None of us had normal childhoods. If we
had, we wouldn’t be Naturals.
Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes has a
gift for profiling people. Her talent has landed her a spot in an elite FBI
program for teens with innate crime-solving abilities, and into some harrowing
situations. After barely escaping a confrontation with an unbalanced killer
obsessed with her mother’s murder, Cassie hopes she, Dean, Lia, Michael, and
Sloane can stick to solving cold cases from a distance.
But when victims of a brutal new serial
killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that
strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of Dean’s
incarcerated father. Dean wants nothing to do with his father or the case, but
the FBI needs his insight. As much as his friends want to help him, Cassie
isn’t sure how they can, especially when her feelings for Dean are almost as
complicated as the case itself. And on top of all that, the crew has to contend
with a supervisor who wants to shut down the Naturals program, the drama that
comes with five very different teens living under one roof, and a slew of cold
cases that need their attention.
While
I really enjoyed this book, I’m not sure I enjoyed it nearly as much as the
first one. The first book made the killer personal to Cassie whereas this one
was personal to Dean, who happens to be very personal to Cassie. Somehow, this
one just wasn’t as bang as the last
one. I still really enjoyed it. I love Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ writing. It’s easy
like a Sunday morning to read, and always amazing.
First
off, I wanna say that the way the killer was revealed in this one was very
ingenious! Such plot twists. Much wow. And I really felt like the gang came
together as more of a team in the one. It just sucked because Cassie had that
sort of epiphany moment at the end just a little late. It rang a little sour in
my mouth. Cassie’s supposed to be this amazingly gifted profiler, yet she
doesn’t follow through on her instincts all the time. Granted, there was a
character, Agent Sterling, who was trying her hardest to make sure Cassie
didn’t follow her instincts.
I
loved all the reveals in the book, but I wish there’d been a little more about
Cassie’s mom. It was such a driving force in the first one that I wish there’d
been just a little more. Granted, I loved the nuance similarity made between
Cassie’s and Dean’s backgrounds with familial killers. That all worked
perfectly.
Aside
from that, Briggs got really mean in this book, and that startled me. I know
the case was getting to him, but it might have been too much. There were also
secondary characters that did not get nearly enough book time. Sloane and Judd.
Their stories started unraveling, and then I was given nothing! I adore Sloane
so much and she was not integral enough in the story. Then Judd’s reveal, and
there’s no real evidence that any of that has an effect on him when it should!
I just think Judd wasn’t fleshed out enough.
Overall
it was a great book though. Daniel Redding reminds me of Joe Carroll from The Following, and that was very cool. I
really enjoyed seeing Dean’s father and hearing his background, I just wish
there’d been more in the other storylines instead of focusing so heavily just
on that one. Bring me more Sloane in the third book!
XOXO Tia
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