Labeled Innocent, Presumed Dead

by Marcelina LoBue

Family isn’t always blood…but this blood is shed from your family.

What would you do if you were recruited to an FBI organization run by teenagers?

That’s the problem sixteen-year-old Natalia Serenelli is facing; her hacking skills land her a role in the top-secret group of mismatched agents with polar opposite skillsets—and personalities—called the Bureau. Their main focus is rescuing missing women and children, but things get complicated when it hits Natalia a little too close to home.

Five years prior, her older sister, Alison, snuck out to her criminal boyfriend’s house…though was never seen again, nor was a body found. A secret relationship gone seemingly wrong, police refused to reveal his identity and the FBI dismissed her case as a ‘runaway’. Natalia knows there’s a much darker force at play, however, and this only increases her trust issues in the authorities.

So it comes as no surprise when secrets unravel…secrets that the organization are keeping about their involvement in Alison’s case. But when things heat up between Natalia, another flirtatious member, and the Bureau’s ruthless leader, she has to make the impossible her suspicious found family…or her biological family of liars.
- - -
For fans of The Naturals, The Inheritance Games, and Pretty Little Liars, this brings a new generation of teenage detectives with government ties, a love triangle, and a whole lot of secrets.
*Check trigger warnings

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery

404 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 14, 2026

About the author

Marcelina LoBue is the 16-year-old YA mystery romance author of The Blood that Divides Us (an academic rivals to lovers, trauma healing murder mystery) and Labeled Innocent, Presumed Dead (a true crime thriller with a love triangle). The latter releases on February 14th, 2026.
When she’s not listening to true crime podcasts or writing about stab wounds, she’s focused on her education and highly involved in her school’s student council. Baking and teaching herself how to code—much like Natalia—has also preoccupied her time, in addition to having a bad habit of staying up too late reading romances on her Kindle.

Reviews

[Delusional Dawn [semi-hiatus] · Rating 2 out of 5]

✦ 2.5 stars

Thank you so much to sweet author Marcelina LoBue for this eARC!!
I just wanted to let y'all know that I think the author is super sweet and kind, and this review has nothing to do with her! I'm so impressed that she wrote this book at the young age of 16. This book just seemed too much of a copy of the Naturals.

I was for real about to get violent

This quote exactly describes my feelings every time the two love interests - Jayden and Kyle did something stupid. They were both walking red flags 🚩.

Be prepared for my unfiltered ranting!!

─ ⊹ ⊱꒰☆꒱⊰ ⊹ ─
𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔
─ ⊹ ⊱꒰☆꒱⊰ ⊹ ─

┈──┈˖˚⊹ ཐི⋆𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔:⋆ཋྀ ⊹˚˖ ┈──┈
↪ ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕖 - I think girl needs therapy. Girl literally just ran around at kidnapping scenes with no experience, but conveniently all the clues fell from the sky and dropped on her lap. yay. good for her.

OMFG. The love triangle made me want to rip out my hair and scream. So... Natalie first kissed Jayden and then less than a day later, she decided to kiss Kyle. Then at the end - Kyle - who has been obsessed with her for the whole book somehow just randomly says, "ah yes, we can't be together anymore." and then she runs to Jayden, apologising and saying, "i've always loved you... WHAT THE FUCK??? it's giving belly from tsitp, AND I HATE BELLY!

These quotes just prove my point :
Girl thinks she's better than everyone 😭
💀 "𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘"
💀 𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕? 𝑵𝒐𝒑𝒆. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒐? 𝑺𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝑩𝑰 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆? 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍. HELP WTFFF 😭😂
💀 “𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚, 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍. 𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕…?"

WTF this isn't even possible
💀 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑨 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍. (YOU CAN'T CONTROL PAIN WITHOUT ANAESTHETIC😭)
Natalie after the smallest white lie ever...
💀 "𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅'𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒌𝒆, 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒘𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂"
I'm also so confused why does Natalie have weird, totally unnecessary hallucinations?
💀 “𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆!” 𝑰 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒔. “𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂,” 𝑱𝒂𝒚𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚, 𝒏𝒐 𝑹𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, “𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖…” 😭😭 idk what's happening anymore

↪ 𝕁𝕒𝕪𝕕𝕖𝕟 - Welcome to red flag number 1!! 🚩 He is possessive and psychopathic. And the whole love triangle was insta-love, and I HATE insta-love. One second it was, 'oh my parents were so abusive', next they were having a war with their tongues.

Next, let me just explain to you... HE MURDERED SOMEONE, LITERALLY STABBED THEM AND KILLED THEM because of a simple misunderstanding. IF JAYDEN JUST ASKED INSTEAD OF STABBING ONE OF HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS FOR TOUCHING NATALIE??? HE'S SUCH A BITCH

After he stabbed one of his closest friends:
✦ "𝐉𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐜𝐫𝐲."
✦ "𝐉𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐳𝐨𝐨 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦." (HELP THE ZOO ATTRACTION PART 😭😭)
✦"𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐉𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐨." (umm you just stabbed him and now you're telling Natalie to let it go???)

AND NATALIE STILL FUCKING ENDED UP WITH HIM 😭😭He deserves to rot in hell.

↪ 𝕂𝕪𝕝𝕖 - Now to red flag number 2!! 🚩 To be honest, I actually liked him better than Jayden. But he calls her the stupid nickname of Lia darling... STOP RUING FEYRE DARLING FOR ME KYLE!!! And also he half manipulated Natalie into kissing him less than a day after she kissed Jayden, and like the creep he is, he watched Jayden and Natalie on the security cameras! yay! and guess what! Jayden is Kyle's brother! 😭😭
✦ "𝑨𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝑰'𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕, 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔."
ummm ok!...

↪ 𝔸𝕖𝕣𝕒 - A friend to Natalie for one minute, then a total bitch to her the next. I'm so confused. Like make up your mind. She insults Natalie for no reason. And um she pretends to be mute for no reason
✦ "𝑰 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆" (I need a doctor, is that even possible?)
Aera when her parents were being murdered:
✦ "𝑻𝒘𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅"
Ok now to her insults:
✦ "𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘-𝒊𝒕-𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆" 😭
✦ "𝑰’𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑰’𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒅𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 s𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅."
✦ "𝑰 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓."
DAMN GIRL

↪ 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒐 - Literally my favourite character 😭😭 until Jayden killed him. Rest in peace, he deserved better.

┈──┈˖˚⊹ ཐི⋆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒊 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅:⋆ཋྀ ⊹˚˖ ┈──┈
Her writing style was good!! It was super engaging and had me hooked to the story! I admit some parts were a little clunky, and I saw quite a few typos, but overall the writing was super intriguing and kept me reading!!

I also liked the plot twists! There were many, and it was exciting slowly getting piece by piece of the mystery at a time. The backstories and trauma of each character were also well thought out.

┈──┈˖˚⊹ ཐི⋆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒊 𝑫𝑰𝑫 𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚:⋆ཋྀ ⊹˚˖ ┈──┈
✦ Jayden 🚩 and Kyle 🚩
✦ The kissing
- "𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒔" 😭😭
- "𝑾𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒄𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏."
- "𝑴𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒙𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆" 💀

The weird af quotes:
✦ "𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒖𝒈-𝒐𝒇-𝒘𝒂𝒓, 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇-𝒃𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉."
✦ “𝑷𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒚, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒎 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕." (POV Jayden after he is possessive of Natilie)
✦"𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔."
✦ "𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒔" 😭

┈──┈˖˚⊹ ཐི⋆𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍:⋆ཋྀ ⊹˚˖ ┈──┈
For me, I saw too many similarities to the Naturals. Let me just tell you that I LOVE the Naturals. It felt almost copied.

It wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't for me. I would recommend it to you if you enjoy a twisty murder mystery and don't mind the quotes I put above!! And also if you aren't picky with your romance side-plot like I am 😭😭

If you've read this far, ILYSM, thank you for reading my super long, ranting review!!!
xoxo, dawn

[ava. · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

Tysm to the author for giving me an ARC of this book!

I’m going to start this review off by saying that I have nothing against the author, and she has tons of potential, but this book just wasn’t for me. I’m extremely proud of her for writing this at such a young age and I think that if she continues writing im certain she will improve a lot

What to expect 💌

- Love triangle
- Teens working in the FBI
- very entertaining

⁀➷ Possible spoilers from this point on

Characters 🤍

⤷ Natalia- this girl has issues 😭 she punches people for no reason, fantasizes about pushing a guy into a lake, hallucinates twice, and is basically belly from tsitp when it comes to the love triangle. I think these quotes will speak for themselves

“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢”

she said this literally just after finding out this guy lied to her about one thing btw

“𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵”

“𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘤 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴”

seriously wtf 😭😭 that is not normal

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐- 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹”

⤷ Jayden- from the second he was introduced in this I hated him- first of all, the dyed white hair is just… I don even know 😭 as the book continued I kept finding more and more red flags, and I was literally so upset that he was who Natalia ended up with- though, when you think about it, they’re perfect for eachother. But are we forgetting that HE LITERALLY MURDERED SOMEONE?? FOR JUST TOUCHING NATALIAS ARM?? guys don’t even lie and say it was manslaughter- you don’t just throw a knife at someone by accident. So this guy has committed 2nd degree murder, and not in self defence. tbh I think it was just because of him being overprotective and possessive. And no, his traumatic past does not make up for this.

