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Awash in Talent
2016 Kindle Scout winner! So much Talent can kill you.
Welcome to Providence, Rhode Island, home of telekinetics, firestarters, and psychics!
Emily can't escape her annoyingly Talented telekinetic healer sister without committing a crime.
Kelly must escape her pyrokinesis school and bring Emily's sister to Boston - her mother's life depends on it.
Appointments with Emily might drive her psychic therapist insane.
With so much Talent, sometimes it's all you can do to function in an un-Talented society.
Three narrators. Three interrelated novellas. One unique novel. Includes a Reading Group Guide for lively discussion with your friends.
Welcome to Providence, Rhode Island, home of telekinetics, firestarters, and psychics!
Emily can't escape her annoyingly Talented telekinetic healer sister without committing a crime.
Kelly must escape her pyrokinesis school and bring Emily's sister to Boston - her mother's life depends on it.
Appointments with Emily might drive her psychic therapist insane.
With so much Talent, sometimes it's all you can do to function in an un-Talented society.
Three narrators. Three interrelated novellas. One unique novel. Includes a Reading Group Guide for lively discussion with your friends.
- GenresYoung Adult
269 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 7, 2016
13 people are currently reading
248 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 17, 2016
(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Kindle Scout.)
This book consisted of 3 stories about 3 different characters with paranormal abilities.
The first story was about Emily and Beth. Emily was Beth’s older sister, and didn’t really care for the way her parents gave Beth so much special attention. It then turned out that Beth had telekinesis and healing powers, while Emily seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with someone at her school who was already married!
The second story was about a girl called Kelly, who had pyrokinesis and wanted to change schools, and also met Beth and made use of her healing powers.
The third story was about Emily’s therapist, who was also a psychic.
These stories were okay, but I preferred the first one. The second and third were a bit of a disappointment after the first story, as I expected the story to continue following Emily and Beth. It was interesting the way that Emily and Beth popped up in the other stories, but it just wasn’t what I was expecting.
6 out of 10
“We have to take you in for assault and attempted murder.”
This book consisted of 3 stories about 3 different characters with paranormal abilities.
The first story was about Emily and Beth. Emily was Beth’s older sister, and didn’t really care for the way her parents gave Beth so much special attention. It then turned out that Beth had telekinesis and healing powers, while Emily seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with someone at her school who was already married!
The second story was about a girl called Kelly, who had pyrokinesis and wanted to change schools, and also met Beth and made use of her healing powers.
The third story was about Emily’s therapist, who was also a psychic.
These stories were okay, but I preferred the first one. The second and third were a bit of a disappointment after the first story, as I expected the story to continue following Emily and Beth. It was interesting the way that Emily and Beth popped up in the other stories, but it just wasn’t what I was expecting.
6 out of 10
September 10, 2016
This book grabbed me from its opening lines with the compelling voice of the initial narrator. Then, as the story progressed and I learned more about the novel's world, I got even more drawn in. It's a smart and original fantasy about people with special powers (telekinesis, healing, firestarting, mind-reading), and the challenges in their lives unfold in consistently surprising ways.
I especially admired the novel's unique structure, presented as a series of three interlocking novellas. The different narrators are refreshingly complex, sometimes obsessed or self-absorbed, but always describing the world from a unique perspective. One of the joys of the book was finding connections between the different parts, as the narrator of a new section crosses paths with the previous speaker--the technique keeps readers on their toes as they work to recognize the subtle threads. It's all done very cleverly, and the final novella ties things together nicely.
I especially admired the novel's unique structure, presented as a series of three interlocking novellas. The different narrators are refreshingly complex, sometimes obsessed or self-absorbed, but always describing the world from a unique perspective. One of the joys of the book was finding connections between the different parts, as the narrator of a new section crosses paths with the previous speaker--the technique keeps readers on their toes as they work to recognize the subtle threads. It's all done very cleverly, and the final novella ties things together nicely.
June 28, 2016
In "Awash in Talent," author Jessica Knauss uses fantasy and an alternate reality to address a serious issue: how does society handle someone who is different? Should they be admired or reviled? In this case, it applies to people with a Talent - moving objects, starting fires, or reading thoughts. Because of the potential for harm, the Talent must be controlled, but how? Should the Talented person explore how they can use their abilities for good or suppress them at a high cost?
Set vividly in Providence, Rhode Island, three linked stories delve into these questions. Ms. Knauss's Talented and non-Talented characters have virtues and flaws. No one is a complete sinner or saint.
