Book Review- The Naturals by: Jennifer Lynn Barnes


"Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But, it's not a skill that she's ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they've begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.
What Cassie doesn't realize is that there's more at risk than a few unsolved homicides-especially when she's sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms close. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive."

Publisher: Disney- Hyperion
Pages: 336
Genres: Romance, Thriller, Science Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Young Adult

Overall I feel like this is a solid book. Good plot, interesting characters, and plenty of twists and turns so it’s not predictable. I look forward to reading more book in this series.

The plot for this book is really interesting. It is like a teenager Criminal Minds meets Mentalist. But when you do it with teenagers with all the teenage angst it just makes it so much better.

So the basis for this book is that there is this group of teenagers who have been recruited by the FBI to form a unit to solve cold cases.  The catch is that each of the teenagers is a Natural at something whether it be a Natural lie detector, profiler, encyclopedia or emotion reader. The only problem though is that Cassie the main protagonist has caught the eye of a current serial killer who is intent on making her theirs…..



Cassandra/ Cassie Hobbes is the first of the two teenage profilers and the main protagonist. We get to see her come out of her shell and into her own as she becomes a profiler. Dean Redding is the son of a serial killer with a major chip on his shoulder and the second teenage profiler in the group. Michael Townsend is a Natural at reading emotions, and he’s also the other love interest for Cassie. I don’t like Michael very much. He’s way too arrogant, gets under my skin, and he has way too much fun toying with peoples emotions. As in most young adult novels there is a love triangle. In this book it is between the main protagonist Cassie and two team members, Michael and Dean. I personally ship Team Dean in this book.

Overall the characters are well rounded and fleshed out. They all seem over the top though. But I guess that’s the point when you’re a teenager. Everything is black and white and life and death.

I don’t really have too many dislikes about this book. One of my biggest dislikes is the abilities of the characters themselves. I know they’re supposed to be naturals at what they do but it seemed to be that sometimes their abilities were more supernatural than Natural.

First of all I just love the premise for this story. I know it’s being touted as the teenage Criminal Minds but with all the angst there is being a teenager it makes it so much better. All that’s missing is the banter between Morgan and Garcia. The banter between Cassie and Michael just doesn’t compare. I also really like that the author has a background in psychology cause this book wouldn’t work otherwise. She uses actual profiler concepts and for newbie readers she explains them in a way that makes you feel you’re learning along with Cassie as she becomes a profiler.

I LOVE the little excerpts from the killer’s POV.  It gives the reader insight into the killer, clues to figure out who they are and creates suspense in the story, And it uses the proper YOU which it amazing because at times using the you makes it like the reader is the actual killer. And I also really liked the twist of Lacey being Cassie’s aunt and the serial killer. For the first time in awhile this was one thing I didn’t see coming. In most shows and book I have been able to figure out who is the killer is like a third to halfway through the novel or show, but this totally came out of left field for me.  

Right now there are two more books in The Naturals series. Book #2 is Killer Instinct and book #3 is All In. Keep an eye out for their reviews in the future!

To watch my book review on youtube click the link below

Booktube The Naturals Book Review

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