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The Predicteds

by Christine Seifert (Goodreads Author)

3.39 of 5 stars 3.39 · rating details · 756 ratings · 173 reviews

Daphne is the new girl in town and is having trouble fitting in. At least she has Jesse… sort of. He wants to be more than “just friends,” but there’s something he’s not telling her about his past. Something dangerous. When a female student is brutally attacked, police turn to PROFILE, a new program that can predict a student’s capacity for violent behavior, to solve the c...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published September 1st 2011 by Sourcebooks Fire

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2011 Debut Authors (Young Adult and Middle Grade Lit.)

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Mar 21, 2012 Linna rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teens who like being thought of as idiots, people who may consider naming their child Cuteny

This started out okay. The writing is pretty good and the protagonist is likable, plus the premise sounds interesting. But I was so taken aback by how dumbed down it felt, like teen audiences are fine with stereotypes instead of characters and a bland plot that doesn't really tackle any deep stuff our heads couldn't comprehend, because it's all good as long as everything is sealed with a kiss in the end.

One of those cringe-worthy incidents that set off alarm bells in my head was when Jesse is de...more This started out okay. The writing is pretty good and the protagonist is likable, plus the premise sounds interesting. But I was so taken aback by how dumbed down it felt, like teen audiences are fine with stereotypes instead of characters and a bland plot that doesn't really tackle any deep stuff our heads couldn't comprehend, because it's all good as long as everything is sealed with a kiss in the end.

One of those cringe-worthy incidents that set off alarm bells in my head was when Jesse is described as a cross between Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a Greek God because of his gorgeous eyelashes and perpetually creased forehead. He's very tan and mysterious. But in the first few pages we hear the school shooter spend one paragraph announcing his intentions and the quote is... well, I read it to people and they can't tell if it's satire or not. Pretty much word for word:

"The shooter's voice is gravelly. He has a sore throat, I think to myself. "I hate dumbfucks," he's saying. "I hate all the dumb people, the retards, the people who screw everything up for me. I'm too good for this. Too good for this shitty world. You know? Nobody is ever going to truly get me. I'm all alone." He's crazy.

"Death to socialism!" he says now, triumphantly. "Death to politics and the establishment and the so-called authorities!"

WHAT.

He then proceeds to shoot everywhere without actually harming anyone (he has terrible aim! /handwave) before getting knocked out by the heroic Love Interest. And then after that he kills himself, because what would we do if he actually needed to explain what happens to him afterwards.

WHAT.

Then there is a personality test that everyone in this one high school can take that predicts what whether you will commit a crime in the future. We know about this because the main character's mom (who graduated with two master degrees before she was 21 and was the youngest person ever to get a PhD from MIT and is a neuroscientist who also knows a lot about computer science and genetics) worked with it at Utopia Labs. Utopia Labs. Which is pushed aside because of this angsty teen drama that resonates with us because ditzy popular girls and jocks pervade every high school ever. There is one ditzy popular girl who's name is

Cuteny

I can't even(less)

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Mar 11, 2012 Sandra Howard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, scifi, stand-alone, cover-love, young-adult

INITIAL THOUGHTS:

I’ve read tons of books that have great covers but with a not so good story line which made a little hesitant to read this book. I was curious to know what the real content of this book is. The Goodreads summary was very short and not entirely what the whole book was about. That summary didn’t do the book any justice!

PLOT:

Daphne recently transferred to Quiet, Oklahoma with her mother Melissa. On her first day, a shooting incident occurred where she was saved by Jesse who held...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Danielle rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fiction, just-fun

A YA novel for a psychologist (like me!) to love.

UPDATE

I grabbed this at the library and it's a very fast read - I'm about 20% through it in what feels like about 5 minutes. It's not bad, and I do love a YA novel about psychology, but I'm having a very hard time accepting the premise that science could perfectly predict anti-social behavior. I'm curious to see where she goes with it.

FINAL UPDATE

Most disappointing book I've read in awhile. At first I thought it was just because it's so teenager-y...more A YA novel for a psychologist (like me!) to love.

UPDATE

I grabbed this at the library and it's a very fast read - I'm about 20% through it in what feels like about 5 minutes. It's not bad, and I do love a YA novel about psychology, but I'm having a very hard time accepting the premise that science could perfectly predict anti-social behavior. I'm curious to see where she goes with it.

FINAL UPDATE

Most disappointing book I've read in awhile. At first I thought it was just because it's so teenager-y - they go to the mall, they have arguments in the lunchroom, they fret about what to wear to a party. After reading so many dystopian novels, where the young people are facing certain death, and battling megalomaniacs and repressive governments, the everyday trials of modern youth seem, well, incredibly trite.