Self-centered Emily is hard to like, but the author does an excellent job of conveying the destructive power of obsession and delivers emotional justice. Her sweet sister, Beth, is a great foil as she realizes her gift is the ability to heal, along with telekinesis.
Someone who's felt out of place in high school can identify with Kelly. The fire-starter copes with
prison-like conditions at a boarding school for teenagers like her and is desperate to have Beth heal her dying mother.
The story of Patricia, the isolated, unregistered psychic, is the most poignant. She conceals her Talent from the world - even her own husband - to retain a sense of normalcy while seeking a way to escape a marriage that was a mistake and treat Emily.
I finished this book wondering: is Talent a gift or a curse? Highly recommended
Set vividly in Providence, Rhode Island, three linked stories delve into these questions. Ms. Knauss's Talented and non-Talented characters have virtues and flaws. No one is a complete sinner or saint.
Self-centered Emily is hard to like, but the author does an excellent job of conveying the destructive power of obsession and delivers emotional justice. Her sweet sister, Beth, is a great foil as she realizes her gift is the ability to heal, along with telekinesis.
Someone who's felt out of place in high school can identify with Kelly. The fire-starter copes with
prison-like conditions at a boarding school for teenagers like her and is desperate to have Beth heal her dying mother.
The story of Patricia, the isolated, unregistered psychic, is the most poignant. She conceals her Talent from the world - even her own husband - to retain a sense of normalcy while seeking a way to escape a marriage that was a mistake and treat Emily.
I finished this book wondering: is Talent a gift or a curse? Highly recommended
December 2, 2016
This is a marvellous book: fiercely intelligent, highly perceptive and beautifully written. Jessica Knauss is certainly awash in writing talent. I was gripped throughout by her protagonists, and quite surprised to discover that the author is not in fact a practising psychotherapist with a degree in psychology. I was not, however, surprised to discover her long involvement in the writing and editing of literary fiction. That was evident on every page.
The book consists of first-person narratives by two women and one teenage girl. They are writing journals to describe the thoughts, feelings and motivations which have led them to behave in the ways they have and still do. Emily was six when her ‘talented’ and - it eventually emerges - ‘other-talented’ sister Beth was born, and “remembers being distinctly piqued when I finally figured out that she wasn’t going to leave as quickly as she had come.” Emily’s total lack of empathy with anyone else’s point of view becomes increasingly evident as her journal unfolds and she offers what seem to her to be perfectly reasonable and logical explanations for behaviour that the reader cannot fail to find increasingly bizarre and repellent. The author’s control of the pace at which this part of the story unfolds and the skill with which she gradually reveals the depth of Emily’s delusion is truly admirable.
Kelly first saw the Pyrokinesis Management Academy – school for firestarters - when she was ten years old. Now she lives in it, and is writing her journal because “this little book is the only bit of flammable paper I’ve been permitted.” She places it by her bedside in the hope that it will go up in flames sometime during the night, because she “hasn’t yet learned to control the fire inside.” Her story is one of ‘normal’ teen angst exacerbated tenfold by her profoundly unwished-for ‘special talent’ and the unbearably repressive nature of the ‘educational’ institution in which she has been incarcerated as a danger to herself and to others. Her talent manifested itself when she unintentionally set fire to her mother and burned her beyond recognition. She is living a nightmare, but then discovers that Emily’s sister Beth has a talent that can help her make amends…
Dr Patricia Blundt is a psychic whose journal deals with her own very considerable problems as well as describing the difficulties she has in dealing with Emily, whose case has been assigned to her. Psychologically complex people send her pictures with a muted soundtrack that has nothing to do with what she is seeing. She married the husband her journal is addressed to because “you never did that to me. Despite your outward histrionics, you were a one-note sensory experience.” Ouch.
‘Awash in Talent’ is about special abilities, and how the people who possess them deal with the fact that they are considered ‘freaks’ by the majority of people who don’t and are often ignorant, prejudiced and frightened when it comes to dealing with and ‘controlling’ such people. Jessica Knauss’s exploration of human behaviour in these circumstances is razor-sharp, at times seriously painful, and always very well-written. I was not surprised to discover that some reviewers didn’t understand and couldn’t cope with the book. I urge the author not to be downcast by the literary limitations of some reviewers. Hamlet once referred to “a play that pleased not the million, ’twas caviar to the general.” I myself write for bright children from 10-110 years, and after receiving a couple of inane reviews early on from readers who just didn’t get it, I now always add: “That isn’t everyone.” T.E. Lawrence put it well when he said: “I cannot answer for the desert, only for myself”.
