The Exceptionals

By: Erin Cashman

Narrated by: Madeleine Lambert

In a famous family of exceptionally talented people, fifteen-year-old Claire Walker is ordinary...or so she leads everyone to believe. Yet the minute she steps out of line, her parents transfer her to Cambial Academy: the prestigious boarding school that her great-grandfather founded for students with supernatural abilities, or "specials."

Although Claire can't see ghosts or move objects with her mind like the other students, she does have a special she considers too lame to admit. Just as she is settling in, one by one the most talented students--the Exceptionals--go missing. In an attempt to find out what happened to them, Claire uncovers a dark prophecy foretelling a mysterious girl who will use her ability to save Cambial students from a dire fate.

Could she be that girl? Does the gorgeous but secretive boy she meets in the woods know more than he's letting on? After years of ignoring her special, Claire decides the time has come to embrace her ability...before it's too late.

©2012 Erin Cashman. All rights reserved. (P)2012 AudioGO

This Book is Exceptional!

I enjoyed this book so so so much! I had high hopes and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest bit! After reading so many YA novels, it's nice to read something that is not only different, but something good.

At first I was worried if I'm a bit too old for the book, but no. People of all ages will be able to enjoy this book, no doubt about that. Erin Cashman managed to capture the combination of fantasy, suspense and romance. Everything was well balanced. There wasn't a single moment when you would think, “Please! Not this again!” Everything about it was unique and intriguing. I was hooked within the first five minutes.

Cambial Academy is fascinating and mysterious world that I would love to know more about. The characters are fabulous as well, especially Claire. I feel like I could relate to her in so many ways. She started as a insecure teenager who is always trying to fit in and measure up to her parents expectations. In most circumstances, I would find this kind of protagonist annoying and weak. Yet throughout the book, I see Claire as a strong, intelligent and independent character.

Overall, The Exceptionals truly is Exceptional!

Ee-yew!

How could the performance have been better?

The adults sounded like idiots, and many of the "high school" students sounded like congested grade schoolers.

Not Really that Exceptional

This young adult story was good for its target audience. However, it portrays the adults as bumbling, not very smart and less intuitive than teens. I know its a YA adult book but it could have been kinder to the parents and teachers of these oh so exceptional teens. Story was still interesting, the animals made it more likeable for me. Get it when its on sale, don't waste your credit.

Narrator was fine.

Great performance Weak story

Any additional comments?

The narrator was great. She could convey emotions in different voices and made the experience of listening very enjoyable. I would certainly want to listen to her again.

Unfortunately, the story was about a bimbo named Claire who was dumbstruck by a good looking boy. Although the story was about exceptional people with special powers, most of the characters, especially Claire, just seemed stupid. I was really annoyed by the way we were teased with the potential of Claire's great and powerful ability - communicating with animals - but she really ends up doing very little with that power. Another part that annoyed me was when the super villain who - like a great Sith Lord - was earlier able to effortlessly wave bullets aside in a dark cave but suddenly found himself unable to cope with an attack by a big hawk in broad daylight.

I don't want to risk spoilers by citing more examples of plot holes and silly behaviour by the characters. However, I will say that there is a lot more teen romance than fantasy in the Exceptionals. In other words, much of the book is about a girl mooning about a boy, rather than about a girl with special powers and what it means for people to have "super" power. If you like stories of girls who spend a great deal of time thinking, "he is so handsome" "does he like me" "Dillion will save me and my parents" in a 'fantastic' setting, and so on, "The Exceptionals" will probably resonate with you. If you want to read a book about smart kids, pick up The Benedict Society or one of the old Enid Blyton books instead.

Lives up to the title...exceptional!

The Exceptionals is captivating. Erin Cashman is in the same class as J.K Rowlings and
Suzanne Collins. I was drawn into the story. There are parallels to the Potter series and its pivotal moments and they done very well. Madeleine Lambert was a good choice for narrator, her performance adds depth to the story. I highly recommend this book.

Very Entertaining Light Listening

The story was engrossing and the characters likable. There were interesting twists in the story so that you weren't quite sure who the bad guys were. A great story for taking your mind away from real life, letting you just sit back and enjoy. I do wish the narrator would stop with her annoying habit of using an adnoid voice for one of her characters. She reads her characters well enough that she doesn't need to do that. It was the only thing I didn't like about the book.

Pretty good, actually!

I bought this book on a whim, and was hesitant because it is not available in ebook format. I saw it on Audible and looked it up on another site to read the hardcover reviews, and I liked the sound of the narrator on the sample, so I took a chance. This book is actually pretty good light listening, it held my interest and I enjoyed it. The narrator is good so it really is an enjoyable and worthwile listen if you are interested in young adult paranormal books.It held my attention.In addition I have even relistened to it once already. If this becomes a series I would like to keep buying the audiobooks.And for the record I am an adult listener, not a teen. Some of the other similar series and books I have enjoyed listening to are House of Night (some books more than others and especially some narrators more than others!), The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Vampire Academy, Divergent, Shatter Me, The Dark Divine series by Bree Despain, I am Number 4 (The Lorien Legacies series), and Carrie Ryan's Forest of Hands and Teeth series,Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments, and Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers trilogy., Just to give you some idea of what else I've really enjoyed since I like this genre. I also liked the Evernight series by Claudia Gray but they are not yet available in audiobook format. So, I'm an adult who always enjoys a GOOD YA paranormal book whether there's any romance in it or it's just adventure.

Interesting plot

I found this book to be entertaining and although it can easily remind you of the Harry Potter series in that there's a school for "exceptional children", it does have its own magic, no pun intended :)

Excellent book with potential for so much more!

First in a series that looks very promising, solid story. I loved this book and will read the entire series as it becomes available. My only disappointment was in some of the character building some of the characters were misunderstood as if we missed a bit of back story. However I still loved this one. Original because it is not a dystopian novel as most are right now, not that I mind that but its still a good change of pace! Take a listen, you wont be disappointed.