نابغه‌ها

The Naturals #1

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, یاسمن عنابستانی (Translator)

کَسی در خواندن ذهن دیگران نابغه است. شاید این استعداد را از مادر ذهن‌خوانش به ارث برده باشد، مادری که اگر پنج سال پیش ناپدید نمی‌شد و تنها صحنه‌ای خون‌آلود از خود به جا نمی‌گذاشت، شاید می‌توانست از او دربارۀ این استعداد بپرسد. او با جمع‌کردن کوچک‌ترین جزئیات، می‌تواند بگوید شما چه کسی هستید و چه می‌خواهید. اما این مهارت هیچ‌وقت جدی گرفته نشده بود، تا زمانی که اِف‌بی‌آی او را برای پیوستن به تیمی نخبه و مخفی که پرونده‌های حل‌نشدۀ قاتلان زنجیره‌ای را بررسی می‌کند دعوت می‌کند، کَسی لحظه‌ای درنگ نمی‌کند. او به حومۀ واشنگتن دی‌سی منتقل می‌شود و با تیمی از «نابغه‌ها» یا همان «نچرال‌ها» آشنا می‌شود، نوجوانانی با توانایی‌هایی از خواندن احساسات گرفته تا تشخیص دروغ. او به‌عنوان جدیدترین پروفایلر اف‌بی‌آی وارد عمل می‌شود.
ولی آنچه کَسی نمی‌داند این است که مسئله فراتر از چند قتل حل‌نشده است؛ به‌خصوص وقتی که او برای زندگی با گروهی فرستاده می‌شود که توانایی‌هایشان به اندازۀ خودش عجیب و غریب است.
به زودی مشخص می‌شود که هیچ‌کدام از اعضای برنامۀ «نابغه‌ها» آن‌چه نشان می‌دهند نیستند و وقتی قاتلی جدید دست به کار می‌شود، خطر نزدیک‌تر از آن است که کَسی تصور می‌کرد. حال این گروه درگیر موش‌وگربه‌بازی مرگباری با قاتل شده‌اند و باید از تمام توانایی‌هایشان استفاده کنند تا فقط زنده بمانند.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Romance, Fiction, Crime

230 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2013

About the author

Jennifer Lynn Barnes (who mostly goes by Jen) was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has been, in turn, a competitive cheerleader, a volleyball player, a dancer, a debutante, a primate cognition researcher, a teen model, a comic book geek, and a lemur aficionado. She's been writing for as long as she can remember, finished her first full book (which she now refers to as a "practice book" and which none of you will ever see) when she was still in high school, and then wrote Golden the summer after her freshman year in college, when she was nineteen.

Jen graduated high school in 2002, and from Yale University with a degree in cognitive science (the study of the brain and thought) in May of 2006. She'll be spending the 2006-2007 school year abroad, doing autism research at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Reviews

[Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is Criminal Minds fanfiction, for the under-15 crowd. It takes a great deal of suspension of disbelief to read this book; and I'm not talking about the preposterousness of the idea that children---teenagers, can be FBI criminal investigators. The necessary suspension of disbelief from the reader's part is required in order to swallow the fact that a bunch of utterly incompetent, petty teenagers are capable of looking beyond their egotistical, self-centered noses.

There's this show I love called Criminal Minds. It features a team of FBI profilers at the Behavioral Analysis Unit. They take on difficult cases, involving mainly serial killers. The special agents make psychological profiles about the potential suspect, then using that information, narrow down the field of suspect until they get the right one. The show is entertainment, there is no argument on my part about that. Behavioral analysis is a bullshit art, at best. Criminal profilers have rarely been right, it's more of a matter of throwing a rock into the darkness in the hopes of eventually hitting someone in the face. It rarely happens, but they get it right sometimes. More than anything, it is a show with likeable, complex characters, and a wonderful team who puts their personal problems and quirks aside to work together like a well-oiled machine in order to solve a case.

Well-oiled machine is not the word I would use to describe the characters in this book and their cohesiveness. The teenagers in this book work together as well as an AK-47 that's been left to rust for 50 years in the mud of a long-forgotten battlefield; the parts do not function, and the damn gun might blow up and shoot you by accident in the face at any given moment.

Still, this book is based on that premise. It is a team of teen profilers who use the word "UNSUB" to describe an unknown subject. The word UNSUB is strictly a TV-based term, and it was Criminal Minds that popularized the use of the word. To me, this is nothing more than adolescent Criminal Minds fanfiction, without the likeable, complex characters.

Summary: 17-year old Cassandra (Cassie) lives with her large extended Italian family, working part-time as a waitress. Her mother has been murdered 5 years ago, and her father is out of the picture (see what I mean about parents in YA fiction? Dead or gone 90% of the time). Cassie has always had a skill for reading people, for predicting what they want. Right now, her skills are being used for nothing more than to predict what her customers are going to order next from the menu. A boy, a sexy boy appears from nowhere, well-dressed, too handsome for his own good, and asks her to predict how he prefers his eggs:

“What kind of eggs?” I asked.
“You tell me.” The boy’s words caught me off guard.
I stared at him through the wisps of hair still covering my face. “You want me to guess how you want your eggs cooked?”
He smiled. “Why not?”
And just like that, the gauntlet was thrown.
“Not scrambled,” I said, thinking out loud. Scrambled eggs were too average, too common, and this was a guy who liked to be a little bit different. Not too different, though, which ruled out poached—at least in a place like this. Sunny-side up would have been too messy for him; over hard wouldn’t be messy enough.
“Over easy.” I was as sure of the conclusion as I was of the color of his eyes. He smiled and closed his menu.

Over easy eggs! Clearly, Cassie is a genius worthy of the FBI. Just like that, she is drafted to join a special unit in the FBI. The Naturals. She lives and trains with four other teenagers, each with their own special skills. They may be kids, but they're soooooooooo much better than the real FBI agents.

No matter how long they did this job, or how much training they had, these agents would never have instincts as finely honed as ours.

Teen Titans Power, YEAH!

The kids, and they are kids---try to solve old cases for practice, they do training on random everyday subjects at malls, food courts. The teenagers in the prorgam play games, they flirt, they kiss. And there might be a serial killer out there who wants to collect Cassie as his prize.

