Gifted and Talented is the latest release by Olivie Blake. It is set over the course of a few days and follows three siblings as they learn of the death of their father and the implications of his will. I really enjoyed this book. It is written with Olivie Blake's typical writing style which I felt worked really well for these rich, elitist characters and their thought processing. The characters are all somewhat unlikeable but I still found myself endeared to them and becoming immersed in their world for the duration of the book. Definitely recommend if you are a fan of character driven stories and enjoy Olivie Blake's writing style.

I enjoyed the deeper meaning that the story was trying to bring across. The expectations and childhood trauma that shape the way we are today as adults. The weight and struggle of having to live up to other people's expectations and wanting to prove oneself.
The fear of failure. The crushing desire to be successful, to make something of oneself. The relentless desire to seek out validation could very well be our demise.
I think this one will resonate deeply with those who have ever felt the pressure to be gifted & talented themselves.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for a copy of Gifted and Talented. Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me and it took me a good while to get through.

I didn’t think there was that much going on in the book and especially the magic elements felt underdeveloped and unused and we really didn’t get a lot of answers to questions that a lot of readers will have in reading this.

The setup of the book could have been excellent but the characters and story were lacking in development throughout. I did finish the book hoping that it would pick up after 50% but unfortunately it did feel like a bit of a chore to read.

I do think that some of the characters have potential and are interesting and varied, but we don’t get to see that much development from this, especially with having to explore the story of all three siblings it ended up feeling unfinished and repetitive.

It seemed to be a long book considering the plot and what happened for quite a predictable outcome.

My copy also unfortunately has significant formatting issues which although I could tell what most words were so I was able to finish the book however some sentences needed to be missed due to no words and just lots of symbols instead. Certain letters seemed to be replaced by things such as ~.

Another Olivie Blake banger. The characters are complex but loveable with messy relationships and deep feelings.
It's a delicate style of writing, kind of poetic with an unreliable narrator. It's complicated but worth it.

The author has managed to write a compelling story that has elements of sci-fi and strong family problems. Her story is very character driven and compelling storytelling. This was my 1st book by this author but won’t be the last. Cannot wait to dive into the Atlas series by this author and her other works. If you have read from this author before I am sure you will enjoy this one.

olivie blake’s soooo back and she’s not alone because be ready to get to know our 3 siblings: meredith,arthur and eilidh and their story because let’s say that it starts all with the death of their billionaire father and they will reunite to read the will and see what it will brings to them :)

i would like to firstly extremely suggest to read this book to all the sci fi lovers and in particular to the fans of the umbrella academy because if u loved that series well u could like if not love this story! 😊

the writing as always was impeccable but u should know if u had read any books by olivie blake sand if u haven’t well u could definitely start and pick one while waiting for this one to be released!

the sci fi aspect was so well combined in my opinion with all the family drama and the the main characters personalities my interest was definitely picked while reading about certain aspects or interactions 😋 my favourites were the ones between meredith and arthur because they where the most funny and do i have to even mention about the characters/story development? well… it just confirms once again how blake’s mind and writing’s so good to encapsulates a lot of different aspects such as family drama,fantasy, sci-fi with mistery!

a lot of thanks to netgalley and panmcmillan for providing me the arc of this intriguing story in exchange for my honest opinion!!

In 'Gifted and Talented' by Olivie Blake, the death of the family patriarch, Thrayer Wren, forces siblings Meredith, Arthur and Eilidh into a battle for who will take over the Wrenfare Magitech corporation. All of them have been gifted with powers (magical and financial), but so far, none of them have lived up to their potential. Eilidh was once a world famous ballerina, but an injury to her spine leaves her depressed and in need of validation. Arthur is a politician who spends much of his time attending orgies and dreaming of a different life. Meredith is the older sister, with her own biotech company, but she is failing to deliver on her promises.

I have read most, if not all Blake's books to date. 'Masters of Death' and 'One for My Enemy' were fantastic; many of the short stories in her Januaries collection were innovative; and I devoured the first two books in the Atlas series. However, for me, this book suffers the same problem as the final Atlas book - it feels unplotted, over written and unedited. I know Blake has a particular style of writing, but when I have loved it, it was been when the plot was pacy. For me this novel felt too flabby. I may be in the minority with this, and that's okay, books are subjective things, influenced by the person and the time it is read. In the end I found reading this a bit of a slog, which is a shame, as Blake is a great writer.

