The book, The Gifted, is a Science Fiction story written by obsessive_bookwcrm. The book follows two unalike young ladies as they struggle with the hardships of a test that defines their future quality of life. The story is told from the perspective of Elayne and Rel, two girls from completely different backgrounds. Rel is an orphan who grew up on the streets with partners in crime Sage and Asher. Elayne lives with her loving mother and father. Both girls live in Sector 13 and both girls have their lives changed drastically when going to take the Examination. 

One of the main protagonist is Elayne. She is described as an 'ordinary' girl. She goes to school, she follows the rules, and she's worried about the Examination like everyone else her age. It is at the Examination that she finds out she's not the ordinary girl she thought she was. She is a special kind of person called "Gifted" who have extraordinary abilities that are rare to be born with. Even more rare is that bother her parents are not gifted -- which having a gifted child to two ungifted parents was thought to be impossible. Elayne is a relatable character with real life flaws. She has a happy balance of wit and naivety with a dash of angst -- as expected from a teen her age.

The other protagonist is Rel, who is essentially the very opposite of Elayne. She doesn't have parents, she doesn't have a home, she didn't go to school, and she doesn't follow the rules. She was orphaned at age five and had been on the streets since she ran away from the orphanage. She is described as a hardy and resourceful young lady who isn't afraid to break the rules to survive -- even going as far as putting the lives of others in danger (though most of it seems to be subconscious). Unlike Elayne, Rel knew about her special abilities since she was a young age. Even knowing about it, she has yet to be able to control it.

I like how this book has two different storylines -- a third if the prologue is anything to go by -- that will eventually merge into one. We're shown two different girls who are extremely different -- even their elements are opposite -- that will be eventually herded into the same place: Academy. There is not much I can conclude because it being so early on in the story, but I cannot wait to actually read more of this book. The characters are well written and thought out, the world is revealed to us slowly instead of us being smacked in the face with history lessons in one whole go. The history of the world is gradually spread out in mini lessons through the dialogue of the characters or the thoughts of Elayne or Rel.

(Rating ⭐️/5)

Originality ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The concept of the story has a small taste of Divergent but is completely different. It spins the tale of two girls struggling to overcome the hand they've been dealt by - - not life -- but the authority of the sector they live in.

Vision ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The flow of the story is very well maintained. Even though every chapter flip-flops between the two characters, one can still keep up with the events that are happening around us. I can picture this world and can feel what every character shown is going through -- even the characters who aren't really given a face, I can imagine what they're going through.

Impact ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Does it move me? Yes. I felt like I was in this story. I felt the character's emotions instead of me just reading it. I saw the characters instead of me just reading. The world is interesting and the way the story is structured keeps me in the moment - -keeps me wanting to read. I  went into this story expecting an interesting sci-fi piece of work and I was not disappointed at all. 

Technique ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

There were little to no grammatical errors that jumped out at me. There was nothing distracting about word choice or sentence structure at all. There were a few places that could use work and then there were the mistakes with the commas-- but nothing that was like a red marker on a test. 

Cover ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

At first, I was confused by the cover. I liked the design but I didn't really understand what the flames were for. When I read the story, I pieced it together. Blue and Red, Water and Fire. Rel and Elayne. It makes perfect sense and it compliments the book so well. I also like the fact you've included the main part of the summary on the cover. Gives a reader a look at the book before they look at the book, if you catch my drift. 

Summary ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The summary puts us in the world before we even open the book. We know where we are, we know when we are, we know why we're there. It also gives us a peek in the lives of our two main characters and is a partial source of their background. We go into the story already knowing a little bit about Elayne and Rel before we even meet them.

Overall ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5