I Am Number Four

by Pittacus Lore

I’d give I Am Number Four 4.5 Legacies out of 5

I Am Number Four Summary

Ihad been wanting to get to this book for a while now. I know, I know… I’m late to the game. This book came out back in 2011 or so. At some point, I had listened to a portion of the audiobook, which I did find enjoyable, if not intriguing, but for some reason, I didn’t continue with it. I’m usually listening to and/or reading several books at a time, so my guess is that another book jumped ahead of the rest of my stack at the time, and took over my attention. This isn’t abnormal, per se. So, I Am Number Four merely got leap-frogged, I suppose.

It might be that, around that time, I had also seen the movie. The movie wasn’t great, which may have deterred me a bit. The acting, particularly from the lead, wasn’t fantastic. The bad guys were also kind of, well… chumps in black cloaks. They are much scarier in the book. For those that judged this book based on the silver screen—the book is much better than the movie. We should now that by now, though, shouldn’t we? So, if you have passed judgment on the book because of the movie, you might want to reconsider. The characters are accessible and relatable, and the story is well written.

At some point, I finally got around to reading the book. I think I had seen enough positive reviews that I just made it a priority. I’m glad I read it.

I Am Number Four is a fun, modern sci-fi story bent toward the teenage market. I love the writing style. Its clean, simple, and present, literally. More than just being written in the 1st person, it was super engaging. I can always tell a book tracking to be good if it has “gravity.” If I’m away from the book and I find myself looking for ways to get back to it, it has gravity. I’m happy to report that I’ve already gotten around 30% through book 2. So, now the series has “gravity” for me.

The book revolves around a small group of humanoid aliens that left their home planet of Lorien as it came under attack by a ruthless breed of aliens known as the Moggadorians. Once they arrived on earth, the Lorien’s were separated, and as they became aware of each other, sought each other out. The Moggadorians followed them to earth, and sought to hunt them down. Only, there’s a catch. The Moggadorian’s can only kill them in a particular order. If they kill them out of order, the Moggadorians pay the price.

The book starts out with an action scene on Lorian that changes pace quickly, and sets the setting and tone for the book. Then, it transitions to high school. Yup, you gotta get that teenage angst in there, right? There is a hint of a love triangle. Good girl, humanoid alien that’s just trying to find a place he can stay, and ex-boyfriend turned jealous when good girl’s attention turns to the new boy at school, who happens to have super powers. The boys fight a bit over the girl, and you can guess who wins that fight. Fortunately, the writing, and the storytelling far make up for any of those typical mechanics. 

While all this teenage drama is happening, of course, the real bad guys, the Moggadorians, are closing in. Ultimately, John Smith, our alien hero-boy, and owner of the most generic name he could think to give himself, befriends someone at school, and they band together to thwart the Moggadorians. 

If you want more details, you’ll need to go get the book 🙂

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are fleshed out well, and the pace is fun. If there was one part of the book I would have watered down, its the teen romance. There’s nothing too over the top here, but once it revs up, it seems like its constantly there. I never put the book away, so it wasn’t THAT bad, but I was aware of it constantly being in my face, so it was annoying a bit. Have you read the book? If so, comment and let me know what you thought. In the mean time, I’m back to book number two.