⤷ Kyle- yeah, I also hate him. Something about him just bothers me, idk what. Also I literally can not find someone name Kyle attractive. Partially because that’s it uncles name. But also partially because it sounds like a middle aged man with a bushy beard who lives in the forest. Idk why but is just does 😭 also he’s in a position of power over Natalia which mean that they could never be together anyways… plus I hated how he called her darling. and um he said this:

“𝘈𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴”

And yes, he kissed her immediately after saying it. LESS THAN 24 HOURS AFTER SHE KISSED JAYDEN

⤷ Aera- there’s also something seriously wrong with her… im sorry but why does she go from being best friends with Natalia so saying the worst insults to her for no reason?? Here are some beautiful examples of that:

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺”

…what does this even mean

“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦”

this feels like it would be offensive to someone who was actually in foster care 😭

“𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳”

What I liked 🩸

⤷ it was very entertaining- like it was literally so addictive and it was fun to read

What I didn’t like 💌

get ready for a rant 🤭 this might end up being my longest review yet, im just warning you

ok, first of all some things were incredibly unrealistic. So apparently Kyle opened up a new branch of the fbi a few years ago, based on his current age im assuming he was around 15 at the time. HOW DOES A RANDOM 15 YEAR OLD OPEN A NEW BRANCH OF THE FBI??? Also he was from Russia, idk if he was even an American citizen, and wasn’t he arrested for murder (he didn’t actually murder someone but what charged for it)???? Plus he had like no education, so how tf was he able to do that??? Did he just go up to the fbi and say “hey im starting a new branch btw”

Now, on a similar note, in books like the naturals at least they have more realistic talents. See, in the naturals they have natural talents, like profiling or detecting lies, and solve cold cases, plus it’s run by an adult fbi agent. See, that alone is slightly unrealistic, but at least it makes sense. In this, on the other hand, they have skills that typically require years of training to be able to do- forensics, hacking, etc. and they work mainly on active cases, specifically missing young women. And they’re all between the ages of 10-18.

Now, im also wondering why they kept doing illegal stuff like breaking into places and sneaking around the police. Like you’re literally the fbi 😭😭

I also found the portrayed if the police to be very inaccurate. Yes, police can and do make mistakes, and can be lazy. Books like agggtm show this very well. In this it was just absurd. Apparently a man who was a convicted murderer, kidnapper, rapist, and involved in human trafficking was allowed to just get community service and then move to the US and become a high school math teacher 😭 no. It doesn’t work like that. Plus the police refused to look into any missing person case or murder. Uhhh what are they focusing on then, robbery??? I don’t even know 😭

Another thing that made me very mad was one math mistake. Ok, ok, im a perfectionist. But this was a noticeable error that bothered me so much. Basically, the mom was a teenager in 2006, im assuming she was 17 as she had her drivers license but was in high school. In 2018 her first daughter was 15. That means she was born in 2003. So the mom would’ve had her at 14. And while yes, teen pregnancies exist, when she was a teenager in 2006 she did not have a child, and there are no mentions of her having a teen pregnancy. Her daughter was not adopted. So how is this even possible???

Next, there was a love triangle. I hate love triangles, but sometimes they can be executed well. But this definitely was not 😭 Natalia was fr acting like belly from tsitp. Playing with their emotions, struggling to choose between them, and so much more. She also kissed both brothers within a 24 hour period. The love triangle basically just pmo throughout the whole book. The romance in general felt like insta love which also bothered me a lot, and here is how a kissing scene is described:

“𝘔𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘤𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯”


yayyy it’s finally time to move onto the next section of things I didn’t like- quotes that made absolutely no sense:

“𝘔𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥”

Are you a wereworlf?? Do you need to see a doctor???

“𝘐 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵”

first of all, lakes aren’t salty, also you don’t ingest air, you inhale it 😭

“𝘐 𝘤𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺”

“𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭”

“𝘐 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘮”

“𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳”

“𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥”

btw the one who said that one was describing watching her parents get murdered… why is she focusing on the hotness of the murderers 😭 also im pretty sure she (Aera) is supposed to be lesbian… so uh why is she focusing on how hot men are?

“𝘐 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘦”

That is physically impossible

“𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴. 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵”

…im confused

“𝘐 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘮”

“𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴?”

“𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘓𝘖𝘛𝘚 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?”

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘝 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦”

no but what is an iv moniter 💀 ivs are used for fluids or medication, not monitoring vitals 😭✋

“𝘋𝘪𝘻𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩”

You don’t feel dizziness in your stomach 😭😭 you’re mixing it up with something else- maybe anxiety, or nausea or something

Finally, a lot of it was copied from the naturals. The premise 5 teenagers working for the fbi who are talented at certain things and very traumatized. there’s a very similar love triangle as well, where one guy is serious and brooding (and blonde), and the son of a murderer who helped a victim escape, and the other is a random very unserious and flirty guy. Also, the whole plot is also quite similar. In the naturals, Cassie’s mom goes missing, presumed murdered when she’s 12, and years later theres a serial killer who chooses victims who look like her. Well, the exact same thing happened in this, except it’s her sister. Plus lipstick is a huge part of this plot- just like in the naturals 😭

[Hannah ✰⋆.˚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐

Thank you so much to the author for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

⋆˚꩜｡ Thoughts:

Firstly, I want to say that I mean no disrespect to the author, she is a lovely person and she should be so proud for writing this book!

⤿ writing
This was my favourite aspect of the whole book! It's easy to get sucked in, there are lots of great quotes, funny lines and - the thing that really matters - its not too simple but not obnoxiously lyrical !!
I did catch some grammar and spelling errors and there are a few sentences that are rather wordy and don’t really flow very well? Although, its not serious and didn't bother me that much. Like I said, the writing was my favourite part of this story!

⤿ plot
This was a WILD ride
The mystery is set up really well in the beginning but as the story progresses, the stakes just keep rising and everything gets really crazy.
Unfortunately, my enjoyment started to go down because the back to back plot twists just made me SO confused and SO annoyed. And before we get to the plot twists, the story itself had me a little lost? I just accepted it and kept reading because 'hopefully it'll all make sense by the end, right?'

Back to the plot twists - everything is really just dumped instead of foreshadowed, which I think is why it didn't flow very well and made me really confused? It all just seemed really... farfetched for lack of a better word, and unrealistic. And not in the usual escapism- entertaining-mystery way.
There were definitely some plot holes - or I just couldn't connect all the dots because like I said, I was CONFUSED

I really just got whiplash, the betrayals were CRAZY. I’m still not sure I understand everything that happened 🧍‍♀️

However! All of this said, the ending was satisfying (even if I'm not completely sure how we got there 🥴)

⤿ characters
My biggest issue with the characters in this book is their personalities. They were all so inconsistent in the way they acted. I thought Natalia was a doesn’t-take-shit-from-anyone type of girl but then she would be really introverted, then straight up mean, then super nervous about doing anything ‘illegal’ but has no issue punching people out of nowhere??? She was an...interesting character to follow 😵‍💫

I think she is too young a protagonist for this type of story. I know its YA, but she could at least be 18? She just wasn't good at making decisions and (I can give her some grace for this because of her circumstances) she really needs to get her emotions together. SHE WAS SO ANGRY. All. The. Time. And it genuinely started pissing me off. She would let her anger cloud her judgement and I think this was part of the reason the plot was so confusing. Someone would tell her something and she would storm off in anger instead of INVESTIGATING for the truth. This led to lots of miscommunication

The rest of the characters were also inconsistent, mainly because they would talk about how they're all 'basically family' but then treat each other SO BADLY???
It’s supposed to be found family but I really struggled to feel the care between any of them. They were very inconsiderate and insensitive and genuinely bullied each other 😭 they start arguments from NOTHING
And the betrayals I mentioned made me even more disconnected and frustrated with their 'found family' dynamic. Everything did resolve by the end and I definitely cared about them more but getting there was so chaotic.
╰┈➤ Justice for Santiago, the only likeable character 🥹🫶🏻

⤿ romance
Love triangles are not my favourite trope by any means but this was done fairly well! The only reason I didn't vibe with the romance aspect of this book all that well is because of the issues I had with the characters. I did really enjoy the tension at the start and I'm glad the team I was rooting for won but my annoyance with the plot and characters really clouded the romance for me. The nicknames were cute though !

⋆˙⟡

Overall, an interesting young adult mystery with a few flaws but a lot of potential :)
╰┈➤ This wasn't the book for me but I recommend giving it a try if you're a fan of agggtm or The Naturals and you're looking for something similar !

───────୨ৎ───────

ᯓ★ Pre-read
My first ARC!! 🥹 This seems right up my alley and I’ve missed the vibes of young adult mysteries <3
So excited to read this!

