Title/Author: I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1) by Pittacus Lore
Publisher/Date published: HarperCollins, August 3rd 2010
How I got this book: own it
Goodreads summary: "In the beginning they were a group of nine. Nine aliens who left their home planet of Lorien when it fell under attack by the evil Mogadorian. Nine aliens who scattered on Earth. Nine aliens who look like ordinary teenagers living ordinary lives, but who have extraordinary, paranormal skills. Nine aliens who might be sitting next to you now.
The Nine had to separate and go into hiding. The Mogadorian caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. All of them were killed. John Smith, of Paradise, Ohio, is Number Four. He knows that he is next."
I watched the movie based on this book in July and really liked it, so I figured I should read the book as well :)
You know how often the book is better than the movie. Well, in this case: IT TOTALLY IS!!
Some things that bothered me in the movie were much better explained in the book and I really enjoyed seeing more of Henri, I felt he was a bit lacking in character in the movie. In the book he is awesome. AWESOME!
And Bernie Kosar. The dog who may or not be a dog is beyond AWESOME! I have such a thing for fictional animals, it's a bit embarassing.
The only thing is, I wasn't completely sold on the romance. I mean, I know most romances start out with physical attraction and continue because of personality, but well, this didn't really feel real to me and I thought Sarah's character wasn't as well-developed as it could have been.
But the legacies, they were AWESOME! (I've been saying awesome a lot, but it just feels like the right word for this book) I loved that John had visions of his home planet and we get to see more of what it was like before the Mogadorians invaded.
The last battle was way more epic than in the movie and I really enjoyed it. Major event that had been in the movie a lot sooner finally happened here and it made me sad. I'm so trying not to be spoilery, but it's hard.
I'm really looking forward to reading The Power of Six, the next book in the series, because I'm dying to know what happens next!
My rating: 4 stars
I was really excited to try this series... until I realized that James Frey (wrote memoir A Million Little Pieces, was super-popular until it came out that he made a lot of it up) has other writers basically writing the books for him and they don't get much credit / revenue. He's just such a shady creep that I don't want to read something he's had a dealing in. I'm glad you liked it though!
ReplyDeleteI may watch this movie if it comes on Netflix instant demand or something. I like that the blond girl from Glee is in it.
I watched the movie and really didn't like it so i decided i would skip this series,but after reading your review maybe i will give it a try. Great review :)
ReplyDeleteThe movie never made it to my country and I'm iffy about this book because of the whole controversy. Plus, I'm not really into aliens, so really I skipped it all together. :P
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it, though!