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I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies, #1)

Pittacus Lore

Start date: August 2, 2012

Finish date: September 1, 2012

Discussion: Book Of The Month

Discussion leader: Zee

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What Members Thought

Sep 22, 2010 Rose rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: action, young-adult, fantasy, sci-fi, romance

I think "I am Number Four" made for a much more interesting premise (and a well-paced movie) than the book portrayed on the whole. It certainly had my interest when I first saw the book in my local library, and I was looking forward to reading how it came across based on the premise. Unfortunately, I'll comment that there are a couple of things about the book that threw me, and mostly it had to do with the way it was written.

First off, I'll note that Pittacus Lore is the psuedonym of James Frey, I think "I am Number Four" made for a much more interesting premise (and a well-paced movie) than the book portrayed on the whole. It certainly had my interest when I first saw the book in my local library, and I was looking forward to reading how it came across based on the premise. Unfortunately, I'll comment that there are a couple of things about the book that threw me, and mostly it had to do with the way it was written.

First off, I'll note that Pittacus Lore is the psuedonym of James Frey, the author of "A Million Little Pieces." Gathered that I've never read his works before this point, his writing style is new to me. I'm also aware that this is actually not James Frey's writing, but rather a hired writer I think who works under Frey's name. So, it's a complex matter, I'm not getting into the politics, but I will give due analysis of the work itself.

The story revolves around one 16-year-old boy with the codename of John Smith, but in reality, he is an alien from another world hunted down by another group of aliens bent on destroying his kind. John reflects how he's able to sense each one of his kind's eliminations, and when the death of Number 3 is noted, he must go on the move yet again with his protector, Henri.

John moves into yet another town, another school, and has to deal with not only the pressures of blending into his environment (without drawing attention to himself as far as the alien race hunting after him) while also dealing with developing powers, a romantic interest, and with respect to dealing with his high school peers.

It sounds better than what it actually came across. For one, the writing style is choppy, but easy to read - if only the ease of reading were filled with substance. The dialogue is VERY stilted ("I mean the whole thing was filled with manure"/"With manure?" he asked confusedly."). The characters are undeveloped and there's literally no internal debate with the main character telling the story to make the reader feel sympathetic to his cause, and the fact that he's seemingly without flaws. We don't even understand why the Morgadarians are hunting these children, which would be interesting enough to learn (the explanation in the book doesn't really make much sense and is quickly dropped without further expansion). Worst yet, the characters themselves are stereotypical cookie cutter chess pieces, including the damsel-in-distress love interest, the wise advisor, etc. Very predictable plot progression throughout, without much intrigue to carry it forward (the action scenes are as stilted as the dialogue), except for the end, which seems to be placed there for continuity's sake.

I will give credit that the book was an easy read, but I felt like I wanted more out of all the strings it dangled in front of me, but ended up dropping most of what could've made it an intriguing novel. I hope if there are further books in this series that the intrigue and expansion are improved much more than this book offered. Great premise, less than adequate and lacking whimiscal execution.

Overall score: 2/5 ...more

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Apr 10, 2011 Quantum Thief- Behind the Mask rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I LOVE THIS BOOK IT WAS EPIC!!

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Dec 02, 2010 Jaime West rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, sci-fi, young-adult

Okay.. I was excited to see the movie before I read the book.
Now, well, it's a whole new level of ~~obesession~~ excitement!

The story is slow to start, with a lot of impersonal description of them leaving town. But as soon as John gets to school and sees Sarah, its like he comes to life in the story. Sarah is such a big part of his inner musings.. I really enjoyed John Smith and his story, learning about Lorien and his abilities, coupled with gradually learning how to grow as an alien from Lorien a ...more

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Dec 21, 2010 ♣Bookishbellee♣ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I know I say this alot but this book was EPIC!!!

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Feb 10, 2011 J.D. Stroube rated it liked it

Shelves: own-ebook, series, adult-fantasy, attempted, mages-magic-other

I made the mistake of seeing the movie first and now I just can't bring myself to finish this book. :( It stinks because I loved the plot in the movie. ...more

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