Title: I Am Number Four
Author: Pittacus Lore
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 480
Rating: 3/5 Stars
First person, present tense. A very challenging writing style that can pay off if done well and Pittacus Lore manages to hit 'well' most of the time. The story of I Am Number Four is good. Not as compelling as The Hunger Games - another YA series set to reach the big screen - but I cared about the characters and what happened to them. I think that, unlike The Hunger Games, even as I get further from I Am Number Four, I will still like the characters. I want to know more about the Lorien Legacies and their destiny. Lore drops clues and doles out information very judiciously and as a result I want to read the next book in the series.
The prose is interesting and reminded me of Hemmingway. Not that it's the same, but there is something very distinct about Lore's use of words and attention to detail. Sometimes too much detail as more than once I caught myself rolling my eyes and mumbling that I don't freaking care if he had to open his bedroom door to enter the room - all I need to know is that he's in there. But that attention to detail results in a distinct voice that is Lore's alone and I feel that's an accomplishment worth noting whether I loved it all the time or not.
At times I enjoyed the dialogue. At times I felt I was being preached at or the fifteen and sixteen year olds were emmulating Dawson's Creek and using verbage that no teenager would use. Just little things. A certain sophistication and proper grammar that I don't think people really grasp until they are older. I didn't feel any character had a truly distinct personality, except maybe Henri. And that might only have been because I could so clearly picture Timothy Olyphant playing the role.
Originally I gave this book four stars. I've now amended that to three. Pittacus Lore has me for the next book, because I'm interested in the mytery of the Lorien Legacies and the first two chapters of The Power of Six included with my copy of the book have me ready for more. If I could, I'd give this three and a half stars.
One Nerd's perspective on books from every corner and genre of the galaxy.
I love this book as well as the movie :) tho the movie adaptation is quite different! You should definitely read the next book!
ReplyDeleteOh drats - see now I have been debating and debating about whether to start this series. I've heard good but mostly not so great things about them thus far. At this point I think I'll only pick up a copy of the first book if its dirt cheap at the used book store. Which is unfortunate because I do love sci-fi. Thanks for the review!
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