Let's get this straight, this is Criminal Minds fanfiction, but it does not have an iota of the enjoyability.

Criminal Minds has amazing, complex characters
The teens in the Naturals are teenagers. For better or worse. They have special abilities, there is no doubt of that, but I have serious doubts as to their judgment and their competence to actually fulfil their purpose when 90% of the times, they act like---well, really immature teenagers. The characters are teenagers who act positively juvenile; they have special abilities, but that is the limit to my interest towards them. There is nothing about the characters that make them stand out, that make me sympathize with them, that make me like them, despite the author's attempt at giving them sad backstories. They are merely teenagers who get on my nerves.

We have Dean, who is the James-Dean-esque weightlifting, bulky teenaged deliquent who looks ready to punch someone in the face at any second. Dean is a profiler, like Cassie. We have Lia, the sexy Asian girl, who wants to slither onto Michael's lap at any given second. Her specialty is lying, at detecting liars. We have Michael, the wealthy, (multiple) Porsche-owning trust funded, blue-blooded, smug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug son-of-a-bitch whose sole purpose in life is to make Dean lose control and to make Cassie want to rip his head off (when she's not kissing him, that is). We have Sloane, the duller than dull factoid spouter who is boring, and who's pretty much useless. I mean, anyone can spout off random-ass facts. I would be a much better Sloane. I mean, I have personality.

Cassie herself is boring, without personality. Cassie reminds me of geniuses who are so brilliant in one category that they are completely lacking in everything else in life. Life skills. Personality. Cassie is a good profiler, not great, I have a lot of skepticism where her skills are concerned, and I have to accept the fact that her natural talents are that---natural, inside her, because there is no explaining her talents otherwise. Frankly, Cassie never exhibits many signs of intelligence besides for her Natural Profiling skill.

The rest of the characters are largely unlikeable in one way or another, they are either surly, or selfish, or bitchy, or snarky, or else they blend into the shadow so much I hardly remember they're there. I think that's why Sloane spouts off so many random facts. If she didn't speak up once in awhile to say something completely random like "Less than point-five percent of the words in the English language contain all five vowels,” I would completely forget that she has ever been there.

Criminal Minds does not concern itself about their team playing petty mind games with each other, nor do they play Truth-Or-Dare
There is so much antipathy between the characters. Dean and Michael are ready to strangle each other at any given second, and while Dean keeps quiet and stay true to his bad-boy-loner trope, Michaels is the Naturals version of The Simpson's Nelson Muntz, pointing his finger in Dean's face, going HAW-HAW!!!!!!

“Have you ever seen The Bad Seed?” he inquired politely. “The movie.”
A muscle in Dean’s jaw twitched. “No.”
Michael grinned. “I have.”
Dean stood up. “I’m done here.”

**note: Dean's father is a serial killer, hence the Bad Seed joke. The Bad Seed is a movie where the child turns out to be an evil, murdering monstrosity.**

Criminal Minds does not concern itself with a fucking love triangle
There's Cassie! Who will she fall for?! Is it bad-boy loner Dean? The surly boy who never, ever, EVEEEEEEEEER lets anyone close to his heart---until Cassie comes along! Or will Cassie fall for Michael! Michael with his movie-star good looks and multiple Porsches who hides his nonchalance behind a snarky exterior, never letting anyone see the warm, melty, oozing, cheesy (sorry, I haven't eaten dinner yet), fluffy interior. Over easy, indeed!

Or will it be Lia! Lia with her constant flirtation with Michael! Or does Lia love Dean instead?! Noooooooooo!

Fucking gag me, please.

Criminal Minds never has a fucking touching romantic moment right after leaving a crime scene with dead bloodied bodies and a killer on the loose

When Agent Starmans glanced in the room, all he saw was [him] and me.
Kissing.
The kiss in the pool was nothing compared to this. Then, our lips had barely brushed. Now, my lips were opening. Our mouths were crushed together. His hand traveled from my neck down to my lower back. My lips tingled, and I leaned into the kiss, shifting my body until I could feel the heat from his in my arms, my chest, my stomach.

Self-explanatory.

Criminal Minds has Reid. Sloane is no Reid
Really, Sloane is the most useless character in the world. She does absolutely nothing besides spouting off random facts:

Sloane on coffee was a bit like an auctioneer on speed. The numbers poured out of her mouth rapid-fire, a statistic for every occasion. For eight hours.
“Sixteen percent of American men have blue eyes,” she informed me blithely. “But over forty percent of male TV doctors do.”

Oh, and she's a really good hugger. Because every FBI investigative team needs a hugger. For hugs.

Sloane slipped an arm around my waist. “There are fourteen varieties of hugs,” she said. “This is one of them.”

Criminal Minds does not try to slut-shame a girl
Lia. Poor Lia. She is sleek, she is Asian, she is sexy, she is tall. She also has a special ability to lie. She wears barely-there clothes. She makes numerous sexual innuendoes.

Agent Locke added, meeting Lia’s eyes, “she’s a very good liar.”
Lia didn’t seem to take offense at the agent’s words. “I’m also bilingual,” she said. “And very, very flexible.”
The second very was aimed directly at Michael.

Naturally, she's to be shamed for the way she dresses. Naturally she hits on the guys. Naturally, she eats ice cream for breakfast (in a sexual manner) and wears silk pajamas that leaves nothing to the imagination. Can we not do this, please? Can we just have normal characters who just happen to like dressing that way without writing it in a way so that the reader hates them?

If you want to read books about serial killers, I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga is a good book. Alternately, you can just go watch Criminal Minds itself. Either way, I can guarantee you will get more enjoyment from either than you will ever get out of this book.

[Ali Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edit: I decided to update my rating of this book to 5 stars! I cannot stop thinking about the twist & romance in this book. Anytime a book really sticks with me, that makes it a 5-star to me!

4.5 stars! Honestly bordering on 5 stars. I can 100% see the rest of the series being 5 stars now that I'm so invested in the characters & the world.

First of all the plot is so fun! Teens with special abilities recruited by the FBI! Love it!

