Review: I Am Number Four
Title: I Am Number Four
Author: Pittacus Lore (aka, James Frey and Jobie Hughes)
Genre: YA, Science Fiction
Page count: 440
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 3, 2010
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.–from Goodreads
After the news of the James Frey Fiction Factory broke, I found myself wrestling with my conscience over whether or not to read this book–I was curious to see if it was any good, especially because I knew that the screenplay (shopped around before the book, might I add) had made quite the splash in Hollywood, but I did not want to support overlord Frey or his minions who apparently don’ t know how to read contracts. I held my moral highground for awhile, but when the movie trailers started airing and I heard others talking about how much they enjoyed the book, I finally decided that as long as I did not give my hard-earned money to James Frey and his Fiction Factory, I could live with myself. So I headed to the library, gritted my teeth, and checked it out.
Although I ended up enjoying the book, it was quite different than what I expected of it–I’d heard all this hype about it being severely compelling and action-filled, but I didn’t find it to be either of those things.
Sure, any story with a main character who is an alien that looks like a human teenager and is being hunted by evil aliens is a bit compelling, but the storyline didn’t really suck me in the way I expected. I think that was mostly due to the fact that three-quarters of the book is character development and set-up. I could feel that there were big events on the horizon and was anxious to get to them, but all I was reading was “John is honing his powers, John needs to blend in, John is making friends, John has a girlfriend, John needs to be more careful”–and that got a little annoying.
Also adding to my lukewarm reaction is the narrative device–Number Four (aka John Smith) is the narrator and the narrative voice is very clinical and completely devoid of personality. He’s so detached that when he does display his personality through dialogue, I was surprised to find that he is charming and funny. Due to the difference between narrator and character, it almost seemed as if theywere actually different people, and it was hard for me to reconcile the fact that they were indeed the same person.
Anyway, when I finished the book I realized that I had enjoyed it, I just wished it had been shorter–the massive amount of set-up and exposition could have been cut down by at least 100 pages. However, if you like science fiction and/or stories about attractive superhuman teenagers, then you’ll probably enjoy I Am Number Four. And if nothing else, you’ll enjoy thinking of Alex Pettyfer as Number Four/John Smith while you read.
Waiting on Wednesday: Chime
Title: Chime
Author: Franny Billingsley
Genre: YA
Page count: 368
Publisher: Dial/Penguin
Release Date: March 17, 2011
Before Briony’s stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family’s hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it’s become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.
Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He’s as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she’s extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn’t know.–from Goodreads.
When I first read the description of this book, it didn’t excite me one bit. In fact, I had chosen a different book to use as my Waiting on Wednesday choice for today. But then this morning I got to my office, got my coffee, and checked my email to read this morning’s Shelf Awareness newsletter. In it, I found their review of Chime, and it totally changed my mind about this book.
In Jennifer M. Brown’s review, I learned that the book is set at the dawn of England’s Industrial Revolution, which means that it’ll probably have that cool steampunk-feel to it, and that Briony blames herself for her step-mother’s death and her sister’s mental illness. In fact, at the beginnig of the book, Briony is being tried as a witch and murderess, and actually wishes to be hanged. (Whoa, extreme guilt!)
According to the review, the rest of the book is told through Briony’s written testimony, where the reader is thrilled by both her honesty and wit. And then things get a spicy when a love triangle between Briony, the new kid in town Eldric, and the judge’s son, Cecil, emerges. Now doesn’t that sound way more exciting than you first thought?
Also, how awesome are the names Briony and Eldric? I haven’t even read the book and I’ve decided I want them to be a couple just based on the sheer greatness of their names!
Surprise! The Bieber Movie is Really Good
My friend Kelly and I have a tradition where we pick a silly movie to go see, and then have way more fun watching it than anyone else in the theater because we aren’t taking the movie seriously. Case and point: Eclipse. [Full disclosure, we drank vodka the entire movie, so by the time it ended we were pretty far gone. It’s really the only way to watch that movie.] We had a grand ol’ time laughing at that movie while the 14-year-olds behind us hissed “IT ISN’T FUNNY!!!!!!!” which made it even funnier.
Anyway, in the spirit of seeing ridiculous movies, we just had to see Never Say Never, otherwise known as the Justin Bieber movie. While we were watching it [sober, actually] something unexpected happened–it totally charmed us and we both ended up LOVING it.
The movie, which is actually a documentary of the ten days before Bieber’s Madison Square Garden concert, is quite good. The audience gets to meet the Biebs’s family, friends, his seventh grade teacher, managers, stylists, musical collaborators, and, of course, his fans. But the major take-away from the film is that Justin Bieber is the luckiest and most normal teenage superstar, maybe ever.
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Making Me Happy Today: Paul F. Tompkins’s American Idol Reviews
No matter how you feel about American Idol, you should be reading Paul F. Tompkins’s recaps of each show. Why you ask? Because he writes things like this:
“The first serious contestants are Chelsee Oaks and Rob Bolin, and they have a story. They used to be a couple, but Chelsee broke up with Rob. Look, when you’re a lady with a high-class alternate spelling going on in your first name, don’t you deserve the best? The judges are touched by Chel-ob’s tale of endful love and command the exes to sing together, like this is Medieval Times or something. The peasants oblige and harmonize nicely. Rob is being a real sad sack about the breakup. And the judges are sorta subtly rooting for them to get back together. Well, maybe she was right to dump this dude, you don’t have all the facts. Maybe he was a cokehead, who knows? Cokeheads can be sad. It doesn’t mean they deserve to get their girlfriends back. Also, I’m kidding around for satirical purposes and he’s obviously not a cokehead, so please nobody sue me for jokes. To avoid off-with-their-headedness, the two sing separately, as the judges have decreed. Chelsee’s just okay, but Rob can really sing and blows Chelsee off the stage. I bet that felt great, maybe even as great as doing coke. After they leave, J.Lo mutters, “They’re gonna get back together,” and we’re taken outside to see Chelsee’s current boyfriend glare at the unstoppable emotions that emanate from the producers’ editing of this footage.”
And this.
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Cassie Clare is Such a Tease
Well apparently today is a sneak peeky kind of day for YA fantasy readers. Not only did Holly Black give us an entire chapter of Red Glove, but Cassandra Clare is now toying with our emotions, dangling both Clockwork Prince (and especially) City of Fallen Angels right in front of our faces, but not close enough to reach it. Well, out of reach until NEXT Friday, that is.
Not only did she tweet this teaser from the upcoming Clockwork Prince, but she also revealed this evil little game— five different blogs will post the exact same chapter from City of Fallen Angels, with different sections redacted from each version. Therefore, we all have to visit each blog each day and piece together all of the five versions to make a complete COFA’s first chapter.
Bethany Larson 
