Need (Need)

by Carrie Jones

Zara collects phobias the way other high school girls collect Facebook friends. It's little wonder, since she's had a fairly rough life. Her father left when she was a baby, her stepfather just died and her mother's almost given up - in fact, she's sent her to live with her grandmother in cold and sleepy Maine to 'keep Zara safe'. Zara doesn't think she's in danger; she thinks her mother just can't cope. Zara's wrong. The man she sees everywhere - the tall, creepy guy who points at her from the side of the road - is not a figment of her imagination. He's a pixie. But not the cute, sweet kind with little wings. Maine's got a whole assortment of unbelievable creatures. And they seem to need something - something from Zara...

• ISBN10: 1408811731
• ISBN13: 9781408811733
• Publish Date: 5 April 2010 (first published 23 December 2008)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
• Imprint: Bloomsbury Childrens Books
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• URL: http://bloomsbury.com/

Reviews

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What an... interesting... read...

Zara has just lost her step-dad, whom she thought of as her real dad and is finding it incredibly hard to cope. Zara's mother decides she should send Zara to live with her grandmother for a while in Maine in the hopes of lifting Zara's spirits. Zara hates her mother for sending her away like this, especially to such a small, cold and dreary little town.

Ever since her step-dad passed away Zara has noticed this creepy guy randomly turning up and watching her, she see's him back in Charleston before she leaves then to her horror she see's him again in Maine just as she arrives. She realises this creepy guy is probably stalking her, she decides to find out just who this creep is and why he keeps turning up where ever she goes.

Meanwhile trying to fit in in Maine isn't as hard as she expected.

Soo I didn't quite like Zara that much, there was nothing that really stood out about her and I found her to be incredibly stubborn and at times pretty dumb in her actions. I couldn't really relate to her with her weird fascination of phobias and holding on to things way too much. At first I liked her, right at the beginning, but then as I continued to read I felt like she never really grew or changed. She felt very flat unfortunately.

Issie was a weird little thing. I liked her at times but then she became too bubbly and hardly bearable at all. She was just so energetic that it was a little exhausting near the half way point. Are there really people in the world that are so energetic all the time? She was so trusting and naive just like a little child, I liked this until it started grating on my nerves. I felt this because that's all she ever was in the book. Always bubbly and energetic, always child-like. No dimension. 

Nick was mysterious and explained as very handsome many times in the book. He was very protective and became Zara's 'hero' after he ends up saving her a few times. I thought he was pretty cool but also I thought he was very stereotypical of the character. He wasn't very original nor very deep.

I just  couldn't relate to any of the characters in this book, maybe I could with Zara at first with losing a parent and all but that stopped shortly after she arrived at Maine. I think the writing also had to do with this because the main reason I couldn't relate to anyone was because of the way they spoke, the way they acted or the way they thought. Nothing clicked with me. I felt like all these characters were flat, as if they had no dimension.

I just wasn't sold on this world, I just could not believe it completely. Things weren't real enough. I wasn't drawn in and made to believe that these things were real. Zara's actions alone weren't very believable. Seriously if there's some creepy guy stalking you you would not go into the forest where you know he's hiding and try to seek him out. That's just plain stupid. Common sense would usually step in here.

I feel that the main reason I feel like this is because of the quick conclusion by everyone that there are paranormal beings in this world. They decide to google a stalker (When I read that all I could think of is how does that help the situation? A stalker is a stalker, googling about them will not help them find out who it is) and immediately come up with a paranormal being as an answer. I mean how do you even jump to that conclusion by just googling 'Stalker that points'? I do not understand. I probably missed something huge.

I have to say that the writing of this book was not that good unfortunately. Yes it was understandable, yes it was easy to read, mostly... But there were so many cliché's that at times I cringed so much I actually felt dizzy. This book at times felt like a walking cliché its self.

The way Zara spoke sometimes just didn't feel real, it felt unnatural, she would either state the facts all the time as if no one already knew them, just talk about things that didn't matter, or she would go on mini little rants and refuse to listen to anyone. Then sometimes she just accepted things without questioning enough. 

I rolled my eyes so much with the dialogue and I found myself cringing in some parts that I just couldn't get over it.

One thing (Maybe the only thing...) that I absolutely loved about this book was that every chapter was named after a phobia. Then that chapter would be themed after that phobia. I thought that was a pretty cool idea. Phobias was a re-occurring theme in this book that the character pretty much had an obsession over.

Soo I had no idea that this book was about pixies, which is pretty much a type of faerie. I'm not very fond of faerie books. Luckily this wasn't anything like the faerie books that I dislike so much but there were still some elements that made me cringe. I actually think I'm afraid of faeries, as if they were real... There were also other paranormal beings in this book.

