I am Number Four

I am Number Four, Pittacus Lore (cont.)

I reviewed the first three books of the I am Number Four series eighteen months ago.  At that point, I had decided to wait until the series was complete as every book finished on a cliff hanger and each subsequent one followed immediately after in the time-frame.   Mr 13.5 was given the series for Christmas so he, Husband and I then worked our way through them all.

All of us concluded that the series started better than it finished.  In fact the writing seemed to change.  Mr 13’s research suggests that three authors were actually writing under the one pseudonym.  This makes some sense as the final three books were fast, action packed events with little subtlety or character depth in the way that #1 was.    The later books seemed like Matthew Reilly for teens, especially as some swearing crept into the final three books, often in the mouths of the female characters.   In my opinion, swearing is always a sign of lazy writing (and lazy talking), we all found it disappointing and unnecessary. 

Overall, the story was engaging and attention grabbing.   All three of us read #1-7 straight through without stopping.   In the end, we all felt they were fine, but could have been better.    Perhaps that was why I so enjoyed the Robin Hobb series that I read immediately after – they were more refreshing, complex, adult and yet still ‘clean’ – much better!