But I think the problems with this book go beyond that. Daphne is full of snarky observations about the teachers and students at her school, but she jumps head first into the clique she derides. And she's kind of an idiot. It's extremely obvious to the reader what's going on about 200 pages before Daphne figures it out (despite the neon sign in the form of Dreiser's novel, An American Tragedy, having a major role in the story). She is not a worthy heroine for this story, and she's not even a very interesting character in general (being a smart ass doesn't substitute for actual character development). Half the time I wanted to reach into the book and slap her. Not someone you want to spend 300+ pages with.

And the author uses a bunch of real life horrors as plot devices - a school shooting, a stabbing, a beating, a near rape, and the upshot of all this is that Daphne finally gets a boyfriend. It trivializes these traumas in a way that I found really off-putting.

The author considers a couple of interesting ideas, and there's a few interesting moments in the book, and it's not badly written (which is why I gave it a 2 and not a 1; that and the cool shout out to NPR), but the last hundred pages, I was just trying to get through it so that I could start another book. It's a shame that CS didn't take this provocative idea and do more with it. She could have written a really thought provoking book, but she either chickened out, or she just thinks her target audience is stupid.(less)

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Oct 05, 2011 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm going to be honest.I bought this book because I liked the cover. After reading the summary, I felt pretty pleased with myself, because it actually sounded like it was something that I could get into.

It turns out that figuring out who's going to win major sporting events isn't the only talent I have, apparently, I have a knack for picking good books, as well.

The Predicteds is, by far, the most realistic book I've read in a while. It doesn't hold any complicated explanations, or trying moment...more

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Sep 02, 2011 Pam Lestrange rated it 5 of 5 stars

4.5

I really liked this book!

The Predicteds was both predictable and unpredictable. It didn't make me *gasp* when the revelations were made, but it was still quite confusing, especially at first. I felt like I was one of the characters. I don't know who to trust, and I don't know what will happen next. This was definitely not the story I was expecting. The book was not entirely dystopian... it actually feels like contemp/realistic fiction to me, with bits of sci-fi and mystery because of PROFILE....more 4.5

I really liked this book!

The Predicteds was both predictable and unpredictable. It didn't make me *gasp* when the revelations were made, but it was still quite confusing, especially at first. I felt like I was one of the characters. I don't know who to trust, and I don't know what will happen next. This was definitely not the story I was expecting. The book was not entirely dystopian... it actually feels like contemp/realistic fiction to me, with bits of sci-fi and mystery because of PROFILE.

Now, for the romance, I think Jesse and Daphne's relationship kind of bloomed quickly. I usually hate having to read about a girl falling in love with a guy that fast, but at least Daphne did not become blind when she fell in love. When there were things going around Jesse, she herself doubted her boyfriend. That made her seem realistic, for me. At one point, she also thought of her own safety.

The conversations were smooth, and Daphne was easy to relate to. Just Daphne. The other characters, especially her "friends," felt a bit dull me.

There were also some really interesting things that were discussed at the end, which I won't be mentioning in this review. After I read this book, I thought about it a lot and I badly wanted to discuss it with someone. I think I also have to mention the blurbs at each chapter introduction... those things made me want to read even if it's really late at night. I read chapter by chapter, and if I get to see an intriguing blurb at the start of each chapter... well then, "I can sleep by the time I finish this book."

Oh, and by the way, it also has some clever and funny one liners. Another reason why I liked it.

The Predicteds is so different from other YA books I've read. I mean that as a good thing, of course. Aside from the interesting storyline, this book brings up things that will get the reader thinking. Also, I think this is the kind of book that will keep you up all night even if you have school the next day. That's what it did for me.(less)

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Jan 03, 2012 Tera rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-z-reading-challenge-2012

The Predicteds was a great book to read. How would you act if you one of your classmates were predicted to be a killer in the future? That is the question. The kids at QH have all taken a test to determine what type of person they will be in the future. Theives, president, killer?? Can you really predict what people will become by a few questions in their teens..... I liked the storyline of how once people thought they knew what someone was - it changed their way of looking at them. One day a fr...more

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Nov 29, 2011 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, teen

Scientists invent a program that can predict a student's future behavior. They test it in one high school. When one student goes on a rampage and kills himself, parents push for the scores to be revealed. At the center of this is a new student, Daphne. Her mother worked on the program but has ethical concerns about it. Daphne quickly makes friends with the popular crowd, but finds herself drawn to Jesse. Then one of the girls is brutally beaten and Daphne finds out that Jesse is predicted to be...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Amy Allred rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book has a really cool concept, and I like the overall message. It raises some interesting questions about who we are and if we are destined to be certain people because of our genes. I just don't think the plot did the concept justice. It's basically a typical high school melodrama, with a little twist because of PROFILE.

