Gifted & Talented

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six, Succession meets magic in Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake. This is the story of three siblings who, upon the death of their father, are forced to reckon with their long-festering rivalries, dangerous abilities and the crushing weight of all their unrealized adolescent potential.

Where there’s a will, there’s a war.

Thayer Wren, brilliant CEO of Wrenfare Magitech, is dead. As the ‘father of modern technology,’ he leaves an incredible legacy. But which of his three telepathically and electrokinetically gifted children could inherit the Wrenfare throne?

Meredith, head of her own profitable company, has recently cured mental illness. If only her journalist ex-boyfriend wasn’t set on exposing what she really is: a total fraud. Arthur, second-youngest congressman ever, wants to do everything right. Except his wife might be leaving, and he’s losing his re-election campaign. Heading Wrenfare could relaunch his sinking ship. Eilidh was a world-famous ballerina, until a life-altering injury. Gaining the company might finally validate her worth.

On the pipeline of gifted kid to clinically depressed adult, nobody wins. Yet as they gather to read his final words, which Wren will come out on top?

This is a compulsive contemporary fantasy of family, twisted love and dangerous secrets from a writer at the height of her powers.

Review

Told with Blake’s signature wit and driven by a cast of morally gray characters you will hate to love and love to hate, Gifted & Talented is equal parts black comedy, sharp indictment of privilege and power, and soaring, vicious drama. Addictively entertaining, this is Blake at the height of her abilities -- Ava Reid, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Lady Macbeth

Incisive, unsparing, and utterly brilliant. Gifted & Talented is a remarkable character study meditating on the consequences of dynasty and power. Olivie Blake’s storytelling has risen to empyrean heights -- Chloe Gong, New York Times bestselling author of Immortal Longings

Take the love-to-hate-'em siblings of Succession, add a dash of The Magicians' real-world magic, and put it together with Olivie Blake's stellar sense of humor, and you have Gifted & Talented, a refreshing tale of spoiled-sibling woe, mysterious curses, and family complexity that will absolutely delight you -- Veronica Roth, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of When Among Crows

Olivie Blake's singular narrative voice sparkles in Gifted & Talented – a timely tale of greed, ambition and rivalry which eviscerates the world of wealth and privilege in nimble and terrific style -- M. L. Rio, bestselling author of If We Were Villains

Gifted & Talented is a wickedly funny book about perfectly horrible people – and some of them even get what they deserve. Blake's sly prose and vivid character work bring the dreadful siblings to life, but also give us moments of heart-clenching tenderness. A delight -- Emily Tesh, Hugo Award-winning author of Some Desperate Glory

This book is half mystery, half puzzle and wholly a delight -- Holly Black, author of Book of Night on The Atlas Six

Compelling, entertaining and addictive. The Atlas Six is academic Darwinism: survival of the smartest with a healthy dose of magic -- T. L. Huchu, author of The Library of the Dead

Coolly horrific, brilliantly brainy and utterly compelling -- Daily Mail on The Atlas Six

Sign me up for anything she writes -- Cosmopolitan

 

About the Author

Olivie Blake is the internationally bestselling author of The Atlas Six, Alone With You in the Ether, One For My Enemy, Masters of Death, Januaries, Gifted & Talented and Girl Dinner. As Alexene Farol Follmuth, she is also the author of the young adult rom-coms Twelfth Knight and My Mechanical Romance. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son.