All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Book #3 in the Naturals)
Okay, I’m on the third book in this series. If you haven’t read the first two books, I would suggest skipping this review. In the first few pages, we are with Cassie at her Nonna’s house for the holidays. She is talking about the guilt everyone is trying to make her feel (mostly joking, as most families do) about not calling home enough. I didn’t really think about that in the other books. Does she call? That makes me even more annoyed with the love story that is going on with each book. She has a family that loves her! Why isn’t she calling them more often? Why does it seem like she is pulling away from them? Ugh, I guess I am reading this from an adult point of view and not a teen trying to make their own way in life. It’s like when you rewatch movies from your teen years, and you find yourself agreeing with the adults this time around.
In the last book, I was also annoyed that there was little about these teens getting any kind of therapy. As you read, you get glimpses of them trying to help each other. Sloane rattles off facts when Cassie wakes up from a nightmare. They use what they know about each other to almost force them to talk things through. Your mother taught you to observe people. She also taught you not to get attached.” (pg. 62). I don’t know how I feel about this. I’m glad they are helping each other out, but at the same time, why aren’t they going to an actual professional to talk things through? They are all seemingly on the edge of a breakdown. I can’t believe the FBI agents would just pat them on the head and send them back to work. Would dealing with their problems mess up the program? Am I reading too much into this from an adult perspective again? Anyway, back to the story!
Our team is in Vegas! (Now the title makes sense, all in, get it?) You know Michael and Lia are loving it, but this is where Sloane lived before. We learn more about her life as she struggles to focus in this town she would rather avoid. The murders this time seem random. Everyone was killed differently, and every victim is different as well. Old, young, male, female. It looks pretty random. But we do have a natural who is excellent at finding patterns! Yep, Sloane stepped up a lot in this one. There was some cool math stuff in this one. Again, I know I am getting old, and I am a teacher, but I thought that was really cool! I wanted to run and show the math teachers at my school, but I’m not sure how much they like books about serial killers or if they like to read at all.
I’m not sure if I need a break from this series or if I am just getting overwhelmed by the math, twists, and new information, but I didn’t like this one as much as the others. I hope to still read the last installment in this series, but I wonder if I should read something else first.
Four out of Five Magical Coffee Cups
Literary Coffee 