My thoughts on The Naturals

    

     For this blog cycle I decided to read The Naturals, written by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. The Naturals is a mystery novel that follows Cassie Hobbes, who has a natural talent for reading people, being able to piece together a person's life based solely on appearance and personality. One day, an FBI agent wants to talk to her about her ability and offers her a spot in a secret program full of teenagers with abilities like Cassie’s. This program trains teens to learn how to use their abilities to crack cold cases. However, it isn’t long after she arrives when a new killer begins their spree, so Cassie and her friends have to learn to use their abilities quicker than ever. 

I really enjoyed this book. It has been a while since I’ve been able to read a book in less than a week. The plot is gripping, and the murderer isn’t obvious until you actually get told who they are; I personally thought it was someone completely different up until the book just announces who the killer is. The characters are okay, I never really felt personally invested in any of their arcs, but I think the plot makes up for it. There are also really good parts of the book where you are transported into the mind of the killer. The writing is very chilling and is genuinely creepy sometimes. Here’s an example (the book opens with this so no spoilers): 

You’ve chosen and chosen well. Maybe this one will be the one who stops you. Maybe she’ll be different. Maybe she’ll be enough.

The only thing that is certain is that she’s special. 

You think it’s her eyes–not the color: an icy, see through blue. Not the lashes, or the shape, or the way she doesn’t need eyeliner to give them the appearance of a cat’s. 

No, it’s what’s behind those icy blues that brings the audience out in droves. You feel it, every time you look at her. The certainty. The knowing. That otherworldly glint she uses to convince people that she’s the real deal.

Maybe she is.

Maybe she really can see things. Maybe she knows things. Maybe she’s everything she claims to be and more. But watching her, counting her breaths, you smile, because deep down, you know that she isn’t going to stop you.

You don’t really want her to stop you.

She’s fragile. 

Perfect. 

Marked. 

And the one thing this so-called psychic won’t see coming is you.

This isn’t the best example, but all the really good ones have spoilers, so you just have to read to find out!

Now my one major complaint about this book is the love triangle. This book would’ve been PERFECTLY FINE without any love interests, and I don’t like how the author handles it. Like neither of the boys are good for Cassie, and it takes up a larger than necessary portion of the plot. Throughout the entire book I found myself being more annoyed at the love triangle than actually enjoying the book. And it’s not like this gets better in the second book, it actually gets kind of worse, taking up even more of the plot. However, the story isn’t that affected by the love triangle, so it is still a perfectly good book. 

As I mentioned before, there is a second book (I think there’s actually four). I haven’t gotten through the entire book yet (mostly because of the previously mentioned terrible love story), but it is still really good. I do think that the first one is better though, between the story and the motives of the killer. The second book is pretty much just a copy and paste of the original just with a different character going through mental trauma (yay!), so you could definitely just read the first one. 

So yeah, if you like murder mysteries and can get past a slightly annoying love triangle I would 100% recommend this book!

Thanks for reading

-Sophia