Need (Need #1)

It's nice when you read a book and discover an aspect of fantasy that you had not read before. I've read about vampires, wizards, werewolves and all those other fantasy creatures that inundate the young adult paranormal genre, but I had never read about pixies. Carrie Jones creates an entertaining world, one shaded by hues of grey. Good and evil; love and hate; truth and reality are all blurred and it makes for a quick and satisfying read.

What I liked most about Carrie's world is the fact that is seems so real, like if there were any part of fantasy that were true, this world would be it. It's like maybe, just maybe, pixies do exist in a realm of forest and trees, and maybe werewolves and other were-creatures exist alongside them, in constant battle, facing off for the future of humans. One can hope, right??

I wish that Carrie Jones would have spent more time developing the romance. I won't say who Zara falls for because you need to read for yourself, but I was craving more intimacy. I wanted to hear how his hands moved along her sides, brushed her thighs, and how his breath was heavy on her neck! I wanted to hear how Zara's world stopped when he kissed her, and I wanted more of his reaction to--you know what I'm talking about! The sexy manly growl from deep within that makes you wish you could trade places with the girl. But there was none of that. Don't get me wrong, there are some kissy scenes, but I wanted more passion. I wanted them to be the types of scenes that I dog-eared so I could go back and read them over and over again. Hopefully we get more detail in the next book!

So overall, it was an interesting and different read. The prose was a little rough at time, and I'm hoping for more eloquence in the future novels, and definitely some more romance.

I am definitely going to check out the next book to see what happens

This story starts off interesting with Zara arriving to live with her step grandmother. Zara is the sad new girl and she befriends hyper active Issie and smart Devyn. She also starts falling for Nick, an over protective lone wolf type. When she sees the man that has been stalking her, her and the gang try to find out who he is. While this story has a lot going on, shifters, pixies, and murder, a lot of things seemed unfinished or just weird. Zara's moms reactions seemed off and the story behind her conception is barely touched.

ISBN: 9781599904535
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 306

Zara White suspects there's a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She's also obsessed with phobias. And it's true, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane...but Zara's pretty sure her mom just can't deal with her right now.

She couldn't be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara's overactive imagination. In fact, he's still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There's something not right - not human - in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.

I really enjoyed reading Need by Carrie Jones! Initially, from the blurb I thought that it would be slightly more action packed than it actually was. I had also expected Need to be written in a similar writing style to The Wolves Of Mercy Falls trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater, or even Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series, but it was a bit more light-hearted. Whilst I normally enjoy short poems, limericks or facts at the start of each chapter, I found the phobias to be honest, quite annoying. Sometimes the phobias were associated with the current situation but at times they had no connection at all! I would have preferred it if the phobias were all firmly linked to the content, as it would have mad the book feel more consistent. Betty (Zara’s grandmother) was my favourite character not only because of her caring nature but also because of her brutal honest and wit! I really like the cover of Need, as although it is quite simplistic, it’s beautiful. Whilst everything else on the cover is somewhat average, the golden, shimmering lips that represent the lovely magical moments within this novel, are rather extraordinary!

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Reader reviewed by Courtney

I would give it more like 3 1/2 but I'm going with 4! 

 

Fairies are not like Tinkerbell!! I enjoyed this story about fairies! I haven't read a book that is about fairies before besides them being mentioned in the background of other books.  The fairy king in this book is evil. He has a "need" and until he can find a Fairy Queen he goes around kidnapping young guys to drink their blood. The main girl Zara is being followed by this Fairy Queen and often considers giving herself over to him to be his queen so he'll leave her and her friends alone. 

 

I thought the idea behind this book was pretty original. What I enjoyed most about this book was Zara, she is sad teenager who lost her dad and is struggling with depression but she is okay with herself. She is confident in who she is and she cares about other people a lot.  I didn't really like how it was written though.  The jokes are bad, and it's a bit predictable.  What was up with the grandma? I never heard of a grandma acting that easy going before about dating, that was weird to me, and not very believable.  I thought it was kind of weird to have pixies and weres, without all the other supernaturals. I thought the romance aspect was pretty good though.  This was kind of a fun guilty pleasure read and I did enjoy it.  I'd probably give it a PG-13 rating as far as cleanness goes. There wasn't a lot of sex talk in it, thank you, there were just a few kissing scenes and they were done fairly good.

Reader reviewed by Lia

Need, by Carrie Jones, started out with Zara, the protagonist, losing her step-father and moving to live with her grandmother. There she starts seeing this man who follows her everywhere, leaving behind a trail of gold dust. With the help of her new friends, Zara uncovers who the stalker is, and what he wants from Zara.

This book introduced new supernatural creatures: the pixies. But these aren't your cute, mischeivious pixies, instead they are vicious and cruel creatures. I loved this new concept of pixies, and can't wait to read more about them. Zara was a good, realistic character who meets things head-on, and the plot was interesting. I am looking forward to the next installments of this series.

Reader reviewed by Nikki

OK, first let me say WOW!!!

I am officially in LOVE with this series. I have the second one on hold from the library, so I can't wait to read it!