And the love triangle😫 Love triangle tropes can be either meh or amazing to me but Jennifer Lynn Barnes always does amazing love triangles. Reading this book took me right back to reading The Inheritance Games for the first time & how much I loved the entire plot, especially the romance.

ALSO THE ENDING/MYSTERY! I never saw the ending coming!! It was so twisty!! Reading book 2 asap

[Maditales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Criminal minds + teenagers = a great time

[Rachel Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS SERIES IS SO FUN!! READ IT!!

[chloé ✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

behavior. personality. environment.

as a true crime addict, i didn’t know if a YA fictional crime book would be enough for me. BUT this book was everything. sometimes i love being wrong.

this was very addicting and i cannot wait to read the rest of this series! the plot was well done and the characters were even better. and there’s just something about ✨short chapters and fast pacing✨ that makes a book so much more enjoyable.

add these books to your tbr for Spooky Season (or any season, really) immediately!! 😌

[vee! · Rating 4 out of 5]

— 4 stars ✰

5 teenagers. 5 teenagers with an extraordinary ability. 5 teenagers with an extraordinary ability who are living together. 5 teenagers with an extraordinary ability who are living together and solve crimes.

fun times, let me tell you that.

the naturals by jennifer lynn barnes is a young adult novel that follows cassie, who has a talent for profiling people. she is recruited by the FBI to join a program called the naturals where she will be trained and tasked with solving cold cases.

i could go into more detail about the characters but that won’t convince you to read it. what will tho is the fact that you’ll get some mystery, some suspense, some romance. and when i say romance i mean a love triangle 💅🏻 JLB really knows how to write those because i still can’t figure out who i’m rooting for.

“i can be a patient man. a devastatingly handsome, roguishly scarred, heartbreakingly courageous, patient man.”

i felt a hand, warm and steady, on the back of my neck. “you’re fine,” he said. “it’ll pass.”

well, who are we rooting for, folks?
it’s giving jameson and grayson core…

but besides that, you will grow on each character & root for them to become more than just roommates. each character has an unique ability, a strong personality and a twisted background. you will learn to love each, the one more, the other less.

i really really want to be lia. she ate and left no crumbs.

i wish we would get all pov’s because istg it would be so mind blowing but reading from cassie’s pov is interesting nonetheless. her analyzation of peoples behavior and their motives is so freaking captivating like, i want to be able to do that 😤😤 i would say this was a pretty decent start into 2024

[bruna · Rating 3 out of 5]

★ 3.75 stars

𝅄 𓂃 𖥻 “You don’t know me. I’m not scared of this place. I’m not afraid to learn how to think like a killer, and I am not afraid of you.” 𑇛 ˚

i was in need of a quick, fast-paced and easily bingeable read and this one did the job!

i always see and always have seen everyone praising this book and it’s actually embarrassing that i let it stay in my to-be-read shelf for such a long time. but hey! better late than never, right? the important thing is that i finally gave it a chance and i’m very happy i did because i had an entertaining time with it.

it starts off a little slow, but the pace quickly picks up and then it’s basically impossible to put the book down. i was instantly hooked — the intriguing plot, the short chapters and the fast pacing made it so easy to fly through and they managed to keep me interested from the beginning to the very end. needless to say, i absolutely adored the fact there was never a dull moment.

however... while this book kept my attention, i still had a few issues here and there — which is the reason why you’re not seeing me giving it a higher rating.

↳ firstly, i liked the characters, but i couldn’t help but feel like some of them lacked significant depth. that sadly ended up preventing me from really connecting with them. but i’m gonna give the author some credit; this is the first installment in the series after all, so it’s understandable why they weren’t that fleshed out. i do believe [and rather hope] that she is going to flesh out those characters more in the following books though and i’m looking forward to see that.

↳ the “romance” felt... unnatural and a little forced. i was fully aware that this series was going to contain a love triangle (JLB has a thing for those, huh?) but i surely didn’t think that it would start so quickly. Michael & Dean barely knew Cassie — and vice versa — and somehow they were already drawn to one another? nah, i didn’t buy that. it would’ve been more believable if it happened slowly, there was no need to rush it out because it just didn’t feel genuine. that being said, i’m almost certain that i’m going to root for Dean to be Cassie’s endgame. we’ll see about that later.

↳ i expected more from the big plot twist. i didn’t see it coming, which is a good thing, obviously — but also... just because it’s not predicable, it doesn’t mean it’s absolutely great. i saw a bunch of reviews saying how crazy and shocking it was, but to me it didn’t feel crazy and shocking enough. i was a little disappointed honestly. i did like how intense the whole thing was, though.

keeping those problems aside, i still had a fun time with The Naturals and the few issues i had luckily didn’t manage to ruin my general experience. it’s perfect if you’re looking for something fast, entertaining and easily bingeable, so i heavily recommend to those who are in need of something like that. i fear you won’t regret giving this one a chance.

buddy read with charlotte! reading this story with you made it even more fun. 💌

[kendyl ʚ♡⃛ɞ (hiatus)]

❥12/09/23
𝓅𝓇𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌:

❝you came after me,❞ i said.
❝i’ll always come after you,❞ he said.

i think i regret hoping for an actual love triangle😀dean? michael? i seriously don’t know😩✋🏼

so far…this is WAY better than the inheritance games, no one can tell me otherwise😩rtc sometime soon hopefully…i’m in a review slump, i’m sorry🥺

❥12/04/23
please tell me there’s an ACTUAL love triangle in this series😩the team i choose better win this time 🔪

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (Semi-Hiatus-attempting return) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

╰┈➤˗ˏˋ 𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂

Years ago, Cassie's mother was killed, but her body was never found. This has haunted Cassie through childhood and into her teens, and she misses her mother very much. She lives with her grandmother but feels she doesn't belong. So, when the FBI recruits Cassie because of her "natural" ability to gauge people's emotions and background information just from looking at them, she jumps at the chance to change her life.

She ends up living in Virginia with a group of other teens who have special abilities (e.g., pathological lying, mathematical deductive reasoning), whom the FBI believes will help solve cold murder cases. While solving a major case, Cassie hopes she also can find the answers to her mother's murder.

╰┈➤˗ˏˋ 𝓜𝔂 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼

The concept is kind of interesting, but it didn't fully work for me for a few reasons.

