Oct 9, 2016 - reread in prep for catching up on the series. Liked it a lot more than I remember from the first time I read it. Changing my rating.

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My review can also be found here.

3.5 stars (gimme my half stars, goodreads, for realz)

I am Number Four is one of those books I've had on my To Be Read list for some time. I bought it in Feb 2011 and it's sat on my bookcase since. When a book is turned into a movie I usually like to read it before I watch. Mostly because I have learned that some things in a movie make more sense if you've read the book. Obviously it's much more detailed.

With Four, I didn't end up doing that. I saw the movie first because I didn't have time to read the book (my TBR list is ridiculous at this point). The movie intrigued me enough to make me want to read the book even more than I already did. Even with the controversy surrounding it.

The reason I finally managed to read it now is because a twitter friend is reading the series and asked if someone would please read them so she could discuss with someone. That pretty much pushed me off the book shelf ledge and I have to say...I'm glad it did.

I found the story of Four (or John) to be quite entertaining. It was easily pictured in my mind (not sure if that was because I'd watched the movie or just the descriptive writing) as I read. The characters were complex and interesting, as was this new world Pittacus Lore created.

There's back story of how Four/John came to Earth, which really added to the story for me. It explained why he was here, how he got here and how important it was for him to get back home. I love the way it's told in a bit of a diary form. Meaning, you're led to believe this is John's real story. That there are these aliens out there in our world and they are only here because they had to escape their own planet.

The story is also about the enemy, the reason for John's existence on Earth being after him and the others of his kind. It explains why they took over his planet and why they want to, inevitably, take over Earth as well. And even though I enjoyed that part of the story, I also really like that it wasn't the only part of John's life we were able to see.

There's also teen love, friendship, bullying-- things that most anyone can relate to in some form or another. So John's an alien, but he's also a human teenage boy, trying to sludge his way through high school. Ya know, while also being stalked by crazy powerful aliens that want to kill him. It's just another day in his life.

I had to pause before starting book two but I can't wait to leap back into the Lorien Legacies world as soon as possible. If you're looking for something a little different, I'd say you can't go wrong with I am Number Four.