I enjoyed reading I Am Number Four - it is a different,
entertaining story. There was excitement, interesting storytelling,
and romance. That being said, I also felt like something was
lacking, that the book had a potential that it didn't quite live up
to.
I thought the premise was fun and intriguing - John is number four
of nine aliens from the planet Lorien who arrive on earth about ten
years ago with their caregivers fleeing from the Mogadorian
invasion that decimates their planet. These nine are entrusted with
the responsibility of survival and eventual rebuilding of their
planet and culture. The Mogadorians, however, have tracked them to
earth an are killing them, but, because of a charm placed on them,
they must be killed in order. One, two and three have been killed
and John is next on the list. Then, it turns out, more may even be
at stake, as the Mogadorians may be trying to take over the Earth
as well.
The writing in the book was, at times, amazing and beautiful, and
at other times repetitive. There were also a number of sentence
fragments which stopped me in my tracks. Mostly I found the
beginning and the ending interesting, with it dragging in the
middle a bit. There are also a few things that didn't make sense,
for example, his dog. John is supposed to be hypersensitive to
anything strange going on in his life and he doesn't think it
strange that his dog takes off into the woods and appears in an
impossible location several seconds later?
The story is told in first person present from John's point of
view, something which is very popular these days. This is the first
book of this type, with this amount of romance told from a boy's
point of view that I have read, so that was different.
Out of all the characters, I found John's friend, Sam, to be the
most interesting. He is quirky and nerdy, but develops a great deal
in the book. I really felt for him and the loss of his dad. It
looks like he will be in the next book, for which I am grateful.
I Am Number Four is the first in a planned series of six. The
second book, The Power of Six, has recently been released. I am
quite anxious to see where this story goes next.