I Am Number Four Review

From the moment I saw the trailers for I Am Number Four, I was awestruck. I was obsessed. I was in love. I watched every trailer that came on. Watched the same ones every time they came on. Rewound on my DVR. Youtubed. Then, I found out it was based on a book.

That was the end. Or maybe the beginning, but either way it meant I had to read the book before ever seeing the movie. I had to know more about who wrote it. I needed to know more about everything that had to do with I Am Number Four.

What I found was that Pittacus Lore (a stellar combination of Jobie Hughes and James Frey) was the author. What I found was that Jobie Hughes wasn’t just a good writer—but a celebrity personality with an outstanding work ethic. And while IMDb has confirmed that he is one of the coauthors of I Am Number Four, Mr. Hughes has neither confirmed nor denied any involvement in either the book or film. That is more than alright with me considering I lucked into him agreeing to a short email interview about himself, an interview that gleaned kick-ass answers about his personal writing and exceptional approach to a little thing called “inspiration,” but I’ll get to that later. First, let’s talk about the excellent book I Am Number Four.

According to HarperCollinsPublishers’ (on harpercollins.com) Book Description:

Nine of us came here. We look like you. We talk like you. We live among you. But we are not you. We can do things you dream of doing. We have powers you dream of having. We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—but we are real.

Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in. we have lived among you without you knowing.

But they know.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.

Number Two in England.

And Number Three in Kenya.

They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

I am next.

The book follows in the same type of direct style, which is what I address first.

Style: This was such a crucial part of this book. Light, uncomplicated wording, simple sentence structures—direct dialogue. These are the main factors that made up this book’s unique personality. As secretive as the main characters were about their otherworldly identities, neither they nor anyone else was coy with language. I’m not sure if this was done intentionally, but it works in two ways—the first being it’s perfect for YA (I’m noticing more and more how frustrated this age gets with more complex sentences; they want the story and they want it now); the second way this works is that it plays into the fact that they’re from a different planet.

It was mentioned in the book that the Lorien language was similar to Earth’s English and that’s why blending in and learning the language was so easy. It seemed to me that every Lorien used precise language and little frills. I can see this as being a characteristic not just of the genre and of the style but also of the writer Hughes.

As I mentioned, I had the opportunity to ask Hughes a few questions via email and while he ever-so-politely declined to comment on either the book or the film, when asked what he thought made a good story, he said, “It’s a very tough question and I really don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer to it. For me, I strive to write strong, flawed characters that readers can relate to. Concise, tight writing. An astute attention to detail and character psychology. Brevity. An ability to cut through the bullshit.”

And I think that shows in Number Four. (Speaking of his literary fiction, his own literary novel Agony at Dawn goes to publishers next month! I know what I’ll be on the lookout for…) I can only applaud Hughes’ outlook on both characters and the mode of writing he not only aims for, but nails. (Is my fan-girl showing?) That very outlook was clearly evident in the style of the book, but also the plot, which is what we’re looking at next.

Plot: The story started with a bang—two men on the run, two aliens on the run, for the dozenth time. It was familiar to them, a routine and that type of life was immediately intriguing. It was easy to follow the story, painfully curious about each new development. I appreciated how the events were paced and while most of the action occurs at the end of the book, that only makes sense. The events that transpire—epic battles of life and death across a high school football field, reality-defying struggles in a realm of the mind—could only have compounded the way they did. It was true to the story, true to the characters and I think readers will appreciate that. I certainly did.

Character/s: Initially, I thought the main characters John and Henri were likable, but not people I identified with. I was wrong in that belief. Every new detail that developed endeared them to me. Henri’s determination and focus became all-consuming–personally. I needed John to understand where he was coming from—can’t you see, John?

But then I knew, just knew what John felt. There is a limit to everything. Like humans, Loriens too feel that need to be an individual, to want to serve our own causes and not just those we’re born owning. I wanted to smash lockers for him, flip a car and have it be known that I am a force, not just the new kid.

And the supporting characters only sharpened and accentuated the definition of these two men. Some I hated and some I loved, but they were all real and I know these people. They work at the middle school I’m interning at. I go to college with them. Attend high school alongside them—they were characters written with life all over them and I’m sure readers will identify with that. I did.

Setting: The main setting of the book was a small Ohioan town named Paradise (as the book progresses, this becomes increasingly poignant), but there was a neat mix of otherworld locales as well and the way they’re threaded into the novel, woven into the plot, is artful and enjoyable. Paradise, like everything else in the book, is described with only the essential details and that paints a picture that is easy to like and fitting of the small-town culture that is both a benefit and a hindrance to our main characters. I had a feeling that the small-town culture wasn’t just a feature of the book, but something drawn from the author. When I asked Hughes if he had any interesting writing quirks, I was told, “I write in cut-off cargo shorts and t-shirts with the sleeves missing, which is to say, I’m only comfortable writing in rags.” That only makes sense considering the work ethic he’s got. It’s those types of specifics that give weight to connections throughout the book and ultimately make it memorable.

I plan to see the movie this weekend but I know it won’t make my heart pound, won’t make my eyes burn, won’t give me the gut-satisfaction that I got from the book and that’s fine, because it’ll still be awesome with this material as its source, as its inspiration—and speaking of inspiration, I asked Hughes if there was a certain thing that always inspired him (i.e., a setting, type of music, time of day) and he told me something spectacular*:

“I think inspiration is for chumps. I treat writing as a job. I get up every day and get to work and I don’t stop until I’ve hit my quota, which is a 1,000/day. I’m from a very small town in Ohio, and I luckily inherited that blue collar sort of work ethic commonly prevalent in small towns.”

It all starts to make sense, right? A fantastic way to wrap up this review of I Am Number Four, which I absolutely give an A. 90 to be exact.

Style: 25/25

Plot: 20/25

Character/s: 25/25

Setting: 20/25

Looking to get your own copy? Grab one!

*Hughes mentioned a few spectacular things in our short email correspondence. To view the full interview, hop on over to that dedicated page.

And feast your eyes, get a load of…well, just take a look, alright? It’s neat!