I think when I picked up this book I expected some sort of paranormal, yet I was still wasn't sold on it as I read. The whole paranormal thing for some reason I found just didn't tie in as cleanly as one would expect if it were the norm in that world. So I found myself rolling my eyes a lot.

I also found that everything was pretty obvious. As if the clues for the end were wearing fluro coloured vests that light up in the dark while screaming: "I'm the reveal! I'm the reveal!"... Seriously, because it was obvious it felt like Zara was just plain stupid. Or she chose to ignore all of the clues. The readers don't ignore the clues. So because we figured out the clues before Zara that really made me lose interest in the book. But I kept reading because I wanted to know how it ended. And yet, there were a few surprises that I hadn't expected, so well done to Jone's for managing to hide those.

The romance just annoyed me.
1. It was wayy too obvious,
2. There was hardly any proper build up or any 'getting to know you and fall head over heels for you' moments, it actually just happened out of thin air, it wasn't insta-love though,
3. It felt like it was based off of attraction and that was it. No actual emotions involved, no connections, nothing like that,
4. I don't like it when the romance is too easy. When the guy obviously likes the girl straight from the beginning, that's just annoying and very boring. It makes it even worse when the girl doesn't believe he likes her even though he's said: "I like you, I really like you." three times to her face. Come on woman! Stop playing dumb!

The development of pretty much everything was lacking. I felt like there was no dimension in anything except Zara's step fathers death. Everything else was just there, with no past or meaning.

Err, sooo this book annoyed me for many reasons and pleased me with only very few.

Soo, after all of that, I'm not in any hurry to pick up the second book in the series.

Miss J
x 

[nitzan_schwarz]

THIS REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MY BLOG, AFTERWORDS

Need was the first ever "bad" review and rating I posted (originally on Goodreads). It got that questionable honor by being one of the most disappointing books I've read to date, which is a big deal, considering I knew nothing about the book coming into it and therefore had no expectations.

And it still managed to completely crush me - because it started out so good, with the quirky chapter titles, laugh worthy moments and the cool seeming heroine. Unfortunately, it all went downhill fairly quickly. Honestly, if anything, this book makes me feel cheated.

Zara is our main character, and despite what I said above - I didn't really like her. I hated how she behaved towards her mother. I hated how illogical and self centered and downright stupid she was.

Then we have Nick, the resident hot guy love interest and a semi-main character. He had his sweet moments, sure, but they were mostly overshadowed by his major dick ones...

To be honest, the characters I did like were Issie and Devyn, and they were sadly negated to barely-there side characters.

And stillI had two MAJOR problems with the whole lot of them, the first being the sad unfortunate truth thatthey were all extremity, insanely... stupid. They never ask the right question... or any questions at all, for that matter. They just accept everything at face value and wait for something to happen next. I mean, c'mon!

Don't believe me? Well, what if I told you they find a note that tells the peculiar story of a sacrifice and running away, alongside a small side-note about pixies. Do they ask questions--what's it about, who wrote it, etc? Even just to each other? Err, no. They do not.

The second, which is the superior sin between the two, was the fact I did not find them believable... at all. Their behavior, actions and reactions all rang false and scripted. They never jumped out of the pages, never felt alive.

And yet, for such dead characters, you'd be amazed at how exasperated I got by the romance (or whatever the hell that was). But, well, this is insta love after all. The kind that make you pull your hairs out, because they know absolutely nothing about each other, and yet they reach the kind of relationship where somehow, the other's presence is a magical balm to all ills in the world. Even though, you know, cuddling will probably not stop the crazy creatures after you from stealing your humanity. But, whateves, kissing's way more important.

Then came the ending. I don't think I've ever read of a silliest one, and that's saying something 'cause I read this back in 2012 and it's still accurate. It was just ridiculous. The logistics made no sense, lady luck played much too big a part and the pixies' previously established traits just vanished at the convenience of our heroes.

And let's not forget... how considerate of the bad guys to listen to what the good tell them! Jolly nice of you, mate!

CLICK HERE TO READ THE JUICY RANT (PART TWO)

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Old Version
Originally published here, re-reviewed here. 

So I decided I'm going to just balance things out - one good and one bad review a month. For this month, I'm bringing Need - the first "bad" review and rating I ever posted (originally on Goodreads).

Need got that particular honor for being one of the most disappointing books I've ever read - and I came into it without any expectations whatsoever. I knew nothing about the book prior to reading it; it was before Goodreads, before knowing such information was so easy to find.

And still it managed to completely crush me - because it started out so good, with the quirky chapter titles, laugh worthy moments, and a cool seeming heroine. But all that was just at first. Very quickly, it started going downhill, and the plot started getting on my nerves... big time. Honestly, if anything, this book makes me feel cheated.

