Twelve (The Naturals #4.5)

Published November 7th 2017 by Disney Hyperion, Kindle Edition 128 pages

Cassie Hobbes has been working with the FBI since she was a teenager. Now twenty-three years old, she and her fellow Naturals have taken over running the program that taught them everything they know. As a unit, they're responsible for identifying new Naturals--and solving particularly impossible cases. When their latest case brings back a ghost from their past, Cassie and the other Naturals find themselves racing against the clock--and reliving their own childhood traumas.In a small, coastal town in Maine, there has been a rash of teen suicides--or at least, that's what the police believe. Mackenzie McBride, age twelve, thinks differently. Desperate to make herself heard, she stands at the top of a lighthouse, threatening to jump... unless the FBI agents who rescued her from a kidnapper at age six come to hear her out.Enter the Naturals. It doesn't take Cassie long to realize that Mackenzie isn't bluffing: she truly is convinced that the suicides are murder, and she really will jump if she can't get the FBI to believe her. To the outside world, Mackenzie is nothing more than a traumatized child. But so was Cassie, once upon a time. So were Michael, Dean, Sloane, Lia, and Celine. With a storm rolling in off the ocean and Mackenzie's position becoming more precarious by the moment, the Naturals have very little time to get to the truth about the deaths--and about twelve-year-old Mackenzie McBride.

User Reviews

Mlpmom (Book Reviewer)

Rating: really liked it
It was so darn good to be back in this world with these characters. Still one of my favorites series from this author and with all the developments in this novella, I can only hope more or at the very least, a spin off is to follow.

Maggie ☘

Rating: really liked it
This short was just such a treat to read! I adore each and every one of these five loveable misfits! Cassie, Lia, Dean, Sloane and Michael. We get to see them once again, around six years later after the events of the last book in the Naturals series.

I don't know how Jennifer Lynn Barnes does it, but even within a short around 100 pages novella, she menages to write an intelligently plotted, compelling and most of all surprising mystery case! I certainly have not guessed the killer.

Everyone who enjoyed The Naturals series will not be dissapointed with this short addition in the slightest.

P.S. Because I love these characters everything about this series, I can't help but wish this wasn't the end. If the author ever decides to write maybe a spin-off series to this one, I'd definitely read that! Maybe focusing on a new group of Naturals (view spoiler) in the program, with these five making comebacks. That's just my wishful thinking though - this novella is definitely wrapped up - simply because I don't want this series to end just yet.

After loving both her Naturals and Fixer series, I'd certainly read any mystery/crime/psychological thriller book Barnes writes, either set in The Naturals world or other.

(view spoiler)

Stephanie ((Strazzybooks))

Rating: really liked it

I really enjoyed seeing these characters again! I didn’t realize how much I had missed them until I got a short story…now I need more! This story gave interesting background to the Naturals and what they were experiencing at age 12, and it updated the reader on their current lives at age 23. It also introduces us to Mackenzie, a girl the Naturals previously rescued. MacKenzie is currently 12 and shows “Naturals” tendencies. Do I dare hope for a spin-off?

Elena

Rating: really liked it
⭐⭐⭐.5

  "You know trauma. You recognize it. Some part of you craves it

🆗✅ Plot - I enjoyed the plot of this book a lot, it follows The Naturals a few years after the events of the last four books while they are trying to solve a series of suspicious teenage suicides, I think it was trying to focus more on showing what's happening to the characters and how they are doing instead of the actual mystery but I enjoyed it.

✅ Characters - As amazing as I remembered them ♥️♥️♥️♥️. It was extremely interesting to see them years after going through what they did, it felt very real and I loved them. Sloan being over-caffeinated. Dean being a cinnamon roll. Lia being a lovable bitch. And Micheal being Micheal!

✅ Writing - I.LOVE.THE.WRITING. Cassie's headspace is filled with complicated deductions and I love every second of it. The best part about this series is that the writing is accurate and good, this focuses a lot on the effect of childhood trauma over the long term as well as the short, and I loved how it didn't brush it off and actually went into each character's trauma.

Aleksandra

Rating: really liked it
4.5 stars!

I love this series and I'm so glad Jennifer Lynn Barnes published this novella/epilogue/last case novella.
Twelve is gripping and entertaining. I love seeing my favorite Naturals, I missed them so much. I want to reread original series now...

The composition of the novella is perfectly balanced between flashbacks, the present time and the mindset of the killer.

Cassie and her friends are now all grown up. I'm glad to see them still together, solving crimes and being awesome.
The cast is delightfully diverse in sexualities and race and mental health.

All the books in the series are delightfully feminist and smartly written. The themes and the ways the are addressed are top-notch.

All in all, Twelve is a gift to fans of The Naturals series. I loved it!
If you haven't read The Naturals yet, I highly recommend! Exciting mystery thriller with teens who have special abilities and work for FBI. The Naturals are my favorite mystery series and I'm hoping this novella isn't the last time I'm seeing the squad.

exploraDora

Rating: really liked it
***4.5 Stars***

*I've read this final book in The Naturals series back in August 2017, but forgot to mark it as read.*

It follows our main heroes Cassie, Dean, Michael and Lia five years after the events of Bad Blood, while they try to solve yet another murder mystery.

Because this book was only 128 pages long, I won't give anything away - I'll just let you know that if you read this series and liked it, you'll enjoy this novella as well!

Madison

Rating: really liked it
WHAT!! How did I not know this existed until just now!! This is so exciting!!!

Prerana

Rating: really liked it
Though the novella itself was short and therefore the mystery itself wasn't that hard to solve, it offered a refreshing insight into the characters and continued to develop the characters beyond what we would normally expect for a novella. This was a better conclusion than the actual last novel in this series, which was great as I can now remember the entire series in a much fonder way.

And I'm out.

ᒪᗴᗩᕼ

Rating: really liked it
Excellent addition to The Naturals Series…I would love it if she did a spin-off of this series with a whole new set of naturals. It seems like this book set that premise up anyway. So, maybe that's her intention all along.

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~MY RATING~
4.3/5 STARS - GRADE=A-
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Book Cover~ It fits with all the other covers in this series…
Series~ The Naturals #4.5
Setting~ Maine
Source~ I Own Kindle eBook
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h o l l i s

Rating: really liked it
To be honest I didn't really feel like there was enough character development/growth shown in this story to warrant a post-series novella. We're to believe characters to have gone five years since the final book and.. nothing has changed? And those flashbacks, I didn't really get the point. Hadn't we already known all that information?

Anyway, while this was hardly a big commitment as far as read-time goes, I ended up enjoying the teaser for Barnes' next book (!!) more than I enjoyed TWELVE.

brie

Rating: really liked it
cute, but no brownie on top.

i binge read books two through four (+ novella) in the span of one day, and though my reviews seem negative, i did have a good time reading them, and will definitely be rememberable, and i will miss them. who knows, maybe a mackenzie spin off is in the works? with these characters having created such a connection in my heart, i would definitely consider reading it.

overall thanks jlb. you done well.

Veronica Morfi

Rating: really liked it
A great glimpse of how life is for the Naturals 5 years after the end of the last book. I wish there were more books to this series. It's hard to say goodbye.

Ellie

Rating: really liked it
5 out of 5 Stars

Super quick read!

Twelve read just like the originals. Though this did just make me even sadder that this series is over. I will always love this family. Highly recommend to all Naturals fans.

Can't wait for the next new series from Barnes!

Jacquelyn Simon

Rating: really liked it
I hadn't realized how much a genuinely missed these characters, it was like revisiting family.
I hope she releases more books in this series, I can never seem to get enough.

Aline

Rating: really liked it
Twelve by Jennifer Lynn Barnes *5.0 stars* 01/06/2018.
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I loved the Naturals series and of course I loved the idea of having a glimpse on the lives of the characters 5 years later. What I liked the most on this novella was to remember how to feel inside of the book, inside of the characters minds. With all questions they make themselves in order to analyse and profile, I caught myself working with them, getting close to the answers at the same time they were. I recommend to every person who read and liked The Naturals series.

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