The Naturals is a very fast-paced, easy-to-read, enjoyable book.
For some reason I was reminded of Truly Devious and The Atlas Six. These kinds of books are fun to read, but because the plot is the focus, you never really get too attached to the characters. The love triangle itself was fine, but everything happened too fast. I didn’t have time to form my attachments to the characters – of which I loved Sloane, the statistical genius, the most.
There were a lot of twists and turns, which is great for murder mysteries, and I definitely did not see the ending coming. There was no way for me to see it. The book had this strange way of giving you too much information – because Cassie is the narrator and she sees too much – and at the same time confusing you about which information is important, so everything becomes a red herring.
I have to admit, I skimmed the last part of the book because when you haven’t had time to form those all-important attachments to the characters, you really don’t care so much about what happens to them. The book is very short, about 300 pages, so maybe with more focus on character development (I would have loved to learn more about Dean, for example), this book would have provided a better reading experience. But if you’re the kind of reader who just wants a fun story that goes fast, a murder mystery with more than enough twists, and a love triangle thrown in for fun, maybe you’ll like this story better than I did.
By the way, it’s obvious that the FBI wouldn’t let teenagers solve crimes. You really have to ignore that fact for the duration of the book. You also have to ignore the parts where the teenagers are cleverer than the agents who have been in the field for years. To have fun with this, you have to suspend your disbelief. It’s not meant to be a deep or meaningful story, but just a fun ride.
I gave it 3 stars because it was entertaining enough.
-Reviewed by Violeta Nedkova
