A review by rinku
Cold Case Academy - Ein mörderisches Spiel by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

The Naturals is the first book I’ve read by Barnes besides The Inheritance Games. This first book of the series gets 2.5 stars. Everything felt a bit too flat and not really fleshed out here, but I’m still curious where the series will be heading. 

Cassie is a seventeen-year-old girl with a special gift: She can read other people, a bit like Sherlock Holmes. One day, the FBI finds her and takes her to a boarding home where she will live with other gifted teenager and solve criminal cases. I was a bit disappointed by this because I expected a real boarding school and not jut a small boarding home. This is probably my biggest problem with The Naturals – I just expected something different. The FBI agents also act really unprofessional and are hence a bit unbelievable as well, especially later how they
use Cassie as a bait
. The story itself felt somewhat aimless, even though there was a case that needed to be solved. Most of the story just takes place at the boarding home which was a bit boring. When it comes to the serial killer stuff, it was too much over the top for my taste. I additionally was disappointed by the reveal who the killer was. It came slightly out of the blue and didn’t made too much sense for me. 

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the characters as well; they were too one-dimensional here. When one of the many characters is introduced, the first thing that is described is their looks which feels a bit amateurish. Cassie is of course caught in a love triangle, and she instantly falls for Michael. She already
kisses both guys in this book
which was just a bit too much. The “You” chapters were a bit cringe and felt like they were written by an edgy 14 year-old. Besides this, Lia seems to be interesting and Dean as well, especially the relationship between him and his dad. 

With The Inheritance Games, I had a similar experience that I had with The Naturals. The first book isn’t really deep and the characters not so interesting but only later, I bounded more with the characters and then became more interested in the story. Let’s see if this is the case here as well. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings