Killer Instinct Book Review

Written By MK

Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes Book Review and Recommendation.

Date: 3-05-25 Post Written By: MK Overall Rating: 8.3/10

Book Cover Rating: 6.5/10

(My personal opinion)

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Pages: 375

Genre: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Mystery

Subplots: Thriller, Romance

Series: The Naturals #2

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Published: 2014

Number of Editions: 30

Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook, Audio

Awards Won: International Thriller Writers Award for Best Paperback Original, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults

Goodreads Rating: 4.26/5

# of Goodreads Ratings: 152,221

Amazon Rating: 4.4/5

# of Amazon Ratings: 11,037

Movie/TV Show?? : No

Book Type: Standard

POV Type: Dual, First Person

Pacing: Fast

Generally: Young adult criminal minds, exciting, thrilling

Hook:

Cassie Hobbes has a gift for profiling people. Her talent has landed her a spot in an elite FBI program for teens with innate crime-solving abilities—and into some harrowing situations. After barely escaping a confrontation with an unbalanced killer obsessed with her mother's murder, Cassie hopes she and the rest of the team can stick to solving cold cases from a distance.

But when victims of a brutal new serial killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of Dean's incarcerated father—a man whom Dean would do anything to forget. Forced deeper into a murderer's psyche than ever before, will the Naturals be able to outsmart the enigmatic killer's brutal mind games?



My Review

Going Into It:

Going into this book I had just read The Naturals and LOVED it!! I FLEW through The Naturals and I hoped this would be equally fast paced and exciting.

Main Characters:

  1. Cassandra Hobbes- Cassie is the main character of this book. She is seventeen. She’s a Profiler (she can basically look at someone and see the little things they do and decide things about them: job, family, personality, wants, interests). She is kind and truly wants to make people happy.

  2. Dean Redding- Dean is eighteen, and is also a Profiler. He pretends to be the person he is profiling in order to truly understand them. He struggles to get close to people because he thinks he will hurt them.

  3. Lia Zhang- Lia is seventeen. She’s basically a human lie detector. She can effortlessly lie, and often uses this to mask her real emotions. She also had a VERY rough childhood.

  4. Michael Townsend- Michael is seventeen. He can read others’ emotions. Michael rarely (if ever) shares his true emotions. He is daring, and sometimes, stupid with his actions. He tends to purposefully rub people the wrong way, but in reality has a caring side as well.

  5. Sloane Tavish- Sloane is sixteen. She’s basically a human wikipedia. She is constantly overflowing with facts, statistics, and data. She can also remember (almost) everything she sees and hears. She is really sweet, but sometimes insecure.

    I LOVED THESE CHARACTERS SO MUCH!! Their unique personalities, interactions, and abilities. I loved how some of them seemed a little stereotypical, but then you find out something new about them that TOTALLY changes that!!

Character Rating: 10/10

Setting:

This book takes place just outside of Washington D.C..

The setting was described pretty well given it’s a realistic fiction book (is it just me or are realistic fiction books’ setting almost always not particularly interesting??). This book did do a GREAT job describing all the crime scenes and clues without giving anything away.

Setting Rating: 6.9/10

Plot:

I loved most of this plot!! It was super similar to The Naturals, and had the same general vibe. It was SUPER fast paced, entertaining, and I loved the creepy, dark mystery aspect!!

Plot Rating: 8.8/10

Writing:

Jennifer Lynn Barnes did not let us down!! She did an AMAZING job with this, and I’m so happy she wrote it!! She can ALWAYS combine the perfect amount of mystery to the perfect amount of plot and unique characters.

Writing Rating: 9.9/10

Ending:

This was the one part that I wasn’t completely on board with. I felt like the book ended really quickly and there could have been a few more clues pointing to the real criminal. That being said, I still liked it.

Ending Rating: 5.7/10

The Overall:

Overall, I LOVED this book, but I liked The Naturals a little bit more. This book was full of energy, had fast pacing, had THE BEST characters, and I’m really happy with it!! 😊

Overall Book Rating: 8.3/10

I would obviously recommend this book


Help independent bookstores by buying on Bookshop: Killer Instinct
Buy on Amazon: Killer Instinct

ChatGPT’s Opinion: Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes follows Cassie, a teenage girl with a unique ability to analyze criminal behavior, as she navigates the complexities of her life and uncovers dark mysteries. The novel combines crime, psychology, and suspense, exploring themes of moral boundaries and identity. Barnes crafts a fast-paced, character-driven story with a compelling mix of intrigue and psychological depth. With its sharp character development and exploration of darker themes, it’s a thrilling read for fans of crime-solving and psychological thrillers.

  • Jennifer Lynn Barnes (who mostly goes by Jen) is the author of more than a dozen critically acclaimed young adult novels. She has advanced degrees in psychology, psychiatry, and cognitive science, including graduate degrees from Cambridge University, where she was a Fulbright Scholar, and Yale University, where she received her Ph.D. in 2012. Jen wrote her first published novel when she was nineteen-years-old and sold her first five books while still in college. In additional to writing YA novels, Jen has also written original pilot scripts for television networks like USA and MTV, and she is one of the world's leading experts on the psychology of fandom and the cognitive science of fiction and the imagination more broadly. Jen is an Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma, where she holds a dual appointment in Psychology and Professional Writing.

  • Goodreads

What did you think of this book??

MK https://alltruereviewsbymk.com
Previous

The Cheerleaders Book Review
Next

Liar’s Beach Book Review