Books Like The Naturals
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The Naturals is a forensic-psychology‑meets-thriller YA novel built around a clinical premise: teenage behavioral outliers are recruited by the FBI to profile violent offenders. The book combines procedural puzzles (can a teen read a killer’s patterns?), a tight, season‑long investigation, and a protagonist whose emotional vulnerability — raised in the foster system and desperate for belonging — makes the stakes personal as well as intellectual.
Readers come for different things: the step-by-step profiling and cold-case reconstruction; the ensemble of distinct young specialists who trade barbed banter and secrets; or the slow-burning menace of an unseen serial killer shaping the plot. The picks below are grouped by which of those elements they most closely echo, with plain notes when a recommendation is primarily tone-based rather than procedural. Use the short blurbs to match what you loved about The Naturals to your next read.
Recommended for fans of The Naturals
One of Us Is Lying
Karen M. McManus
Tight YA mystery with an ensemble cast and twisty, investigative tension.
Pick this if you enjoyed the interplay of distinct teens whose secrets and skills drive suspicion. This shares the group-dynamic, locked‑room feel of an ensemble under pressure.
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
Holly Jackson
Teen sleuth investigating a cold case with suspenseful, methodical clues.
Pick this if it was Cassie’s clue‑by‑clue investigation and careful reconstruction that hooked you. This one maps closest to The Naturals’ procedural, methodical approach.
I Hunt Killers
Barry Lyga
Dark, psychological YA about a teen profiling murders and confronting legacy.
Pick this if you wanted the psychological, sometimes unsettling perspective of a teen who studies killers. This is morally darker and more personally fraught, matching the profiling focus.
Dangerous Girls
Abigail Haas
High-stakes boarding-school thriller full of betrayals and legal suspense.
Pick this if you liked claustrophobic settings and legal/perilous stakes among teens. It mirrors The Naturals’ pressure-cooker social dynamics, though with more courtroom-style fallout.
Two Can Keep a Secret
Karen M. McManus
Small-town high school mystery with stalking, secrets, and mounting danger.
Pick this if you wanted mounting external danger and secrets in a high-school setting. It shares the sense of escalating threat and investigative tension on a local scale.
We Were Liars
E. Lockhart
Atmospheric, twist-driven story about an insular group's dangerous secrets.
Pick this if you were drawn to the novel’s creeping unease and a major emotional twist. This recommendation is a mood match more than a procedural one.
The Cheerleaders
Kara Thomas
Slow-burn, darkly suspenseful unraveling of teenage secrets after tragedy.
Pick this if what gripped you was the slow unspooling of secrets after a tragedy. This is a quieter, more methodical unravel than The Naturals’ FBI pacing, so it’s a looser fit.
Killing November
Adriana Mather
Conspiratorial boarding-school setting with paranoia and secret societies.
Pick this if you liked the idea of teens placed in an institution with hidden rules and dangerous conspiracies. This matches the institutional, secret-society vibe more than the profiling mechanics.
Pretty Little Liars
Sara Shepard
Manipulative secrets, anonymous threats, and teen clique dynamics driving suspense.
Pick this if you were drawn to manipulative social dynamics, anonymous tormentors, and sustained cliffhangers. Expect more gossip-and-threats suspense than forensic procedure.
At a glance
Matches here were chosen for three specific dimensions of The Naturals: ensemble teen sleuth dynamics, crime‑profiling/procedural mechanics, and the novel’s atmospheric suspense. Percentages show how many of those dimensions each pick shares, not a wholesale likeness of plot or tone.
| Book | First published | Pages | Closest match on | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
One of Us Is Lying Karen M. McManus | 2017 | 360 | Ensemble mystery tension | 92% |
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder Holly Jackson | 2019 | 431 | Methodical cold-case sleuthing | 90% |
I Hunt Killers Barry Lyga | 2012 | 193 | Dark teen profiler perspective | 88% |
Dangerous Girls Abigail Haas | 2013 | 394 | High-stakes boarding-school thriller | 85% |
Two Can Keep a Secret Karen M. McManus | 2019 | 332 | Small-town stalking mystery | 83% |
We Were Liars E. Lockhart | 2014 | 240 | Atmospheric, twist-driven prose | 82% |
The Cheerleaders Kara Thomas | 2018 | 384 | Slow-burn psychological suspense | 80% |
Killing November Adriana Mather | 2019 | 416 | Conspiratorial boarding-school paranoia | 78% |
Pretty Little Liars Sara Shepard | 2006 | 297 | Cliques, anonymous threats | 77% |
About The Naturals
The Naturals (2013) is Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s first YA thriller and the opening volume of a series that follows Cassie Hobbes, a teenage natural profiler, at an FBI training program for gifted teens. The book launched Barnes's reputation for blending psychological detail with YA pacing and spawned sequels that continue the series' procedural throughline.
Frequently asked questions
Which book should I read next if I liked The Naturals’ FBI/profiling angle?+
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga is the closest in procedural and psychological focus — a teen deeply entwined with violent crime research — while A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder frames its investigation around methodical clue-gathering by a teen sleuth.
Want more books with ensemble casts of teens with special skills?+
One of Us Is Lying features an ensemble where each teenager carries secrets and specialists' perspectives, creating the group-dynamic tension that fuels much of The Naturals.
Are there quieter, moodier YA mysteries like The Naturals?+
Yes. We Were Liars and The Cheerleaders both prioritize atmospheric unease and slow reveals over police procedure; they echo The Naturals’ emotional suspense more than its profiling mechanics.
Does Jennifer Lynn Barnes have more books like The Naturals?+
Yes. Barnes continued Cassie’s story in sequels to The Naturals, which deepen the FBI procedural framework and the series’ darker through-plot; she also writes other YA thrillers that touch similar beats.
Which picks are best if I liked The Naturals for the twisty reveals?+
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and One of Us Is Lying both build toward significant twists from tightly controlled clues and red herrings.
More books by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
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