Book Club: Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake

Succession but with magic

Read This Book If: You want to be in the minds of the ultrarich because you secretly think they’re more broken than you and you want a sprinkle of magic

The following post contains spoilers. If you plan to read Gifted & Talented and want to be surprised, stop reading now.

I have never read an Olivie Blake book before this one, and after loving her interview on VE Schwab’s podcast, I decided it was time to start. This book arrived just after I finished The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, and the two sit at opposite ends in my mind. Amina’s plot raced along at a neck-breaking pace, and the magic sat front and center. Gifted and Talented focuses on the inner workings of the characters’ motivations and thoughts. The magic adds a little extra flavor, but it doesn’t feature as a central plot point or much of a focus.

I knew from the podcast interview that Blake writes character-focused stories, and this delivered on that promise. Contrasting it with Amina, Gifted and Talented almost feels like it should be shelved with Literary Fiction. It’s heavy on the internal development and detailed prose with a much slower plot. There is magic, yes, but it’s more of a sidebar, an interesting feature of the billionaire children of a magitech industry giant. The three main POVs–Meredith, Arthur, and Eilidh–dive into each of their neuroses and fears, their goals, and their relationships.

Of the main characters, I found Eilidh’s tale the most transfixing. As the youngest of the three, she barely knew their mother and didn’t have much of a relationship with her siblings. She became a ballerina, a darling of the industry, and after an accident, found herself forgotten and directionless. She saw her father as a man of compassion for stepping in when she was broken and helping to hold the pieces together.

Eilidh’s arc centers on finding herself again. I was not expecting her to dance at the funeral, but I found that to be the most emotional part of the entire book. Blake described the movements in a way that was pure and full of feeling that aligned with Eilidh’s pain and growth. I wish the entire book had been from her POV and that we could have met her earlier in her life.

Meredith had the classic story you’d expect of a billionaire’s child. She spends the novel trying to control everything, to prove that she is the genius everyone thought her to be. She’s ruthless, rude, and rational. Her growth comes from letting go, from admitting failure, from being human.

Arthur just wants to be loved. He’s hunting for it in the beginning and finds it right in front of him in the end.

As you can see from these descriptions, I just described the book without touching on the magic at all. They each have a gift, but it’s unclear how they acquired them. Eilidh creates apocalypses, Meredith can change people with her mind, and Arthur sparks electricity. All of these sound very cool and interesting, but the book doesn’t go into the magic much, if at all. Eilidh has to learn to face her own pain to end darkness that falls on the world, but that’s it. The other two barely talk about their powers and how they use them. The book cover claims magic is the family curse, so I was expecting a few more skeletons in their closet related to the magic. I was hoping for some family hex Beauty and the Beast-style where their family accrued wealth but at a cost.

This was not the case. Instead, they appear to have learned it from their friend, Lou, who also happens to be the narrator (we find this out at the midpoint). It’s magic they can google and learn, but somehow they also have their own powers? It was honestly a little confusing. I tried to suspend a need for explanation as if it were magical realism, and that helped me to accept the magic system, but, in keeping with the theme of this newsletter, I was craving a bit more magic.

I think this mostly comes down to marketing. If it were labeled as litfic with a speculative element or even magical realism, then it would be more accurately represented. But this was sitting in the fantasy section, so I was hoping for it to deliver on the family curse promise.

Overall, I’d recommend this book for the family drama, the prose, and the unexpected reflections on parenthood, especially being a mother.

I plan to check out another Olivie Blake book when I’m in the mood for something heavily character-driven. If you’ve read any that you loved, please share!

What did you think of Gifted and Talented?

May’s Book Club Pick

For May we’ll be shifting gears to cozy fantasy with Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill.

Here’s the official description:

Beneath the still surface of a lake lurks a monster with needle sharp teeth. Hungry and ready to pounce. A tale of fae, folklore, and found family, narrated by a charismatic lake-dwelling monster with a voice unlike any other, perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher.

If you’d like to chat as you read, make sure you join the Storygraph Buddy Read. I’ll be commenting and updating as I work through the book. The official discussion post for Substack will go up at the end of the month.

Want to plan ahead for the rest of the year? Here’s the schedule:

• June: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by VE Schwab

• July: The Web of Time by Flavia Brunetti

• August: Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

• September: Water Moon by Samantha Sotti Yambao

• October: The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

• November: Once Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods

• December: The Everlasting by Alix Harrow

I’m also going to be reading Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson this month for a fun new project (more on that soon!). I created a Buddy Read if you’d like to read along together.

I can’t wait to hear what you think of the books!

Wishing you more magic in the meantime,

Demi