There were a lot of little things about the book that I found annoying. Every time Daphne described another person it was in a condescending way - their shorts are too sho...more This book has a really cool concept, and I like the overall message. It raises some interesting questions about who we are and if we are destined to be certain people because of our genes. I just don't think the plot did the concept justice. It's basically a typical high school melodrama, with a little twist because of PROFILE.

There were a lot of little things about the book that I found annoying. Every time Daphne described another person it was in a condescending way - their shorts are too short, their hair always looks wet even though it's dry, they don't know how to use the English language, etc. She admits that this is a flaw she picked up from her mother, but it made me not really like Daphne as a person. Is that really how she sees everybody? I think Jesse was the only person she had anything good to say about.

I didn't like how accident prone Daphne was. It was a little over the top, and was just a way for Jesse to come and help her a bunch of times. Some of her mishaps are just plain ridiculous and not really believable.

I don't like it when authors constantly tell you what the characters are wearing. It's okay when it's a special outfit, or fits in with the dialogue, or is a quirky attribute of the character, but for the first half of the book you are told every single outfit that Daphne and other characters are wearing, and then as the plot gets going the clothes get left out. So it just feels like the author is trying to fill up space in the early chapters. She tells you that Jesse's signature color must be blue, and then the next couple of outfits she describes him in aren't blue. Those kind of inconsistencies drive me crazy. Just leave out the clothes!

The other annoying thing is that half the conversations in the book are "I need to tell you something." "Wait, don't tell me right now, I don't want to ruin this special moment." Or, "It's a long and complicated story, so lets just sit in silence by the pool instead of talking about it." They couldn't talk about it because it would have been obvious (to the reader at least) who the bad guy was. A plot shouldn't be built around something that can be solved if people would just have one simple conversation.

I did read the whole book. I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't recommend it to my friends. I guess it just wasn't my style.(less)

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Jul 31, 2012 Tales Untangled rated it 1 of 5 stars

I was really intrigued with the premise of The Predicteds, though it reminded me of Minority Report. The first couple of chapters were intense and full of promise. I quickly became disappointed as the story line strayed away from the ramifications of being predicted by the PROFILE. The actual plot deviates into a mess of high school drama.

Daphne exhibits good sense and yet she get in with the popular crowd, who are shallow and sometimes cruel. Daphne continues to reach out to social rejects even...more

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Mar 13, 2012 Mstaranis rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm in two minds about this one which is why I gave it three stars.

The idea is there, I can see why it got publishers interested, but it's so disjointed in its delivery that I struggled with it at times. It starts strong, & kept my interest throughout, even when it started becoming hugely predictable...

(see what I did there?)

My biggest problem was with the characters. None of them really stuck out, they just seemed to be a bunch of bland people who hang out together doing bland things.

When...more

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Dec 14, 2011 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Occasionally I read a book that makes me wish for a moment that I could teach just one more junior honors English class. This book was one of them. There were several pluses to the book from the start. Seifert is a fellow Utahan. Also this is a first novel, which is always intriguing.

The book brought out some issues that would be a treat to debate with a classroom of students. The book stirred echoes in me of A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. The question raised in both works is, "What rig...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars

See My Full Review Here: http://www.hippiesbeautyandbooksohmy....

First Impressions: I was so excited when I received this book! When I had first read the book synopsis I knew I really wanted to get my hands on it, like immediately. I thought the whole idea of PROFILE was really interesting and unique and was stoked to see what the author would do with that premise.

First 50 Pages: What do you do when a book lets you down? Do you continue to read it and push through? Or do you give up? I always tr...more See My Full Review Here: http://www.hippiesbeautyandbooksohmy....

First Impressions: I was so excited when I received this book! When I had first read the book synopsis I knew I really wanted to get my hands on it, like immediately. I thought the whole idea of PROFILE was really interesting and unique and was stoked to see what the author would do with that premise.

First 50 Pages: What do you do when a book lets you down? Do you continue to read it and push through? Or do you give up? I always try to make it through to the very end, especially if the book was given to me to review. In this case, it was. The first couple of chapters were great! I loved how the book started off, but it seemed to only go downhill from there. Let me explain that more…

Characters & Plot: From reading the book synopsis, I had thought that this book was going to center around PROFILE, an experimental program that predicts student’s future behaviors. That is why I wanted this book so much! What I got instead, was another cliché love story with a PROFILE side plot. It wasn’t the main plot! So much of the story centered on Daphne and Jesse and their (I hate to say it, but it’s true) obnoxious group of friends. I wasn’t expecting any of that and I didn’t like where the plot was going.

