HOL

Title: I am Number Four
Author: Pittacus Lore
Series: The Lorien Legacies
Genre: Young Adult and Science Fiction

This is the first book in The Lorien Legacies series. It follows a a pair of aliens (known as Lorics: an alien race from the planet Lorien): a teenage boy called John (a garde) and his guardian (a cepan) Henri. They have fled to Earth following the attack on their planet by the Mogadorians. John is one of the 9 gardes and Henri is one of the 9 cepans that has made it to Earth. This book follows John's life of hiding, training, schooling, friendships, and triumphs, and tragedies. And, Henri's life of trying to protect and train John.

Good an bad points:

The story flowed well, and had some of the typical elements you would expect to see in a young adult book: teenage protagonist with coming of age issues: in this case high school, a budding romance, and developing powers. Overall, I liked the story and the characters though I feel that John's and Henri's character could have been developed more. If you prefer books with a lot of action, you will find only a few major parts where there is a lot of action, most of the story builds up to these points. It can be fairly predictable, there isn't any "What just happened?" moments. I think my favourite character was Sam Goode. He is a sidekick character and at first appears to be a typical geek/nerd who is getting picked on by one of the football players. He bonds with John, after a shared incident where they were both bullied by the same person one day. Later on in the book he shows that he is stronger then he looks. I think I will read the next book in the series at some point in the future.

Title: I am Number Four
Author: Pittacus Lore
Series: The Lorien Legacies, Book One
Genre: Young Adult and Science Fiction
Short Summary: Fifteen-year-old Number Four, calling himself John Smith, is alerted to the death of another of his fellow Numbers by the appearance of a third charmed tattoo on his ankle. The Mogadorians hunt them in chronological order, so John knows he is next on the list. He and his guardian Henri immediately move from south Florida to Paradise, Ohio.

Good and Bad Points: I watched the movie when it just came out years ago, and now I chose to read about the book. The idea for this story was great. The very first part of this book got me excited and the scenes were quite tense when I imagined them while reading. As sometimes movies don't always come out like the book, I expected more from this book. It's quite interesting and beautiful when I read about Lorien's past when John was training, it made me curious about the time that the planet and its people were destroyed. The characters were fairly good enough, even some didn't really explored by the author. And, somehow when romance takes its place especially for a book like this sometimes would be boring. I was quite surprised by how Sarah eventually believed John right away when he spilled his identity. As for John, how can he just tell her about his identity without even thinking of what might happen later. The scene whan Mark's house was burned made me think like: "Well, are they really that blinded by love?" If I am a person like John, an alien who is hunted by bad aliens, I would be careful when I talk to people, even my loves one especially if we only know each other for short time. For Sam, I can understand since he believes that aliens captured his father, I know he can't stab John from behind. Then, the scene at the school when Mark suddenly appeared with Henri, just what Henri told him to get him to agree to come along? I was curious. The long I read them actually I was bored. It was like everything that happened was quite easy? We don't have to ponder deeply to understand the story. I like Henri's personality very much and how he loves John! Overall, it's a good book, some might find it enjoyable. But, I found the movie was more enjoyable than the book.