“I told myself that I would exist wholly in this moment, and this one, and this one, and thus over time I would simply change. I would be grounded. I would be better. I would hate myself less, or at least less often.”
Plot Summary
The book follows the Wren siblings — brilliant, broken, and deeply competitive — in the wake of their father Thayer’s death. It opens with his funeral, but don’t be fooled into expecting solemnity. The story snowballs into corporate absurdity, magic-tinted tech drama, and decades of dysfunction packed into days of chaos. There’s a speculative twist: each sibling has an ability that blurs the line between realism and magic, but the real force driving the narrative isn’t superpowers — it’s legacy, resentment, and the deep yearning to be seen.
“The way she only inhabited the person she thought of as herself if she was feeling someone else’s pain. Their grief. Their anger. Their debilitating joy. Their delusory love. Their cruel and unrelenting fate. How beautifully she could carry the suffering of others, wearing their misery so she didn’t have to acknowledge her own…Translating the human experience which was itself full of badness, so that she never had to hold her own badness for too long.”
Themes
- Grief and Generational Trauma: Each sibling processes loss in their own fractured way, shaped by the expectations thrust on them since childhood.
- Merit, Capitalism, and Identity: The novel questions what it means to be “gifted” — and whether that brilliance ever guarantees happiness.
- Sibling Dynamics: Deeply flawed, absurdly funny, and occasionally heart-breaking. The tension and tenderness between them are the story’s pulse.
- Love as Violence: Familial love is depicted not as soft or safe but as messy, sometimes harmful, always complex.
What Worked
What Worked- Narrative Style: Chaotic, clever, and tongue-in-cheek. Sharp satire, and dark humour lend the book its unique texture.
- Characterisation: These are not wholesome protagonists. They are rich, ridiculous, and often emotionally toxic — and yet so painfully human. Meredith Wren, in particular, stole the show with her layered contradictions.
- Atmosphere & Voice: It read like Succession meets magical realism — with just enough bizarreness to stay surprising.
“The line between magic and science is fuzzy to begin with…”
Who May Enjoy This Book
- Readers who like character-driven novels over action-heavy plots.
- Fans of morally grey, unlikable but ultimately compelling characters.
- Those who enjoy speculative fiction that leans literary and satirical.
- Lovers of family dramas with a twist of tech and a dash of existential dread.
Final Thoughts
Gifted & Talented isn’t a fantasy epic. It’s an introspective, unsettling, and surprisingly funny meditation on identity, ambition, and the emotional wreckage families leave in their wake. It’s not a light read, nor an easy one, but if you’re willing to ride the wave of chaos and sarcasm, it’s well worth the plunge.
Thank you to Pan MacMillan SA for the chance to read this book.
About the author
Olivie Blake | bestselling author
Also read:
Alone With You in the Ether – Olivie Blake
View this post on Instagram