To start out with, the so-called romance between these two characters was gag-worthy. If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that I can’t stand weak characters, especially weak female characters. They are the reason I couldn’t get into the whole Twilight saga. I really, really, prefer a strong female lead over someone who can’t defend herself and needs to be saved constantly. While reading this book, I honestly lost track of how many times Jesse had to come rescue Daphne from some sort of predicament she was in. Really? How many books do we have to have where the “hot” guy comes and saves the day. It was like Twilight all over again and so unoriginal. Once again, not what I was expecting.

On top of an unoriginal main plot line and main characters, we are also given the most obnoxious set of supporting characters ever created. I know, I sound dramatic, but it has to be said. The people that Daphne hangs out with are nothing like her. They are the popular crowd, the mean girls, and basically they are everything Daphne isn’t. I couldn’t understand why Daphne would be friends with these people. They just didn’t fit well together and I couldn’t see why the author would focus so much time on these characters.

Okay…so far I’ve had nothing good to say about this book, so I will give you some positive aspects. First, the book had a very realistic feel to it. It didn’t come across as far-fetched to me. It wouldn’t surprise me if some big money-grubbing company figured out how to do a program like PROFILE at some point in my lifetime. It’s actually kind of scary when you think about it.

The best parts in this book were the parts centered around PROFILE. It was really interesting when the plot would shift to that aspect and explore it deeper, which was few and far in between. I really wish the author would have focused more on PROFILE and not so much on the tween romance. It could have made this book so much better because the PROFILE parts of this book were the ones that really stood out. Bummer!

Final Thoughts: Please don’t take my word for it! I know there are many other people who really enjoyed this book. For me, I felt cheated. It wasn’t what I was promised when I requested the book for review. I’m sure it will appeal to Twilight fans and people who are into the whole teenage romance/ dependant characters thing. It’s just not my idea of something great. Would I recommend it? Probably not. I hope I’m not being too harsh! (less)

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Oct 15, 2011 - rated it 1 of 5 stars

Am I the only one immensely disappointed with this book? I found it cliché and painful. It has everything for a perfect teen novel- a group of ditzy girls, jock stereotype guys, the (of course unquestionably 'hot') mysterious outcasts, and the girl that is smarter and better than everyone. And what better setting then a little town in the middle of nowhere with a noun as a name to complete it. Your heart just wrenches as poor Daphne has to deal with these lesser beings. It's a good thing she has...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Whatchyareading added it

Shelves: christine, debut-author, science-fiction, young-adult

When I first read about The Predicteds, I thought I had it figured out. I dropped it into a category, thinking ‘it sounds like Minority Report‘. But oh, how wrong I was. Because while the premise is similar, The Predicteds is unlike anything you’ve read or seen before.

Daphne is the only point of view in this book. She’s a junior at a new school. Her first week she almost dies once, is threatened with violence and/or death once, and meets a hot guy in glasses who saves her both times. So already...more

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Aug 28, 2011 Bailey (IB Book Blogging) rated it 4 of 5 stars

THE PREDICTEDS is a skillfully crafted YA debut that is sure to intrigue readers. Going into THE PREDICTEDS, I was expecting a dystopian novel, but what I got was definitely not that. It is more of a contemporary novel with a few unique concepts thrown in that give it a bit of a sci-fi feel. It took awhile for the story to take off, but once it did, I was glued to the pages! And while there were a few minor annoyances, I was able to enjoy the overall story.

Daphne was a bit confusing to me. She s...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Predicteds by Christine Seifert follows Daphne who has just moved to Quiet Oklahoma. On her first day at the new school she is involved in a school shooting where she is saved by Jesse who shoves her in a cabinet and disables the attacker. Soon after the attack rumblings happen in the town that his behavior was "predicted". Daphne soon finds out that her mother was the creator of a program that was given to students in the town that could predict if a teen will commit an act of violence, abu...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Sophia711 rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 7th-grade, gave-me-a-new-perspective

the idea of PROFILE scares me and makes me angry. to know your future because of what a computer tells you after you take a stupid test means that science is progressing at an abominable rate. the PROFILEd people are KIDS, and to tell them when they're, like, 16 that they'll be criminals and to treat the predicteds so horribly for things they haven't done is outrageous. if something like this ever happens, and i pray that it won't, i will be so angry. i don't want a machine to tell me that i'm g...more

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Sep 01, 2012 Trisha rated it 1 of 5 stars

I guess I had had high hopes for this one because I was disappointed when it wasn't what I thought it would be.
The plot - which the back of the book inaccurately makes it sound like it's about predicting which people will commit a crime, but running the tests not on adults, but on High School Teens - is actually about Daphne and her high school adventures.

