Book Review: " I Am Number Four" by Pittacus Lore

I AM NUMBER FOUR

by

Pittacus Lore

WE MAY BE WALKING PAST YOU RIGHT NOW.

WE ARE WATCHING AS YOU READ THIS.

WE MAY BE IN YOUR CITY, YOUR TOWN.

WE ARE LIVING ANONYMOUSLY.

WE ARE WAITING FOR THE DAY WHEN

WE WILL FIND EACH OTHER.

WE WILL MAKE OUR LAST STAND TOGETHER. IF

WE WIN,

WE ARE SAVED, AND

YOU ARE SAVED AS WELL.

IF WE LOSE, ALL IS LOST.

MY NONSENSE:

So, I know I have not reviewed a book in like FoReVeR.  I thought about my little comeback and why it took me so long to post anything, a contest or especially my next review.  It's not that I haven't been reading.  In fact, quite the opposite.  I have bought a bunch of books, still have a bunch left from BEA that I wanted to tear into, and a bunch have come in the mail.  So WHAT THE HECK IS THE PROBLEM DAVE???  Well, as I was reading this one (#4) it kind of hit me when I was on about page 300 (out of 440ish).  I have indeed read a whole bunch of books since my last review, close to about 10-15.  It's just that I didn't finish one single book that I started.  In fact, I probably made it it halfway through any of the books at most.  Don't get me wrong, they were not bad at all (most of them anyway) it's just that nothing was superb.  I guess I was getting a bit selfish and really, really wanted to read a great book.  Maybe I have been spoiled by all of the pubs hooking me up etc., but still, I didn't want to settle.  So here I am around pg 300 of # 4 and I was soooo happy.  I told myself I was finally going to read a whole friggin book. WOO HOO!! Well, I did and I absolutely LOVED it.  I had received a pile of books that I asked for from my buddy A.H. over at Harper and when they all came, there was 1 note from A.H. and it said, " Hey Dave!  Enjoy the books BUT you are REALLY gonna love "I Am Number Four" and boy was she right!  Let's see if I still got it!  Here goes....

MY REVIEW:

I really loved everything about "I Am Number Four."  The style of the writing, which was sort of a first person kind of thing, is through John Smith, our main character.  Here we have a story of 9 children saved from a far away planet  (Lorien) that was destroyed.  It was destroyed for its resources by another group of people called the Mogadorians, which were an alien race from the planet Mogadore.  Ok, I agree, aliens and other planets etc., sounds corny.  It does not pan out that way, I promise!  Now that I got that off my chest, here's the situation- When Lorien was destroyed the "elders" sent a runaway escape ship with 9 children, their guardians (1 per child) and a pilot off into space.  They were headed for Earth where they are all to separate until their powers form.  Once they all have their powers, they can fight the Mogadorians to get their planet back and start up their civilization from the ground up again.  The thing is- when the kids are separated they have a charm on them.  They can only be killed in order.  John happens to be # 4. 1-3 are dead.  They are coming for him now.  The plan is to knock the out 1 by 1 so they can never go back and start a new life on Lorien.

Got it so far? Good, now this is where the story of "John" comes in.  John and his guardian Henri have been traveling all over the world in hiding together.  Once there is a possibility that they are exposed, they bounce and make a new home somewhere else, somewhere in seclusion.  Usually small towns where they keep to themselves.  All that changes when they end up in Paradise, Ohio.  Once the kids (John and his group of others) reaches I suppose their teen years, they develop special powers, or "Legacies" (fire resistance, telekinesis, levitation, invisibility, etc.) that they develop one at a time over a course of a few months until their Super Legacy is defined.  This is the part where I sort of give you a summary of the story then tell you how great the book was and you have to read it when it comes out...

Enter "plot" # 2, John in a small town meets up with the town's quiet, keep to himself kid and befriends him (Sam).  At the same time, he is caught in a somewhat love triangle with the captain of the football team (Mark) and the former captain of the cheerleaders (Sarah).  This is what I loved about the book, how the author ties the big deal of Lorien and the Mogadorians together with a small town- new kid in town kinda story.  Really cool.  If you can't figure out what happens, the short of it is this- John's powers develop, The Mogadorians find him and Henri, and he is madly in love with Sarah, who Mark seems to not be over yet.  How everything pans out is the part that I'm not tellin!  There is a bit of everything you'd hope for- cool powers, love, death, friendships, love (did I mention that already? I must admit, the love between John and Sarah is a textbook perfect love story!) and battle.  We do end up meeting one of the other #'s (kids) in this book.  She is really cool- that's what you will get outta me about her!  Oh, and she's #6 if that helps :o)

Hopefully this book has given me the confidence to complete some more to review for you guys.  I definitely ended the book hoping (and kind of expecting) there to be at least another installment, although I can definitely see how the author can write several more books around this one.  I am looking forward to reading them for sure.  I believe it is slated to come out in September so not too long to wait.  Definitely gets 2 thumbs up from me.

Now I must tell you guys.  I am some what excited and couldn't wait to share.  Well you all know how much of a Dashner/Maze Runner fan I am.  Last year when Maze hit the shelves we scored an interview with Dashner for release day.  He has promised to do the same this year when "The Scorch Trials" is release in October.  YEAH DASH!  That's what I love about him.  Always so humble, never forgetting his roots.  Your a good man Dash.  Speaking of Scorch Trials.... guess what should be arriving any day???  Oh yeah, that's right, an ARC of Scorch Trials!!  I am super excited.  I did everything I possibly could to obtain and ARC.  At one point I even enlisted the help of Dashner himself.  There was no way I wasn't getting an ARC of this.  It's probably the 1 book I can not wait to read more than any other.  So thanks a bit to Dash and to my contact at Random House (E.P.)  I am checking the mailbox every single day just knowing that any day I am going to be surprised and then B A M! there it will be.  Ok enough excitement for one day.  I hope you guys enjoy my review of " I Am Number Four" and am looking forward to your comments.  As I have known it's been a while, please leave a comment so I know you guys are still out there and alive.  I want to write more and have contests ( I have SOO much stuff we were planning on giving away that it's almost time to start giving!) but would also like to know that you guys are out there supporting us and wanting to hear from us.  If you guys are down, let's do this and get this party started again!

DAVE