[abigail ⋆.˚☾.⭒˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

* ੈ✩‧˚
⤷ Labeled Innocent, Presumed Dead by Marcelina LoBue

* ੈ✩‧˚
⤷ find me as @abby.reads14 on YT <3

* ੈ✩‧˚ 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘:
★★★★★
⤷ 4.5 stars

* ੈ✩‧˚ 𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕤:
⤷ mystery romance
⤷ love triangle
⤷ FBI secret organization

* ੈ✩‧˚ 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤:
⤷ profanity - yes
⤷ romance - 1.5/4
⤷ violence - 3/3
⤷ trigger warnings - kidnapping, human trafficking, rape

* ੈ✩‧˚ 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤:
Wow this was… there’s a lot to unpack here.
(before I start, thank you so much Marcelina for this free e-arc, I was so happy to get to read it and genuinely enjoyed it so much)
I have a bunch of thoughts so I’m going to segment this review.
Characters:
⤷ Natalia- Love her. Her inner monologue? Perfectly sarcastic and funny. Her hobbies and skills? Cute and unique. Her backstory and overall voice? Loved her, probably my favorite character.
⤷Jayden- Honestly better than I expected; even starting as a team Kyle fan, I never really disliked him… well expect for one part that I’ll get into under spoilers.
⤷ Kyle- Yeah team Kyle forever!! He was so sweet and never truly mean or cold, and like he’s a reader? Didn’t realize that but I love him (side note: the Fake Skating cameo??? Yes, just yes.)
⤷ Aera- She was nice, and I don’t really have much to say about her, good or bad. I didn’t dislike her; I just can’t think of anything in particular to say about her.
⤷ Alison- Her diary entries were a nice addition, if absolutely heartbreaking. Revealing some of the story through them was a nice way to drop more hints and set up the story even more, and I liked that detail.
⤷ Stephanie- Never read a more punchable person in my life. Can’t say much about her without angry-spoiler-ranting.
Setting:
Nice, fairly normal; loved how it was Lin Irdirva, so the initials for the police department were LIPD, aka the acronym for the book (I didn’t realize this myself btw, it was in one of Marcelina’s vlogs).
Plot:
The plot was CRAZY. Like, I didn’t really expect ANY of the twists, and the interconnectedness of it all, while at times a tad unrealistic, was honestly just so cool and full scope in tying it all together. I'll get into all of the individual twists below (please only continue if you've read the book :)
Spoilers:
⤷ Kyle and Jayden siblings- Oh I NEVER would have guessed that. Honestly probably should have, but I mean I believed most everything I read and that’s the exact opposite of what you’re supposed to do in mystery books, so… 🤷🏼‍♀️. Honestly probably my favorite plot point; it made the most sense of all of them, and I liked how it took into account each brother’s role in the upbringing and how it affected their personality and demeanor later in life. Loved this twist.
⤷ Natalia and Jayden endgame- Oohhh ok here’s where it gets iffy. And, while yes I'm team Kyle, so I may be a tad predisposed to wanting Natalia to end up with him more, I do think my reasoning is solid: Natalia and Jayden shouldn't have ended up together. I say this for two reasons: A. probably the lesser of the two, being that the reason Kyle broke up with Natalia was never really explained. Like, is it because he's her superior? Or like doesn't trust him anymore? That wasn't super apparent to me and just felt kind of loose. B., and more prominent: um Jayden killed someone?! Not only that, he killed SANTIAGO. A fellow Bureau member. Alison's bf. All over a misunderstanding?? It's... like you can't even call that manslaughter, because it was definitely intentional. Like that's probably 3rd degree murder (idk exactly but that's my guess). And we all just... let it go? Alison's bf was MURDERED by Jayden and she doesn't care? Same with Rosalita, her BROTHER was murdered by Jayden and she doesn't care? I just felt like the death could've been done in another way; how, I'm not sure, but anything that didn't involve Jayden KILLING Santiago over miscommunication. Like sorry bud, you should be in jail for that, no matter how nice you are.
Now I'm not trying to bash Jayden because other than that scene, he was actually really nice and sweet throughout the whole book, and I liked him more than I expected to. But I was team Kyle basically the whole way through. Still am. Like he's a reader??? How do you pass up on that Natalia, I'd snatch him up in an INSTANT if I could.
⤷ Alison being alive- Yeah there was like a 50% chance of that; I feel like in mystery books, if there's a missing person, it's a coin toss if the author kept them alive. Not saying it was predictable; the circumstances surrounding her survival were crazy and in no way did I guess any of them. I just thought there was like a 50/50 shot Alison was alive by the end of the book.
⤷ the Bureau as a whole- The interconnectedness here is absolutely insane, definitely unrealistic but at a base level, isn't that the point of literature: being unrealistic? But yeah, the whole Bureau essentially revolving around Alison's case was a shocker for me.
⤷ all the other twists I'm forgetting- yeah everything was just insane; Genevieve, Stephanie (I knew she was a creep but come on?!?!?!), Mikhail/Mr. A (🤮), and just overall this whole story was headwhipping twist after twist after twist. Crazy. In a good way.
⤷ Also, Alison being bi? Yes girlie, love that for her (after all she went through, taking a beak from men sounds like a great idea)

* ੈ✩‧˚ 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕀 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕?
⤷ Yes! This was honestly just a really fun, chill read that I quite literally binged in two days and enjoyed so much. If you're looking for a The Naturals/AGGGTM-esque read, I'd recommend you check this out!!

* ੈ✩‧˚ 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖:
⤷ Labeled Innocent, Presumed Dead releases February 14, 2026!!!

* ੈ✩‧˚ 𝕡𝕣𝕖-𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕:
⤷ Thank you SOSOSOSOSO much to author Marcelina LoBue for giving me this free e-arc in exchange for an honest review! I've been wanting to read this book since the first outlining vlog and I'm so excited to finally read this story; early, no less!
All thoughts are my own <3

[Belle₊˚⊹♡ (for keeps ∞♡) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars ★★★☆☆
(Spoiler~Free)

“𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶; 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
__________________
(Thank you so much again to Marcelina for giving me again for the ARC to your upcoming book! <333🥹)

This book had major The Naturals x A Good Girls Guide To Murder vibes 🔎📓
Which I was all here for the found family trope, plus the AMOUNT OF betrayals in this book?

Litterally had to pause for a second and just stare at the wall 🧍🏻‍♀️

The romance in here DID NOT disappoint as expected 🙂‍↕️

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶?
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨,”

One of the quotes that had me ON THE FLOOR. 🧎‍♀️‍➡️

But I did find it a little fast paced with it at times which is the only reason why I did give it the rating!

But to wrap everything up, I definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for a fast paced mystery with a side of that romance x drama🤌🏼

I liked how everything wrapped up at the ending and cannot wait for what she works with next 💞🥰

⭐️Rating: 3/5
📚Age Rating: 16+
🔥Spice Rating: 1/5 (definitely read the trigger warnings before reading!‼️)

📸💐Insta-post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DTSDewYll...

🎧Playlist:

The Great War~Taylor Swift

Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve~Taylor Swift

Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me?~Taylor Swift

Look What You Made Me Do~Taylor Swift

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived~Taylor Swift

Blue~Billie Eilish

Ribs~LORDE

💘Preread:

I got an ARC of this book and I cannot wait to read this!! 🙌🏼💗🔎📖
The synopsis has me HOOKED and the author, the queen, Marcelina herself is so dedicated to writing and being respectful to her readers, litterally love her!!

[Mila_13 (11:11) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before we start I would like to thank Marcelina Lobue for giving me the amazing opportunity to be an ARC reader for her book 💞

I absolutely knew from the summary that I would be obsessed with with this and guess what ? I was so right

This book gave me major « the naturals » vibe and I’m delighted because I’ve been searching for a book that would gave me the same feelings for soooooo long.

It was a true page turner that had me gasping at all the plot twist, I was so hooked I literally finished it in a day.

I loved the characters so much but I would love to see a deeper cut on each and everyone of them (before or after Natalia) especially Area. I would sell my soul to know even more about her (Marcelina pleaseee hear me outtt) or give Kyle a little bit of love ? 😔

The writing was incredible and I was baffled when I learned the author is 16. Like whatttt. I’m around the same age and let me tell you most of us don’t know how to write like that. The diary entries were chef kiss omggg.

So if you’re looking for a well written YA mystery that gives the naturals vibe, you are at the right place !!!

[amber ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ · Rating 2 out of 5]

── 2.25 stars . ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

.ᐟ spoilers

first of all, i’m so incredibly thankful to Marcelina for sending me this free arc and my review is nothing against her at ALL, the book just wasn’t for me. i watched some of her youtube videos and she’s so sweet.

honestly, i had a hard time getting into the book. i loved the first few chapters but when i was 1/3 through, some of the plot twists just really confused me. like who is now good and who is now bad?? it felt like everyone was turning bad but in the end they stayed a family?

then also the age of the characters. i didn’t understand how kyle could open up an own fbi branch at maybe 15/16 years old?
and why did jayden kill someone just for touching natalia’s arm?
i also felt no connection to any of the characters unfortunately and the kiss between natalia and jayden AND natalia and kyle was so rushed, i thought i missed a chapter between that.

and i’m gonna say it: natalia should have ended up with kyle oops. i did like him.

the overall storyline and writing style was amazing though. i just didn’t really like pacing of the book unfortunately.

⸝⸝ started: january 5
ended: january 10 ˎˊ˗

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ pre-read ⟡ ݁₊ . 📽️

➤ Family isn’t always blood… but this blood is shed from your family.

my first ever arc !! i’m so thankful to marcelina for giving me the opportunity to read this book and i’m so thrilled to start it 💘

[Cora ༄ {once upon a broken heart} · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ⭐️

Dnf at 45%

Thank you to the author for a free arc in exchange for an honest review of the book. The author is a very sweet person, and my opinion on the book has nothing to do with her

I went into this really hoping to enjoy it, and though it was definitely not bad, I don’t think it was really for me.

