Books 1 to 4
Book Reviews
Talented – Book 1
Pages: 343
Genre: Young Adult | Dystopian Romance | Dystopian Thriller | Science Fiction
Warnings: Very little swearing and they used God’s name maybe two or three times in the whole book.
Purchase: Amazon
Book Summary
Block out thoughts.
Talia Lyons has one goal at the McDonough School for the Talented: learn to use her Talent as a Mental Manipulator to kill the man who murdered her parents.
Block out pain.
She’ll deal with anything. The brutal physical demands. The emotional toll. Whatever it takes to reach her objective.
Block out friendship.
With only one year left in the program, though, seventeen-year-old Talia is suddenly finding it harder than ever to ignore the rest of her life.
Block out love.
Even worse, she can’t seem to turn off her psychic connection to her first love…or quit thinking about her fascinating new teammate.
Feel only vengeance.
Ian Crane. The man who destroyed Talia’s life. The one she’s determined to eradicate.
Now focus.
It’s time to kill.
THE TALENTED SAGA is a #1 Bestselling Dystopian Romance series about the life of a girl with extraordinary psychic powers, and what happens when a heart is torn between love and rage…
Rating
4/5
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My Thoughts
I enjoyed Sophie’s writing style and could follow along easily. I didn’t have any moments that stood out as a problem in her style while I was reading. I was committed to the story from the first page. Sophie had a good hook on her first page and I wanted to know more immediately.
The story was well written and I enjoyed that it had a little bit of an X-Men feel to it but with a twist. I love the X-Men! From the beginning of the book you feel like you can’t trust everybody around the character, there is a serious feeling of mistrust which added to the mystery and angst in the storyline. This story kept me guessing most of the time. I did guess that Donovan had a bit of a dark side but was surprised by what unfolded. I also guessed that Erik didn’t fully support the TOXIC cause but I definitely did not expect the contents of his letter to Talia.
Personally, I would have been a little peeved if I had known that she left my very private letter littered around her for other people that should not be seeing it, to see but it added to the storyline in the other books in the series. The world that the author created was mostly like the real world but with a distinct Dystopian feeling to it. It gave off Divergent vibes but was not as hectic. Due to Sophie’s style of writing, you get immersed in the world that she created.
I liked Talia even though she sometimes irritated me. I could understand that she was going through a myriad of emotions and had to deal with other people’s emotions and thoughts and opinions of her as well. I’m surprised they didn’t need to put the girl on Prozac. I like her abilities and that she eventually focuses them. The dialogue was easy to read and I knew when they were chatting in her head and when it was out loud. Each person’s dialogue matched their personality and successfully rounded out their character profile.
I enjoyed all the characters, even the bad ones. I had a keen dislike of Mac because I think he’s the evil one and not Ian but that’s just my current opinion. Mac seems to be someone that I would constantly want to punch in the face and he should be lucky she hasn’t lost it with him yet. I liked Erik and his character. He seemed so conflicted which means he was well-written. I like Penny and I really hope she is who she says she is and not another evil undercover person. It is also a clean romance. This is book 1 in a series of 8 books. The story ends on a cliffhanger and doesn’t close off in book 1. Book two’s review is below.
Caged – Book 2
Pages: 385
Genre: Young Adult | Dystopian Romance | Dystopian Thriller | Science Fiction
Warnings: A little swearing and using God’s name.
Purchase: Amazon
Book Summary
Who can Talia trust when everyone is lying?
When Agency Director McDonough asks Natalia Lyons to go undercover at the School for the Talented to ferret out a spy, she jumps at the opportunity. Talia throws herself into the assignment, quickly learning how far the Agency will go in the name of war. With Crane’s influence spreading, Talia learns that there are few Operatives without ties to the Coalition.
In fact, those closest to her are hiding the biggest secrets…
CAGED is Book Two in the TALENTED SAGA, the #1 Bestselling Dystopian Romance series about the life of a girl with extraordinary psychic powers, and what happens when a heart is torn between love and rage…
Rating
3/5
My Thoughts
I became committed to the story quickly because of book 1 and I wanted to know what was going to happen. I would also like to know what Penny was talking about at the end and what Mac did to his son. I enjoyed the storyline but was severely irritated by it at varying times throughout the book. I felt a little like we were circling the same mountain too many times. The story about Talents and past people was very good though.
The story kept me guessing to a point but I have to admit that I did guess right on many accounts. I guessed that Penny was the spy but she didn’t want to hurt Talia. I thought that Penny was either a Mimic or a Dual Talent. I think that Ian Crane is good and Mac is had. I think that the blood that Talia received from Donovan is what is giving her seizures and not the injection from Ian. I think that she gets seizures because she’s turning into an animal, the same as Donovan. Penny alludes to it in her one question to Talia. I also think that the one teacher that Talia was investigating that she thought isn’t an elite is also a mimic. I also think that Ian loves Talia like a daughter because their families were close friends. And I don’t think the coalition is against Talents, they’re against Talents being used and abused by TOXIC. And lastly, I believe that Mac had her parents killed and not Ian. I’m not sure if all my thoughts on this series are correct but we’ll see.