So many things just didn't make sense. Around her first day (or so) involves a high school shooter and being saved by a hot mysterious guy na...more I guess I had had high hopes for this one because I was disappointed when it wasn't what I thought it would be.
The plot - which the back of the book inaccurately makes it sound like it's about predicting which people will commit a crime, but running the tests not on adults, but on High School Teens - is actually about Daphne and her high school adventures.

So many things just didn't make sense. Around her first day (or so) involves a high school shooter and being saved by a hot mysterious guy named Jesse. Luckily, the shooter doesn't kill anyone - except himself - so the school is saved YAY! But...no one is traumatized by this event. Sure she says "wow, I feel funny every time I come in the high school" or whatever annoying thing she said - and yet THEY ARE BACK TO SCHOOL <2 WEEKS LATER! Just long enough to paint the walls and fill in the bullet holes. And the first day back is actually CLASS?? seriously, where are the grief counselors, where are the staff crying and hugging. Where is the trauma?! These guys have been through a school shooting!!! Really?!

But, then as soon as they are back at school she meets the shooter's sister, January! And January is doing pretty okay - chatting about strange things and just doing nothing much but hanging out with Daphne.

Then, a few days later, Daphne is thrown through a wall that is just a huge window at a restaurant. Jesse - weird stalker boy - is there and helps her through the blood and gore of her head wound. And then, three days later, DAPHNE IS SHOPPING??!?! I am amazed her mom lets her leave the house!!! They have been in this town - maybe a month - and so far she's been shot at and been thrown through a window - and the most her mom can say is "Come back without a head injury".

There is absolutely no concern about Daphne or any of the kids. The shooter's sister is even shopping on the same day Daphne is! She's not even staying inside just to avoid people?! This is supposed to be a small town and she's just strolling around?? Just because her brother didn't kill anyone, he injured (I think) 25 people at school?! and the sister is just strolling around town??!! She's not grieving, not holding her mom while they both cry - they aren't even shunned by the small town?!?!

And the moment with Daphne, Jesse and the shooter's family under the stairs - it was just weird - I couldn't figure out why that was left int he book?

And all of this happens within the first 100 pages - so don't think I'm giving you some revealing plot lines here!!!

And, last of all - Daphne's clumsiness!! Her purse gets caught in the weeds so she falls in the water?! She's running along and trips in the road from a trip cord? It was just another distraction for me as I tried to figure out the logistics of her fall.

And Jesse's comment about it being a good thing he wasn't a vampire because she's always cut and bleeding around him. Just...ugh...

If I weren't doing a review for a local book store in my town, I would never have finished this book. I've read quite a bit of YA novels so it's not that I'm not used to reading YA. I've just never read a YA novel that made less sense.(less)

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Apr 25, 2012 Elizabeth Cole rated it 4 of 5 stars

I can honestly say that this book kept me guessing until about three quarters of the way through, but also had an intriguing storyline along the way.

Daphne Wright is the daughter of a prestigious scientist who happens to work for a large corporation called Utopia Laboratories (original much?). This lab has created a test called PROFILE which can determine whether someone will be a criminal (violent crime or social downfall) and therefore predict (hence "The Predicteds") what their life path will...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Sari rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book had an interesting concept. Innovative technologies breed current ways of attempting to understand and anticipate human behavior. This is hardly new as early eugenics, psychiatry and Social Darwinism, and theories of anthropological criminology all attempted to understand the born criminal, or criminal tendencies. Anthropological criminologists looked for physical anomalies such as a sloped forehead to predict criminal behavior from the 19th c.into the 20th. Not comforting, nor is it a...more This book had an interesting concept. Innovative technologies breed current ways of attempting to understand and anticipate human behavior. This is hardly new as early eugenics, psychiatry and Social Darwinism, and theories of anthropological criminology all attempted to understand the born criminal, or criminal tendencies. Anthropological criminologists looked for physical anomalies such as a sloped forehead to predict criminal behavior from the 19th c.into the 20th. Not comforting, nor is it any more comforting than using algorithms, biochemistry or genetics, which is the work of the protagonist Daphne's brilliant mother. Even if there are programs that can process neurosignals and researchers are capable of interpreting their meaning with a high degree of accuracy, it doesn't follow that they can predict behavior with the same accuracy. The human organism and brain is complex, as is our interaction with the environment, which actually alters our brain and epigenetics. Not to mention that, at least according to NatGeo, that the brain is completely remodeled at the age of the student subjects in this narrative.

