The Gifted, the Talented and Me

By: William Sutcliffe

Narrated by: Ryan Watson

Laugh-out-loud funny and instantly recognisable - not since The Inbetweeners has a coming of age story been so irreverent and relatable.

Fifteen-year-old Sam isn't special. He's not a famous vlogger, he's never gone viral and he doesn't want to be the Next Big Thing. What he likes most is chatting to his friends and having a bit of a kick about.

None of which was a problem until Dad got rich and Mum made the whole family move to London. Now Sam is being made to go to the North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented, where every student is too busy planning Hollywood domination or starting alt-metal psychedelica crossover bands or making clothes out of bathmats to give someone as normal as him the time of day.

Can Sam navigate his way through the weirdness and find a way to be himself?

A brilliant modern satire about fitting in, falling out and staying true to your own averageness.

©2019 William Sutcliffe (P)2019 Audible, Ltd

FUN !!

This is a clever story ! While being fun and fanciful, the author plays on cliches and while entertaining the listener, weaves in thought provoking bullets that fly out unexpectedly and caused me to pause, and think. I enjoyed this even more than I expected. Dry humor with a touch of class.

Fun teenage tale of What it means to Be “Normal”

The book started out as a 5 for me with an original and humorous spin on the story of a teenager moving to a new school and finding himself separated from the friends he grew up with. In this case the hero was a “normal” guy with an interest in sports and lots of friends. When his parents move to London and transfer their kids to a school for the gifted and talented his siblings blossom and the hero is suddenly an outcast in a school where weird is cool and “normal” is definitely not. The angst of going from ordinary to outcast is a challenge told in some very funny adventures. The second part of the book drops to a “3” with an all-too predictable love story - but it’s still enjoyable overall.

Charming!

The story is rather simple, but it was executed so well in both writing and performance that it didn't need much more of anything.

This was one of the best narrator performances I've heard on Audible so far (out of 40-50 titles in my library).

My only complaint is that it's fairly short. I bought it on sale, but I would not have spent an entire credit on it.

Funny and cute

This would be great for kids. My nephews would love it and will definitely be getting a copy.

Just okay

The “Inbetweeners” likeness made me buy it but I was ultimately disappointed. It was pretty boring and inaccessible, meaning that the coming of age story seemed too much of a stretch and with no heart. I think I laughed once.