Review: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

Title: I Am Number Four
Author: Pittacus Lore
Published: August 2010
Source: Book It Forward ARC Tours
Synopsis from Goodreads:
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 had some pretty high expectations for this book, but sadly it didn't meet them. Not that it was a bad book, just that it wasn't as good as I would have liked it to be. I loved the story line, but I think that the writing could have used a little more work. I didn't think that John's voice was very convincing either.

 Let's start with what I did like: The story line. I haven't read a YA book about aliens before so it was definitely different for me from the very beginning. I really liked learning about the other planets, why they were fighting, why John was on Earth to begin with. I thought that the pacing was pretty good in general, though a bit slow in parts.

I liked most of the characters, Henri was my favorite. I think that John was a bit too formal for a teenage boy, alien or not. That was one of the big things. I couldn't seem to connect with John as someone that could really be out there somewhere. He wasn't real enough, he seemed too much like a narrator and not enough like the person living the events.

I think that this book will translate really well into a movie. It's pretty detailed and heavy on the descriptions, especially when there's a lot of action. It read a lot more like a movie script than a book in some parts, actually.

Basically, I liked it but didn't love it. I'm really looking forward to the movie though!


Characters: 7/10
Writing: 7/10
Originality: 9/10
Plot: 7/10
Ending: 9/10
Overall: 39/50 C+
Cover Comments: Cool cover, grabs my attention.