Talented

Author: Sophie Davis
Publication Date: January 11, 2012
Source: Netgalley

Summary from Goodreads: Block it out. Impossible for Talia Lyons. When you’re a Mind Manipulator, it’s hard enough to block the thoughts of others, let alone your own.
Block it out. The pounding, siren-ready world Talia inhabits as she trains with her fellow Hunters, the country's top-secret covert operatives. The physical demands. The emotional toll.
Block it out. The secrets that Talia’s boyfriend is hiding. Talia’s unbidden feelings of frustration and annoyance toward her teammate, the Casanova of the compound. The wondering why she cares what he thinks.
Block him out. Ian Crane. The man behind the bloodshed marring Talia’s memories of her murdered parents. The man she’s determined to kill.
Block it all out. Focus.
Talented is an emotionally raw dystopian romance, about the life of a girl with extraordinary psychic powers, and what happens when a heart is torn between love and rage.

Summary from Netgalley: When Talia Lyons was just a child, her parents were murdered before her eyes. Unable to accept their fate, Talia trains to become one of the country’s deadliest assassins in order to kill the man responsible. Luckily, she was born with a gift- the ability to read and influence the minds of others. At sixteen, Talia’s poised to graduate from a 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... the feelings and distractions of a normal teenage girl.
If Sookie and 007 had a love child with a yearning for vengeance, her story would be TALENTED.

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Rating: 3 stars

Review: This book was not what I expected; maybe I misread the synopsis (Or maybe it's because I read the summary from Netgalley and not the summary from Goodreads), but I was expecting a kiss-ass heroine, thrilling missions, and covert operations; what I got was a lot of day-to-day ho-hum and teenage angsty, romance drama.

The world building was good. The premise of the dystopian world is extremely clear. The characters are OK, but could be better with some development. Talia is childish, which made it somewhat difficult to like her. The love triangle felt forced and the result was a bit too predictable. But somehow, I found myself wanting to see how it turned out.

The pacing didn’t work for me; I was pretty bored and disappointed until about the 65% mark when things finally got a bit better, but the missions were confusing and their purpose was unclear. By the time we get to the really good action type stuff we were at the 90% mark! The techie stuff was neat and the action that took place was good.

The conclusion was disappointing for two main reasons, first Talia made a decision that completely went against everything we had read about in the entire novel, and second, the “big reveal” was sort of bland. The other irritating piece is that there are a ton of unanswered questions and a clear cliffhanger attempt to get readers to continue reading the series.

My feelings are mixed about this book: there were times that I had to force myself to keep reading, there were times that I was annoyed while reading, and there were times that I enjoyed the story. 2.5 stars round up to 3.