Seifert’s Predicteds is a contemporary attempt to deal with a dilemma as old as positivism [a 19th c. philosophy of science that holds that society operates according to the rules that operate in the physical world]. Daphne's mother was a lead researcher in a project drawing on a complex nexus of psychology, biochemistry, and genetics in order to design a computer modeling of the brain—which predicts behavior with the intent of anticipating criminal behavior in certain individuals. The schools Daphne has attended were pilot programs for this PROFILE modeling.

Daphne, however, has been kept in the dark by her mother, who develops misgivings about the social efficacy of the program. It is not until her mother leaves her prestigious position at the company that has developed PROFILE, and they move to a small town with a pilot PROFILE program, that she directly encounters the consequences of applying the program to individuals at an impressionable age [the beginning of their adult lives]. There is the danger of them becoming self-fulfilling prophecies, not to mention encountering social prejudice that directly impacts their future. Daphne realizes this danger when the object of her affection, Jesse, is accused of a violently assaulting his female friend. She wants to believe in his innocence, but his past behavior combined with his status as a ‘predicted’ by the PROFILE system results in her doubting his character.

Overall, the book is worthwhile because it is interesting to follow Daphne grappling with these issues. Not to mention, what society should responsibly do with this information? Do we compromise individual rights for the greater good of society? Do we incarcerate those who are likely to, but have not committed a crime? Although, her ‘friendships’ with the popular crowd, people she clearly holds in disdain, didn't really feel true to her character development. I can only assume that the author utilized these friendships to examine herd mentality, but it felt contrived. Additionally, I didn’t appreciate the little ploys she inserted to establish the intelligence of the reader, like the use of persona au gratin, which confirms Daphne’s intellectual superiority and by extension that of the reader, with her non grata correction. This is a recurring aspect of Daphne’s interactions, and it is my least favorite aspect of the novel.
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Nov 15, 2011 ExLibris_Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

The Predicteds was an interesting book that seemed to ask the questions that we all have about our future and what makes people behave the way they do. The story starts with a school shooting and the fallout from that act, where the PROFILE tests are seen as a way to remove the students who might commit these types of crimes in the future. At the center of it all is Daphne, who is new and can see everyone at the school with the eyes of an unbiased outsider. I really loved Daphne as a ch...more

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Jun 05, 2011 AmandaSOTP rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011

I actually stopped by the Sourcebooks booth during the BEA for a different title, Alice in Zombieland, but I wasn't able to speak with anyone about that title. I happened by the YA section, and saw this. Thankfully, Danielle was there to tell me all about this book and suggest I read it. I'm so glad she did. At times I felt like I knew what was going to happen, but then it would throw in a twist that I hadn't thought of and keep me going to the very end. I loved that it took an idea like this an...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Kym rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was pretty intrigued with the idea of this book. A program is developed to test kids and determine who has the personality/genes etc to be violent and to what extent. In the beginning nobody is told the results and they think they are going to be this incredible small town with this incredible high school that has all perfect kids and the bad kids will be weeded out. When the results are released havoc is unleashed! The idea of this test could help people in so many ways, but the morality of i...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Courtney (Fuzzy.Coffee.Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars

What I Liked: 1) I really liked the concept. The idea that someone has created a program that can determine what a person's future will be like based on their genetics and DNA...that was very intriguing. At least, in book form. Definitely not in real life! 2) I thought that Daphne was a great main character. She was personable and easy to relate to, and also easy to understand. 3) The beginning. The beginning opens with a nail-biting scene, so the reader immediately gets caught up in what is or...more What I Liked: 1) I really liked the concept. The idea that someone has created a program that can determine what a person's future will be like based on their genetics and DNA...that was very intriguing. At least, in book form. Definitely not in real life! 2) I thought that Daphne was a great main character. She was personable and easy to relate to, and also easy to understand. 3) The beginning. The beginning opens with a nail-biting scene, so the reader immediately gets caught up in what is or isn't going to happen. 4) Jesse was a fun character to get to know. I was never sure if I was supposed to like him or not, especially because you know what is coming. But that made him all the more interesting for me. 5) Back to the plot for a minute, I think this opens up a whole world of things to debate. Almost all books are thought-provoking, that's one of the things that makes them good, am I right? But this one brings up some topics that really made me think about well, what if we could predict the future. I wouldn't want to know what was in store for me. It's more fun not knowing. So, as you can see, this book definitely makes you think.

