by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
publisher’s synopsis
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 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.
As with any good thriller, Barnes keeps the reader intrigued and the pacing moving. The stakes only get more intense as the book progresses. The plot does revolve around finding a serial killer, so it is a little heavier of a read at times.
While perhaps leaning too much into the typical archetypes found in a YA crew cast, each of the Naturals had a distinct personality and rounded out the group, playing off of each others’ weaknesses and strengths. Their various talents as Naturals also added some fun dimensions to their relationships and interactions.
Now for a caveat: The Naturals has intermittent 2nd person chapters from the POV of the serial killer. They are brief, but they are unsettling and a little disturbing. They have to do with the killer’s fixations and what they do to their victims. Barnes keeps it brief, but I had to skim through those short chapters. They were almost too much for me. Now, I will add that you could read the book and skip those chapters. You likely won’t pick up on who the serial killer is (honestly, I think it is a twist that you can only see the foreshadowing for after you’ve read it, regardless of those chapters), but you won’t miss any of the plot.
Overall, The Naturals is an engaging crime thriller best for mature YA readers because of its heavier topics.
Cautions: one swear word; one crass gesture; three blasphemies; brief innuendo; a character was born out of wedlock; light/moderate romance; three kisses; semi-graphic heavy violence; brief mentions of prostitutes; semi-graphic descriptions of a crime scene; mentions of child abuse; unsettling scenes
Hailey Huntington 
Leave a comment