Book Review: Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake
From the moment I first picked up Gifted & Talented, I felt a magnetic pull—I knew I was about to dive into something intellectually vast and emotionally intricate. Olivie Blake’s work has always intrigued me, and with this novel, I found myself entranced more deeply than I anticipated. Please know, it took me a solid four days to rip myself from its pages just to write this review, and even now, I feel like there’s so much I won’t quite capture.
At its heart, Gifted & Talented orbits around the Wren siblings—Meredith, Arthur, and Eilidh—each grappling with their own unique torments and existential dilemmas, from corporate complexities to supernatural gifts. They are characters molded by privilege yet burdened by overwhelming expectations, and Blake does an exquisite job of allowing us to eavesdrop on the most fragile and fraught exchanges of their lives. Each sibling is a force of nature, pulling us into their inner worlds, which makes every page feel like a high-stakes dialogue between a beautifully chaotic family dynamic and the weight of the world they inhabit.
Blake’s writing is electric—think of it as a marriage between Aaron Sorkin’s sharp banter and Sally Rooney’s intimate prose, birthed within a dark academia framework filled with speculative fiction. The dialogue crackles with wit and intensity, demanding you pay full attention or risk missing the poignant subtleties woven into each conversation; it’s undeniably both a joy and a challenge. I found myself flipping back pages to fully grasp a character’s pointed quip or layered sarcasm, which is a hallmark of truly captivating literature.
The pacing leans towards slow development, taking its time to build tension and dive into philosophical depths. But each chapter culminates in moments where stakes leap sharply, pulling you along as characters confront their personal downfalls. The intricacy of Blake’s prose can be expansive and winding, sometimes even suffocating—but therein lies its beauty. It’s a literary puzzle that invites you to wrestle with its complexity and ambiguity.
Though this book might polarize readers—some will delight in its rich tapestry of references and themes, while others may sigh under its weight—I found myself enamored by the raw ambition it exuded. Meredith’s ruthless grasp on her corporate empire raises ethical questions that linger long after the last page, Arthur struggles as a paragon of virtue lost in his own politics, and Eilidh’s otherworldly crisis spins the narrative into realms that feel both terrifyingly alien and achingly relatable. These characters might hold a mirror to our own struggles with ambition and identity, making them hard to love yet utterly unforgettable.
In conclusion, I wholeheartedly recommend Gifted & Talented, but with a caveat: prepare to engage deeply. Expect a lively conversation in your mind, rich with ambition, wit, and uncomfortable truths. This is a novel for those who aren’t afraid of complexity, who yearn to peel back layers of moral quandaries and familial tensions, and who find themselves willing to grapple with the notion of privilege and power. This book is not a light read; it’s a thought-provoking exploration of the human condition that will leave you wanting to discuss and dissect every line.
If you enjoy challenging literature that questions societal norms and wrestles with the implications of genius and ambition, this book might just be a perfect fit for you. Thank you, Tor Publishing Group, for the ARC. I truly think readers will have a lot to say about this one!