BOOK REVIEW: TALENTED BY SOHPIE DAVIS

Talented - Sophie Davis

Genre: YA Dystopia

My Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13466202-talented

Goodreads Summary:

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.

I was given a copy of Talented to review by Sophie Davis and her PA Justine so thank you so much ladies for providing me with this copy!

Firstly, I LOVED the concept of this book. A group of people born with powers after some crazy nuclear thing go to a special school to harness their talents and go on missions it was just so BADASS! Talia watched her parents being murdered at a young age and has made it her personal goal to join the hunters and kill the man responsible and this was just such a cool storyline that fans of X-Men, James Bond and dystopian YA novels will LOVE!
The writing got progressively better throughout the novel and you could see how Davis' writing has grown and developed over the course of writing this novel. I must say, it's definitely an excellent debut and I can't wait to read the rest of the series!
I really loved all of the characters (well, obviously not ALL of them), but I had grown quite attached to them after a while and I loved Talia's group of friends (Penny, Erik (swoon!) and Henri). They were all amazing side characters that added a lot of dynamic to the story and brought a lighter mood to the story which I appreciated. Definitely an excellent variety of characters, all different in their own way.
I did feel as though at times (only in the first half of the book) the narration didn't feel like it was coming from Talia's head, if that makes sense. I felt like some things that she stated in her own narration weren't the way she would actually speak, but as I mentioned before, the writing really picked up throughout the middle of the story and really TOOK OFF RUNNING. I mean, I just want to know more and I couldn't put it down once I had reached the last third of the book! Definitely an excellent ending that leaves you wanting the second book desperately! I am so glad that there were some sneak peak chapters into the next book and I can't wait to read it!
An excellent debut to an exciting series that is already completed I believe so we don't have to wait to find out what happens which is a huge plus!

Please support Sophie Davis and pick up Talented! It's free as an ebook on Amazon :D
A video review is coming soon for your chance to win some awesome prizes like a Kindle Fire and Amazon Gift Cards! Yippeeee!