The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication Date: November 5th 2013
Source: Netgalley

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.

Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.

Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. 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.

The Naturals was one of those books that I was so excited for this year, so when I saw it on Netgalley, I jumped at the chance to get it and I'm so happy that I got approved for this one. The Naturals didn't let me down. This book was packed with twist that I didn't see coming and kept me up late at night because I was just so desperate to find out what was going to happen next. I seriously couldn't put this book down.

I adored the concept behind this book. Teenagers with powers that help solve crimes? Yes, please! I loved finding out what each of them could do and finding out more about them through Cassie.

Cassie is a natural at reading people and is recruited by the FBI for her talent. I really liked Cassie's character. She was still dealing with the loss of her mother and she can't get over it because she has no idea what happened to her. Cassie is a Profiler and she can tell you a lot about a person just by observing them and their surroundings. I loved getting to see Cassie use her powers, it was fascinating! Cassie is an extremely brave character and is determined to do anything she can to help.

Dean was definitely my favourite of the boys. He was mysterious and brooding, and he was hiding something. Something that he didn't want people to find out because they would judge him. I really felt for Dean. He keeps himself closed off to prevent anyone from hurting him. Dean was also a Profiler and he helped Cassie a lot when she was struggling.

Michael was cocky and he could read emotions (which he used to make people uncomfortable and to get his way). Michael really pissed me off and I just wish he would have backed off and left Cassie alone instead of trying to win her over! He annoyed me so much.

Lia was an interesting character. She was basically a human lie detector, but she was also a very skiller liar herself. She was extremely useful when it came to finding out whether suspects were lying or not, but she also used her power to make people feel uncomfortable. She's protective of Dean and would do anything to stop him getting hurt.

Sloane was an interesting character too. She was basically a walking encyclopedia. She was constantly blurting out facts and statistics, and I loved her. She's so smart!

The one thing I was slightly disappointed with was that we only learnt about Dean and Cassie's backgrounds. I really wanted to know what made the other 3 characters join this group and find out more about them.

I actually really enjoyed the fact that there were snippets from the killers POV. It was interesting and creepy. I kept getting freaked out reading it, but I wanted to know what the killer was going to do next so I couldn't stop!

The whole serial killer storyline was fascinating! I loved seeing everything unravel and trying to figure out who it was. Seeing all of the teens working on the case was brilliant too. I loved seeing them working together and trying to figure out what happened. I totally never guessed who it was though! It was such a shock at the end! I really enjoyed finding out what the killers motive was and why they were doing it.

I'm not too sure what to make of the ending. It was kind of a cliffhanger, but it also wasn't. There's a lot of stuff that I still want/need answers to, so personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's going to be a sequel because I WANT ONE!

Overall, this was such a thrilling novel. I was freaked out most of the way through this book but I just couldn't put it down! The Naturals is a book I definitely recommend and I'll be getting my hands on a finished copy when it's released!