“Awash in Talent” is written by an exceptionally talented author, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
The book consists of first-person narratives by two women and one teenage girl. They are writing journals to describe the thoughts, feelings and motivations which have led them to behave in the ways they have and still do. Emily was six when her ‘talented’ and - it eventually emerges - ‘other-talented’ sister Beth was born, and “remembers being distinctly piqued when I finally figured out that she wasn’t going to leave as quickly as she had come.” Emily’s total lack of empathy with anyone else’s point of view becomes increasingly evident as her journal unfolds and she offers what seem to her to be perfectly reasonable and logical explanations for behaviour that the reader cannot fail to find increasingly bizarre and repellent. The author’s control of the pace at which this part of the story unfolds and the skill with which she gradually reveals the depth of Emily’s delusion is truly admirable.
Kelly first saw the Pyrokinesis Management Academy – school for firestarters - when she was ten years old. Now she lives in it, and is writing her journal because “this little book is the only bit of flammable paper I’ve been permitted.” She places it by her bedside in the hope that it will go up in flames sometime during the night, because she “hasn’t yet learned to control the fire inside.” Her story is one of ‘normal’ teen angst exacerbated tenfold by her profoundly unwished-for ‘special talent’ and the unbearably repressive nature of the ‘educational’ institution in which she has been incarcerated as a danger to herself and to others. Her talent manifested itself when she unintentionally set fire to her mother and burned her beyond recognition. She is living a nightmare, but then discovers that Emily’s sister Beth has a talent that can help her make amends…
Dr Patricia Blundt is a psychic whose journal deals with her own very considerable problems as well as describing the difficulties she has in dealing with Emily, whose case has been assigned to her. Psychologically complex people send her pictures with a muted soundtrack that has nothing to do with what she is seeing. She married the husband her journal is addressed to because “you never did that to me. Despite your outward histrionics, you were a one-note sensory experience.” Ouch.
‘Awash in Talent’ is about special abilities, and how the people who possess them deal with the fact that they are considered ‘freaks’ by the majority of people who don’t and are often ignorant, prejudiced and frightened when it comes to dealing with and ‘controlling’ such people. Jessica Knauss’s exploration of human behaviour in these circumstances is razor-sharp, at times seriously painful, and always very well-written. I was not surprised to discover that some reviewers didn’t understand and couldn’t cope with the book. I urge the author not to be downcast by the literary limitations of some reviewers. Hamlet once referred to “a play that pleased not the million, ’twas caviar to the general.” I myself write for bright children from 10-110 years, and after receiving a couple of inane reviews early on from readers who just didn’t get it, I now always add: “That isn’t everyone.” T.E. Lawrence put it well when he said: “I cannot answer for the desert, only for myself”.
“Awash in Talent” is written by an exceptionally talented author, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
August 21, 2016
Awash in Talent is an interesting story involving three different characters with paranormal abilities. Think of this book as a type of X-Men, but with more relatable characters in a more realistic setting. The main characters struggle to fit in, and society struggles with those with talent trying to determine where they should fit into society. I received a copy of this book as part of the Kindle Scout program.
June 3, 2017
A great collection of interconnected stories by a Talented writer
Talented, that's the term used to describe those with psychic, or other paranormal powers. It's also a fitting term to describe the author of this series of three connected stories.
Awash in Talent contains three stories that are connected by one or more characters. It provides an insight into a world where telepathy, healing, and pyrokinetic talents are common enough for those with them have to register their abilities. Special schools train the Talented, and not all of them are pleasant experiences for those attending.
I won't spoil the stories themselves, because each of them is a fantastic read on its own, but because of the connections between them they weave a fascinating tapestry.
I backed this book as part of the Kindle Scout program, and am so pleased that I did. I get the feeling there are so many more stories to be told in this setting, and I can't wait to discover them...
Talented, that's the term used to describe those with psychic, or other paranormal powers. It's also a fitting term to describe the author of this series of three connected stories.
Awash in Talent contains three stories that are connected by one or more characters. It provides an insight into a world where telepathy, healing, and pyrokinetic talents are common enough for those with them have to register their abilities. Special schools train the Talented, and not all of them are pleasant experiences for those attending.
I won't spoil the stories themselves, because each of them is a fantastic read on its own, but because of the connections between them they weave a fascinating tapestry.
I backed this book as part of the Kindle Scout program, and am so pleased that I did. I get the feeling there are so many more stories to be told in this setting, and I can't wait to discover them...
