I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies: The Lost Files) (Lorien Legacies, #1)

by Pittacus Lore

John Smith is not your average teenager.

He regularly moves from small town to small town. He changes his name and identity. He does not put down roots. He cannot tell anyone who or what he really is. If he stops moving those who hunt him will find and kill him.

But you can't run forever.

So when he stops in Paradise, Ohio, John decides to try and settle down. To fit in. And for the first time he makes some real friends. People he cares about - and who care about him. Never in John's short life has there been space for friendship, or even love.

But it's just a matter of time before John's secret is revealed.

He was once one of nine. Three of them have been killed.

John is Number Four. He knows that he is next . . .

• ISBN10: 0061969559
• ISBN13: 9780061969553
• Publish Date: 1 August 2010 (first published 31 December 1969)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[CrowNoYami]

This was a good book, it wasn't the best series that I've ever read but I found it right on par with Enders Game which is another book I enjoyed but didn't go rushing out for the sequel for. In this book it does have a little bit of a weird vibe for me, I don't know how it is in the Sates but at 15 if there was a party where everyone was drunk we would have had our asses handed to us, let alone one where they burnt the house down. I don't know, it feels like the characters should be 16-17 instead of 15-16.

Overall it had a good plot and development, there are interesting powers and a manhunt going on that keeps your interested. I found the romance factor was unneeded, though I do understand why it was put in. Sarah to me is a very bland character, though 'John' aka Number Four, shows that he is not only a strong character physically but mentally as well and well-aware of his emotions.

I'm giving this book a 4/5, it was a good book, I don't regret reading it, but I do feel like some things seemed a bit 'off'. While I would probably pick up the second book if I found it while browsing, it's not something I'm rushing out to buy.

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I wasn’t really sure what to expect of this book. I know it had something to do with aliens and super powers. I remember seeing the film trailer… but that was about it. This one definitely exceeded my expectations.

Four (“John” for the purposes of this novel) is one of the few survivors of his race, hiding on earth from the vicious aliens that wiped out his planet. He and his protector Henri move from town to town, never staying somewhere long enough that they can be found. The survivors cannot be killed out of order. The first three have already been killed. Four is next. They can’t be too careful.

I kept trying to predict this book, constantly expecting one character or another to die and then follow with an amazing growth arc or cycle of vengeance, but I kept guessing wrong. Nothing pleases me more in a book than not being able to predict the direction of a novel. I like to be surprised, even when it infuriates me.

Where the story was interesting and fun, the characters were sort of unimpressive. The love story was predictable. The best friend/sidekick was totally cliched and ridiculous. I HATE the nerd stereotypes. The narrator further enforced this by giving Sam a nasal voice; I am not enthused. I did like the characters’ decision making skills (they are not as reckless and lucky as most) and I thought Henri was a really good character.

OMG though some of the dialogue was SO CHEESY.

Still….

I’ll definitely be picking up the next book!

[heidij02]

Amazing book! Can't wait to read the others!

[liz089]

It was a bit weird to read this one again... I remember reading it a couple of years ago (2011) and I really liked it. In the meantime I've watched the movie multiple times (mostly because of the lead actor haha), and I really wanted to continue this series. I've read the first three books, but to really be aware of all that happened I wanted to re-read. I mean 2011.. hell that has been 6 years and a couple of hundred books ago XD (Damn time flies)...

Butttt, because I know what's going to happen to some degree, it was not really THAT exciting to read it again. I skimmed through some parts and discovered some differences between the book and the movie plotwise.. But overall I already knew most of it (Hooray for me and my memory) and of course I liked it, but I was not that impressed.

So I'm going to continue with the next part, and hope I remember less from that one XD I do really hope to finish this series this year though. Seven books.. seven months left.. must be possible !

2,5 stars

"It's the little mistakes that lead to big mistakes." (Henri)

The problem with reading books that I either don't fully remember or books that I'm trying to weed off my shelves is that they're either really bad or 'meh'. I am Number Four falls into the 'meh' category.

I've never been much of a science fiction fan, so I didn't expect to love I am Number Four, but what caught my attention was the premise. Unfortunately, I was exposed to predictability, cliche's and a bunch of aspects that just didn't make sense. I had to suspend A LOT of disbelief while reading I am Number Four.

It's also difficult to connect with and feel any emotions towards the characters. I am Number Four is told from John's A.K.A Number Four's POV and his POV is quite boring and plain. I am Number Four is told in first-person POV, but I never got a sense of John's personality from his POV. Sarah is also an uninteresting character and there's no chemistry between her and John. I do, however, like Six, Sam and the dog, Bernie Kosar. I'm also unsure about how I feel towards Mark, but only time will tell. I didn't feel any emotions when Henri died.

I am Number Four just feels very flat and this is mostly due the fact that I'm not attuned to the characters. I skimmed most of the final battle scenes because I didn't care about what happened to the characters.

"When you have lost hope, you have lost everything. And when you think all is lost, when all is dire and bleak, there is always hope." (Henri)

[Sarah Says]

This had all the things I love in a book: Good and bad aliens, the earth in danger, friendship, young love, fast paced action, a touch of mystery to build excitement, an adorable shape shifting protector dog/chimaera named Bernie Kosar. Perfecto-YA-Sci-Fi-Awesomeness.

Becoming a member of the Lorien Legacies fandom, hell yes I am. I’m placing this after Harry Potter but on par with Percy Jackson in my fandom following - That's how excited I'm feeling right now. I’ll let you know if I have to relocate it it's fandom position after I finish the second book.

For the longest time I passed on this when I saw it in my recommendations but I'm glad I gave it a chance. I normally like Fantasy books, not so much Sci-fi, and I found this to be an easy read and it was very easy to continue on to figure out what was gonna happen next.

This book has action and adventure and enough mystery to be interesting.
Overall a very good book.

[boghunden]

Okay, lad os lige tage den én gang til: “They caught Number One in Malaysia. Number Two in England. And Number Three in Kenya. They killed them all. I am Number Four. I am next.” Når jeg læser sådan på bagsiden af en bog, så tænker jeg action. Jeg tænker en bog, man ikke kan stoppe med igen. Det var nok også derfor, jeg blev så skuffet.

Lad mig forklare: Jeg forventede action, spænding og høj fart. Jeg fik en ungdomsbog om venner og forelskelse. I hvert fald langt det meste af bogen. De sidste 80 sider var rigtig gode og super spændende, men de forrige var desværre rigtig ærgerlige set med de briller. Bogen var imidlertid en udmærket ungdomsbog, hvis det bare var det man ville have. Sproget var let og der var intet nyt under solen der, men det manglede måske en smule dynamik for helt at falde i min smag.

Handlingen var, som nævnt, ikke hvad jeg forventede. Det var ikke engang fordi jeg regnede med, at den ville være super god, jeg håbede bare på en anden genre. Det er rigtig ærgerligt og på tidspunkter føler jeg mig snydt, på andre føler jeg mig bare dum for at have forventet noget forkert. Der er bestemt ikke noget i vejen med bøger der indeholder romantik, det er jeg vist temmelig stor fan af, det passede bare ikke ind her, fordi det overtog hele plottet for mig. Det eneste der adskiller denne bog fra de andre ungdomsbøger om kærlighed er, at John er alien. Jo jo, det er da et twist og det tilføjer lidt nyt til genren, men…

Karaktererne var fine, jeg havde det hyggeligt med at lære dem at kende, men så var det også det. De påvirkede mig ikke rigtig, kom aldrig under huden på mig, men var der bare. Lidt ligesom alle de tyve mennesker i folkeskolen, som man ikke rigtig snakkede med, men ikke havde noget imod.

Jeg har hørt fra mange, at filmen er rigtig god, og jeg overvejer stadig om jeg skal se den. Jeg tror, jeg gør det. Mht. bogserien, så er det tvivlsomt om jeg læser videre. Der er masser af andre ungdomsbøger og -serier jeg hellere vil læse og det er ikke for actionens skyld jeg skal fortsætte denne.

Alt i alt var det nok bare en ærgerlig oplevelse, fordi jeg startede på denne bog for at få lidt action, og så fik jeg kærlighed i stedet.

[annieb123]

I am trying to be fair and come up with one single redeeming feature of this book. I can't.

It reads (ironically enough) like the hastily banged out attempt to capitalize on the Twilight/Harry Potter/flavor of the month marketing tsunami that it turns out to be.

Put an infinite number of desperate would-be authors in a room with an infinite number of keyboards and let them take dictation from a team of marketing analysts and you'll get a remarkably close approximation.

I want to claw my own eyes out. It's that bad. The characterization is flat and unbelievable. The plotting is heinous and the prose is eye-gougingly bad.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

I Am Number Four is an action-packed, thrilling adventure that will keep readers turning pages long after they should have gone to bed—both because they will have to know what happens next and because they might be too scared to turn off the lights! (Yes, the evil aliens are only after the nine Loriens, and readers ought to rationalize that because they are not one of the nine they should be safe, but the description of their pale bodies hidden behind hats and trench coats is too haunting for logic!) This is a wonderfully gripping read.

On the character front, John (Four) has his moments of being annoying and foolish. He manages to demonstrate that boy drama can inspire as much eye rolling as girl drama. But in the end, he is a great guy, and readers will become invested in his safety and his guardian Henri’s. There is also a cute, loyal dog named Bernie Kosar for which Lore definitely deserves bonus points. The girlfriend, Sarah, sometimes seems to say “Yeah, a guy invented me” because she is gorgeous, popular, a former cheerleader, and older than John. But she is also truly compassionate and loyal and gave up cheerleading in favor of photography. Overall, she is pretty awesome, too.

The book ends on a strong note, with all these characters showing their best characteristics, and with the stakes for Four higher than ever. Though the story is very nicely complete in some ways, there is still much to happen, and readers will want to know about it as soon as possible. Having the rest of the series on hand is recommended.