A Quick Note On This Review: This article includes affiliate links to Bookshop.org as a way of supporting both local bookshops and my own ability to write.
Thayer Wren – CEO of Wrenfare Magitech, “father” of modern technology, and actual father of three magically gifted children named Meredith, Arthur, and Eilidh – has died, leaving an open question of who stands to inherit the titan’s throne. Meredith, who runs a company purporting to cure mental illness and is the eldest of the three, may be the best equipped to run the company if it wasn’t for the fact that her technology doesn’t work; Arthur, the youngest congressman in history and dead-set on fighting the good fight despite his losing reelection campaign, may find the validation he craves from his father (assuming he can remain among the land of the living himself long enough to claim it); and Elidh, a world-renowned ballerina until a life-altering injury forces her to switch careers from dance to marketing, may be the most familiar face to the Wrenfare board since she started there after her injury, but would it be enough to validate that she was his favorite all along?
Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake is an interesting story that reflects Blake’s penchant for character-driven plot that includes quite a bit of humor through absurdist situations that still feel altogether plausible within the context of the story. Similar to some of her other books, Blake integrates a kind of magic that’s at once practical and absurd almost as an afterthought when compared with her descriptions of the very real troubles that people experience as overachieving, traumatized individuals. In some ways, that’s what’s unique about Gifted & Talented: it assumes that even the lives of the rich and famous can experience hardship and depression, even when they have literal magic at their fingertips.
While some of the novel’s plot is thin at points, Blake does a phenomenal job of centering the human experience in her characters without taking things too seriously. In some ways, Gifted & Talented is lighter than some of Blake’s other novels, but it continues to showcase her skill in dealing with issues like anxiety, lack of parental validation, and the odd transition that everyone faces as they come to realize that they aren’t as special in the world as they imagined they would be. Blake somehow manages to do this with characters that are simultaneously relatable, unlikeable, and has a narrator that takes regular pot-shots at their expense.
For casual readers, Blake’s Gifted & Talented would likely be enjoyed by those who enjoy character-driven stories. Since there are points where the plot of the story becomes thin enough as to be transparent at times, it’s worth noting that even among lovers of character-driven fiction there may be slow points in the story, but Blake’s humor and bent towards the satirical makes up for it in keeping the reader’s attention. Additionally, Gifted & Talented may have an ultimately altruistic bent that humanizes even the wealthiest individuals, it doesn’t excuse the rich for their flaws and so may appeal to those who enjoy stories that deal with class differences with a critical eye on what those who have do to the have nots.
For writers, Blake is one of the strongest character-driven writers I have come across, so Gifted & Talented would be a useful read for understanding how to portray wealthy characters in all their flawed, humanistic glory. While there are opportunities to learn this skill from writers like Dickens, Blake’s handling of wealth disparities in Gifted & Talented feels more relevant to today’s audience, so it’s worth reading both Dickens’s works and Gifted & Talented to develop a comparative understanding of the different ways such characters can be portrayed and handled within a story.
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What’s Next?
I am an avid reader and have quite a few thoughts on how some books could benefit both people that want to be entertained and those looking to sharpen their literary skills.
If you’re interested in finding out more about what I’ve been reading – and how it could benefit you – I will be publishing those thoughts on Fridays on a weekly basis. Check back next week for a discussion of John Kenney’s I See You’ve Called In Dead!
The Writerly Review 