Imagine your home planet had been destroyed by aliens. You are living on earth still being chased by those aliens. Although you can leap buildings, run faster and punch harder than any human you can’t defeat them. Imagine you’re running away from them but no matter how fast you run you can still feel their breath on your neck, their hands reaching out for you. What do you do?

This is what the book ‘I am Number Four’ written by Pittacus Lore is all about. ‘I am Number Four’ has mystery around every corner and will keep the reader hooked.

It takes place mainly in Ohio and is seen through the eyes of John Smith, the fourth out of nine Lorien that have escaped their dying planet. They can only be killed in order, and the first three are already dead, killed by the Mogadorians who are responsible for killing Loric (the planet which John came from). Some other characters in the book are Henri Johns, John Smith’s guardian, Sam whom he befriends and Bernie Kosar. The Mogadorians track John to Ohio and bring a beast with them to kill John. A final battle breaks out that will decide the fate of the world.

The theme in the novel is good and evil. Many times in the book we see good go up against evil. The novel also tells the reader that even if you are different, people will help you.

In conclusion, I think that ‘I am number Four’ is a great book that has mystery, science fiction, aliens and good versus evil and will keep the reader hooked. This is a great book and one that I would highly recommend to read no matter how old or young you are.

Jack S., Year 8

…..

Aliens with super human powers flee to the earth but an evil one sees to it that they are sought out and the future of the Loric race hangs in the balance. This is the sci fi thriller by Pittacus Lore ‘I Am Number Four’. ‘I Am Number Four’ is an interesting book which follows the story of an alien boy called John Smith accompanied by his older, but loyal companion Henri, his protector. They transverse the asphalt of the USA running from a constantly lurking enemy.

‘I Am Number Four’ is a slow paced action suspense drama where any disaster could occur. The book engages the reader while keeping a very real and modern theme. This keeps the book believable and doesn’t turn into simply fantasy wandering into the impossible like many other sci-fi books like ‘War of The Worlds’ and ‘Divergent’. How the book develops and bonds the characters together is done well with memorable characters that feel realistic, especially Sam, a conspiracy theorist with a knack for aliens along with a very memorable and likeable personality. While the book does follow a decent storyline, its ending is quite generic. It may leave the reader disappointed, wanting something more interesting and different.

Throughout the story it addresses the theme several times about overcoming adversity while always remaining hopeful.  John saves his friends from a threat that destroyed his people. Hope is shown from the start to the end of the book and it leaves the reader with a morale of the story, that gives the book more of a memorial note.

To tie off the end of this review, the book contains a lack of original thoughts and plots.  It heavily suffers from a lack of quality and descriptive writing and the predictable plot fails to maintain the interest of the reader. On a good note the interactions and dialogue between the characters was done quite well, especially between Sam and John later in the plot. If you enjoyed books like the Percy Jackson series, you will likely also enjoy this sci-fi adventure which has an interesting but predictable plot.

In my total score rating, I scored ‘I Am Number Four’ 7/10. This book may only appeal to some readers more than others, so opinions may change between each individual.

Samuel P., Year 8

……

“IN THE BEGINNING THERE WERE NINE OF US. We left when we were young, almost too young to remember”.

“Almost”!

“I am told the ground shook, that the skies were full of light and explosions. We were in that two-week period of the year when both moons hang on opposite sides of the horizon. It was a time of celebration, and the explosions were at first mistaken for fireworks. They were not. It was warm, a soft wind blew in from off the water. I am always told about the weather: it was warm. There was a soft wind. I’ve never understood why that matters”.

This amazing Sci-fi thriller full of action about aliens with all kinds of superpowers has even been given a review by the Director of the Transformers, “Number Four is a hero for this generation.”

– Michael Bay.

The story is set in a world where aliens and intergalactic wars have been fought. This book is set in the country America. It is about the war on Lorian, the former home planet for a good alien race. With their whole population gone it is up to the nine Lorians left to protect their race. Number 4 is the alien that we see the most in the book. With his guardian Henri also from Lorian, they flee from city to city seeking safety from the alien race that destroyed their home planet, but that is difficult if you’re next in line to be slaughtered by the violent and evil aliens.

John Smith (AKA Number 4) is what was known as a Garde on Lorian. He can develop legacies (powers) that no other man or woman on earth can. He uses these abilities to kill the Mogadorians (the aliens that destroyed his race) to regain his freedom and live a normal life.

Henri on Lorian is called a Cepan (Guardian). They each are assigned a Garde. The Cepan train them on how to use their powers, and to teach them about their planet’s history.

I would recommend this book to people ranging from 10-23 years as it is a book more for mature audiences. The book involves lots of killing and a few violent sections that people under the age of ten may not like or be able to read, but is an amazing read because of the way the book was very carefully made so that it made me feel like it was actually real and it is a perfect example of a science fiction novel. I would also recommend I AM NUMBER 4 THE MOVIE also for people mainly between the age of 11-25 years as the same examples above apply for the movie as well. I give this book a rating of 5/5 stars.

– Jarome S., Year 8