╰⪼ The big one: It's hard to accept the premise that the FBI would hire a bunch of kids (who aren't even attending high school) to solve crimes, especially ones involving serial killers. At one point, Cassie wonders if the FBI even knows the "Naturals" program exists, except for the two agents who recruited her.

You can suspend disbelief for the sake of pure entertainment, but the novel's all over the place. It's predictable and full of cliches (a love triangle, insta-love, missing parents) and has unlikable characters.

╰⪼ Don’t get me wrong, I do like the book. The murder mysteries and little snippets into the serial killer’s mind had me flipping the pages quickly.

Moreover, the training for Cassie and the other Naturals was undoubtedly interesting and got me wondering whether that was how the FBI worked on murder cases in real life – with people trained to be perceptive towards human behavior, emotion and being analytical with probabilities, patterns and statistics. Although, in the Naturals’ cases, they were born with such talents.

I didn't feel that there was much character development though and they're all really pretty flat. The only area they actually seemed to have any growth in was in the romantic angle of the story - not a big fan of that either.

I am a huge fan of Criminal Minds, not a huge fan of tweens running around solving murders- and yet, I keep trying to make fetch happen. Going to keep going with the series as I've heard it improves with each installment.

[zuza_zaksiazkowane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 z serduszkiem ❤️

[katie is reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5!

[Sophie Jayne Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️* that ending got me good

[Krisha (break) · Rating 3 out of 5]

“𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”

This was such a page turner and fast-paced young adult thriller. I went in with lower expectations since I'm not a great fan of YA thrillers 𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁. 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗸𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗽.

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴— 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝗽. The side characters were honestly soo fun and i really hope I get to see more of them in other books. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝘂𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀.

But however, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲;

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆, 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁—𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲? 𝗬𝗲𝘀. 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘆𝗲𝘀. A twist can be unpredictable yet underwhelming at the same time and that was exactly what happened here. I felt the twist lacked significant depth during the revelation part that led to the said twist overshadowing its unpredictability.

𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆, 𝗜 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆. 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁?? I get the author wanted to add an element of romance in this book and she could've done that just fine without adding the love triangle trope because In the midst of all the unsolved mysteries why would I want another one regarding who the fmc ends up with? I don't hate the love triangle trope but I just couldn't see how it fit in this book. 𝗜𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱—like the author somehow had to include that trope so she did it.

𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸, 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁-𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁. Even though the twist was underwhelming, it didn't take away my enjoyment. I'm just as excited and curious to know how the other books in this series turn out to be.

[hanna ʚ♡ɞ · Rating 5 out of 5]

꒰🪪꒱ જ⁀➴ 5 stars

— “you came after me”
“i'll always come after you”

⤿ as someone who is obsessed with criminal minds, law and order, monk, nancy drew, etc... i knew i was going to love this. this book was everything i needed, esp during ap season (pretend i'm not writing this review two months later!!) 🤭

had the most fun buddy reading with my bsf lydia <33 just go ahead and read her beautiful review rn!! 🫶
⤿ lydia's review <3

꒰🎧꒱ now playing ... no body no crime — taylor swift
also just going to put this here, but TEAM DEAN 🩷🩷

୨# ꒰🧩꒱ plot
cassie has an ability to profile people. one day she is invited to join the FBI, along with 4 other teenagers also with special abilities. together, the 5 of them are known as the naturals. they begin to work on a case, and cassie's life could be in much more danger than imagined.

୨# ꒰🔍꒱ character breakdown
➳ cassie - profiler #1
i honestly didn't feel super connected to cassie, but i definitely still liked her. i definitely want to give her a hug because she's been through so much <3

➳ michael - emotions reader
michael omg 🤭🤭 i'm team dean for cassie, but team michael for myself 🤞🩷 he reminded me of jameson from the inheritance games, and he also has a really sad past (all of them do 💔💔)

➳ dean - profiler #2
i adore dean so much too honestly <33 he def has a LOT of trauma too and you can see why he acts the way he is because of it :(( still, i love him and cassie, and i think they go perfect together <3

➳ sloane - math girlie
sloane is seriously the cutest and after reading the entire series, there's so much she's been through too ☹️🫶 i just love her so much and she reminds me of penelope garcia from criminal minds

➳ lia - lie detector
i honestly didn't love lia that much in this book, but after the rest of the series, i definitely love her now 🤭 she's mean to cassie at first but they def open up to each other later and i'm glad she's apart of the team fs

— “sometimes,” he said, “when i’m in a social pickle, i like to ask myself, WWJAD?” i raised an eyebrow, and he explained. “What Would Jane Austen Do?
we love you michael we all say in unison!! 🫶

— “there are fourteen varieties of hugs, this is one of them.”

જ⁀➴ overall this is my new favorite series <3 i finished all the books so fast, and i wish i could experience it all for the first time again ☹️🩷 also maybe unpopular opinion(?) but i love this sm more than the inheritance games <33

[lydia ‧ ia · Rating 4 out of 5]

꒰ 4.5 ✧₊⁺ ꒱

❝ If looks could kill, she would have been dead on the floor, and I would have been on trial for murder. ❞

♫ vigilante shhh by taylor swift
someone told his white collar crimes to the fbi

for a 2013 contemporary with a love triangle and heaps of teenage angst, this was amazing.

it hooks you from the beginning, with very little filler or drag. You’re immediately curious at how the story will unfold— but let me tell you, you will probably never guess what is going to happen next. My advice is, don’t even try to guess, because you’ll probably just end up looking stupid like me.

this is just one of those books— where every single character is smarter than you, and you’re just doing your best to keep up.

the characters themselves are cute! very found family, I-don’t-like-you-I-love-you kind of vibes. Like every single other series with a love triangle, I got spoiled for who the main character ends up with (from a no-spoiler review for the first book, AFTER I read the first book… *sob*) but before I found out who is endgame, I was team dean, and I’m staying that way. That’s all I’ll say 🤐

now I have a new series to obsess over! Good day for me. I’ll have to wait a little while to read the next book though, so I don’t overdose on the creep hehe.

⤿ overall,
this book is going to have me looking over my shoulder for weeks. but, like, in a good way.