What I liked:

There were some things that I was enjoying, it was definitely very fast paced, and I was super entertained at the start of it. I definitely think that this is a fun story for the right audience.

What I didn’t like:

The characters were not that likable imo. Natalia seemed a little crazy, she was being a rude a lot of the time sort of reminded me of some other fmcs that I just wasn’t a fan of, (ex. belly conklin, jamie teher-foster.) She also punched someone because he accidentally called her her sisters name…?

The love triangle- not a fan of love triangles for the most part.

Some of the writing was really confusing to me, and it felt hard to understand what was going on a lot of the time.

It also was very similar to the naturals, and since I loved the naturals I had very high hopes, but it just wasn’t really for me.

Overall, definitely not a bad book, it just really was not for me

[Marcelina LoBue · Rating 5 out of 5]

⤿ Labeled Innocent, Presumed Dead is out now! ✰

❝Without enemies, you'd never have an ally.❞

⊹ inspired by actual true crime cases
⊹ FBI secret society group
⊹ found family
⊹ love triangle (with a twist!)
⊹ reluctant allies to lovers
⊹ missing girl haunting the narrative
⊹ trauma healing
⊹ LOTS of twists, turns, and family secrets uncovered

They always say write what you want to read. I originally thought that, after missing the nostalgic thrill of Pretty Little Liars, it would be something meant only to give other readers that same confusing, "what the heck is happening?" feeling; but as I dug deeper and stumbled across the darkest true crime documentaries, I realized there are so many untold stories out there, so many messages that deserve to be spread to raise awareness. So I made it my mission to do them justice in a way that was both beautiful and light. 12 months later, this is the final product. This isn't a perfect book by any means, the characters certainly aren't, but it's mine and that's all that matters. It is now yours as well.

If you're able to buy it, I'd really appreciate it. You can find it on Amazon for paperback (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GN6NZGHX) and ebook (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G2KX7HN3) + Kindle Unlimited as well as Barnes and Noble for paperback only (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/labe...) . If not, adding it to your to-read shelf also helps me out a lot. I genuinely hope you all enjoy <33 Thank you so much in advance!

→ Quotes
➛ ❝My mom always drilled into my head the importance of backing people up who don't have a voice–or aren't confident enough to use it. Especially girls…not because they're weak or anything like that, but because most boys aren't mature enough to see their strength.❞

➛ ❝Go to hell.❞
❝Already survived there for seventeen years, darlin'.'❞

➛ ❝It isn’t over. Not even close. Our battle is just beginning.❞
❝What if—what if I don’t know how to fight in it anymore?❞
❝Then we train.❞
❝Together?❞
❝Together.❞

➛ ❝Kissing boys didn't get me anywhere other than Confusion Island.❞

➛ ❝Did I regret punching a guy who worked for the government? Nope. Not even the slightest bit. What was the worst they could do? Send the FBI after me?
That attention would’ve actually been ideal; perhaps then they would take missing persons cases more seriously.❞

➛ ❝1,800 days since it happened…and only that many minutes until everyone in this house is gone for good.❞

➛ ❝You seriously think I don't care about you? You don't think you're all that's in my thoughts, infiltrating every part of my bloodstream and motivating me to continue existing, ever since I laid eyes on you five years ago?❞

➛ ❝Family isn’t always blood… but this blood is shed from your family.❞

Xoxo,
Marcelina <3

[allison m. ♰ · Rating 5 out of 5]

im probably gonna start my review tmrw but i just want to say THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING BRO i absolutely flew through it

{.⋅ Ｌａｂｅｌｅｄ Ｉｎｎｏｃｅｎｔ， Ｐｒｅｓｕｍｅｄ Ｄｅａｄ ⋅.}
ｂｙ: Ｍａｒｃｅｌｉｎａ ＬｏＢｕｅ

Just starting out, I want to thank Marcelina SO SO much for giving me an e-arc copy of this book!! This is my first ever actual arc, and this book will always have a special place in my heart. I am for sure planning on buying a physical copy of this book on release day!

"For all the 'who could ever leave me, darling, but who could stay?' girls…this one is for you. <3"

Ｒａｔｉｎｇ: ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Ｔｒｏｐｅｓ:
┊》 missing relative
┊》 love triangle
┊》 teen FBI agents

Ｐｌｏｔ:
Five years ago, Natalia Serenelli's older sister, Alison, disappeared without a trace. After an argument with her mother, Alison stormed off, never to be seen again. She claimed she was going to her boyfriend's house–but she never made it there. Even five years later, Natalia still blames herself for her sister's disappearance. She believes that she should have stopped Alison from leaving, even though Natalia was just a child. Now, Natalia is approached with an opportunity to work with a section of the FBI that helps missing persons cases.

.ᐟ Ｓｐｏｉｌｅｒｓ .ᐟ

Ｃｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｓ:

┊》Ｎａｔａｌｉａ Ｓｅｒｅｎｅｌｌｉ
┊》》"Being alone was my solace."
┊I honestly love Natalia so much, she's such a relatable character. I read several other reviews calling her a "pick-me" and whiny, but that's part of why I love her. She's relatable. At some point in everybody's life, they go through a pick-me phase (most of the time without even knowing it), and that's okay. Personally, I hate the term "pick-me" in the first place, because most of the time girls who aren't one are the ones that get called it.
┊Yes, Natalia has several mixed feelings about Jayden and Kyle, but that's bound to happen. She sort of reminds me of Juliette from Shatter Me. You either love her or you hate her. Some people view her as a character that has been through so much, and is trying to figure out how to cope with it, and some people view her as dramatic and weak.

┊》Ｎａｔａｌｉａ Ｑｕｏｔｅｓ
┊"Should've limited myself on the amount of apple cider donuts I consumed…"
┊》i love apple cider donuts omg
┊"Did I regret punching a guy who worked for the government? Nope. Not even the slightest bit. What was the worst they could do? Send the FBI after me?"
┊"I could manage my own happiness by doing the introverted things that fueled my will to live: scrolling on Pinterest, making moodboards, baking, coding, repeat."
┊》literally me
┊"Kidnapping had been a frequent topic in my brain since I was eleven."
┊"Kissing boys didn't get me anywhere other than Confusion Island."


┊》Ｊａｙｄｅｎ Ａｓｔｅｒ
┊》》"'Together?' 'Together.'"
┊I was team Jayden from the start (knew they'd be endgame). First of all, he has SO much more personality than Kyle, and he never rushed Natalia. He was always patient with her, and even when he messed up, he acknowledged it and gave her all the space she needed, which I love. He's such a gentleman and I love that about him. (I mean, yeah, Kyle is a gentleman too but the boring version).

┊》Ｊａｙｄｅｎ Ｑｕｏｔｅｓ
┊"'Вы всегда проливаете кофе на незнакомцев в надежде получить их номера или мне просто везет? Потому что тебе не нужно сжигать меня, чтобы получить его.'"
┊》translates to: Do you always spill coffee on strangers hoping to get their numbers, or am I just lucky? Because you don't need to burn me to get mine.
┊"'You were a child. No one blames you for anything.'"
┊"What in the Hallmark was that man doing to me?"
┊》i need to start saying that
┊"So he was jealous and a good kisser?"
┊"'You're at school, right? Is everything okay? Do you need me to beat someone up?'"
┊"'If I were you, I'd get your hands off my girl.'"
┊"'Geez. At least try to act excited when I come within six feet of your presence. You're lucky I'm blessing you with it.'"
┊"She's the risk I'm willing to take."
┊》gracie abrams ref??


┊》Ｋｙｌｅ Ａｓｔｅｒ
┊》》"'Lia, darling?'"
┊I don't know, but there's just something about him that bores me. He doesn't have much personality other than his trauma. I couldn't even find a good quote to represent his personality, so I just put his nickname for Natalia (which is a little odd that he calls her that but cute I guess). He's literally like a plain cupcake with no frosting and sprinkles, some people like it and some don't. For me, he really just bores the heck out of me.

┊》Ｋｙｌｅ Ｑｕｏｔｅｓ
┊"My mom always drilled into my head the importance of backing people up who don't have a voice–or aren't confident enough to use it. Especially girls…not because they're weak or anything like that, but because most boys aren't mature enough to see their strength."
┊"'I'm fine.' 'Like hell you are.'"
┊"'Go to hell.' 'Already survived there for seventeen years, darlin.'"
┊》wait i love that
┊"'Although, if you do end up more compatible with my brother,' he added, 'I guess I'll have to stop calling you darling, won't I?'"


┊》Ａｅｒａ Ｈｗａｎｇ
┊》》"'Never put me and wrinkles in the same sentence ever again,'"
┊I love her sarcasm, but I wish she had more personality to her. I really wish that we got a little bit more of her as a person and not just her jokes and witty comments. For example, most people that are like Aera (making jokes constantly) are trying to cover up something about themselves that they think isn't enough, etc. I really just want to know what led her to making all her jokes/jabs constantly or if that's just her entire personality (which isn't very realistic tbh).

┊》Ａｅｒａ Ｑｕｏｔｅｓ
┊"Should I tell Kyle to buy a crib for the first Bureau baby??"
┊"I suppose your intelligence is missing just like your sister."
┊》GIRL YOU CAN'T SAY THAT 😭😭
┊"YOUR GIRL HAS A PLAN."
┊"'And this is why your parents disowned you bitch.'"
┊》aera says the most unhinged things and i'm all here for it


┊》Ｓａｎｔｉａｇｏ Ｐｅｒｅｚ
┊》》"(my man already has facial hair omg)"
┊I really should go back through and try to find more quotes for him, because I really didn't think he'd be that big of a character (and he wasn't) until he was. I think it's really sweet though how Natalia and Santiago were able to bond a little bit (before yk-who freaking killed him).

┊》Ｓａｎｔｉａｇｏ Ｑｕｏｔｅｓ
┊"At midnight on November 15th, 2023, twenty-one-year old Santiago Perez was presumed dead."
┊"Maybe Alison fell in love with him because of that. Because he never lied."
┊》stop i'm sobbing


┊》Ａｌｉｓｏｎ Ｓｅｒｅｎｅｌｌｉ
┊》》"Jungle Red was her favorite, wasn't it?"
┊You would think that it's weird to read about a character with the same name as you, but it really isn't. Most of the time I didn't even remember that we had the same name, I was so immersed in the story that I literally felt like I was Natalia. Alison didn't deserve anything that happened to her.

┊》Ａｌｉｓｏｎ Ｑｕｏｔｅｓ
┊"What's the worst he can do?"
┊》a lot of things…
┊"A ray of sunshine in the form of a human being followed me–aka my baby sister, Nat."
┊"Is he trying to bury my body where kids stomp barefoot? Goodness gracious, I sure hope not."
┊"Oh, and did I mention he's super duper attractive?"
┊》yessss you did mention that
┊"The bear hug she gave, however, cured the broken heart I'd been convinced was damaged beyond repair."


┊》Ｍｉｋｈａｉｌ Ａｓｔｅｒ
┊》》"He's a middle aged-man who has a thick accent."
┊I think I hate him as much as Max Hastings from AGGGTM.


┊》Ｓｔｅｐｈａｎｉｅ Ｓｅｒｅｎｅｌｌｉ
┊I like seriously cannot believe that she did that. I'm not a parent or anything, but who would do that to their kid? There is something really messed up in her head. Also, what led her to doing what she did?


Ｏｎｅ Ｔｈｉｎｇ Ｉ Ｗｏｕｌｄ Ｃｈａｎｇｅ:
More character development! There was so much amazing plot development, but so little character development. (why am I saying development so much?) For example, Kyle is all about his trauma–he has no personality without it. It's kind of the same with Aera, as well. Aera has no personality without her witty comments and remarks. Take that away, and who would she be? Also, I wish we got to know why she acts how she does. Most people use jokes like that to cover up things, or to make people laugh because they feel that's the only thing they are good at. I just wish that we got to know something like that with Aera. All we got to know is that she's sassy–to the point of rude–for absolutely no reason.

Ｏｖｅｒａｌｌ Ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔｓ:
The plot and the story was AMAZING, but most of the characters were boring and had little personality.

Again, thanks SO much to Marcelina for the ARC, I had such a fun ride reading this book!

[sʜʏ★彡(ɢᴄsᴇ ʟɪᴛ ᴇʀᴀ)(ʜɪs ғᴀᴠᴏᴜʀɪᴛᴇ ᴡᴏʀsᴛ ɴɪɢʜᴛᴍᴀʀᴇ) · Rating 5 out of 5]

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ:
ʙʀᴜᴛᴀʟ - ᴏʟɪᴠɪᴀ ʀᴏᴅʀɪɢᴏ
↺◁‖▷↻
"ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ, ʟɪᴋᴇ, ᴍᴇssʏ"

right so lemme first thank Marcelina Lobue for giving me this absolutely splendidly dramatic arc read! genuinely tho trash crime/thrillers are some of my favourite types of books. i LOVE characters with insane lore that just cant have one sort of dynamic. the plot twists were exciting even though some of them i predicted (i js love the feeling of knowing i was right lmfaoo) but i was INVESTED with this (it also felt like a race against time cuz its like nearly midnight and ive only js finished it... reviews meant to be posted before midnight... #procrastionationnnn)

"ᴀɴᴅ ɪ'ᴍ sᴏ ᴛɪʀᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴍɪɢʜᴛ
ǫᴜɪᴛ ᴍʏ ᴊᴏʙ, sᴛᴀʀᴛ ᴀ ɴᴇᴡ ʟɪғᴇ"

ᴘʟᴏᴛ!

the plot of the book is pretty straightforward: girl joins teen lead FBI agency specialising in missing persons cases so she can uncover the cold case that was her sisters disappearance. however
each characters morals and unclear motives as well as the plot twists and diary entries from Allison made everything more interesting and even though some areas of the plot were pretty messy it was still fun to read yk?

"ᴀɴᴅ ɪ'ᴍ sᴏ sɪᴄᴋ ᴏғ sᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ
ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ's ᴍʏ ғᴜᴄᴋɪɴɢ ᴛᴇᴇɴᴀɢᴇ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍ?"

ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀs!

𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐚���𝐢𝐚 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢
ngl she pissed me off sometimes when she kept constantly jumping to conclusions lmfao but i still liked being in her inner monologue. AND SHE'S A HACKER?? WITH PINK HAIR?? UHM ICONIC MUCH?? but also i genuinely saw parts of myself in her like bro wth she had no right being this twin 😔✌️

𝐉𝐚𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫
MY SHAYLAAAAA 💔🥀 his lore was so insane like i feel bad for my poor guy bro, homie did not deserve that 💔 tbh he kinda gave me jeremiah from tsitp vibes but like.... if jeremiah had more daddy issues and was also in the fbi??

𝐊𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫
okayokay he was like a dick sometimes but who cares?? hes the guy in charge. his morals are questionable. is obviously got issues. i love him. he's my man. end of story.

"ᴀʟʟ ɪ ᴅɪᴅ ᴡᴀs ᴛʀʏ ᴍʏ ʙᴇsᴛ
ᴛʜɪs ᴛʜᴇ ᴋɪɴᴅᴀ ᴛʜᴀɴᴋs ɪ ɢᴇᴛ?"

𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐇𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐠
she was actually one of my favourites im ngl, i love her lore, its deep and interesting AND FINDING OUT SHE COULD TALK THE ENTIRE TIME OH MY GODDDDD. yeah i love her sm

𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐨 𝐏é𝐫𝐞𝐳
why did i only just start liking him when he died??? ts is bullying oml. but whatever he was interesting asff even though he was sketchy at first lolll

𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢
nah cuz i fel bad for her but also cant tell whether i like her or not?? like all that shit was kinda necessary but also unnecessary iykwim?? like i get it but i dont?? but the amount of times she escaped was crazy oml 💔🥀

"ɪ ᴏɴʟʏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ ʀᴇᴀʟ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs
ᴀɴᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇʟʏ, ɪ'ᴍ ᴀ ɴᴇʀᴠᴏᴜs ᴡʀᴇᴄᴋ
'ᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ"

ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ!

yeah so that love triangle was insane and i liked it....? idk i js wish there was more pining and idk.... conflict between jayden and kyle but its k cuz we ballin with it also natalia can have jayden cuz i want kyle

alison and santiago were so cute tho 😭 why did we only get that one diary entry??? ughhhh i want moreeeeeee

"ᴛʜᴇʏ sᴀʏ ᴛʜᴇsᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴏʟᴅᴇɴ ʏᴇᴀʀs
ʙᴜᴛ ɪ ᴡɪsʜ ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴅɪsᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀ"

ᴄᴏɴᴄʟᴜsɪᴏɴ!

overall id say this is was really fast paced and fun to read. i was kept invested for ages and now kinda wanna pull a natalia and do some light stalking.... now that this should be getting published today (happy valentines btw lol) i hope you like reading it as much as i did! tysm again for letting me arc read this!

xoxo shy <3

"ᴇɢᴏ ᴄʀᴜsʜ ɪs sᴏ sᴇᴠᴇʀᴇ
ɢᴏᴅ, ɪᴛ's ʙʀᴜᴛᴀʟ ᴏᴜᴛ ʜᴇʀᴇ"


𝑷𝑹𝑬-𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫

okay im lit so excited for this bc its my first ever arc read! a humongous, very grateful thanks to the author Marcelina LoBue for letting me arc read this!

