The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

2013, Disney-Hyperion

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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 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 Good: I loved that the kids had natural abilities - no supernatural or advanced scientific engineering involved. I liked that they were training with the FBI, but the higher up agents didn't treat the kids as something special or advanced (for the most part). Yes, they were treated as though their ideas may be less than perfect, but that makes the entire situation more convincing. It seems as though a lot of reviewers had a problem with the love triangle. I personally liked it. I enjoyed the given and take between both of the boys and the obvious difference in each of their relating to Cassie. You want her with Michael, but you also want her with Dean. That's what really makes a love triangle work - when there is no clear cut choice.

The Bad: Nothing.