine aliens who scattered on Earth. Nine aliens who look like ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives, but who have extraordinary, paranormal skills. Nine aliens who might be sitting next to you now. The Nine had to separate and go into hiding.

The Mogadorian caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. All of them were killed. John Smith, of Paradise, Ohio, is Number Four. He knows that he is next.

Review of the Characters:

John/Four– He’s one of the last of his kind being hunted constantly and gaining new strengths everyday, so why was he bland? Bland, bland, bland, bland, BLAND! There was no dimension to John, his sole purpose was so the author could have a story line but I didn’t feel any real emotion from him, even when he was in mortal danger. It was as if a robot was in his place going through the motions of acting human. No actually, the robot would have been better.

Sarah– This is what we know about Sarah: she has a BEAUTIFUL complexion and never wears any makeup, she has BEAUTIFUL blonde hair that always gives off a lovely scent, she dresses simply because she’s so BEAUTIFUL that she doesn’t need to try, she takes BEAUTIFUL photographs of the not as beautiful world around her and her insides are just as BEAUTIFUL as the outside. Not even exaggerating. My biggest problem with Sarah is that the author didn’t even try to make her sound like a real person, just a fantasy that no girl can (or should want to) live up to.

Sam– He was a big cliché too (nerdy best friend) but still more interesting than anyone else in the book. His one liners were funny and I found myself liking him despite my principle of hating clichés.

Review of the Story:

Okay, listen, the premise is REALLY interesting and original. The fact that the alien race is being hunted down in a numerical order is a promising idea but the execution ultimately failed. We were bombarded with cliché after stereotype after cliché. It gets boring because you can predict exactly what’s going to happen due to the overused concepts.

Another problem I had was that the book is 440 pages long but for 300 of those pages, nothing is happening except for John telling us how beautiful Sarah looks that day. Though he did share a quote I liked. It’s when they are lying next to each other and John is worried that he will have to move to a new town soon. “That’s the worst way to miss somebody. When they’re right beside you and you and miss them anyway.” Too true.

Review of the Writing:

Overall simplistic, which works for the YA genre. In reality, it left no impression on me whatsoever and I don’t translate that to be a good thing.

Rating:

The idea of the book is EXCITING but the execution of the book does not live up. I am going to give the next book a try as I heard it gets better and there are more characters introduced so hopefully that will distract the reader from the absolute blandness of John’s character.

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