Talia kept saying that she can’t trust Erik to be there for her when she really needs him like him sitting by her if she had a seizure, etc. But she seems to forget that he took the pain away from her when she had been stabbed. He suffered that pain in her place. There were a few times that she irritated me and I had to remind myself that she was 17 or 18 years old and basically still a child. By the end of the book I also realized why she often acted or thought the way she did.
As before, I enjoyed the other characters, like Erik and Penny. I didn’t understand Donovan too much because he seemed all over the place with his loyalties. I don’t like Mac at all and because I don’t like him at all and I think he’s inherently evil, I have to wonder about his wife Gretchan. Cadence is also an interesting one and I have a feeling that she hates TOXIC as well. Or she hates Penny because she maybe knew that Penny was Ian’s niece or she could even be the person that her brother helped escape. Who knows? Maybe we’ll find out later. This was book 2 in an 8-book series. The story doesn’t come to a close, you are left with a cliffhanger ending and a lead-in to the next book in the series.
Hunted – Book 3
Pages: 355
Genre: Young Adult | Dystopian Romance | Dystopian Thriller | Science Fiction
Warnings: Swearing, Using God’s Name.
Purchase: Amazon
Book Summary
When the war begins, which side will she choose?
Talia’s next mission finds her analyzing the children of the nation’s capital to identify those with powers. Though she knows the mandatory testing is controversial, Talia is stunned by the unrest in Washington D.C. during the annual Talented Aptitude Tests. With protests raging, a citywide curfew is imposed.
Then the Director assigns Talia and Erik to hunt down a child who didn’t report for testing. When she encounters a face from her past, Talia must confront her toughest decision yet. Following her heart will put Talia and those closest to her in mortal danger, but the consequences of doing nothing are inconceivable.
Together with Erik, Talia must pierce the veils of secrecy before someone decides she knows too much…
Rating
4/5
My Thoughts
I couldn’t wait to start reading this book in the series so that I could see what was going to happen next. It seemed that everything was unraveling. Off the bat, I’m already irritated with Talia. After everything she saw in Penny’s head and that Penny actually cared about her and that she never asks the real questions makes me want to smack her. Even with Dr. Wythe trying to convince her otherwise. Talia’s attitude and temper were getting worse by the page and she threw tantrums like a toddler.
The way Natalia acted about the little boy that they had to retrieve was also a little ridiculous. Fortunately, she redeems herself a little further on when all hell breaks loose. I generally enjoyed Sophie’s writing style (as usual) and the story was easy to follow. I was committed to the story quickly. That is why I bought the whole eight-book series. The storyline is very good and I am thoroughly enjoying the story.
I was kept guessing on certain parts but I did call several of the big reveals. Like what actually happened to her parents, to Penny, who Penny was and what was actually wrong with Talia. I also had a feeling about Donovan’s blood but wasn’t sure of the exact details. I enjoyed the other characters because they helped round out the story and made it move along nicely. I liked the other side of some of the characters. This is book 3 in an 8-book series. Each book ends on a cliffhanger.
Created – Book 4
Pages: 366
Genre: Young Adult | Dystopian Romance | Dystopian Thriller | Science Fiction
Warnings: Swearing, Using God’s Name.
Purchase: Amazon
Book Summary
The Agency stole everything: her world, her life, her future with the only person who remained true. Now Talia must fight to reclaim what’s hers…
When Talia runs away from the only life she’s ever known, she becomes the target of a ruthless manhunt. Those she once considered friends are suddenly bona fide enemies, unwavering in their pursuit. If the Agency can’t have her, they want Talia eliminated.
As her abilities grow stronger by the day, Talia’s grip falters. While dodging Mac’s soldiers and fighting for control, she sets off on her most personal mission yet: rescuing the love of her life. But Talia has no idea that saving Erik will plunge the nation into chaos….
Rating
4/5
My Thoughts
I was committed to the story quickly because the previous book in the series was left on a cliffhanger and I wanted to know what was going to happen. Without giving anything away, I can say that I enjoyed the way the story went with all its twists and turns when it came to all the different characters. Some of the outcomes were a shock and then others I was able to guess would happen.
With every book in the series, Sophie tells you a little more about this dystopian world they are living in and all the weird things that happened to the earth to make it that way. Talia wasn’t as bad as in the previous books in the series but she still had moments where she aggravated me. It was a lot better though. For someone that is supposed to be this badass soldier, fighter and powerful talent…she was very fragile and weak-willed.
As with the previous books in this series, I thoroughly enjoyed some of the other characters. I do, however, believe that several people were blaming Talia for stuff that really wasn’t her fault. This is book 4 in an 8-book series. I see the next one is not about Talia. I’m not sure how I feel about that but let’s see. Each book ends on a cliffhanger. I will review the last 4 books of the series in another post at a later stage.
I would recommend these books to people who like mystery and Young Adult fiction with a little Sci-Fi and adventure, dystopian life and romance. If you liked X-Men, then you’ll like this story.
Have you heard about this series? Would you like to read it?
What do you think about it?
That’s it from me for now…
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