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.
A movie trailer my sister sent me got me interested in reading I am Number Four:
Basically, the story is about nine Lorien aliens who leave their planet for Earth with their guardians after their planet has been attacked. Aliens from a different planet called Mogadorians are after to kill each Lorien and to take over Earth once this is done. They are limited to killing the Loriens in numerical order, otherwise they face inflicting double of the damage they cause onto themselves. Loriens develop legacies/superpowers over time which further complicates the task. Number Four has been on the run for many years and in the beginning of this book he assumes a new identity: John Smith, in the town Paradise.
The premises of the book sounded exciting however the book was too long and drawn out. The first 3/4 of the book moved quite slow when we are introduced to the background of John's species, the developing of his powers/Legacies, a human love interest Sarah Hart and a bunch of situations which risk exposing John's identity.
I did not really ship the Sarah and John coupling. I was disappointed in the lack of chemistry I felt between them. Sarah was a dull character to say the least. The one relationship which I found notable and heartwarming was between Henri and John. I loved the fatherly-son relationship that occurred between the two characters despite there being no blood bond.
The last 1/4 of the book was full of action. The descriptions of the bad guys (Mogadorian scouts/soldiers) are so vivid it gave chills every time they appeared. Unfortunately, soon after the action/climax began I was worn out from reading about the different environments, battle scenes and Mogadorian monsters/aliens John encountered. Throughout there were suspenseful but reoccurring situations of This-must-be-the-end-I'll-just-accept-it...-but-wait-someone-saved-me? This section of the book felt written for Film/TV. It was really hard to process the scenes and I couldn't help thinking that "this would translate well to a movie by using special effects and camera angles".
The next book in the Lorien Legacies series is called The Power of Six. Six was a female Lorien introduced toward to end of I am Number Four and boy was she kick-ass. I might read the next book for the sole reason that she was my favourite character.
I rate I am Number Four ★★★.5
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