1.57k reviews for:

Gifted & Talented

Olivie Blake

3.86 AVERAGE


The concept of the book was pretty cool and the style was interesting but Olivie Blake’s writing is so pretentious it had me rolling my eyes quite a bit. I feel like it was a bit too long. 

I thought it was pretty good overall though! 

4.5

I am just not vibing with this book. I don’t know if it’s the stream of consciousness-esque writing or that I literally do not care at all about the characters or what. But I am not finishing it. 

I tried so hard to get into this, even switching from physical to audiobook, but the characters are unlikeable and the narration and writing style just feels overblown and overwrought. There’s not much magic at all, and I feel like nothing is happening. 
challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I'm always so intrigued by Olivie Blake's writing. it is always distinctive and interesting...at least at first. this book is maybe the least insufferable of the ones I've read...most of the others spend a lot of bandwidth using $5 words and trying to twist the prose to sound smart (doesn't always work!). this feels much more approachable, but at the same time, I found it to be a bit boring at times so maybe her little overwrought prose trick is her only trick at the moment? often too cutesy and of a moment. not dark enough for my taste. also fuck the amount of cliches about the political climate and the super heavy-handed pro-electoral politics stuff. oh my god a single "good" politician is not going to fix a system STFU IM GONNA [redacted]
dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark funny medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
slow-paced