I Am Number Four

Title: I Am Number Four

Authors: Pittacus Lore

Release Date: 3 August 2010

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Series: Lorien Legacies #1

Pages: 440

Amazon Description:

Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—but we are real.

Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. we have lived among you without you knowing. But they know.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They killed them all.

I am Number Four. I am next.

Well I didn't start out on this book earlier when the hype started because, well, I don't really like books that have been turned into movies. And the movie trailer was rather boorish.

Contrary to my beliefs, The book actually turned out quite well for me. Considering I was only reading it because there was nothing else to read and I was super bored.

So here's the skinny(or maybe not so):

John Smith(aka Four) is this special teenage alien guy from a planet called Lorien, and has come to earth when he was a kid for his own protection with another older alien dude called Henri to protect him, because there's another alien race going all ballistic on them.

But here's the catch- This rival alien race(aka Mogadorians)can only kill the special alien kiddos(there are 9 of them) in a specific order. Why they want to kill them? Er, I think I must have missed that part(something about their planet dying... I think).

ANYWAYS, if you harm/kill for eg, this kid whose number is 5(they are given numbers), the kid won't be harmed. In fact you will recieve a particularly bad case of karma, because you will recieve the harm instead of said kid. Like if you stab the kid's arm, your arm would get stabbed instead. How? because this spell that was cast on to these special kids when they were levaing their alien planet. Makes you want to scream if you were number one eh? They are special because they are among the last of their species and have special powers. The guardians do not.

So basically he's always on the go, blah blah, then in this town in Ohio, he likes it there, he has a crush on a girl, usual romance, has a wonderful guy friend to talk to, something bad happens, he runs off to save the day... Well you know how it goes.

I shaved off a star because of the narrator's voice. Sure, the action and finding your powers thingums were fun, but the way the guy narrates is just so... monotonous.

E.g

I leave the bath­room and walk the emp­ty hall­way to my class­room. Ev­ery­body stares at me when I enter, then at the gloves. There is no point try­ing to hide them. I look like a fool. I am an alien, I have extraordinary pow­ers, with more to come, and I can do things that no hu­man would dream of, but I still look like a fool.

and then

I start with my room. I dust, wash the win­dows, sweep the floor. When ev­ery­thing is clean I throw sheets, pil­lows, and blan­kets on the bed, then hang and fold my clothes. The dress­er is old and rick­ety, but I fill it and then place the few books I own on top of it. And just like that, a clean room, ev­ery­thing I own put away and in order.

If I see another sentence starting with the word "I", I will scream.

As to why Sarah likes him, I have not an idea. That girl is daft. To me she's very Wow. John can fight. He appeals to my damsel in distress side. Hubba hubba.

Besides that, I cannot also get over the fact she just believes John when he tells her he's an alien. A normal sane girl would run away screaming. But yet again, the author's words are the rules, so therefore what ever author does is correct because author made it that way.

The reason why I liked the book is because there is a lack of nice-ish Sci-Fi Fantasy these days, and to finally find one is a godsend. There is such a lack of alien books in YA. Me gusta Sci-fi. and action. And okay, fine, to me it's not as crappy as what the reviews say it is. The plot is actually interesting. Aliens, almost extinct species, hiding on earth, va-va-voom powers, cross-species romance, kill-or-be-killed... What's not to like?

The character I liked the best was Mark. Because, and only because, he makes up the whole portion of high school cliches in the book. Until the part where he does not fufil the requirements for a jock jerk. Every YA book has a Jockey Jerk.

Non non, Mark. You don't have a split personality. You cannot buddy buddy with another guy that you hate in just one day and stay the same. Esp a guy who got the girl you want. You defy the stereotypes, and as much as I hate to admit, stereotypes make the book more interesting at times. But you had a stellar performance in the first section of the book. Love the fight you started.

The thing I don't like about book-turned-movies is that it kills off any imagination whatsoever for the reader when it comes to imagining how the characters look like. It's not actually comforting to think of John and have the image of Alex Pettyfer come to mind. Not nice. I expected, you know, less hair.

I know right? Of all the things I could have said, The first thing I say is hair. Actually, I don't even know WHY hair I say. All I know is I read the book, I look at the trailer again, the first thing I thought was Wow, long hair much?. This aggravates me particularly so, because I CANNOT STOP THINKING THAT JOHN HAS LONG HAIR WHENEVER HIS CHARACTER APPEARS. (translation: the whole book). There would also be a preconceived notion of how the other characters look like, and it's not helping because I will have a running commentatory of how the characters will look like in a particular scene.

I have to go Shut up, myself every once in a while to concentrate on reading.

Anyways, this book was interesting (I just complain rant too much), but if you're skeptical about reading it, take a feather out of my book and read it when you run out material to read.

4/5

Things to note: the hyperlink for the author is from goodreads because the one given from their website is completely, utterly fictitious. Which is probably due to the fact that it is a pseudonym.