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Book: “Gifted &Talented” by Olivie Blake
Publishing Info: Tor Books, April 2025
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Thayer Wren, the brilliant CEO of Wrenfare Magitech and so-called father of modern technology, is dead. Any one of his three telepathically and electrokinetically gifted children would be a plausible inheritor to the Wrenfare throne.
Or at least, so they like to think.
Meredith, textbook accomplished eldest daughter and the head of her own groundbreaking biotech company, has recently cured mental illness. You’re welcome! If only her father’s fortune wasn’t her last hope for keeping her journalist ex-boyfriend from exposing what she really is: a total fraud.
Arthur, second-youngest congressman in history, fights the good fight every day of his life. And yet, his wife might be leaving him, and he’s losing his re-election campaign. But his dead father’s approval in the form of a seat on the Wrenfare throne might just turn his sinking ship around.
Eilidh, once the world’s most famous ballerina, has spent the last five years as a run-of-the-mill marketing executive at her father’s company after a life-altering injury put an end to her prodigious career. She might be lacking in accolades compared to her siblings, but if her father left her everything, it would finally validate her worth—by confirming she’d been his favorite all along.
On the pipeline of gifted kid to clinically depressed adult, nobody wins—but which Wren will come out on top?
Review: I’m one of those viewers who both recognized and appreciated the brilliant writing and acting found in “Succession” but who also struggled to enjoy the actual process of watching it. As a media consumer (books, movies, or shows), I’ve found that I struggle the most with stories where I can’t find a likable character to cling to. They don’t need to be perfect or strictly heroic, but just…likable. Jesse Pinkman from “Breaking Bad” is the perfect example of the sort of character I need to find to truly enjoy a story. So, when I saw that Olivie Blake was coming out with a new book and that it definitely was giving off strong “Succession” vibes, I was interested, but also a bit wary. That show was a slog at times of just hating everyone and everything they did. Would this book follow in its footsteps? Well, yes and no.
On the good side, I think some of Blake’s flowery, evocative style of writing worked really well with this sort of story. At best, everyone in this book is incredibly flawed, and Blake uses them and the situations they keep finding (creating!) themselves in to offer many beautifully crafted insights into the world as a whole. Commentary on power, ambition, and, of course, the complicated nature of siblings, with all of the competition and resentment that can be tied up in such a unique relationship. Here is someone who is the only other person/people in the world who truly understands your history, who’s seen it all, the good, the bad, the ugly. You love them; you can’t hide from them. I’ve struggled with Blake’s writing style at times in the past, but I think it paired really well with this sort of story.
That said, I am starting to put together the dots on the sorts of characters Blake has been writing lately. Namely, the kind that are found in things like “Succession.” In that way, she was perfectly positioned to write this sort book. But on the other hand, I’ve had a harder and harder time connecting with her books because I feel as if she always writes characters who I end up really disliking. They’re not just morally grey, they’re often rude, selfish, stubborn to the point of idiocy, etc. And while here these characters fit in well with the sort of story she was trying to write, I can’t say I enjoyed them any more for it. I kept banging my head against a wall, as I jumped from character to character who couldn’t help shooting themselves in the foot with terrible approaches to life and how they treat others.
I’ll also say that I question the necessity of the fantasy elements in this book. There are definite comparisons to “The Umbrella Society” (some were a bit too close, honestly, and made it feel less creative on its own), but, for the most part, the magic was so far in the background to the interpersonal dynamics that I’m not sure if it was serving much of a purpose. Other than staying true to the sort of books that Blake has written in the past and that her fans expect from her. But here at least, I think the book might have been better served to have remained a straight contemporary fiction novel. As it stands, I don’t think the sparce fantasy elements truly contribute much to the book itself. Those who are going in as hardcore fantasy readers will be left with a book that feels thin in this area.
Overall, this was an ok read. I will say, as a reader who has struggled with Blake’s style of writing in the past (sometimes it can veer into the land of pretentiousness), I think that the themes and subject matter of this book were well suited to her talents and the book shone brightest in its use of language to describe some of these darker currents. However, all of the characters were so unlikable that I can’t say I actually enjoyed my reading experience. Looking back, I think that’s been the difference for me with her books that I’ve enjoyed vs. those I didn’t. And it was unfortunate that this largely fell in the latter category. However, fans of Blake’s style should definitely check this out, especially if you’re the sort of reader who enjoys truly morally compromised characters!
Rating 7: Some poignant commentary on themes of sibling rivalry and ambition was held back a bit for me by a cast of truly unlikable characters.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Gifted & Talented” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2025 Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction and
The Library Ladies 