The Ultimate Sacrifice (The Gifted Teens Series 1)
By: Talia Jager
ISBN: 2940012446725
Published May 19, 2011
Available Format: ebook

My Rating: ★★★★☆

It’s pretty cool being a teen with a supernatural gift—that is unless you have the power to inflict pain with your mind and you can’t control it. That’s exactly the situation in which sixteen-year-old Kassia finds herself. Kassia enrolls in a special school for gifted teens and subsequently meets her new best friend, Mira, and a pretty awesome love interest, Daxton. When Mira is brutally attacked off campus, Kassia rescues her but finds that her power is much more dangerous than anyone knew. And, she’s caught the interest of some truly devious demons in the process. Now, she and her friends must leave the institute and try to stop the demon forces before they get out of hand. Will Kassia be able to make the ultimate sacrifice to save them all, or will she succumb to the evil that seeks her out?

I really enjoyed The Ultimate Sacrifice a bit more than Talia’s other books I have read so far (I have one more which I’m working on right now!). I think that’s because it is fantasy and has less to do with real life, which I find I like to avoid at all cost whenever possible. Ha!
I love the way this story is structured. I love the characters and the fact they each have these special abilities and work together so well. They complement each other not only in their powers but their individual personalities as well. There was such honest and interesting chemistry between them, especially Kassia and Daxton. (I think his gift was my favorite!)

There were bits and pieces of the writing that I felt could have been cleaned up a little. Sometimes the characters thoughts go off on a little tangent or at least wander off enough to be distracting from the action. I do think Jager did a better job of building up to a more definite climax in this story, and I am sure that the fantasy element played a huge role in that. I think writing from first-person point of view actually limits a story sometimes, so it really helped that she switched up who we heard from (Kassia, Mira, etc.) so we got a more rounded story. I’d love to see Talia write something from a different point of view in the future.

Overall, this book was a lot of fun, well thought out, and fresh and interesting in the world of SO much YA paranormal romance! Jager is a fantastic and talented storyteller, and I look forward to following her work for years to come… ( )

I'm sick of hearing about vampires and werewolves. Now, the thing is zombies. But, I'll admit it, I have a soft spot for heroines with superpowers (I may be biased), which is Jager's fresh take on the young adult paranormal genre in "The Ultimate Sacrifice". This book struck me at the core and I don't usually read YA. It's intense nearly from beginning and all the way to the end. It is hard, fast, and brought tears to my eyes several times. Her protagonist, Kassia, is infinitely likeable, particularly for anyone who understands what its like to be outcast (and to have a temper you can't control!) I fell in love with the love interest and Kassia's best friend reminded me of my own. I highly recommend this book to anyone who adores young adult and the paranormal. ( )