The best thing about this book is the audio narration by Eunice Wong; who makes even the mundane seem interesting. I absolutely love her expression and narration style, to the extent that I actually looked her up and discovered that she is a a Juilliard-trained actor, featured on Audible's list of Best Women Narrators! BUT even Eunice could not transform this very long 18 hours and 50 minutes of audiobook into a good story. I would say this is a vey slow paced story of family dynamics, rather than anything fantasy fiction related. Essentially, there is a death of an overbearing father and three siblings (who all get their PoV covered) come together for the reading of the will and to find out who will succeed in taking over their father’s business empire. The three siblings all have magical powers (very minor plot point and completely unexplained and non-essential to the story). Each of the siblings have character flaws and to be honest, I could not bring myself to like any of them, I did not care how the father died, and I was not bothered who took over his business. I actually got to the 50% mark and even Eunice could not stop me from DNF’ing the book . I could not face a further 10 hours in the hopes that the last half would pick up. Thanks anyway to NetGallery and Macmillan UK Audio for allowing me to get a copy of this audiobook - I will most certainly listen to other audiobooks narrated by Eunice Wong.

I have to say that I caved in for this book big part because of the author whose name is so famed. Spoiler alert - that's the first author's book for me! Maybe it was a wrong choice, I don't know.

It's written in easy to read/listen language. That's probably best thing about it. It looks like the complex idea was out there writing this book.. But it seemed a bit all over the place and somewhat convoluted.

Something something magic (fairly vague for my liking, what was even a point noting it there? ). Something something family drama. Rich kids problems. Uh.

Sorry, absolutely not for me.

The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review it if it became available again. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to listen and review it if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review, please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media: The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

A long, layered story of family, grief, and growth

Thank you to Macmillan Audio UK for the gifted ALC.

It took me some time to vibe with the book, but once immersed, I found myself oddly attached to the dysfunctional Wren siblings. Meredith stood out most to me as an eldest daughter. She is flawed, complex, and painfully relatable.

I found the shifting POVs were hard to follow, but Eunice Wong’s narration gave each character a vivid presence. This is a long, evocative, layered story that ultimately rewards your patience. You definitely have to be in the mood to read it.

Gifted and Talented is exactly what you’d expect from Olivie Blake—sharp, unconventional, and infused with her signature blend of wit, existential dread, and deep emotional undercurrents.

Told through layered perspectives and inner monologues that teeter between brilliant and unhinged, the story peels back the glossy veneer of “gifted” education to reveal something far more human and messy underneath. It’s biting, self-aware, and oddly addictive—satire wrapped in angst, delivered with Blake’s usual flair for capturing the absurdities of intellect and identity.

Though brief, the story is densely packed with clever observations and emotional gut punches. It’s not plot-heavy, but it doesn’t need to be. The real power lies in the voice, the tone, and the characters’ slow unraveling.

If you enjoyed The Atlas Six or just love fiction that dissects the human condition with both elegance and edge, Gifted and Talented is a smart, incisive read.

The narrator is as amazing switching seamlessly between the different family member.

I loved the style in which this was written with the ‘God’ narrator. Each member of the family was complex and written the depth. Sometimes multiple POVs can be challenging and you find yourself skimming through some to her get back to your favourite however this was not the case. Each family member has as intriguing and exciting to read I found myself constantly changing who was my favourite.

House of usher meets succession with some magic thrown in.

Thank you NetGalley and macmillan audio for the audio arc opinions my own.

Olivie Blake has a really identifiable writing style that is very common in all her books- this really isn't for everyone and if i didn't consume her books via audiobooks then i don't think they would be for me- that being said, i do listen to them via audio and i honestly love everything she writes. For me she does complex characters really well and her books hinge almost fully on the character dynamics and journeys they take.

This particular story centres around grief and spoilt intellectuals and class divide. It gave me a lot of Fall of Usher vibes and the subtle magical system was really fun. I love stories that follow different character storylines that end up all coming together.
The narrator we find out later on in the story is hilarious and likeable- amongst some really unlikeable characters- however because we know they are part of the story fairly early on it gives the narrator unreliable qualities!

The audiobook for this was done extremely well.

I really enjoyed this book- it took me a little to get into it but when i did i found it incredibly binge-able and couldn't put it down

Olivie Blake is one of my favourite authors, so my expectations for this book were pretty high. I was not disappointed. If you loved her other books, you will also enjoy this one.