💙 ~ to my love
buddy read with the best girl hanna! It was so much fun reading this with you and spamming you about it! ilysm <3
⤿ hanna's review 🫶

❝ You came after me. ❞
❝ I’ll always come after you. ❞

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, am i.. missing something?

the inheritance games was one of the series that got me into reading, and i vividly recall thoroughly enjoying that whole series. i ate up all 3 books. i even rated the first book 5 stars and i considered it one of my favourite series at the time! (i threw around five stars like confetti back then and it is susceptible to change, i read it like 2 years ago and i probably will reread it sometime and change it). anyway, i was genuinely ecstatic to start this for a long time, and hearing people say the naturals was even better added to that elatedness. but i just found it underwhelming.

in typical jlb style, it was a light, fast-paced page turner. thus, i finished it in 1-2 hours. the premise was highly intriguing and decently executed, and the short chapters definitely didn’t hurt. but i could not connect with the characters at all—i really wasn’t as immersed as i could’ve been. to me, they all felt cliche and one-dimensional with no nuance, which especially was illustrated during the truth or dare scene. it hurts to think about it.

if the romance was maybe a little less ubiquitous, maybe i would’ve rated it higher. it just made me cringe. team dean or michael you might ask? how about no one. most of the time, i hate love triangles. this was most definitely NOT an exception—it felt so forced too. utterly frivolous. don’t even get me started on the guys within the triangle. for michael, he gave me the ick. he thinks he’s so mysterious and brooding in a hot way, which he also never failed to reiterate copiously, but i found him to be rather presumptuous, irksome, and just too much. like why are you kissing her and touching her so much (likely impetuously)? she’s not your girlfriend? you guys just met? you barely even know anything about each other? you don’t even want her to know about your “dark past”? he reminds me of one of those guys that girls start dating and a week later after barely getting to know each other he says he loves her. his little passionate monologue at the end about him waiting for her at the end made me laugh.
“I can be a patient man, Colorado. A devastatingly handsome, roguishly scarred, heartbreakingly courageous, patient man.”
“So take whatever time you need. Figure out how you feel. Figure out if Dean makes you feel the way I do, if he’ll ever let you in, and if you want him to, because the next time my lips touch yours, the next time your hands are buried in my hair—the only person you’re going to be thinking about is me.” brother, pack it up. as much as i love a guy who reads jane austen, he’s not it. don’t ruin her for me please!
dean was just there. just your average love interest but with a southern accent. he pissed me off sometimes and his switch ups gave me whiplash. so he hates cassie for some arbitrary reason at the start and then they kiss and he’s infatuated then mere moments later he hates her again?? he’s quite mundane too. cassie, do yourself a favour and just stay single because these guys aren’t all that nor worthy to be fond of. sorry!

the plot twist at the end was interesting, but it wasn’t absolutely jaw-dropping. overall, it just wasn't as good as i thought it would be.

i’m really sad now. this might be the irreparable catalyst to my villain arc.

though, i will probably continue reading the series to see if it gets any better!

-

hmm.. rtc.

-

taking a break from childrens books and moving on to some ya!

[kenzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars ✶ ࣪˖࿐⋆

I was in the worst reading slump, and I came to this book literally desperate for something that would take me out of it, and I guess this book did it for me.

I really loved the short chapters and the fast-paced story. I won't say that there were crazy things happening at first; there was barely anything happening in the first half of the book. It became more of a thriller in the second half, but nonetheless, it was really enjoyable. I really liked the teen vibes, and the characters were very likeable for me (lia just a little, tbh), and I loved their vibes together. and I also liked this little touch of romance. The love triangle was torture though

I had so many theories about who'd be the killer, but I'll gladly say that I was so shocked. I loved that, because I really hate when I predict the plot twist, but I'm still waiting for better plot twists in the next books.

There's not much to say actually, it so enjoyable with this teen shows vibes.
And I think if you don't like this teen show, this one won't be for you.

⟣┄─ ˑ ◌ ִ 💙 ፧  ּ  🫐 ִ  ݊   ʚ ɞ ׁ  ֢  ㇴ  ۫

❝ Maybe I don’t want to be profiled because I don’t want to know what you’d see. What little box I fit in. Who I really am.❞

❝ A lot has happened. You have a lot to figure out. I can be a patient man, Colorado. A devastatingly handsome, roguishly scarred, heartbreakingly courageous, patient man.❞
❝ So take whatever time you need. Figure out how you feel. Figure out if Dean makes you feel the way I do, if he’ll ever let you in, and if you want him to, because the next time my lips touch yours, the next time your hands are buried in my hair—the only person you’re going to be thinking about is me.❞

like really how could anyone not love him?😭😭

 ∘•········ʚ ♡ ɞ ········•∘
My first thriller book, hope it'll gets me out of my reading slump

Thanks for Sabrina, Sophie, Maram and manju for their advice 🤍

[Clace]

I went to this bookstore and I got a really good deal for this book so I obviously had to get it 🤭 and it's so short in starting it asap!

[nat ୨ৎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

જ⁀➴ 2★

I lied, hate review coming soon

Team Dean for Cassie and Team Michael for me 😘😘

[Larissa Cambusano · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ IM SO OBSESSED I COULD CRY.

these characters, this team, the plot, the lil bits of romance!!!

yes. just YES.

[eden ⊹ · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH MY GOD ??? HOLY SHIT ???

[mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love this book, i literally devoured it. team michael, he's tew cute

"i can be a patient man, colorado. a devastatingly handsome, roguishly scarred, heartbreakingly courageous, patient man."

i mean how can you not love him he's such a cutie patootie

[Salma [Ramadan HIATUS] · Rating 4 out of 5]

⤿ rating: 4 stars
⤿ age: 13+
⤿ spice: none
₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ Review will contain a minor spoiler (romance-related).

𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:
📁👤Found Family
🩵💙Love Triangle
👮🏼🔪Murder Mystery x Thriller

➜ Buddy read with the beautiful Vyn. Thank you so much for reading this with me!
⤷ Check out her review.


══⋆⋅☆⋅⋆══╡ Overview: ╞══⋆⋅☆⋅⋆══

As someone who hated The Inheritance Games, I was skeptical going into this, because what if I hate this, too? I was glad to be wrong. I ended up loving this much more than I thought I would.