The book starts off with a girl named Zara White, who is sent to live with her grandmother in Maine from Charleston, SC. She has fallen into a deep depression after seeing her father die after coming in from a morning run. She starts school immediately and meets this boy named Nick and instantly falls for him. She also meets a girl named Megan, who hates her for no reason. She also meets the town "over-achiever" Ian, who is also interested in her.

A few days before Zara moves to Maine, a boy went missing, without a trace. The cops have no clue where he went and Zara is scared; because there is a man that has been following her since she left Charleston. Her father taught her that if she can name a fear she can overcome it, so she has memorized almost all phobias, and when she is scared she repeats them out loud.

Along the way she manages to make two friends (other than Nick), Issie and Devyn.

Zara soon learns about a new world that she had no idea existed including; pixies, were-animals, and other things.

I can not say enough that I LOVED this book, it's right up there with Twilight, Abarat, and The Devouring! It's a MUST read. Definitely 5/5!

Reader reviewed by Jessica

 Zara isnt a girl that wants you to feel sorry for her, she isnt moping around about how hard her life is. She is a completely different person from Bella of Twilight who whines a whole lot. Zara meets her match in Nick, who is just as strong and heroic as she is and he is now one of my favorite paranormal characters from books.

I thought I knew where the book was going, that I figured out the ending a few chapters in, but I was wrong. I was so happy that it wasnt that easy to figure out. Jones was able to keep me guessing, and in young adult fiction that can be hard to do at times. Yes, what I figured out did come to pass, but the rest of the story was more of a surprise.

The author also turned me off of moving to a colder climate (this is kudos to her for making me feel all the terrors the cold has to offer). All the talk of how brutal the snow storms were and driving on icy roads made me thankful for sunny Florida. I can only imagine being snowed in, unable to escape from home, Id be a whiny brat, but Zara just heads out to take care of things without much thought to her safety. Zara is a bit reckless at times, but its better than sitting around waiting to be rescued. Shes a strong, smart character, much more worthy of looking up to than some of the other girls paranormal books.

Reader reviewed by Maura (Monster Of Books)

Ever read one of those, 100 Things You Should Do Before You Die books? Well Need
By Carrie Jones is on there!!! It's a Must Read!!! You'll regret not
reading this paranormal/fantasy romance book. The author brings it all
in 336 pages: Good Plot, Suspense, Emotion, fast paste and an amazing
story. I found myself in love with all the characters, particularly
Nick & Zara. They're such a good pair together, I mean they're so
cute. I love how they're being so stubborn to admit the truth, it's
adorable. I mean Grandma Betty is more open about there relationship
then they are. I also enjoyed the character development in Zara (the
protagonist). I enjoyed knowing that everyone kind of made her out to
be a damsel in the distress at first but in the end she is able to
stand on her own two feet. Also it's interesting the theory that she
doesn't need to think big to save the world, it can be a small way. Am
I making any sense???
The best thing about Need
other then the great story and cool characters, is the dialogue. It's
priceless, and probably the best dialogue I've read in a long time.
It's so funny and down to earth. What they said made me laugh and made
me like this book even more. For example: "'Okay,
just don't hurt Yoko.' 'Yoko?' 'My car.' 'You named your car Yoko? As
in Ono?' 'You have a better name?' 'How about Subaru?'" (Page.65). That's only one example, another one is: "Think
about it. For almost seventeen years my mom hasn't come back here.
Why?' 'It's cold,' Devyn says. 'It's creepy," Issie adds." (Page.263).
With
dialogue like that, how can you not love a book like this? The story
brings tons of suspense too, especially in a scene where pixies come
after Zara. I really felt what she felt, I was so in tuned with her it
was unbelievable. Some of the plot twists are easy to guess, but others
you won't see coming. The ending leaves you wanting more, but isn't a
cliffhanger. And the only real thing that bothered me about this book
is at first it felt very unrealistic of how Zara handle the knowledge
of pixies. But once getting into the story more, you start to
understand why she acts like that and becomes pretty real.
Another
intriguing fact is that each chapter had a phobia name on it!! It was
so cool, did you know you can have a phobia of school? or a phobia of
girls? or phobia of pixies *O.K Zara made that one up!!!*.
I enjoyed this story so much and am so excited to read Captivate (the sequel). This is a must read, Carrie Jones did a excellent job and I praise her for that.

Reader reviewed by Crimin

Need had always caught my attention at the local bookstore, with its lovely cover and its interesting summary, but it took me nearly a month to succumb to its charms and buy it.

Simply, this book is about a girl named Zara, who likes to collect phobias and to list them in her mind during troubling times.  Her father has just died, sending her into a deep, gray depression.  Trying to her happy again, her mother sends her away to her grandmothers, far up in the snow state of Maine.

Its there that Zara finds out about mythical beings, like pixies and werewolves, and how they are very dangerous. . .and very real.  

It took about three days to read, which is normal for me, but I wasnt pleased with this book.  The characters seemed childish and, I beg pardon, dumb at times even when the answer to something was clearly obvious.  

I wouldnt recommend this book to much of anyone, even though the plot was intriguing and the Nancy Drew clues hidden in the folds of Stephen King novels made me smile.  Unless youre looking for a boring read (as nothing really magical happens until late in the book), then I suggest you pick this up to kill a few days worth of time.