I Am Number Four

By: Pittacus Lore

Narrated by: Neil Kaplan

Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Also included is a sneak listen to the first chapter of the next book in the series. Enjoy!

©2010 Pittacus Lore (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Only Five Stars for a ten star book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Unique story and a blast of a listen! Great Job Audible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What did you like best about this story?

This block doesn't give me enough characters to write all the best parts.... I'll just say exciting and fun beginning to end!!

What does Neil Kaplan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The performance is tremendous. Neil is a class act, and the story he tells comes alive for the listener.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The battle at the school... love the action pact non stop flow.

Any additional comments?

Can't wait to hear the next one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Almost there, but fell short

The plot is good, the ideas are cool. However, lots of swearing that only gets worse as the series continues. I am one of those who gets tired of swearing being the convoy to express emotion in a book. Language cheapens the authors ability to communicate and paint a picture for their readers. It also shrinks the audience they are trying to reach considerably. This isn’t an adult series, but it isn’t a kid series. It doesn’t hit the mark for young adult due to the language in my opinion. I felt it was hokey. Great potential but easily forgotten. You can read it, but it likely won’t be on you top 20 best series.

Cartoonish character voices

The main character is a pleasant enough voice but most of the rest of his characters were ridiculous. Who wants to get their head jerked out of the story every time these goofy voices jump out? The story was fine.

Henri

The Performance:
Henri, that was the only character that was voiced perfectly.
Only wanting to know how the story ends kept me going through the parts where other characters spoke.
Neil Kaplan's natural voice was fine, but when he voiced other characters, all I could do was cringe and get through it.
The Story:
The characters were depicted beautifully, their interactions and their mannerisms, my favorite of which is Henri, especially in the last scene.

horrible narrator, decent story

a passable story made downright awful by horrendous narration. The voice acting prevented immersion. Finished the book only because the story was decent and my willpower strong.

Better than the movie

I am one that usually likes the movies better. I saw the movie first and then read this book. There was so much more in the book. Had I not seen the movie first I may not have followed the storyline as much, but since I did it was great. I rarely read science fiction, I watch a lot of it in Movies, but sci-fi books have rarely held my attention, but this one did. For me it helps that I listened to it on Audible , so it was like a movie for me that way. Now on to the next in the series to see what happens. Definitely worth the time to listen or read however you choose to experience it.

Good story, shallow narration

Why is it young adult novels get narrators that don't do justice to the characters? The narrator for this story made all the female characters sound the same--like a gaggle of silly valley girl stereotypes--and did no justice to the boys. The kids in my household found the narrator so annoyingly disrespectful of teen intelligence and emotional range that they dumped the recording after the first few chapters. This is just sad.

it's a cute story.

I thought that this was a Y.A. book, but it read more like a children's story. My biggest issue was the reader. He made all of the females sound so silly that it broke my suspension of disbelief.

Hideous reader!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, it is worth listening to. The story is good. But the reader is just horrid. Bad voice and WAAAAAAY too much forced acting. He does not do different voices well at all. Plus, he is way too old sounding for a high school student. This book is written in first person, so the reader should have sounded like someone in high school. This reader sounds late 30'ish. He was awful.

What was one of the most memorable moments of I Am Number Four?

Hard to pick one. I spent most of the time trying to ignore how bad the reader was. The story was good and I mostly just visualized the movie, which I saw before listening to this book. Probably best that way.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He sounds like he is bored half the time and comes up with ridiculous voices for different characters the rest of the time. very poor job.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I did see it and loved it.

The narrator ruins this book

Super powerful main character narrated like a total pansy. Really hard to get past the narrator.