⁀જ➣꒰ ⋮ ρℓσт.꒱

The plot is very unique and was very enjoyable. The author definitely showed her degree in this book, and wow, was it very smart of her to write characters and plot like this. The setup was very interesting, seeing characters of different mindsets and abilities made this story grab my attention easily. I was on the edge of my seat most of the time—seeing them grasp different clues and work together was mind-blowing to me.

I thought it was a bit slow at first, but once it starts picking up, you get sucked in very easily. It gets intense, and I felt nervous at times because of the suspense and plot twists. Also, this book has short chapters, which I absolutely adore in books.

One of the reasons I hated TIG was because I predicted the plot twist—I didn���t predict the plot twist in this one at all. In fact, it didn’t even cross my mind—it made my jaw drop.

⁀જ➣꒰⋮ 𝕽𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊.꒱

I don’t hate love triangles, but I’m not their biggest fan. I don’t think it’s done well in this book. Don’t get me wrong, I actually loved both love interests, but the love interests barely interacted, and all of a sudden, they kissed? Where was the chemistry? Tension? Pining? I needed way more from the romance. I know it’s a subplot, but you need to deliver on a trope like this. The romance was lacking, in my opinion.

I don’t understand what JLB’s obsession with love triangles is, but she doesn’t write them well. I don’t even think it was necessary—one love interest is already enough. They barely even interacted, and even the romance in those interactions was very limited. I do think the characters are VERY similar to Grayson and Jameson. I wish there were some diversity in her books.

Don’t even get me started on Dean and Cassie’s first kiss. I hated Lia so much in that scene; their first kiss was a DARE. They barely even talked to each other.

⁀જ➣꒰⋮ ᭙𝕣ⅈ𝕥ⅈꪀᧁ.꒱

The writing was very easy to understand, but very cringy at times, and insanely childish. Here are two quotes, for example:

「✦ “What the hello kitty happened.” ✦」

「✦ “Mr. Breakfast Burrito just didn’t want people to think he was a wuss—only the word he would have used wasn’t wuss.
Whoa there, Cassie, I told myself sternly. Let’s keep it PG.” ✦」

══⋆⋅☆⋅⋆══╡ Characters: ╞══⋆⋅☆⋅⋆══

જ⁀➴ Cassie: I loved her character so much. I am glad we had a smart, driven FMC, well-written in genres like this. She’s someone who is shadowed by her childhood and her mother’s death, but being inside her head was very cool to witness. Her way of thinking, solving, and trying to find clues was very intelligent—it made me easily impressed. I loved how observant she was.

જ⁀➴ Dean and Micheal: I DON’T KNOW WHOSE TEAM I’M ON. At first, I was team Micheal because Dean was very rude. I hated Dean at first, but once he said those three words—not I love you—I melted. He also started doing these gestures that made me melt, and I started loving him more. But what Michael said at the end? It made me swoon, too, so my team was undecided. Michael is definitely the flirtier and cooler of the two. I think maybe I like Dean a bit more? At least, he and Cassie share many similarities.

જ⁀➴ Sloane and Lia: I adored Sloane, but hated Lia’s guts.

── .✦ 𝓕𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼: If you, also, hated TIG, and are thinking of reading this book, you definitely should. This book was so good and definitely worth the hype.

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

˖ ֹ੭୧ pre-read:⊹ ࣪ ⑅

Buddy read with the beautiful and my love Vyn <3. I personally hated TIG, but I hear this one is better, so I hope it's a win!

[mia. (hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

➸ 3 stars

꒰🧩꒱ synopsis & thoughts ᝰ

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a young adult book that centers on Cassie, a gifted person who can profile others. She is enlisted by the FBI to participate in the "Naturals" program, where she will get training and be assigned to investigate cold cases.

The whole plot of the mystery was masterfully created, engaging me and rendering me on the edge of my seat as I tentatively followed its twists and turns. however the plot twist?? failed to deliver 🙁. I comprehended the rationale behind the author's choice to create it; it was sudden and brilliant on its own, yet I found myself feeling that it was a bit ridiculous, because this negated my trust in the skills of all "the natural" kids. The concept was centered on this magical talent these teenagers shared—the talent to read individuals and recognize serial killers—and none among them suspected that one was just sitting opposite them, waiting to attack. They appeared not so proficient in the very talent they purported to possess masterfully… 😬


character study ᝰ


꒰🎀꒱ cassie │ profiler ⌗ 1

cassandra hobbes is morally introspective, emotionally damaged, and deeply empathetic character navigating a world where understanding others is as dangerous as it is necessary. She serves as both a lens for the psychological thriller and a character study in grief, intuition, and resilience.


꒰🔍꒱ dean │ profiler ⌗ 2

dean redding is a haunting character study in inherited trauma and restrained vulnerability. His depth lies not in big moments, but in what he withholds. He's the type of character who lives in the shadows—not because he enjoys them, but because he’s afraid of the light revealing too much.


꒰🧠꒱ michael │ emotion reader

michael townsend is one of the most tragically self-aware characters in the series. He understands what everyone feels but struggles with his own emotional truth. Beneath the surface lies a boy who has been taught that vulnerability is dangerous, and that control is survival.


꒰📈꒱ lia │ lie detector

lia zhang is one of the most layered characters in the series. She’s not traditionally “likable”—she’s sharp-tongued, emotionally evasive, and manipulative. But under that is a survivor with fierce loyalty, high emotional intelligence, and a constant battle between truth and protection.


꒰🔢꒱ sloane │ statistician & data analyst

sloane tavish may be underestimated by readers at first glance, but she proves that intelligence comes in many forms, and that kindness doesn’t always look conventional. She’s a necessary balance to the emotionally driven nature of the rest of the naturals, and her presence reminds us that different doesn’t mean less.

