Book Title: Talented (Talented Saga #1)
Author: Sophie Davis
Publisher: self-published
Number of pages: 333
Genre: YA, fantasy, paranormal, romance, dystopian, science fiction, supernatural
Release Date: January 24, 2013
Favorite Quotes:
“I tilted my head back and opened my eyes. The night sky looked as if it were falling, one star at a time. It took several seconds for my mind to process what my eyes were seeing; stars weren’t falling out of the night sky, but bombs were.”
“Erik and Henri were both waiting when I got there. The tension in the air was palpable. Nobody spoke. Erik’s vulnerability from last night was long gone, replaced by a confident mask that concealed his strained psyche.”
“As Erick touched his lips gently to mine, I felt a crackle of electricity shoot through our lips and straight down to my toes. It was the strongest sensation that I’d ever experienced. Even with everything that Donavon and I had shared, we’d never had a kiss like this. I’d never felt anything like this when I was with Donavon.”
“What do I believe? Some days, I feel as though I am cursed: cursed with an affliction that cannot be healed; cursed to explore the mundane minds of those surrounding me; cursed to know what people honestly think about me; cursed to be burdened with other people’s darkest secrets. Other days, I believe that I won the genetic lottery because after all, who wants to be ordinary?”
“Mac had often said that most people can feel exceptionally strong Talents, and he’d explained that’s why most people have some sort of reaction to me. For some, the power that I – or any other strong Talent – exude, unnerves them causing them to shy away from me.”
“Fear of the unknown drove many nations to demand that the children be locked up “for their own safety,” but imprisoning Talents was actually for the peace of mind of scared politicians.” (Like Tony Stark keeping Wanda in the “safe house” for others safety)
“I never felt nervous or uncomfortable around Donavon. I also never felt the thrill of an adrenaline rush like the one I got when Erik touched me. I wasn’t sure if that was what a crush felt like, but I hated myself for feeling whatever it was.”
Goodreads Synopsis:
When Talia Lyons was just a child, her parents were murdered before her eyes. Offered a choice between accepting their fate and exacting revenge, Talia trains to become one of the country’s deadliest assassins in order to kill the man responsible for their deaths: Ian Crane. Luckily, Talia was born with a gift- the ability to read and influence the minds of others. At sixteen, Talia is poised to graduate from the McDonough School for the Talented, where she learned to control her abilities. Now there is only one obstacle standing between her and the retribution she craves… Talia, herself. Her greatest asset may also be her undoing; while a formidable weapon in the field, Talia’s talents prevent her from both shutting off the mental connection she shares with her questionable boyfriend and blocking out the thoughts of a beguiling fellow recruit. But Talia can’t afford to have the feelings and distractions of a normal teenage girl, when her life is far from normal. She must regain the single-minded determination that has brought her this far, or it may cost Talia her life when she finally faces Crane. And even after being molded in to a weapon of war, she’ll still have to find the strength it takes to pull the trigger. If James Bond and Sookie Stackhouse had a love child with a yearning for vengeance, her story would be TALENTED: an adventure about powerful teenagers who aren’t afraid to embrace their fears and fight for what they believe in.
My Review:
5/5 stars
** this is a re-read, but I’m pretending this is my first time reading this book**
What an incredible read! The plot for this was well written and interesting. It’s set in a futuristic dystopian world where people are living generations after a nuclear spill had caused genetic mutations in anything living (people, land and animals). The children, through generations, began developing “Talents”, different abilities caused by the spill. In this book, you meet Talia Lyons, who is one of the Talented. She tries to balance her personal life and becoming a trained operative, called Hunters, while seeking revenge for the main who she believes killed her parents. In order to become a trained operative, she must also complete a solo mission in order to fully become a Hunter.
I loved all the action in this book and the world she lives in. Even though Talia is training to become an operative, you sometimes forget that she is just a teenager. According to their society, Talia has one of the rarest and most feared talents, that of Mind Manipulation. She is able to read one’s thoughts or manipulate ones mind. Talia can also take on the emotions or feelings of those around her, sometimes without her meaning to. This is, I believe, one of the reasons she was okay with not having a lot of friends (outside of her Hunters team, Erik and Henri) because of the burden she felt sensing others emotions, plus her own.
I really enjoyed Talia’s character and the fact that the author(s) included characters that didn’t exactly have a picture perfect upbringing (Erik Kelley and Penelope). I liked the dynamic between Talia and her teammates, Erik Kelley and Henri Reich. Henri was like the caring older brother and Erik was that annoying “man-whore” (yes, true story) of a friend that constantly teases Talia. Penny was a great character to balance out Talia in that Penny brought Talia out of her shell but not to the point of overdoing it. I liked all the characters, except of course, Donavon McDonough, who was her boyfriend. Throughout the book, I honestly never understood why she was with him. There were times that she would tell him something that clearly was important and exciting to her but he acted as though he couldn’t care less. In turn, I wanted to scream at Talia because she would always backtrack and apologize for her excitement due to his unhappiness. I get that probably felt like she owed him somehow because it was Donovan’s family that took her in after her parents were killed. However, if it was that important to her, it should be important to him. There just never seemed to be a true connection between Donovan and Talia.
Of course, on the flip side, you could see a very distinct and apparent connection between Talia and Erik because of all the tension between them, and you really just wanted Talia and Erik to be together.
I could talk about how much I loved this book or I could just recommend that you read it!
Stay tuned for the next book in the Talented Saga, Caged, which I will be reading next
Happy Reading!
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