What I Didn't Like: 1) Am I the only one who thought Melissa was kind of...two different people? She was obviously hyper-smart, being a part of the PROFILE thing, but then there was this other side of her that was all, oh, call me by my first name instead of Mom, and I can't cook...it was very strange. I couldn't reconcile those two parts of her personality, the genius and the not so genius. They competed and mostly led me to see her as two characters, instead of one. 2) I also question some of the things that I was led to believe from the summary. I guess I was expecting more of a "this is what your future is going to be like" sort of thing. And I would have expected a little more balance with it. They were only figuring the futures of those who were going to turn out bad. Where was all the good?

Overall Thoughts: The Predicteds wasn't what I was expecting, but it was a well-written book with a thought-provoking story and some intriguing characters. If the summary has interested you, then pick this one up. It'll leave you thinking once you put it down, and maybe a little even freaked out that something like this could even be possible.

3.5 stars

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Nov 07, 2011 Debbie (at) I Heart YA Books rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Predicteds definitely had me biting my fingernails in this intense Science Fiction mystery. Christine Seifert has created a world where you are guilty until proven innocent. The teenagers in Quiet High are being Profiled to predict who will be a murder, thief, drug addict, or just a loser. And if you knew the person sitting next to you in school, or the guy you fall in love with, is going to be a killer, would you trust your heart? Or would you trust the technology of science? Christine Seif...more

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Oct 14, 2011 First Novels Club rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sara, reviewed

Despite that the cover looks like a dystopian cover, and the summary sounds like a dystopian summary, THE PREDICTEDS is a little more complicated than that, and that's part of what I enjoyed about this book.

First off, there's Daphne. She's a strong, independent protagonist. I felt like she almost had a Nancy Drew quality to her. She felt sneaky and fierce. And who doesn't enjoy a little romance? Jesse had a lot of qualities that I look for in my book romance interests. He was a little emo--he to...more Despite that the cover looks like a dystopian cover, and the summary sounds like a dystopian summary, THE PREDICTEDS is a little more complicated than that, and that's part of what I enjoyed about this book.

First off, there's Daphne. She's a strong, independent protagonist. I felt like she almost had a Nancy Drew quality to her. She felt sneaky and fierce. And who doesn't enjoy a little romance? Jesse had a lot of qualities that I look for in my book romance interests. He was a little emo--he totally shed a tear or two, if not on page, then definitely off-page. And I could totally see his going all wandering minstrel to get a girl back, carrying around a guitar and serenading her from the street. BUT, he didn't. Which I also appreciated, because as much as I love me some emo boy, it can get old pretty quickly. Instead, Jesse was equal parts tough and broken, which made for an interesting read. Also, I really appreciated Seifert's secondary characters. I felt like many of them had a dimensionality (is that a word? It is now!) to them that often goes by the wayside, especially in dystopian-esque books where there's so much world-building and plot-moving that needs to take place.

Secondly, there's the setting. How clever is it that the town is called Quiet, and it's where the kerfuffle goes down? SUPER clever, is the answer. Also, it made for some unintentionally funny lines, which I appreciated, such as going to the Quiet movie theatre. Ha. Get it? But seriously, Seifert did an excellent job of sculpting this tiny town into a very real place. Even though I grew up just outside of a major city, I recognized pieces of my own high school experience--having the local diner be the place to go on Friday night, the allure of the college kid parties--it all felt real to me. And while setting is always a key element to a quality novel, it felt extra-important to me in THE PREDICTEDS, because I needed to believe that Quiet was a town where this could happen in. And I definitely did.

Finally, I loved the concept of being predicted! Seifert starts her book off with a bang--literally. There's a shooter in Daphne's school (thankfully no one is hurt), which hurtles the reader into a town and a school plagued by fear, doubt, and the need to "fix" the problem. Enter, of course, the testing procedures that had already been done in order to create a list of the predicted students. It was so interesting to me reading how the school deals with this list, and the students, and what the fallout of a situation like that looks like. Working in a school, it made me look around at the middle & upper school kids around me and wonder what would happen if testing like that was done in real life. Seifert did a really great job of showcasing mob mentality, and how hard it can be to stand up for what you believe in, even if your belief isn't popular.

THE PREDICTEDS is out now, so definitely go check it out!

