The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Genre: Thriller

One POV, series, Young Adult

Isabella’s Rating:★★★★

The first book in The Naturals series follows Cassie, who is a natural at reading people, and gets recruited by the FBI to help them solve cold cases, with other gifted teens. Along the way, a new killer strikes and puts all of The Naturals in danger.
The Naturals is the first book in a 4 book series including Killer Instinct, All In, and Bad Blood, as well as a novella, Twelve, that follows after the series. This series is complete and will not have any more additions to its story. Jennifer Lynn Barnes also has another series, The Inheritance Games that is a completed trilogy, but has ongoing spin off series.

Let me just say, I loved this first book. Jennifer Lynn Barnes has such a fast paced writing style , with short chapters that grip you from the beginning. I love the dynamic between all of the teens in this book, as it was so realistic.This book also has a sub plot of romance, and kind of a love triangle, but it is very minimal in the story. The suspense that you feel when reading these books is so insane and almost gives the same vibes as A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder by Holly Jackson, and The Inheritance Games, also by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. There was never a dull moment in the story once you got to know your characters ,and each person grows and matures through the story. Each teen in The Naturals has their own secrets and history that you uncover throughout the series which is also a very fascinating part of it, as you want to know all about these characters. Another thing I liked was learning about how and why The Naturals obtained their “powers.” For example, Dean, one of the naturals, is good at reading people because of his family background and home life. And throughout the books, you do a deep dive into each teen’s backstory and they all end up intertwining somewhat. I think Jennifer Lynn Barnes did a great job at conveying the idea of this series she had in her head, and made it so entertaining the whole time. I also think that you can tell how much planning, effort, and plot twist crumbs she left throughout the entire series.

I wouldn’t say that there are any major complaints I have about this series other than the fact that the last book was pretty confusing and rushed. There were a lot of throwbacks to previous characters that were a very small part of the story, which made me confused for a few parts of the book. Overall this series had a very strong ending. I don’t think that the last book, Bad Blood, was the best book but it was a very strong ending to this series.