[skye (cardan’s ver.) ꩜ .ᐟ [hiatus] · Rating 5 out of 5]

— ⌗ ”no expectations, no disappointments.” ᝰ.ᐟ


⋆˚✿˖° the naturals by jennifer lynn barnes


➜ ┊: (5 stars) ᵎ ✰


— ⌗ ”did this place ruin you?” / “there was nothing to ruin.” ᝰ.ᐟ


⌗ !! ꒰ 🎧 ꒱ playlist…
⊹ ࣪ no body, no crime — taylor swift
⊹ ࣪ hayloft — mother mother
⊹ ࣪ swim — chase atlantic
⊹ ࣪ I did something bad — taylor swift
⊹ ࣪ matilda — harry styles
⊹ ࣪ invisible string — taylor swift
⊹ ࣪ daddy issues — the nbhd

⌗ !! ꒰ 💮 ꒱ tropes…
╰ strangers to friends to… maybe something more?
╰ love triangle (;-;)
╰ found family
╰ dark and troubled past (every mc)
╰ group of misfits

trigger warnings: please look them up! there’s quite a lot for this one, including and not limited to— homicide, abuse, anxiety, trauma, ptsd, etc. and please know that this ^ is not all just what the book is about <3


— ⌗ ”there are fourteen varieties of hugs. this is one of them.” ᝰ.ᐟ


𖦹ׂ SPOILERS INCLUDED (the spoiler is clearly mentioned before the spoiler paragraph, otherwise it’s all spoiler-free🫶)!


— ⌗ ”you came after me.” / “i’ll always come after you.” ᝰ.ᐟ


₊˚꒰🪦꒱‧ plot…
hello?? jlb, WOW. I went into this expecting an inheritance games kind of thing, but I was blown away very soon. the first book in a four-book murder and mystery series follows a girl named cassie who’s sound surprised now: not normal. she’s one of the few people who has been cultivating a natural talent since childhood. she soon meets four others who are like her in some aspects: naturals, at what they do. cassie gets roped into a case that hits closer to home than she thinks it would.

₊˚꒰♟️꒱‧ thoughts…
the way I ate this up in just five hours from start to finish was beautiful lmao. if the inheritance games books and any of agatha christie’s novels had a baby and agggtm was the godmother of the baby, this book would be it. the only thing I wish was different was if cassie had some other ‘talent’ (not lie detection/emotion reading/stats/profiling), it would’ve been more fun <3 however, the secondary romance genre paired w the primary murder mystery genre was so perfect, I doubt anyone else could write this as good as jlb did <3


— ⌗ ”we all had our crosses to bear.” ᝰ.ᐟ


₊˚꒰🪪꒱‧ favourite scenes…
michael mentioned? I love. dean mentioned? I love. sloane mentioned? I LOVE. safe to say, I do have favourites among their group. the emotional trauma dump and trauma bonding sessions were my favourite ofc they were, i’m an angst girlie through and through and I especially loved the final reveal. the shock, the jaw drop, the EVERYTHING, even if I saw it coming a few pages before.

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW, PLEASE DON’T READ THE NEXT PARAGRAPH UNLESS YOU’VE READ THE BOOK ‼️
₊˚꒰🖥️꒱‧ ending…
wtf. no because, what the FUCK. I had a feeling it was lacey/locke/whatever and I was still shocked. I usually almost always guess the right endings and plot twists a few chapters in advance of the reveals in mystery books, but the fact that I only had a small hunch about what was happening, and that was a mere few pages before the reveal? jlb. ma’am. you have my utmost respect. and the chapter before the reveal omfg. when she shot those two, I swear I almost cried- if anything permanent happened to them, I would’ve thrown hands fr.
END OF SPOILERS!! feel free to read on for more spoiler-free thoughts <3


— ⌗ ”we saw things that other people didn’t—things that people our age should never have to see.” ᝰ.ᐟ


₊˚꒰🧩꒱‧ cassandra hobbes…
⤹ ⊹ the profiler | ‘colorado’ by michael ₊˚๑
i’m sorry to say this but… she was definitely my least favourite out of the five ;-; I never pick favourites in groups (except leo from pjo. that guy’s my favourite no matter who enters the riordanverse <3) but in this book, I could. and it wasn’t cassie. she came off as a little annoying and confused for quite a while, and while I see where she’s coming from, I didn’t really love her character as much as I wanted to. but it’s okayyy <3 bc all characters have their flaws and strengths, and cassie’s also smart, and brave <3 and bby, it’s not your fault. literally no one knew who the killer was — not even the trained fbi agents — so please don’t beat yourself up about it omg 3

₊˚꒰🔍꒱‧ dean redding…
⤹ ⊹ also the profiler ₊˚๑
deannnnnnn <33 I feel like i’m a sucker for boys childhood trauma (also read: cardan greenbriar. also read: aaron warner. also read: leo valdez. should I go on? ;-;). I didn’t like his stand off-ish attitude the first moment I met him, but I immediately understood his situation and realised that it was just part of his personality to build walls and keep new people away thinking it would keep them safe. he grew up in a toxic household understatement of the millennium and he is definitely what his past made him. at a young age like that, and exposed to stuff like that especially? god, I can’t even imagine the extreme level of daddy issues this guy has.

₊˚꒰🍻꒱‧ michael townsend…
⤹ ⊹ the emotions reader ₊˚๑
this man. UGH. strode in with his cheshire cat grin, dean winchester personality (please tell me at least one person who reads this watched supernatural or i’ll cry), and walked out w my heart fr. I really wanted to know more about his past and parents, which wasn’t that much of a discussion point in this book. i’m hoping we find out more in the next three tho! and your honour, he reads fucking jane austen <3333 the one thing I didn’t really like about his character was his on/off thing w lia since initially it was just to rile dean up, but now i’m getting the sense that it’s more to put on a show for cassie and playing hard to get, or whatever. just no, bro. do not be a dick, pick one.

