Mini Reviews ft. The Naturals and The Heir

Today's mini reviews, if you haven't guessed already, are for The Naturals and The Heir.  I was going to have a review for An Ember in the Ashes, but I realised that everything I had to talk about were spoilers.  All I have to say about that now is go read it, and then come back and talk with me about how awesome Helene is.  She is probably one of my favourite female characters ever.  Anyway, on to the books I'm actually reviewing...

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This book follows Cassie, a girl who has been recruited by the FBI because she has special "natural" talents.  The purpose of her recruitment is to help solve cold cases, but soon a current mystery becomes more pressing.

I automatically felt like I was going to love this book because it was so reminiscent of the Girl Undercover (spy) books that I read and loved as a kid.  Unfortunately I didn't fall head over heels for this one, but it was a quick, enjoyable read.

One of the biggest problems I had with this book can be summed up in this quote:

"[name withheld] had never made any secret of the fact that he was pursuing me. [another name withheld] had fought any attraction he felt for me every step of the way."

As you can see, there was a (completely unnecessary) love triangle.  What made it even worse was the fact that they were between the main character and the only two boys her age in the book.  As far as love triangles go, it wasn't too obtrusive, but still, considering everything else going on it seemed silly.  So, that was frustrating.

Another issue was that I don't think the different characters were explored thoroughly enough.  It felt like I was presented with a stereotype for each of the characters and was meant to assume that was the full extent of their personalities.  The one character that I thought wasn't a complete cookie cutter character was Lia.  Because of this, I couldn't really care deeply about any of the characters or what happened to them.

The plot was very entertaining (especially in the last 100 pages), and I loved how snippets of the killer's thoughts were scattered throughout the book.  It gave the novel a sense of suspense, urgency and purpose.  It was also interesting when at points the reader knows that something has happened with the killer before the other characters do.

Overall, I would recommend this book to you if you like fast paced mysteries.

The Heir by Kiera Cass

If you haven't read the first three books in The Selection series, please be aware that there may be mild spoilers for those in this mini review.

The Heir takes place many years after The One, and follows Princess Eadlyn through her own selection process.  On the one hand, this book is so addictive, like all the other Selection books, and is really easy to read, but on the other... Eadlyn is a pain in the butt.

Eadlyn can be extremely rude without even realising it.  She also discriminates based on class without realising it, which is ironic considering [the caste system is supposed to be dissolved and that's her parents' greatest legacy].  She is whiny and is always thinking about the most important person in her world: herself.  There were some lines that were so blatantly selfish that I had to question if they were a joke, for example, [her maid is considering leaving the palace, and Eadlyn's only concern is for how it will affect her, and she doesn't want her brother to get married because then he will leave her].

I enjoyed The Selection process more than anything - I don't know why, but it just intrigues me.  I don't even like The Bachelor so it's weird.  Maybe it's because they're fictional characters and not real people?  I don't know.  Anyway, moving on.  My favourite boy was definitely Henri.  Every time he and Eadlyn interacted I found myself with a huge smile on my face.  He was just adorable.  Of course I liked Erik too, and Hale and Kile and Fox.  [I feel like Kile is endgame, which is kinda sad because HENRI].  There's too many that I like!  I also liked Eadlyn's brother, Ahren, but I wish there had been more information on her family.

So this brings me to the end of the book.  It beyond frustrated me.  I mean, I just read a whole book, and I'm left with no conclusion to the story, just a hint of possible future character development and a huge cliffhanger?  *sigh*  I wish this whole series was just one book.  It could be the length of three books, sure.  It just feels like I'm watching TV and all of a sudden there's an ad break at the most interesting part of the episode.

Let me know if you've read these, and what you thought of them!  Also, do you watch The Bachelor?