Gifted and Talented follows the Wren siblings, and the point of view moves between them. Blake once again created complex, messy, unlikeable and perfect characters that will now live rent-free in my head for the foreseeable future. This novel features dysfunctional adults, complex sibling dynamics, toxic ambition, the weight of parental expectations, the need for parental approval, and the drive to become better than one’s spiteful father. This all comes to the boiling point when Thayer Wren dies, and the Wren siblings are forced to face each other and their messy relationships.

It took me a few chapters to get fully immersed in this story, but after that, it was extremely hard to put down. I think adding Lou’s point of view was a brilliant move, as she is an outsider, but she’s close enough to the Wren family to know their secrets. I loved her style of narration.

Also, I listened to the audiobook of this novel and found it perfectly done. The narrator conveyed the sense of a luxurious and upper-class setting, as well as the loud, messy emotions the characters experience.

To sum up, I just loved this book.

This was such an interesting tale. The relationships between the siblings and the haunted and gothic nature of the setting reminded me of haunting on hill house with some magical realism that really made sense in this world. Thank you to NetGalley for letting me listen and review.

Olivie Blake is a genius.

This was another triumph of a novel with sibling rivalry at the heart. I loved the magical elements of this book and how it intertwined with the family relationships. They were wonderfully dysfunctional.

The book was so complex and all of the different story lines were so closely intertwined. Olive Blake never fails to create a brilliant character driven narrative.

Enjoying the paperback that I was kindly sent, but I couldn't get on with the audio version - the narrator just seemed wrong for the characters, in my opinion. Apologies! Book review coming soon via my blog.

A darkly entertaining, chaotic family drama with a sharp bite

It took me a few chapters to get into this one—there’s definitely a strange, almost disorienting start—but once I got my footing, Gifted & Talented had me absolutely hooked. Olivie Blake delivers an intense, sharply drawn family drama that reads like a reality show from another universe.

Arthur, Eilidh, and Meredith are three adult siblings who have just discovered their powerful magitech mogul father has died. What follows is a deliciously toxic unravelling of legacy, identity, and power. Each sibling is painfully entitled and deeply unlikable in their own right—with weird entourages and questionable choices—but it works. You can’t look away.

Meredith in particular is a venomous force, and watching her clash with her ex-boyfriend Jamie (who is hellbent on taking her down) adds to the tension. Arthur is making a mess of everything while desperately craving love, and Eilidh’s arc—possibly possessed?—was strange and compelling.

There’s a unique narrative voice throughout Lou ("God," the narrator and Meredith’s ex–best friend) that adds a layer of surrealism and wit. I did struggle a bit with the world-building: the magitech elements and the siblings’ abilities are never fully explained, and it left me feeling unmoored at times.

That said, this was a wild, clever, often darkly funny ride. If you like your fiction messy, dramatic, and just a bit bizarre, this one’s worth the trip.

After devouring Gifted and Talented in a single weekend, I couldn’t resist diving into the audiobook right away, and I’m so glad that I did. I felt the audiobook would offer a fresh experience, and I was right.

The narrator brought the Wren siblings to life in a new and immersive way, capturing each sibling's distinct voice and personality, from Meredith’s vulnerability and frustration to Arthur’s desperate need for love and Eilidh’s sense of impending doom. While listening, I found myself getting even more invested in their chaotic, dysfunctional lives. The fast pace and captivating plot still kept me hooked, and I was able to catch small details I missed during my first read.

Whether you’re already a fan of the book or new to the story, this audio version is a fantastic way to experience the chaotic family drama of the Wren siblings.

𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒎𝒐𝒋𝒊𝒔: 😃👩🏻‍💼😃🔮😃📱😃🩰😃🍫😃 (couldn’t resist all the 😃- iykyk)

𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆: “ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴀᴘᴘ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ! 😃”

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒕: A gripping exploration of family dynamics, sibling rivalry and the journey from gifted & talented adolescent to burnt out adult set against a backdrop that blends magic, technology and power for a speculative feel.

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕:
😃 Succession ✨vibes✨
😃 Main Characters who are messy and real and absolutely awful people😂
😃 a cast of eccentric side characters (who aren’t perfect but some of whom aren’t awful people)
😃 Twists, Secrets & Betrayal
😃A blunt and colloquial ‘gossiping with your friends’ feel narrator.

𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘:
As a fan of Olivie Blake’s dense prose and someone who totally identifies with the Gifted child to burnt out adult pipeline, I knew I had to read this book asap and

From the first line, G&T captured my attention and while it isn’t a light read that you can just breeze through (and to clarify this is absolutely not a criticism: Blake’s style of prose is clever, provoking thought, inviting reflection and often requiring a bit of time to digest it) it kept me hooked throughout the twists and turns as the plot progressed, blending surreal, speculative and fantastical elements with raw explorations of dynamics, relationships and stereotypes within a family unit and the effects of formative trauma.

I absolutely loved Gillian and Yvez, two side characters connected to Arthur Wren (I think my favourite of the Wren siblings) but a standout secondary thread of the book for me, and what I connected with most, was Lou’s reflections on motherhood and accounts of her feeling towards ‘Monster’. As a toddler mum myself, it was incredible to read a realistic and raw depiction of motherhood and be able to relate to it so fully that it was actually emotional for me at times.

Overall I thought this was an interesting and unique read that was brilliantly crafted and I really liked the narration of the audiobook!

𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A sibling drama with magic is exactly what I needed to read. I recently read my first Olivie Blake book (One for My Enemy) and loved it. I'm now trying to read as much as I can from the author and this book did not disappoint.

Following the death of the family patriarch three siblings who don't exactly have anything in common have to gather at the family home to see who inherits the family's magical company.

I loved the dynamic between the siblings especially the nicknames given throughout. There was miscommunication and lack of ability to express emotions in great quantities in this book which was so sad but also realistic that you can't help but feel for the characters.

I especially loved the audiobook for this one and would highly recommend this to anyone who like urban fantasy with strong family elements.

Where There’s a Will, There’s a War crackles with razor-sharp wit, high-stakes family drama, and a healthy dose of psychic dysfunction. Thayer Wren may be dead, but his legacy is alive and scheming in his three wildly unbalanced heirs—each more desperate, damaged, and dangerously charming than the last.

Meredith, Arthur, and Eilidh are the perfect trio of “gifted kid burnout” gone corporate, political, and tragic. Their backstabbing pursuit of inheritance reads like Succession with superpowers, laced with biting social commentary and surprisingly heartfelt moments. This is a darkly funny, delightfully twisted take on legacy, identity, and the absolutely unhinged things we’ll do to earn a dead man’s love (and billions).

Highly recommended for fans of morally gray characters, sibling rivalries, and stories where the line between genius and disaster is telepathically thin.

Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake is an intriguing dive into the chaotic and often messy lives of the Wren siblings. Following the death of their father, Thayer Wren, the three prodigious siblings—Meredith, Arthur, and Eilidh—are forced to confront their past, their familial relationships, and the question of who will inherit their father's vast empire. Each character is deeply flawed, ambitious, and, at times, morally questionable, yet they are undeniably compelling. Blake's skillful writing makes these characters feel real—like a behind-the-scenes look at the dysfunctional lives of the ultra-privileged.

The novel's magical elements, particularly the siblings' extraordinary abilities, add a unique layer to the story. It’s fascinating to see how their powers intertwine with their personal struggles and ambitions. Despite their flaws, I found myself rooting for them, especially as they navigate the fallout from their father’s death.

What truly stands out here is the dynamic between the characters. The complexities of their relationships are well-crafted, creating a rich narrative that keeps you hooked. The audiobook narrator did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life. Their clear voice, even at higher speeds, kept the pacing tight and the intrigue high. I found myself eagerly pressing play to find out what would happen next.

While the book shines in character development and its examination of dysfunctional family dynamics, I do think the plot could have been a bit more engaging in places. The pacing felt uneven at times, with some sections dragging on a little too long. Nonetheless, Gifted & Talented is my favorite of Olivie Blake’s works so far, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you’re into flawed, ambitious characters and complex family drama with a touch of magic, this book is definitely worth a listen.

Overall, a solid 4-star read that I’d recommend to fans of character-driven narratives and speculative fiction.

Absolutely brilliant! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending it.

I downloaded this less than 2 weeks ago and was in the middle of 3 books at the time. This morning I have gone to listen to this audiobook from the Netgalley app to find it’s been archived and I can’t listen to it 🙄🙄 so dumb and annoying! I’m so disappointed

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook! I think the narration really suited the tone of the book and had a great delivery on the humorous aspects of the book. Even though there was not much plot happening throughout the book, the characters really took the spotlight. Also, even though the characters were all quite unlikeable in some way, I ended up getting so emotionally invested in how their story played out. At this point I really will read anything Olivie Blake writes and this book has solidified her as one of my favourite authors.