I have read all of Olivie Blakes previous novels and I am in love with her writing.

Gifted & Talented was just an epic read in so many ways. I loved it thoroughly.

We are introduced to the Wren family, when Thayer Wren who is the CEO of Wrenfare Magitech dies, his three children will inherit the fortune. Things are not as easy as that though,

We meet Meredith, Arthur and Eilidh three very individual and quite special people. Each with their own issues and troubles. Gifted & Talented is about the race to see who will win when it comes to the dynamic of these three people.

Thanks to Netgalley, Olivie Blake and the publishers for allowing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Olivie NUNCA falla, y a pesar de su manera peculiar de escribir sus historias siempre me calan el alma.

Puede escribir cualquier cosa retorcida y con moral cuestionable que ahí estaré

Ahh the complexities of life and the desperation to be liked and accepted by your parents.

Olivie Blake has done it again: given us a wholly unique novel with flawed and ‘you-wanna-hate-them-but-you-love-them-anyway’ cast of characters with a fast paced and engaging story, filled with humour and equal parts seriousness (some truly heart felt moments buried right between the ribs of the stressful actions of each stand-out side character—it’s gotta be done). A critique of the rich, grounded in reality whilst also filtering in magical metaphorical elements to make you go ‘wow, I like what she did there… WOAH… that was smart’.

We get God as a narrator (Capital G? You decide!) who shares with us the POTENTIALLY BIASED report of the chaotic and socially out-of-touch lives of 3 children of a recently deceased CEO. Their original goal? To follow in their father’s footsteps… but the real plot? I JUST WANT TO BE LOVED AND I WOULD AND HAVE DONE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING TO TRY AND FEEL IT.
They’re toxic and competitive and stubborn and idiotic but it just makes sense… Of course they are… just meet them and you’ll understand them straight away.

But trust me… This is one you want on your radar. Blake has a truly skilled way of making you care so much about such a complex cast of characters who you would PROBABLY hate in real life but you still root for them because YOU KIND OF RELATE… even though you are nothing like these nepo babies??? But who doesn’t want to be loved? To be seen? To be appreciated?

It’s extremely character driven but that’s the whole point, because it IS all about them… As well as the incredible cast of side characters who in a way are almost just as important as the siblings.

Oh and forget enemies to lovers… have you ever tried enemies AND lovers? OR Lovers(?) and Lovers(!) — Oh boy does this book STRESS you (blame God(?), who narrates this book in a way that keeps you constantly on edge but in the BEST WAY) but it comes together so well. It’s so expertly done.

Also the moral of the story is that pizza makes life significantly better, it’s proven by God.

THIS BOOK WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY 😁 - (Written by Meredith Wren)

I've never read anything like this. It's remarkable how Olivie Blake crafts such complexly irritating characters—flaws and all—yet I still became fully invested in them. Gifted & Talented is an incredibly intricate story that occasionally felt long, though perhaps intentionally so, mirroring the weight of the circumstances the characters endured after the death of their father, Thayer Wren.

My favourite part? The narrator—deliciously sarcastic from the very start in retelling the Wrens' stories. I just need to know—did everyone love the narrator as much as I did?

I was really excited to get an e-arc of this book, since it was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025. I loved other books og Olivie that I’ve read. However the file is so corrupted that it is unreadable with passages repeating, words and paragraphs chopped in half and more so I’ll need to wait until release to review it properly!

Still, thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

Due to issues with my digital copy, I’ll have to soft DNF this book, but will definitely complete on publication.

I keep going back to this authors thinking that my opinions will change but alas, I have yet to find the one to do that. Gifted & Talented has such promise, but it didn’t work for me. Also, the formatting in this copy was insanely bad and made the book very difficult to read.

Gifted and Talented is a character-driven family saga following three morally questionable and dysfunctional siblings who must come together and face their own failed potential in the wake of their father’s untimely death. This book is a brilliant work of speculative fiction with modern technology being intertwined with magic, and all three Wren siblings displaying talent with their telepathic and electrokinetic abilities.

