Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 304pgs
The Story
Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they've begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.
What Cassie doesn't realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides— especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own.
Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.
Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.
What Cassie doesn't realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides— especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own.
Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.
Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.
The Review
A big thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy of this book!
A big thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy of this book!
Whoa. What a ride this book was! I mean, if I was being really honest about this book right now, then I would have to say this one is my favourites coming from the author, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and I'm really happy that I got a chance to read this book early because I ended up really enjoyed the story and I think a lot of readers will be pleasantly surprised by this book.
Now I won't go into too much detail with this book because it would giveaway too much of the storyline and its characters, but THE NATURALS is - to put it simply - about a group of kids who have powers and they are brought together for one purpose only: to study humans or in particular find (or figure out) serial killers and psychopaths there are out there somewhere. Some of these kids can read emotions and others can recreate the mind of a killer and so on, but what I loved was that characters alone were so entertaining and meshed so well together if you get my meaning. And I love that. Now of course, there is some cliche characters in this book like having the good girl, the bad guy, the catty girl and so on, but what surprised me even more was that, one, I didn't care all so much, and two, the book wasn't solely focused on romance. I mean, there is romance in this book or at least a potential romance, but needless to say I'm really glad romance (for once) took a backseat, so again, I was very happy about that. So whether or not the story lacks originality in some peoples' eyes, but on a whole and in entertainment-wise, I think it really nailed it in that particular aspect.
Overall, when it comes to THE NATURALS, I think if you're big fans of the likes of Criminal Minds that is blended in with some drama such as Pretty Little Liars, then you'll definitely get this book without a doubt and get what it has to offer to the reader. There's just so much of mystery, so much intrigue, a little bit of paranormal and yet there is plenty of things - no matter what type of reader you are - that leave you questioning everything that is going on around with these characters, and that to me makes it a great book. So again, I really enjoyed one. Go read it in November!
The Rating
4/5 stars
I have always heard good things about Jennifer Lynn Barnes but have never actually read anything by her. I love books about people with powers though, and a cross between Criminal Minds and Pretty Little Liar sounds awesome. Great review, thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteI've read a few of her books and they were alright. But I think this particular book would have to be my favourite of hers, so I think you might like this one too. :)
Delete