February 6, 2017
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review through the Kindle Scout program.
This is three loosely interconnected stories set in a world where some people started having psychic abilities in the late 1800's. There are three main powers: telekinesis (move stuff with your mind), pryokinesis (start fire with your mind), and telepathy (read other people's minds). In addition, there is the very rare power of healing with your mind that can be combined with the other three powers (only 100 people in the world have this additional power).
The first story focuses on Emily trying to escape the shadow of her extremely talented sister who is a rare telekinetic healer. The second story is the story of Kelly, a pyrokinetic, that wants to escape her prison-like school so she can take her mother to one of the rare healers since all normal medicine has failed to save her. The last story focuses on the telepathic therapist that is working with Emily from the first story.
I feel this novel had a lot of potential but just didn't live up to it.The first big problem was the lack of world building. Here is a world where a good portion of the population have psychic powers and the best solution that can be come up with seems to hide them away or make them second class citizens. Instead of using their powers, the focus seems to be to hinder the powers. But they don't even manage to do that well. People seem to be able to hide their powers fairly easily despite the government having required they be registered for over 100 years. Another problem was the kryptonite for the psychically powered people. Why there was such a wide range of substances that could cut off powers when there was so few powers made no real sense. Also, why call it their kryptonite since the powers and their weaknesses were discovered on this world long before Superman and his weakness were created?
I also had real problems with the characters. Of the four main characters, I only liked one of them. Two of the characters were cold and it was hard to form a connection with them. The last character was fairly shallowly developed so I could not decide if she was worth liking or not. Beyond whether or not if you liked the characters, they seemed to have reactions that just didn't make sense at times.
This is three loosely interconnected stories set in a world where some people started having psychic abilities in the late 1800's. There are three main powers: telekinesis (move stuff with your mind), pryokinesis (start fire with your mind), and telepathy (read other people's minds). In addition, there is the very rare power of healing with your mind that can be combined with the other three powers (only 100 people in the world have this additional power).
The first story focuses on Emily trying to escape the shadow of her extremely talented sister who is a rare telekinetic healer. The second story is the story of Kelly, a pyrokinetic, that wants to escape her prison-like school so she can take her mother to one of the rare healers since all normal medicine has failed to save her. The last story focuses on the telepathic therapist that is working with Emily from the first story.
I feel this novel had a lot of potential but just didn't live up to it.The first big problem was the lack of world building. Here is a world where a good portion of the population have psychic powers and the best solution that can be come up with seems to hide them away or make them second class citizens. Instead of using their powers, the focus seems to be to hinder the powers. But they don't even manage to do that well. People seem to be able to hide their powers fairly easily despite the government having required they be registered for over 100 years. Another problem was the kryptonite for the psychically powered people. Why there was such a wide range of substances that could cut off powers when there was so few powers made no real sense. Also, why call it their kryptonite since the powers and their weaknesses were discovered on this world long before Superman and his weakness were created?
I also had real problems with the characters. Of the four main characters, I only liked one of them. Two of the characters were cold and it was hard to form a connection with them. The last character was fairly shallowly developed so I could not decide if she was worth liking or not. Beyond whether or not if you liked the characters, they seemed to have reactions that just didn't make sense at times.
February 6, 2017
I had mixed feelings about this book. It started off interesting in the first section about Emily and her sister, Beth. Emily ignores her younger sister and tries to escape the family by going to school 3,000 miles away. Once she discovers Beth has special powers, she finally starts paying attention to her younger sister. But, Emily's story rapidly deteriorates into something comical and bizarre at the same time. I almost stopped reading at this point, thinking Emily's behavior was unrealistic.
By the time I read through the second section about young adults who had fire abilities, the story became more connected and was more interesting. The final section brings us back to Emily's story, in addition to Patricia, her therapist. At this point, I was enjoying the story and understood Emily's irrational behavior at the beginning better.
Final conclusion: It's worth a read, although I think the beginning could have been better so as not to turn readers away.
I received a copy of this book through the Kindle Scout program.
By the time I read through the second section about young adults who had fire abilities, the story became more connected and was more interesting. The final section brings us back to Emily's story, in addition to Patricia, her therapist. At this point, I was enjoying the story and understood Emily's irrational behavior at the beginning better.
Final conclusion: It's worth a read, although I think the beginning could have been better so as not to turn readers away.
I received a copy of this book through the Kindle Scout program.
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November 17, 2017Author's guest post at my blog:
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews