I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

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 . . .

Reviewed by ladygrey on

2 of 5 stars

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If there were half stars - this would totally get 2.5

Truth be told, it should have just skipped being a book and been a screenplay right off. The story is decent, the characters are fun. But the writing is so blunt and so simplistic it took me a while to get into the book.

Once I eased into all the, "He's there. It's snowing. The air is cold." writing John/4 and Henri were pretty cool and I was interested to learn more about Lorien as the story unfolded. A little bit it felt like the world building wasn't quite complete because the explanations of charms and beasts and things was just a little too simplistic. But I liked the sense of mystery in the things we didn't understand. Except for the end where a handful of mysteries were created and then not explained. I am not in the mood to wait for the next one.

I liked watching John/4 grow into his powers and wrestle with who he was becoming. Sam and Sarah were both really good characters. And the action was fun until the last 4th of the book when it was all action.

Overall, it kind of felt like a [a:James Patterson|3780|James Patterson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1284492096p2/3780.jpg] novel in his Maximum Ride series.

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  • Started reading
  • 1 November, 2010: Finished reading
  • 1 November, 2010: Reviewed