Zara is our MC, and I didn't like her much as a character. I hated the way she behaved toward her mother, only remembering she loved her at the end.

Then we have Nick, the resident hot guy and--naturally--the love interest and semi-main character. He had his sweet moments, but they were mostly ruined by his super jerk ones...

Actually, I liked the side characters - Issie and Devyn - a whole lot better than Nick or Zara. Kind of wish we had a lot more of them.

I had one, huge issue with the whole lot of them, and it was the sad, unfortunate fact that they were all extremely, insanely... stupid. They never ask the right questions. Or, rather, any questions at all. They just accept everything and wait for something to happen next, without any effort of their part. I mean, c'mon!

For example, they find a note. In that note, mentioned a peculiar story of a sacrifice and running away, alongside a small mention about pixies. Do they ask any questions--what's it about, who wrote it, etc? Even just among each other? Err, no. They just take notice of the pixie thing and ignore everything else.

But above everything else... worse than being annoying or stupid, was the fact I did not find them believable at all. Their behavior, actions and reactions all rang kind of false and scripted. They never jumped out of the pages, never felt alive.

For such dead characters, you'd be amazed at how exasperated I got by the romance (or whatever the hell that was). But, well, this is insta love after all. The kind of insta love that makes you pull your hairs out. They know absolutely nothing about each other. If you asked them, they could fill maybe a sentence or two of the most superficial information about one another. And from that, they go to I Love Yous, kissing and cuddling and finding the other's presence a magical balm to all ills in the world. Even though, you know, love will probably not stop the crazy creatures after you from stealing your humanity. But, whateve', kissing's way more important.

Then came the ending. I don't think I've ever read of a sillier ending, before reading this book and after. It was just ridiculous, but at least it was consistent with idiot-ism surrounding this whole story. The logistics made no sense, lady luck played a much too big a part, and former traits of the pixies just vanished at the convenience of the heroes. Oh, and let's not forget - how nice of the bad guys to listen to the good, right!? Jolly nice of you, mate!

THE REVIEW IS NOW OFFICIALLY OVER. THE FOLLOWING SEGMENT IS A BREAKDOWN OF THE MANY THINGS TAT BOTHERED ME THROGHOUT THE READ. THEREFORE, IT'S ALL SPOILERS. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

Pixies are the first suggestion after the "Pointing Man" appears 

What's up with that? Nick tells Zara they didn't know pixies existed prior to that week, so how do they jump to pixies so quickly and surely? Why is that their first and only guess, and why does everyone simply accept and believe it? (And for someone who claims pixies are new to him, Nick sure seems knowledgeable...)
Speaking of which...

How come they don't know of pixies--or realize there's a couple so close by?
According to the book, they can smell them. And, as we find out near the end, their whole lives they've had a couple of pixies right next to them, interacting with them on a daily basis. Yet, they claim not to know of pixies, and never realize those two are among them? Are you kidding me? Shouldn't they realize both that pixies exist and that those people aren't human if they can smell them?! You can't have it both ways! 

Why is the glittering dust so special and frightening? 
Did I miss something? why is the idea of the dust proof of the existence of the unknown? It's freakin' dust! It bothered me to no end that there was such big emphasize on it, especially as it was not found near Devyn's attack or something, just by Zara's car. For all they know, her Grandma likes to sparkle things up! But somehow, it's cutting proof of pixies.  

Did I miss the part where it suddenly woke to life, flew up in the air creating shapes then wrote in a hiss "The Pixies are Coming"? (cause that would've been totally awesome). It's glitter, people! 

Zara's fast and startling recovery

She comes to Maine a brokenhearted girl in mourning. Numb, unmoving, losing her passion for all the things that were dear to her heart before her father's death. After a week there she's... better. Barely gives a second thought to her dad. So much better, in fact, that all she wants to do is make out with Nick. WTF, girl?

The King should've been able to enter the room 

If the rules says you need permission to enter a place, Zara shouting "why won't you open the door, then?" and "Go ahead!" should count as plenty permission, even if it was shouted as a taunt. I think what she did here was stupid, and the fact it "succeeded" even stupider. 

THIS sentence: "I've been denying everything. That there were pixies... that there was something supernatural going on... how hollow I've been... who my father is."

Please tell me this is some leftovers from an early draft of the story or something, because this sentence contradicts everything we've read so far. She accepted the pixies and supernatural almost immediately, no denial there. She's the one who's been calling herself "hollow" the whole book, pushing the words into everyone's mouth. And she couldn't have known who her father is (she never asked enough questions for that), and when she does find out - she accepts it immediately!

I spent five minutes reading this sentence over and over again to try to figure out if I was truly reading it!

I think it's obvious I don't recommend this book, even though it's fairly well loved. I especiallydon't recommend it to Twilight haters, and I'm not even among those!