₊˚꒰☕️꒱‧ sloane tavish…
⤹ ⊹ the statistician ₊˚๑
this girl owns my soul. she is the entire embodiment of my existence, and my spirit book character. I could relate to her on so many levels ): firstly, it’s obviously the fact that i’m a math girlie bc i’d die without that subject (pls don’t come at me i love you all 😭). numbers are definitely my forté, and I loved reading about it. secondly, you can just tell she grew up as the neglected child and the ‘second choice’ person yk? she comes off as bubbly and happy, but you can js see the fact that she’s really grateful for her friends and is always scared about losing something as precious as their friendship. third, is definitely the caffeine addiction and coffee rush. do not ever give me coffee, or i’ll yap your head off. lastly, she doesn’t know how exactly to comfort someone and rambles off statistics to show she cares (the ‘fourteen hugs’ quote yk) bc same- I couldn’t console a person even if my life depended istfg ;-; basically, sloane is me, I am sloane, we are one <3

₊˚꒰🍾꒱‧ lia zhang…
⤹ ⊹ the lie detector ₊˚๑
is it weird I loved her but also disliked her at the same time? I don’t have much to say about her except I could relate to her ability lmao. I can tell if someone’s lying about 70% of the time and I def don’t know how my brain works for that. also, how is she the only asian character bye- jlb, please bring in more rep ;-; what I didn’t like about lia was, again same as michael, her on/off relationship. while we all know michael was in it originally to annoy dean, it’s clear lia’s trying to boast it in cassie’s face ):

₊˚꒰🕯️꒱‧ cassie x dean…
hear me out: team dean. why? because michael’s my bby 😌 for those who have reads this series/book already lmk if you’re: team dean or team michael (and why 🫣)? <3 AND TELL ME WHY I GOT A GRAY-JAMIE PARALLEL FROM DEAN-MICHAEL OMFG.


— ⌗ ”I didn’t know if I was capable of really letting someone else in. I didn’t know if I could fall in love.” ᝰ.ᐟ


₊˚꒰🗡️꒱‧ pre-read…
so so excited for this! my other cr is sort of boring, so I wanted something fast paced and a thriller, so here we are. I have such high hopes bc it’s a jlb book <3 praying for this to be as good as inheritance games, if not better ((:

₊˚꒰🩸꒱‧ pre-review…
did I just devour this in 5 hours and give it 5 stars? YES, I DID. JLB, HOW DO YOU DO THIS TO ME W YOUR BOOKS?? also, I just found out that jlb’s a psych professor now? and majored in psychology, I think? that’s so cool~ i’ll be studying psychology for the next two years, starting in july, and this was just SO fascinating.


— ⌗ ”I didn’t know what I wanted or who I wanted to be with.” ᝰ.ᐟ

[Madison Kait · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you love true crime, you’ll love this. teenage profilers say lessssss

[areeba ✿ (semi-ia) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars ��

postponed writing the review so much, i've forgotten what my exact thoughts were. it's such a fast paced and fun book to read though. and me and hoda were just @-ing each other at every "you" chapter 😭

also team dean since page 1. i have a thing for blondes with trauma i think.

· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·

impromptu buddy read/discussion(?) (since she already finished the first book) with my best girl hoda.

i’m genuinely so glad we’re doing this, cause i’m 45% in and it’s so good 😭 literally having the best time rn after ages !!

[megs · Rating 4 out of 5]

repeat after me.. TEAM…. DEAN… FOR… LIFE 👏😍

[April (Aprilius Maximus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

1.) The Naturals ★★★★.5
2.) Killer Instinct ★★★★
3.) All In ★★★★.5
4.) Bad Blood ★★★★.5

--------------------------------------------------

REREAD OCTOBER 2017
Wasn't as good as the first time because obviously I knew who the killer was, but still, this series is so good!

JANUARY 2016
*4.5 STARS*
WOW. What a way to start off my reading year! This literally is a YA version of Criminal Minds with a tiny paranormal twist. The FBI has found and recruited some teenagers who are 'naturals' at certain abilities that the FBI want to trial in a new program that could help to solve some cold cases. The main character Cassie is a natural profiler and ever since she stumbled across the scene of her mother's murder (although her body was never found), she's felt like something in her life was missing. She meets these new people and learns all about profiling and victimology and it's just SO exciting I literally read this book in ONE sitting! There is a love triangle introduced which at first had me real angry, but thankfully the characters realised they had more important things to worry about so that was really put on the back burner while they were trying to find a particular serial killer that WAS SO CRAZY. I literally did not see anything coming, which let's be honest, is kinda rare these days in a YA book. I absolutely LOVED this and I can't wait to continue on with the series!

Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes:
- 31. A YA book

[bookworm ꣑ৎ‎ ˚. (more active) · Rating 4 out of 5]

˚｡ ⋆୨# 4.75 stars #୧⋆ ˚｡
⤷ am i going insane or was this better than “the inheritance games”??


⋆౨ৎ˚ buddy read with my absolutely AMAZING bff, bunny!! ty for joining me on this rollercoaster ride of a book 🥹🫶🏻 ilysm gurl <3 ( P.S. — sorry i finished the book without u, i couldn’t help myself 😗💓 )


# 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎

# “𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦”
“𝘪'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶”


꒰🧩꒱ characters
→ cassie
she is amazing. she owns my heart and soul.
i truly want her and Avery to meet omg… 🧸

→ michael
SO many ppl say they’re team Dean… well im not lol — team Michael all the way y’all 😆✋🏻
anyways, michael kinda reminded me of Jameson in a way… maybe it’s just how they behave but I LOVE IT <3
he’s so sweet and funny… u can see that he rlly cares abt Cassie too 🥹

→ dean
hated him. don’t ask me why. i just hated him.
i think, he DID have a lot of depth and trauma, which makes me want to give him a hug… but that doesn’t mean i like him 🤷‍♀️

→ lia
she’s one of my favs omg — she’s so sassy and chill… love her ( but not as much as Cassie lol ✋🏻 )

→ sloane
she’s so wholesome and, honestly… i love her 🥹💓
i feel like her character was rlly well developed and im excited to see what happens with her in the next books!


꒰🧩꒱ structure
but like, those plot twists besties — no bc I didn’t see that coming omg 😀↕️

was low-key convinced that Dean was the murderer until i read those last few pages 😗

the pacing and writing were perfect too!! the characters all had depth and personality… they were just perfect!!

i defs recommend this book 🎀


꒰💿꒱ now playing
“heathens” by twenty one pilots
⤷ just wanted to clarify that im TEAM MICHAEL


┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈


˚｡ ⋆୨# pre-read review #୧⋆ ˚｡

somehow, i feel like this might be better than “the inheritance games” 😀✋🏻