Review: The Naturals

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Suspense
Reading Level: Young Adult
Recommended for: fans of suspense novels
Book Available: November 5, 2013 in Kindle and Hardcover formats and November 12, 2013 in Audio CD format
Trigger Warnings: murder, torture, mutilation

My Thoughts: Shortly after I added this to my bookshelves on a social media site, I received a comment from someone telling me they were going to turn this into a TV series. I can really see that. It has all the elements that a good TV series needs: suspense, action, and lots of young people. I do not know if there are plans to turn this into a series of books, but I would enjoy seeing such a thing. This is a very fast read, and the characters are each distinct, if somewhat cliché, and full of interesting quirks and pain.

It is, of course, full of angst with a love triangle, because otherwise it just wouldn't be a young adult book. However, these things weren't as intrusive as I'd feared they might be. All in all an enjoyable and very quick read, and one I can recommend to fans of young adult suspense without paranormal elements. If you've been looking for a sort of police procedural type book in the YA category, here you go.

Disclosure: I received an e-galley from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: 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.



View all my reviews