Originally published here, re-reviewed here. 

[celinenyx]

When I started reading this book, I was impressed. The story begins with main character Zara travelling to stay with her grandmother in a small Maine village. Her stepfather has just passed away and she is so overcome with grief she has become numb. I really enjoyed the first part of the book, where Zara slowly, with help of her grandmother and new friends in Maine, returns to her old self. There was a lot of emphasis on her feelings, and these scenes were very well written.

But not everything in Maine is sweet happiness. Zara is stalked by a freaky guy that does nothing but point at her. Her stalker actually kind of freaked me out. I enjoyed the mystery and was eager to find out who he was and why he is following her.

However, the closer I came to solving the mystery, the less interesting this book became. Zara's personality seemed to be subordinate to the action and the suspense. We just flit in and out scenes but nothing really stands out. Her personal thoughts are about gone, except for a few scenes with her love interest (that has a big secret of his own) that were al right.

You can't tell from the blurb, but this is actually a paranormal themed book. There are bloodthirsty pixies and weres with a hero-complex. The lore seems pretty interesting, at least it's nothing I have ever read before, so I would have loved to know more about where these creatures came from etcetera. I hope this will be explained more detailed in the next book of the series.

Even though the book kind of fell flat for me halfway through, I still enjoyed reading it. Mrs. Jones has a certain ease in her writing that makes the book really pleasant to read. I'm very curious to see if the next book in this series is better. If you're looking for a cute paranormal romance for young-adults, you could try Need.

[Jo]

I really liked Need! There’s something really cute about it, despite the storyline, that leaves me with a smile on my face. It has a great protagonist, some great mythology, and has some cool quirkiness to it. However, I was left ever so slightly disappointed.

Positives first. Zara is such a great protagonist, and I was hooked from the first page. She has such a great voice, and even if you can’t relate to her situation, you can relate to her. She’s an every-girl; she has her faults, and she has her quirks, but she is a very passionate girl. It’s great learning about her interest in phobias, and finding out the names of phobias and what they mean as the story goes on. It was a great idea on Carrie’s part to have a relating phobia as the title of each chapter. I found them all really interesting! It was also cool how Zara doesn’t believe in mythical creatures straight away; it seems that there is a lot of novels out there where characters accept the existence of mythical creatures way too easily, but Zara has her doubts throughout the book, and it was just great! I also loved her sense of humour; she is so sarcastic, and her comments and narration made me smile many a time.

I also liked how the story is given to us. It’s not exactly original, but I like the new-girl-to-new-area way of having the readers find out about what’s going on along with the main character. It’s a nice way to meet other characters, and have the story set up bit by bit as it progresses. As I said, it’s not original, but it turns out there is a very good reason for it.

There is also some great mythology – or folklore – too. It was great to read about pixies; I’ve not come across them before in the fae novels I’ve read, but they’re really interesting! I’m no faerie expert, so I can’t say how much of it is right or not, but it was great to learn about these fae specifically. My only criticism is that there wasn’t a lot of answers as to why, not much explanation about the reasons the pixies are as they are, or why they’re doing what they’re doing. The reasons we’re given aren’t explained a huge deal, and so I’m left thinking “why?” a lot of the time. However, there is another book, so perhaps I’ll find the answers there. I would have liked to have seen a bit more page time, but I understand why they didn’t.

Now why I was disappointed; it felt to me like Zara was pretty much the only fully formed character in the novel. There were so many other characters in this book who had so much potential, but just weren’t given enough depth in my opinion. There wasn’t much of a history to them; who were these people before Zara showed up? What do they do for fun? What do they like, what do they dislike? I can’t tell you, other than that Issie – who is just adorable, by the way; she has a bit of personality and I love her – like rabbits, and some of the guys like running. That’s it. We don’t really get much else. It may sound odd, but my imagination creates a visual of a character half based on what they look like as described in the book, and half by who they are. I don’t know why, that’s just how I am. But with Need, a fair amount of the characters are almost always on my imaginative peripheral vision, not fully formed. It spoilt it a little bit for me. I didn’t feel much for these characters, because I didn’t know them. I just hope we get to know them a bit better in the next novel.

I also felt that there was something off with the emotion in the book; there is a lot of it, but I didn’t feel it. I can’t say what it was exactly, I just didn’t connect emotionally with this book as much as I would have liked to; I wasn’t as upset as I could have been when Zara was, or as scared and excited when things got a little rough. I wanted to, it just wasn’t happening.

Despite all this, I still really liked Need! It’s like Twilight meets Wicked Lovely. I loved Zara’s voice and the plot, and was hooked throughout. Some things I guessed, but I like that. I will definitely be reading Captivate in April! I can’t wait to read what happens next!

My YA blog - Once Upon a Bookcase:
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