Things We Need

by Jennifer Close

[Leah]

When I received an email asking me if I would like to review Jennifer Close’s second novel, I said yes immediately. I know her debut novel was immensely popular, and I have it on my shelf somewhere to be read, and so I knew Jennifer Close came with some backing behind her, especially after I read that her novels are witty, and the novel version of Girls (not that I base what I read on Girls since I’ve never seen it, but I know the gist of what it’s about and so, a book like Girls is going to interest me even if Girls itself does not). I was interested to read about a dysfunctional family because dysfunctional families usually make for the best characters in novels.

While I found Things We Need to be interesting, I sadly didn’t find it to be witty. It was definitely smart, and Jennifer Close can definitely get into the middle of a crazy family and make it interesting to read about them, I didn’t feel like the book really blew me away. I very much enjoyed reading the novel, and some of the characters really impressed me but mostly it was just your average family drama and there was nothing that really separated it from the pack, something that made it stand out and be really memorable. I liked the idea of the novel, but it wasn’t executed as well as I’d have liked.

One thing I really enjoyed was the variety of characters. Each of the narrators in the novel are varied and enjoyable. My favourite character was Cleo, although I wasn’t 100% sold on where her plot went. I felt she went from being an incredibly strong character to someone who sort of fell by the wayside and had everyone judge the life out of her. I wanted the sparky Cleo back, the one who fearlessly wore bikinis down at the shore, much to the digust of the entire Coffey family who found that horrific (because what else do you wear to the beach?). I also found Martha strangely compelling. I felt she perhaps had a touch of autism or aspergers, but it seemed as though she just suffered with being the kid that everyone bigs up constantly and needs to be the center of attention. I could never decide how I felt about Claire; I liked her but on the other hand she was quite mean to her sister and quite ungrateful to her despite the fact her parents took her in when she had nowhere else to go. Weezy, too, was an enigma. I liked her, but, again, I felt she was very judgemental.

Overall, I’m pleased I read Things We Need, and I wished that the whole idea of the “Things We Need” list had been explored a bit more. Mostly, though, this was a novel that explored family life as it is on a general day-to-day basis and it was very believable; I find myself getting irritated with my sister/mother/dad all of the time, and in that sense the novel was really, really honest. But honesty doesn’t always breed a fantastic read and this one was a little bit slow for my liking. It could have done with a bit more humour. Close is a really good writer, and I did find the narratives to be compelling but as a whole the novel was just a tad too slow for me. For those who like their novels a bit slower, who like to get to the nitty-gritty of family life, this one is for them.