For more reviews & other fun book blogging (including thoughts on writing, author interviews and giveaways!), check out http://www.FirstNovelsClub.com
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Sep 12, 2011 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, futuristic, ya, romance

GENRE: YA Fiction/Drama
THEME: The Future
RECEIVED: Received for Review for Teen Scene Book Tour
BLOG: http://seeingnight.blogspot.com/

REVIEW:
Can you imagine knowing your future? Knowing that you will be a criminal in the future? The Predicteds is a story that reminds me a lot of the movie Minority report; I wouldn’t know how to handle to situation that the teens in this book have to deal with. Seifert writes a story that really makes you think, especially with technology growing, who knows if some...more GENRE: YA Fiction/Drama
THEME: The Future
RECEIVED: Received for Review for Teen Scene Book Tour
BLOG: http://seeingnight.blogspot.com/

REVIEW:
Can you imagine knowing your future? Knowing that you will be a criminal in the future? The Predicteds is a story that reminds me a lot of the movie Minority report; I wouldn’t know how to handle to situation that the teens in this book have to deal with. Seifert writes a story that really makes you think, especially with technology growing, who knows if something like this could happen for the future.

The Predicted’s is a story about a program called Profile that is created to test individuals to see if they are meant to be a criminal in the future. The company that runs the program uses Quiet High as their starting group, after a school incident. In the middle of it all is Daphne, daughter of the creator of the program and a girl who falls for the boy who has been predicted.

Daphne enters Quiet High as the new girl, but is put in a pretty tough situation after a school incident that shakes the town. Now with students being predicted for crime, people are being divided and prejudice is brought out in full force. Daphne I felt was almost like a young detective, she really tried to sort out everything and wanted to discover the truth about everything. She falls for a guy that pretty much saved her life and he feels the same, except for when the Profiles of the student are handed out their lives take a massive turn.

Jesses is a Predicted, a student that has been predicted to do crime in the future. Everyone starts treating him like a outcast, a violent criminal and even wont let him in the same class as the “good” students. I felt he was a strong character, but his secrets put him in a lot of really bad situations.

Overall I really enjoyed The Predicteds, it had some crazy twist and I kept getting caught off guard with every page. I really connect with Daphne, I felt that she did a lot of what I would do being put in such a hard situation with friends, family and the one you care about all taking different sides. I loved the characters that are definitely there to hate, they made me frustrated and angry, but most important pulled the story into such a dramatic and great story. I highly recommend this book, it makes you think of the future in a different way and makes you question what you would do if this program really existed.

RECOMMENDATION:
This is a young adult book with intense situations and lots of twist and turns that will leave young on the edge of your seat. Fans of Jennifer Echols and Ally Condie will love this novel.
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Jan 22, 2012 Diana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Secrets. Betrayal. Friendship. Teenage Angst. Drama. Life. Family. Rumors. Suspense. Twists. Loyalty. Grudge. Love.

That pretty much sums up what The Predicteds is all about. It was bittersweet and I had a great time reading it.

As for the characters, Daphne is a very determined, independent, strong-willed heroine. She doesn’t give up without a fight who has a strong personality and really likable. Jesse, on the other hand, is a guy who maintains a mysterious façade and of course, gorgeous and ho...more

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Nov 28, 2011 Meghan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Science is advanced enough that data can tell whether a person will commit violent crimes later in life or if they will have social deficiencies or if they will be "normal." The program, PROFILE, was created by Utopia Laboratories and was used in a study on Quiet High School students. But is it right to release this information if it can destroy the lives of countless teenagers in the process?

When Daphne falls for Jesse, a boy who saves her countless times, she questions some rumors floating aro...more

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Sep 11, 2011 Grace Fonseca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Title: The Predicteds
Author: Christine Seifert
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pub Date: 09-01-2011
My Copy: Got an ARC From Publisher for an honest review

Book Synopsis: Daphne is the new girl in town and is having trouble fitting in. At least she has Jesse... sort of. He wants to be more than "just friends," but there's something he's not telling her about his past. Something dangerous. When a female student is brutally attacked, police turn to PROFILE, a new program that can predict...more

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About Christine Seifert

I am a native North Dakotan, a professor at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah, and author of The Predicteds (Sourcebooks Fire). I'm represented by Alyssa Eisner Henkin of Trident Media Group. When I'm not writing or teaching writing, I'm an avid reader and an enthusiastic listener of podcasts (especially podcasts about books). I'm a fan of taking long walks on sunny days, browsing throug...more

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Quotes from The Predicteds

“We're cool," I say calmly, although I feel something else. I feel... sad. Like I've lost something I never quite had.” — 126 people liked it

“What else did he say?” Jesse insists, and for the second time ever, I feel uneasy with him.

“Nothing,” I say.

“Daphne, they say I’m predicted, but there has to be some mistake. That’s not who I am.”

“I’m hearing a lot about who you are.”

“And you’re saying that you believe it all?”

“Jesse, I don’t know.” — 2 people liked it

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