Meredith Wren, eldest daughter and young prodigy, is set to lose it all as her journalist-ex boyfriend sets out to expose her for the fraud she really is. Arthur Wren, only son and failing politician, wants nothing more than for everyone to love him, and it doesn’t help that he keeps dying. Eilidh Wren, youngest child and former ballerina, has been working dutifully for her father in a 9-5 and wants nothing more than to be confirmed as his favourite, but can’t seem to stop causing the apocalypse. The Wren siblings are the heart of this novel, unlikeable and yet oh so relatable as they truly are the epitome of the gifted kid turned depressed adult. Their personalities and relationships were well-developed, and they all got the attention they deserved, with the secondary characters blending in perfectly and feeling integral to the story.

The all-knowing narrator was witty and fun addition, and helped move the story along. I enjoyed the shifting perspective and loved that we got to see into the mind of not only the Wren’s, but also the accompanying cast of characters.

This book is fast paced, and I was hooked from the start. I did not want to put it down. I finished it last night and already want to re-read. Olivie Blake truly does not disappoint and has solidified herself as one of my favourite authors. I would recommend Gifted and Talented to lovers of Succession and dysfunctional family dynamics.

*Thank you to the publisher for sending me an early copy in exchange for an honest review*

📚 review 📚

like many of olivie blake’s books, the biggest draw of gifted and talented is the vibes. it’s reality with a hint of magic, something completely unique to the olive blake extended universe.
the best way I can think to describe this is if the hargreeves siblings from the umbrella academy (the nextflix version) found themselves as members of the carrington clan in dynasty - it might look something like this.

in gifted and talented, we follow three siblings, who each have their own thing going on - sometimes literal death and apolocalypses, who have nothing in common apart from their shared parentage, that end up being thrown together after the death of their father and their own complex feelings about the man he was and the legacy he left behind. It’s sardonic and decadently written - in some ways even more so than previous books - it even gets some snarky comments from god, which is not a sentence I thought I would write today.

this one feels like a love letter to anyone who was ever referred to as gifted at school and has since descended into a depressive, existential state with a side of anxiety and the realisation that you aren't special. it’s funny in its truthfulness, with some of the most asshole assholes to ever asshole - its bougie rich people drama at its best. and if you know me, you’ll know that that’s my favourite genre of drama.

this was great fun and if there’s anyone who deserves the title of gifted and talented, it’s olivie blake

gifted and talented is out in april. thank you @netgalley for the early copy

If i got one thing out of this book, its that I felt an incessant need to go and hug my siblings, and I should be far more grateful for them. Also that happiness is completely what you make it out to be, not what anyone else tells you.

Gifted & Talented is a story following three siblings battling with themselves over their supposed sacred gifts and alleged promised talent, after being brought back together during their father’s death. Eldest daughter Meredith is tackling a blackmail case that will total her whole career, middle child Arthur can’t decide if his love lies with his partners, his wife or his work, and youngest Eildih just wants to be seen an appreciated by someone in her family. All three of them have to deal with (you guessed it for an Olivie book), the consequences of their own actions and how to be happy when the thing they’ve built their lives around crumbles.

Unlike other Olivie Blake books where the action is often philosophical, open ended, and leaves you numb at the thought of your existence, Gifted & Talented is an open and closed case. All the pieces are there, all the journeys are complete, all the morals have been learnt and there isn’t anything for you to do except reread and see *how* all these characters changed and got to where they are. I found it extremely clear what the overarching plot is (all siblings have their own storylines, but they’re all tied together by Thayer Wren’s company), and extremely satisfying to see how all the siblings play a part. All the pieces of the puzzle came together slowly- front it starting out as you needing to pick a side, and a sibling to defend but really none of them are the villain. Happiness is.

Highlights include:
- POV switching mid chapter,
- The use of different writing styles and formatting (mainly case switching and scriptwriting)
- The narrator

Oh my goodness the narrator! I was prepared for an Olivie insert (usually in the form of a character backstory, or some inhuman being) and I thought I got that…but no! We got an extremely unreliable narrator in the form of the Wrens’ childhood best friend, and this was so perfectly written in I couldnt ask for anything else. The beginning people so ruthless and unhinged made much more sense when we realise Lou’s relationships toward the siblings. How much or little she knows of them, and how this reflects her views. Her then being a crucial part of the story, still while narrating everything really brought the unreliability into play. I too, thought Meredith pushed Jamie off the cliff. Our side characters are all loveable, and it’s clear they exist to support the three siblings and aren’t a plot of themselves. I enjoyed the polyamorous representation, and bringing light Arthur’s conflicts about the love he feels for his wife, and the different love he feels for his partners, and the love he has for wanting to *be* loved. Eilidh and Dzyhulia shared a complicated, intertwined story namely one of comparison and gave a great story of ‘the grass is always greener. Jamie and Cass I could write an essay on how they’re foils for each other, and how love comes in different shapes and sizes. Be honest with those you love.

