The Naturals

Here's the thing-- this is a book for teenagers. There is no better way for teenagers to process their big-ass emotions than to let them read about teenagers in situations where the stakes FEEL equivalent to what they're going through, like life and death (when it's like, high school and embarrassment). It allows the reader to process a lot of questions that I remember having as a teen feeling all my feelings for the first time (and that's really what being a teenager is-- you may have felt betrayal or heartache or sadness or humiliation as a kid but as a teenager your identity is starting to solidify so those feelings have somewhere to land instead of simply existing within the ether of your life and when they do land they land HARD because you have not yet developed a way to protect yourself from them aka coping mechanisms).

The questions: Am I my parent's child? Am I a monster for the things I think? Is this what it feels like to not fit in, even with your family? Is this what it means to be seen? Will I ever be seen?

If I were 14-15 reading this book, I would LOVE it. Look at how the adults can trust the kids. Look at how they are dealing with shit. "I'm like that," I would have thought. "I have big feelings. I can be trusted. I, too, am frustrated when my parents don't see me as the competent and important individual I am."

But I'm not 15. I'm 30. I have been feeling my feelings for a long time. My frontal lobe has been more or less fully intact for the last five years. I have an MFA in poetry, for god's sake. So, I have combined my appreciation for the book from the teenager's perspective with my criticism of it from a book perspective to conclude that it's solid. 3. Probably a 2.5. The suspension of disbelief is too much, honestly. Once you get beyond it, it's fun the way that Riverdale is fun, the way Criminal Minds is fun.

I like the characters. I like the description of the big feelings. The plot is ridiculous. The writing is okay. Perfect for a teen. Eye rolly for a grown-up. Of course, I'm going to read the next one.

Captivating and thrilling, this book had me rethinking my perspective on everything.

Although

The Naturals is comparable to

None Shall Sleep,

None Shall Sleep is the superior book.

To start, as an INFJ, I feel insanely jealous of Cassie's and Dean's abilities to predict people's behavior. And I did find the ending surprising, but I HATE the love triangle. I don't even know why Cassie liked either boy because they were both flat characters. Though Sloane and Lia were also flat characters, tbh.

The Naturals had potential, but it ultimately failed to be more than mediocre.

I didn't write a review for this back when I read it in 2016, so we'll have to rely on 22-year-old me's opinion.

My original rating for the book when I was 15 was three stars. Upon rereading, I considered four stars, but after some thought, I decided to keep the three-star rating. I've found that, at the moment, I'm prone to rating books higher than usual because I've had such difficulty finding things to keep my interest with the reading slump I'm in.

The Naturals undeniably engaged me (I read it in about two and a half hours in one sitting), but it wasn't a perfect book. There was a lack of character development that prevented me from being attached to anyone, and Barnes didn't provide the reader with enough clues as to who the culprit would be so that it made sense in hindsight, which is my preference.

My original plan was to reread the three books I've already completed and then finish the series by reading the one book I haven't —

Bad Blood I think I'll still do that, but I'm in no rush to get to the next one.

the writing style was extremely engaging - hooked from the start! the found family element is amazing, and EVERY character (the kids) has had a traumatic past - no spoilers! - which explains why they're ''naturals'' at what they do.

As a crazy psychology lover, this was amazing. i've never read a book like it (as of yet!) and it was so cool to read the depths of profiling people

Devoured the whole series in less than a week -- definetly recommend!!

Though the plot got slightly ''too much'' in the last book; it was still amazing - especially the twists!

More love triangle, less investigation than I was expecting