I Am Number Four: Lorien Legacies, Book 1

By: Pittacus Lore

Narrated by: Adam Kaplan

Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

John Smith is not your average teenager. He regularly moves from small town to small town. He changes his name and identity. He does not put down roots. He cannot tell anyone who or what he really is. If he stops moving those who hunt him will find and kill him.

But you can’t run forever. So when he stops in Paradise, Ohio, John decides to try and settle down. To fit in. And for the first time he makes some real friends. People he cares about – and who care about him. Never in John’s short life has there been space for friendship, or even love.

But it’s just a matter of time before John’s secret is revealed.

He was once one of nine. Three of them have been killed. John is Number Four. He knows that he is next...

©2010 Pittacus Lore (P)2010 Penguin Audio

A really good read!

Any additional comments?

I found this story well written and very entertaining and it kept me wanting to read more

Absolutely outstanding

This book is amazing! It takes a while to start up and the performance is slow at the start but as I got an hour or two into the story everything came together perfectly. By the end of the book I was so attached that I was sobbing. I would recommend to anybody who likes sci-fi, action, romance and deep connections with characters.

Interesting

Where does I Am Number Four: Lorien Legacies, Book 1 rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Middle, I'm interested enough to continue with the series and find out what happens.

What other book might you compare I Am Number Four: Lorien Legacies, Book 1 to and why?

Any of the teen novels like Twilight, where there is a teenager coming into powers, falling in love and saving the day.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narrators interpretation of female voices had me giggling most times and I would loose concentration on the story because of it, I also thought that, when it came to the lovey dovey stuff he was struggling with not bursting out with laughter at how corny it was.

Worth the listen, but the narrator doesn't give sh

Any additional comments?

A great novel, but sadly the narrator destryed the strong women characters for me... made them out to be pathetic.

Cliché love story with super powers

I didn't know what I would think about this book, but I have to say I enjoyed it! However, as soon as I realized that they were supposed to be 15 I was shook. They act much older, but at the same time have the mentality of 12 year olds that make me want to slam my head into a desk. Four's and Sarah's love story moves far too fast in my opinion and it's obvious that this book isn't exactly directed towards people my age (18).

When picking up this book I was looking for something relatively easy going, easy to listen too (as I'm not a native English speaker and would prefer a story with simple words as it relaxes me) and some action. I got all of these, so as far as I'm concerned, this was a good book. I'm already planning on buying the next book in the series once I get my monthly pay.

Nice idea, bad execution

The plot idea is nice, and the writing starts out nice enough, but it really falls off towards the end. All the action scenes are clumsy, many don't make sense. Also - something I dislike in movies, too - the plot only goes forward because the main character behaves exceedingly stupid. Not a great listen, I'm afraid.

Listen to a sample before you buy

With "I Am Number Four" being made into a Hollywood blockbuster, and with what appeared to be an interesting storyline, I was eager to add this title to my growing audio book collection for the commute to and from work.

The initial premise is good: 9 Lorians and their Keepers escape to Earth from their home planet, only to be hunted down by the Mogadorians. The Lorians can only be killed by the Mogardorians in numerical sequence. John Smith, our hero, is Lorian Number 4, and with when One Two and Three are killed, he knows it's only a matter of time before they come for him.

I wish I could tell you more about the story, but in all honesty I stopped listening at chapter 4. The narrator, Adam Kaplan, drove me insane and is the sole reason I stopped listening to this book. His 'normal', John Smith voice is barely tolerable (while I know that this is a YA book, Kaplan's almost Valley Girl tone for John grates after awhile) - and the voices he uses for the female characters and other male characters was enough to make me rip my earbuds from my head in disgust (Although his Henri - gravelly, French - is wonderful). I urge you to listen to a sample of the book before you spend money on it. I myself will be heading down to the library to find a hard copy version so I can find out what happens to John without Kaplan's annoying voice in my head.