‘We only see each other at weddings and funerals’ is the phrase i’d title this whole thing

And the language? If you love Olivie-isms then this one is filled plenty with them. It’s delightfully unhinged.

I will always love Olivie Blake's writing! Every book by her is so exciting, filled with fantasy and wonder, and leaves me feeling fulfilled. In particular Gifted and Talented felt like a hug from a warm friend, Blake's writing oozes mastery and craft. It was satirical, engaging, and just a true joy to read.

Olivie Blake is a master at crafting messy, unlikeable, but compelling characters!

Gifted & Talented follows three siblings over the course of a week as they wait to find out from their father's will which one of them will take over his magic tech company. This is very much Umbrella Academy meet Succession vibes as each of the siblings wants their father's empire for their own reasons but each pf them also has a magical gift and a lot issues (especially daddy issues).

This is a a very character focused book and I think that people who like spending a lot of time in characters' heads and want stories based around character development and relationships will love this. I would have liked more plot in this book though as this book is very slow moving and I found as a result it took me a long time to read this.

There is a vibe shift about 50% of the way through and the focus shifts from awful people and their sibling rivalry to a conversation around parenthood and redemption. I enjoyed both halves of the book although I think I preferred the story when the focus was solely on the toxic Wren siblings.

First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to Panmacmillan for providing me with an advance copy of this remarkable book.

Olivie’s unique writing style sets her books apart from many others. I particularly enjoyed the narrative style of this book, which captivated me from the outset.

The story follows the lives of three siblings: Meredith, Arthur, and Elidith, whose lives are upended by the death of their tech billionaire father, Thayer Wrens. Thayer, a dysfunctional father, had equally dysfunctional relationships with his children, who, in turn, became troubled adults. The question on their minds is who will inherit the CEO position of his company, Magitech.

Meredith Wren, the eldest, is a successful and ruthless businesswoman who has “cured” mental illness through her company. She has an ex-boyfriend journalist determined to expose her as a fraud. Meredith is deeply flawed, possessing arrogance, ruthlessness, and bluntness, but her ultimate desire is her father’s approval.

Arthur Wren, my favourite character, is the middle child and a congressman (whose election may be at risk). He is the most people-pleasing individual you will encounter. One of the youngest congressmen to date, he is married to a lawyer while engaged in an open relationship. Arthur simply wants to be loved, which makes him endearing. He is an enjoyable read, and one cannot help but root for his success.

Elidith is the youngest child and a character I deeply resonated with (as the youngest of three). A gifted ballerina, she was forced to retire after a life-altering injury, leading her to work for her father in marketing. Being her father’s favourite has its advantages, but as more revelations emerge, it has her questioning everything. Often feeling like the black sheep and excluded from her siblings’ banter and relationships, she embodies the experiences of all youngest siblings, and her raw honesty and relatability makes you want to read on more

Throughout the book, the author skillfully weaves a tapestry of emotions, including envy, hatred, jealousy, desire, love, and power. This integration of diverse themes is refreshing and engaging, as the narrative unfolds through the perspectives of various characters. We gain insights into their past experiences and relationships with supporting characters, enriching our understanding of their lore. This is a remarkable achievement, considering the brevity of the book’s page count.

The concept of magic and technology is both intriguing and entertaining. Meredith possesses persuasive abilities, Arthur wields electrical powers, and Elidith frequently triggers small apocalypses. The characters’ attempts to harness and control these powers create a captivating narrative.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, devouring it in three distinct sittings. It was a complex and multifaceted work, both messy and beautiful, yet toxic in its nature. The book provokes thought, particularly on human nature and morality, challenging our darknesses and examining the adverse effects they can have on ourselves and others.

I was unprepared for the raw intensity of the book, but I must say that it stands as her finest work to date. It evoked a range of emotions, including tears, laughter, and gasps. I highly recommend reading this book at some point.

Once again, I extend my gratitude to PanMacmillan (specifically, Olivia) for providing me with an advance copy of the book.

Instagram review - https://www.instagram.com/p/DGidI6PI37t/?igsh=dDNia3N5a213eXFv