[ameira · Rating 4 out of 5]

solid 4 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“and it wasn’t because they were ignorant. it was because they didn’t care. story of my life”

first of all i would like to thank marcelina for giving me an arc copy of this book, as lipd has been one of my most anticipated reads for months now🥰also this has nothing to do with the book but marcelina is such a kind soul i swear she’s the sweetest🥹

also this review will be spoiler free💕💕

labeled innocent presumed dead did NOT disappoint. as someone who’s read the blood that divides us (marcelina’s other book) the author’s writing has improved a lot!!! i found the plot easy to follow!! i personally wasn’t confused at all!!! i applaud marcelina bc writing a mystery book is no easy thing, especially as the plot of this book was insaneee. i’m not going to say anything but i was basically going “ASDFGHJKASGHA” majority of the time omg. some parts were a bit cliche, but can’t say they didn’t work with the story🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️while i was reading i kept thinking how much the vibes gave the naturals which makes sense as to why i loved this book smm😍

okay now characters. my personal tops are aera, natalia, and kyle!! claimed aera from the start guys😌,tho i loved every character (that was supposed to be liked anyways LOL). i found natalia to be quite a realistic fmc; she had flaws and personal conflicts, which makes her so incredibly relatable. there were small details within nat’s inner monologue that emphasized her struggling relationship with her parents, which was so entertaining to read. this book also has a love triangle. love triangles scare me a bit, bc they have to be done completely right or else i’d hate it. luckily, i found myself lovingggg the drama between nat, jayden, and kyle😭💗 AND i loved BOTH teams🤭one chapter i was like “oh yep im team kyle,” the next, “wait but jayden is great too!” there was one scene between one of the guys where i was DYING and i was reading it on the plane help😭😭😭marcelina THANK U FOR THAT KISS SCENE OMG STILL HAVEN’T RECOVERED.

found family??? ✅ amazing romance???✅ twists and turns???✅ drama???✅ what more could you want go and order her book RIGHT NOW.

marcelina you’ve done it again🥹i mean i’m not surprised ur so talented🥳🥳🥳can’t wait to read future projects from you!!!! now excuse me as i reread lipd and highlights more quotes on my kindle hehehe

[Hannahhh ;) [free palestine]]

₊˚⊹♡ pre review
I can’t believe I just got this arc ahhhhhhh!! I’m so immensely grateful, so thank you Marcelina! This honestly made my day <33 This is said to give off vibes of the naturals which I’m obsessed with so let’s hope that I love this even more than the blood that divides us.

[rosalyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75/5

I just finished this at 1am so I'm gonna write the review next morning

[&#x1d4d0;&#x1d4ea;&#x1d4fc;&#x1d4f1;&#x1d4ff;&#x1d4f2; (&#x1d4fc;&#x1d4ee;&#x1d4f6;&#x1d4f2; &#x1d4f2;&#x1d4ea;) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars! Thank you so, SO MUCH for this ARC, Marcelina! Your writing style, acnowledgements, comments, and videos make me feel like I know you irl<3 You've truly crafted a masterpiece with this unforgettable story with complex characters plus an extremely hooking plot! This book made me laugh swoon, smile, cry; all the emotions tbh. I can't wait to buy the print copy so that I can transfer my ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE annotations! Had the absolute BEST TIME reading this!

[Abi Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️
I was so excited to read this but honestly wish I never did.

Character problems-

Natalia- Dare I say pick me who cries and fights to get what she wants???
Kyle- I’m still team Kyle
Jayden- Immature teenage boy in a nutshell

Story problems-
Honestly felt like the decisions and plot were made mid chapter.
The love triangle, can we call it a triangle? Ended so depressingly.
It really just didn’t make sense 😭

I really wanted to like this but I just couldn’t:

[ᴄᴀᴛ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5☆ | Okay so this was entertaining enough, but I truly think 𝘢𝘭𝘭 the characters in here need help, because like??
Also I just found the book to be a little too much like the Naturals, so.

*𝘯𝘰𝘵 a spoiler free review !

𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔:
I reallyy hated this love triangle. I feel like Natalia was a psycho, and both Kyle & Jayden were walking red flags.

Also literally 𝘸𝘩𝘰 let these kids work for the FBI, like seriously 🤦‍♀️ they're all as mature as a rock I swear.
But talking about that, who let Kyle 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 a new branch in the FBI. Like?? It literally makes no sense. In The Naturals, they're recruited into the FBI, but here, Kyle just made a new branch with apparently no issue? 😭like what.

I mean the plot was soo much like the Naturals. The obvious one is the five teens working for the FBI. But there's also the lipstick, the family members going missing, etc.

I did enjoy the chapters where we saw Alison's diary entries. I felt like that was a nice touch to the book.

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔:
𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮 - Someone please get this girl help. Because like... Tell me why she's over here fantasizing about pushing someone into a lake, hallucinating multiple times during the book, randomly punching people and more. Girl that isn't normal.

𝗝𝗮𝘆𝗱𝗲𝗻 - First off. Someone tell me why this dude decided to dye his hair white. I'm sorry but it just doesn't sit right with me.
Second, this guy just used 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 Russian. Like a few words here and there are fine. But I'm not trying to translate full on sentences😭Natalia isn't Russian, she doesn't know what he's saying, well neither do I. Not one clue.
And third, he literally murdered a friend of his, for a misunderstanding. Santiago and Natalia were talking, and then Natalia started crying. And it wasn't like Santiago was threatening her or being rude or anything of the sort, just an emotional conversation.
And then Jayden killed him, because he touched her and then she started crying. No remorse, no regrets.
Let me say that again, he 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 someone, because of a 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.
He even had the audacity to later pretend to cry and pout.
ALSO, Santiago wasn't the first person Jayden killed..
And then she still ended up with the psychopath ! But I suppose they deserve each other and the two can be hair dye buddies together, because like, no thanks..

𝗞𝘆𝗹𝗲 - He was more likeable than Jayden was, and who I, if anything, preferred Natalia to end up with.

𝗔𝗲𝗿𝗮 - I can't tell if I like her or not?? I mean, like all the other characters, she needs help. And she just randomly pretend to be mute for years?

𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗼 - 💔 I think he was the most normal out of them all. Probably the most likeable too.

𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍:
I did love the writing style, and I do see a lot of potential for the author in the future. So much potential. Unfortunately I feel like the book didn't entirely live up to it, but that's just me.
──────
Thank you to the author, Marcelina, for reaching out to me and asking for me to be an arc reader for this book! And while it wasn't a favorite, my review and thoughts about the book has nothing to do with, nor do I have anything bad to say about the author. I talked to her briefly and she's really sweet.
Ebook | 0🌶 - 2.5☆

[emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow wow wow

4 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐

first of all, thank you so so much marcelina for sending me an ARC!! i love you so much and am soo proud of you💗

“Rule Number One of the Bureau: we’re a tight-knit family. Not in biological terms, but the bond we share is irreplaceable. We all have each other’s backs.”

(btw i tried to give as little details about the plot as possible; i highly recommend going in blind!)

where do i even begin?! this was such an engaging and thrilling read. i was totally invested the WHOLE TIME and the plot twists were so crazy and so unexpected‼️

i also fell in love with the characters almost immediately. natalia, the fmc, is going through SO much and makes some questionable choices, but i was rooting for her the whole time. her aesthetic is literally everything: from her pink hair to always baking! the author also did such a good job in completely fleshing out all of the character's backstories. it is clear that she was intentional with the characters she wrote, as they all served a very important role in the storyline.

now for the ROMANCE!! it is a love triangle between natalia, jayden, and kyle. and before the words "love triangle" turns you off, marcelina did an exceptional job writing this trope with so much angst and jealousy. SO MUCH jealousy. both jayden and kyle have their flaws, but they also both care so deeply for natalia in different ways. you learn so much about their tragic backstories as the story develops, and it's so hard to pick team jayden or team kyle (i did in fact switch teams 50% of the way through, but others switched to the opposite team as me!). i didn't find myself wanting to throw my book across the room (or in this case my laptop) over the love triangle, which is a first! i was split the whole time in who natalia would end up with. jayden and kyle are both such solid mmcs and so so loveable!!

the plot. omg. the number of plot twists are INSANE (in the best way!!). i don't want to give anything away, so here are some messages i sent to marcelina while reading so you can get a taste of what i am talking about:

me: JUST FINISHED CHAPTER 48.
WHAT THE F.
WHAT.
IM SCARED TO KEEP READING
marcelina: YEAHHH... you should be scared

me: THIS IS NOT OK.
IM UNWELL
IM SCREAMING

hopefully that gives a good picture of the absolute emotional devastation this book put my through😭 but its so so worth it!!

so in conclusion, this is a MUST READ. just prepare yourself for chapter 48😊

[hajra n · Rating 5 out of 5]

I HAD THE HONOURS OF BETA READING THIS BOOK AND LET ME SAY IT'S A MASTERPIECE. i cannot wait for the release and to see all of the improvements!!

[Keona Mistisshen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy release day to Marcelina!

I was given an eArc by her for this book and I enjoyed it so much! LIPD follows our MC Natalia who happens to be an excellent hacker that ends up getting recruited by the FBI. The twist: five years before her sister went missing, and it would seem the FBI know more than they’re letting on.

This book is perfect for fans of The Naturals! Natalia made me laugh at loud at some points, the humor was well written, as well as the rest of the characters and I was so intrigued in what happened to Alison!

Overall, 4 ⭐️ for this book and if you’re looking for your next mystery read, then this would be the perfect place to start

[trix · Rating 2 out of 5]

🧸ྀི⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
Tomorrow morning it was; I had a meeting with the devil.
⋆⭒˚.⋆

thank you to the author, marcelina labou, for the free arc in return for an honest review.

𖦹🍀୭˚. ᵎᵎ｡🧷𖦹°‧

≔ table of contents:
✦ intro ⃝🧚🏻‍♀️
✦ what to expect
✦ story🎧
✦ writing
✦ characters🐾
✦ quotes
✦ bottom line 🐰

2.5✨

this was such an emotional ride, holy hell. the plot twists, the laughs, the screams, the pulling my hair out.

i wanna start of by emphasising just how much potential i see in this book. it genuinely hurt me that it couldn't fully live up. while there were parts i really liked, there was also an equal (if not more) amount that was very bothersome.

ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ♫♪♬
「 ✦ ride✦ 」
by ‎‧₊˚✧twenty one pilots✧˚₊‧
▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။|||| |

-
"i'd die for you", that's easy to say
we have a list of people that we would take
a bullet for them, a bullet for you
a bullet for everybody in this room
-

🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐

𓂃✍︎ what to expect:
- teenage FBI --> the naturals vibes 🕵
- love triangle
- hacker fmc 👾
- cold case
- family drama 🎭
- solving missing person's cases
- plot twists so twisty your mind will be left like a pretzel 🥨
.ᐟ.ᐟ contains: light cursing, talk of murder, kidnapping, rape, human trafficking, inappropriate student/teacher relations (again, talked about, not on page), no spice (just kissing)

˚.🎀༘⋆

ᝰ.ᐟ story:

the premise itself i'm loving, even if it seems a bit - okay, very - unrealistic. it's heavily inspired by the naturals by jennifer lynn barnes; its a YA mystery, where we follow fmc natalia serenelli , who's got wicked hacking skills. she's sort of adopted into a band of other teenagers, who also have these incredible crime-solving abilities (jayden, the investigator; lia, the lab chick; santiago; the data manager; and kyle, the leader). in this little daughter branch to the FBI, teenagers solve missing persons cases that are deemed bellow the FBI.

the action intrigued me, but beyond that, i had a hard time following along in the plot.

at first, i was a bit confused on how the past and present intertwine (for example, santiago and alison's relations). that was only worsened by the INSANE AMOUNT OF SECRETS EVERYONE SEEMED TO HAVE 😭 there was TOO MUCH betrayal & TOO MANY gasps.

some aspects were quite repetitive (like the multiple heart-to-hearts natalia ended up having. those backstories should've been woven into the story, not info-dumped) because the backstories were fucking insane, like genuinely impressive.

there was also way too much happening around this. the incredibly deep backstories of each individual character was lost on me because there was so flipping much that i had to take in- i didn't fully comprehend santiago's backstory because i was still processing aera's, same way i kept forgetting what role genevieve played cause i was trying to wrap my head around jayden's childhood.

besides this, for being a tight-knit crime solving group, these kids have a way of NOT sharing necessary information 🙏 & whenever they were to discuss something, everyone kept arguing and disagreeing and they didn't seem capable of conversing for two seconds without jabbing at each other; they are, in conclusion, dysfunctional.

the plot twists were so twisty i didn't know how we'd untwist them. i liked the beginning, the exposition; the middle confused the fuck out of me cause i didn't know what the hellllll was going on half the time, and the end, when everything was somehow explained, i was just left ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!

it did feel a bit like the author was trying to make too much happen at once, so honestly if we'd focused on a few less aspects it'd have been incredible, and still, this BROKE MY FUCKING MIND YALL. looking at it afterwards, the foreshadowing was INSANE.

also, pLEASE 😭 HOW did everyone got over the crazy shit so easily 😭 starting to make ME feel crazy.

now, the romance : slight spoilers here!!

i'm rarely a fan of love triangles. in this case, i didn't like how the love triangle portrayed natalia like a player. she had a moment with jayden, kissed jayden, but suddenly kyle is the one she always wanted? what's up with that? i definitely saw better chemistry between her and jayden, so *shrug*

i did not appreciate how kyle encouraged her to forget about jayden and get with him instead. this dude for real said "As far as I'm concerned, you didn't put a label on it, so it's not cheating." EVEN SO. back OFF BITCH. i despised kyle in this moment.

i feel like all three of them - nat, jayden and kyle - got very attached, very quickly. they only knew each other a few weeks, and suddenly they were in love? doing insane things for each other? be fr. some lines like "of course he knew me better than i knew myself." really pissed me off, like babe. he's known you a single week.

sigh. i know i genuinely should just stay away from love triangles.


────୨ৎ────


ᝰ.ᐟ writing:

writing style was a bit colloquial - almost how you'd describe real life dialogue. a few lines took a min to read through (felt a bit hacky) but the tone of it all fit the narrative, which was good, and easy to read. it needed a bit of work besides that, for instance; commas. what is it with writers nowadays and just disregarding the magnificent comma?

i was hooked, anyway, so i don't really know why i'm complaining.

also LOVED all the references to modern media, songs, shows, other books, etc. makes you feel like you're a part of something bigger when you're privy to a reference.


────୨ৎ────


ᝰ.ᐟ characters:

natalia 🧁
i vibe with her, she's fun, love her inner monologues. she manages to be her own character, and is also a bit wild. a case of desperate need of therapy- they all are.

jayden 🦢
he felt like a walking red flag the first time we met him 😭 but definitely became better. i almost genuinely thought jayden was gay (HE ACTS LIKE A GIRL IM SORRY) until he and espresso became a thing (yeah the word espresso in russian is his nickname for natalia).

speaking off: the russian. at first it was cute, very quirky, but it got to be TOO MUCH 😭🙏

kyle 🍋‍🟩
i'm sorry, but this guy felt so contradictory; you claim to be in control but then everything in your control just goes sideways, and for someone who's supposed to be broody and unemotional, he goes and calls a girl he just met "darling"? don't ruin the word darling for my kyle aster 😤 i loved the first impression of him, just wish it would've lived up.

it almost felt like he wanted to control natalia at times, wanted her to be submissive - we don't like that, kyle darling.

he was quite egotistical; i swear if he pulled the "i'm the leader" card one more time i was gonna catch a case. like SAY IT AGAIN I DARE YOU 😭 i appreciate that he did genuinely care about nat tho.

"Because, Lia darling," he finally set me down, "anyone who would've stayed is begging to experience what happens when you cross me - and why my team has had to lie to the FBI more times than you can count to keep me from being arrested."

ooh, mr tough guy.

aera 💡
she was quirky, but also so very scathingly mean? 😭 like damn, girl, your words hurt.

she fit into your stereotypical asian prodigy box, except her box would have crude stickers a be lesbian. i like her name, so cutesy.

santiago ✒️
my favourite character. the most realistic, the most relatable, the most right ugh loved him.

જ⁀➴ the cast as a whole

i like them okay i like them 😭 they may not be the most lovable but they induce feelings, and what's a reading journey for if not to feel? sometimes, though, the ways they talked felt either too similar, or not at all in tone with their character.

the insanely hot/cold love/hate relationship between kyle and jayden was dizzying. (!!SPOILER!!) like what the helllll do you mean this is your brother? love each other ffs 😪 (!!)

i know the premise was supposed to be "teenagers FBI", but honestly, i do think it'd have been more fitting if they were a bit older, like early twenties at least. because, at the end of the day, they are KIDS and were, at times, WAY TOO UNSERIOUS about the work they were doing, like it made you wanna scream, "how are these fuckers FBI?!"

also GOOD LORD, there was WAY too much fucking lore TOO many characters had INSANE backgrounds, it got SO OVERWHELMING you couldn't process didn't know what to take in you were just left there like ༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽


────୨ৎ────


ᝰ.ᐟ quotes:

Theoretically, what did the FBI have the power to do if I tossed their agent into the water and held him there?

"I've always found beauty in potential rather than what's already there."

A damsel in distress needed a knight in shining armor. Not me. Not someone who was already too broken and too far gone to even want to be saved.

"A name. I need a name and I'll take care of it." Kyle growled.

ooo big bad kyle is coming to get you, sucker

Without enemies, you'd never have an ally.

────୨ৎ────


ᝰ.ᐟ bottom line: SO MUCH POTENTIAL, SO MUCH POTENTIAL, SO MUCH POTENTIAL. it was more maddening than disappointing, to be fair. would strongly recommend if you like a book to thrill and confuse you with twisty plot until the very end.

✩°𓏲⋆🌿. ⋆⸜ 🍵✮˚

[❀ Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75⭐️ First off, thank you SOSOSO much to Marcelina for letting me be an ARC reader!! Everyone go read this book when it comes out tomorrow📢 Now let's get to my review. Also there might be some spoilers so read at your own risk!

— ‧₊⊹ —

⤷ Characters: Every single character in here had some kind of problem. Now for some of them it was not as bad, but for others...(ahem Jayden).
Natalia: This girl had some insane anger issues. I mean she would not hear anybody out EVER. I do like her overall aesthetic though.
Jayden: SO this is the most problematic guy in the book, besides for Mikhail, and I can't believe he really ended up with Natalia. Like why the hell is he killing his good friend Santiago yet Natalia still chooses him in the end🤨.
Kyle: He lowkey seems like the kind of guy that is really annoying to be around but, you know what, he's been through a lot in his life so I'll spare him the complaints.
Aera: She's my queen I love her💗💗💗. I really wanted her to be a deaf baddie so I don't know why she came out and said she wasn't deaf but yeaaa she did.
Santiago: Wow this man was in some crazy plot twists. I kinda knew he was Alison's boyfriend from the beginning but I was not anticipating Jayden stabbing him???
Alison: What can I say about her, she was just a girl trying to get her sister back🥹
Mikhail, Genevieve, Stephanie (All of these people are receiving the same feedback from me): 😑

— ‧₊⊹ —

⤷ Plot: So I decided to split my thoughts about the plot into three sections because I felt different about all of them.
Beginning: I understood what was going on here, which was great, and yea the backstory was built up well. But then Natalia joined the bureau and everything went a little whack because I don't really know why all of the attention shifted towards her sister's case? Was it because of TGEF? And like how the other members knew about Alison??
Middle: This was basically just finding out all the stuff about TGEF and Alison and the love triangle and Aera and Mikhail and oh my goodness there was a lot going on but at the same time nothing was going on??
End: There were some crazy plot twists in this section and I guess the whole ending was very creative. I liked how things ended with the bureau, BUT I DONT GET WHAT HAPPENED TO GENEVIEVE!! Why is she even tangled up into this mess my goodness. I'll have to check later because I don't know if I just forgot what she did.
Also, I wanna say that the amount of stuff that was said about the police was crazy. Because I know they can be very negligent in certain cases but in this book it seemed like they just did....nothing? The whole time??? AND WHY DOES EVERYTHING APPARENTLY SMELL LIKE CINNAMON (the cafe. the house. the cabin. 🤨).

— ‧₊⊹ —

⤷Writing: The writing style did manage to get me hooked, and I just liked the author's voice, if that even makes any sense. But I have to say that the pacing seemed off in a few places, some sentences seemed a little flowery, and I also noticed a few typos. But this is all stuff that can be fixed eventually.

— ‧₊⊹ —

⤷Overall: I really enjoyed being an ARC reader! I recommend reading this book if you like The Naturals, too, because there were many similarities 😚💋.

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️

Thank you so much, Marcelina, for providing an ARC for an honest review!

Potential spoilers ahead

“Rule Number One of the Bureau: we’re a tight-knit family. Not in biological terms, but the bond we share is irreplaceable. We all have each other’s backs.”

Labeled Innocent, Presumed Dead has a good mix of high-stakes, dangerous secrets, and questionable relationships. There are many parallels between The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, but it manages to be original in its own right.

I think I enjoyed the writing style the most in this book. The narrator, Natalia, is witty, humorous, and genuine. Some lines were a bit silly, but a lot of them were memorable, and I think that’s what made the book so engaging. However, some of the sentences were awkward and wordy. I also caught some minor convention mistakes (such as grammar, spelling, etc.), but nothing that affected the book’s readability.

The plot was intriguing, with major twists and betrayals that were pretty shocking. I loved Alison’s diary entries a lot, and I think they were done well! However, it’s extremely fast-paced, which made it easy to read, but I felt like there was a lot of character development that was missed.

The romance is your typical love triangle, which reminded me heavily of TSITP (especially after it turned out that Jayden and Kyle are brothers). I ended up liking Kyle a lot more than Jayden after the Santiago incident.

This was a quote that stuck out to me: “‘But love comes in all shapes and sizes–and what doesn’t work in one lifetime may work in another. Maybe it won’t. That’s the beauty of life. Trying to figure out where you fit…and who you fit with.’”

I actually enjoyed reading this book a lot! This book was intriguing and fast-paced, and perfect for fans of The Naturals and AGGGTM. In general, this is a very solid YA book, and I think that the author is extremely promising!

[rhythm · Rating 3 out of 5]

received as my FIRST ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review; thank you so much, Marcelina! ❤️

🫆✨ Labeled Innocent, Presumed Dead 🔪🩸

first, i LOVE the concept of this book! it’s great for, as other reviews have mentioned, fans of The Naturals or fast-paced YA novels in general.

the mystery itself was solid, and the twists were mostly all on point! i also found that the backstories for all of the characters were very well-written. the only thing i would say about the logistics of this novel is that the plot and characters switch up VERY fast (and certain parts seem far-fetched), making it confusing at times. nonetheless, the mystery was really engaging, especially after page 210 or so!

however, the character relationships (especially between natalia and kyle/jayden) felt slightly unrealistic to me. it felt as if they had all just met each other, but somehow also trusted each other with their lives...?

furthermore, the pacing felt messy, such as when jayden stabbing santiago was skipped over SO fast. also, while natalia switching up between kyle and jayden was expected (considering it is a love triangle), it felt unclear; i'm still confused as to how Natalia ended up with Jayden, especially after the whole stabbing incident.

all of this aside, however, Labeled Innocent, Presumed Dead is definitely a fun read! i enjoyed the drama and the mystery throughout, and i would recommend this novel if you’re looking for something fast to get you out of a reading slump ❤️

[SJARR ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

How exciting to have the opportunity to support young, skilled authors!
Marcelina sent me the ARC of her new book personally, and I was very excited to give it a go.

For transparency sake, I’ll say this isn’t necessarily “my type” of story. But that isn’t related to the quality.

This story is one of those with a plot centered around teenage agents, employed to investigate/solve mysteries.
I know it is similar to some other books out there, I just haven’t read any of them myself- so I can’t say which ones. But if you have enjoyed those in the past, you may like this one as well.

I must say I’m impressed with the writing.
For such a young author, I found it to be very skillful.
It is a YA novel, and the writing style does reflect that- but in a good way.

I liked the FMC, and I think she was written well.
She actually does seem like a teen, which I feel can be tricky to get right sometimes. She’s not super mature or immature, and I think her personality fits right into the story.

The love triangle was okay!
I didn’t particularly connect much with either MMC, but then again, I rarely do.
But let’s be real- Natalia is the star of the show anyway.

In all, I think it’s a nice novel!
I feel some sense of pride and positivity seeing this author release something that she obviously worked very hard on.
Thank you again to Marcelina LoBue for providing me with the eARC of “Labeled Innocent , Presumed Dead.”!
Publication date: February 14, 2026

[gildedflwers · Rating 5 out of 5]

★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Overall: 5 ★
ˋ°•*⁀➷I loved the Mystery and the found family aspects of this story, as well as I thought the Diary Entry's added a unique touch to this mystery. I found myself sitting down and finishing this book within two hours barely even realizing that I was reading. Marcelina's writing was clear and easy to follow but not too easy to guess the plot twists.

Natalia: 5 ★
ˋ°•*⁀➷I loved Natalia as a character, though some people might say she was selfish not caring about the others at times all she really cared about was her sister. I'd disagree with that she stated that she joined the group to help people like her sister she wanted them to stay safe, and well she did put a focus on her sister why would she not.

Jayden: 5 ★
ˋ°•*⁀➷Always there for Natalia despite the odd family connections throughout the case for her sister. And he likes stargazing. Flirty and fun he always made the scenes he was involved in more interesting.

Kyle: 5 ★
ˋ°•*⁀➷Serious leader of them all but loyal Kyle caught my attention from the start always putting his focus on making sure the Bureau was safe. I loved him as a character, and I did not expect the twist that he was Jayden's brother.

[Vimisha Alvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was blessed to beta read this book so thank you Marcie for giving me that chance🥹💗 First of all, the author of this book is genuinely the sweetest, kindest, most amazing and talented girl EVER!!🥹 Like hello the motivation it takes to write a whole NOVEL at this age is genuinely so insane and inspiring.

Labelled innocent presumed dead is a ya mystery romance and if you enjoyed The Naturals, this is going to be RIGHT up your alley!! The writing is so good and the characters (especially the fmc Natalia😝😝) are so funny and relatable that it’s hard not to just instantly fall in love with them🥹 Natalia’s inner monologue is so well-written, and it gives you so much insight into her. She’s also just the cutest patootie on this planet!! Omd the plot twists in this book were so good it was just TWIST AFTER TWIST AFTER TWIST— like my jaw was on the floor for half of this book. Overall, it’s an amazing book written by an amazing author and you should definitely go read it RIGHT. NOW.😁😁🥰🥰💗💗

[Mariam Shahzad · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!!!

OH MY OH MY GOSH! her writing has gotten so so much better which is crazy because genuinely TBTDU was amazingly written. genuinely loved this so so much! thank you Marcelina for the arc! I read this in one night! The plot twists kept me on my feet the WHOLE TIME. if you read chapter 50 oml i was bawling my eyes out. Still mad at you for that Marcelina oml😭😭

I love her writing sm and mind you she’s only 16!! You can really tell she loves writing this book was so so good. Also the love triangle? It was done rlly good! 😛😛 Ofc I’m team Kyle but when this releases lmk what team your on. Anyways I can’t wait for this to release so so proud of Marcelina!🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

[Aatifa]

It was 3 ⭐
Tbh I was really confused between 3 or 4 star haha.

So If you’re into mystery plots with a love triangle, you should definitely give it a try.
I really enjoyed the mystery aspect and even I had my own theories while reading, but the suspense was built up so well that you couldn’t trust a single character loll which made it even more interesting.
I’m a big fan of love triangles, and this one was okiesh just fine. I did like the tension between the characters. However since the story revolves around both plots, suspense and the love triangle, to me, it felt like one overshadowed the other.
Other than that, I really enjoyed the book!!

[Harmony Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marcelina I am so proud of you!! I've been a fan of you for a while and you've inspired me so much. this book was a rollercoaster of emotions. Sadness ,happiness,madness,etc. I loved Nat so much and I felt like I was connected to her. I really loved every character in this book (except when they were being annoying sometimes). The writing was so amazing and I think you are a great writer. This book was so amazing and I'm so proud of you(my second time saying this ) but it's true I am so proud of you for making your dream come true.