Publication Date: January 2009
Genre: YA
Age: 12+
Pages: 220
Series: 1st in a series
Book Acquisition: bought new paperback
Zara collects phobias the way other high school girls collect lipsticks. Little wonder, since she's had a pretty rough life. Her father left when she was a baby, and her stepfather just died. Her mother's pretty much checked out - in fact, Mom's sent her to live with her grandmother in cold and sleepy Maine to "keep Zara safe." Whatever that means. Zara doesn't think she's in danger; she thinks her mother just can't deal.
Zara's wrong. The man she sees everywhere - the tall creepy guy who points at her from the side of the road - yeh, he's not a figment of her imagination. He's a pixie. And not the cute, sweet kind with little wings. Maine's got a whole assortment of unbelievable creatures, like pixies and were-people. And they seem to need something - something from Zara…
Zara's wrong. The man she sees everywhere - the tall creepy guy who points at her from the side of the road - yeh, he's not a figment of her imagination. He's a pixie. And not the cute, sweet kind with little wings. Maine's got a whole assortment of unbelievable creatures, like pixies and were-people. And they seem to need something - something from Zara…
I was pretty disappointed by this book. I really really wanted to like it but I can’t say that I actually did.
The beginning was awesome – I really got hooked into the story. I wanted to know what was up with this small, cold, Maine town. It was about halfway in that I started to loose interest. I just didn’t warm up to Zara. I found her silly and a bit dumb. Oh, and after she meets up with Nick – forget it! You know how people make fun of Twilight because every other page is a testament to how beautiful Edward is? That’s how I feel about Need. Nick was “beautiful” and Nick was “cute” and Nick was “perfect” and oh, why did Nick do that? It must be because he’s perfectly beautiful and cute. I’m exaggerating a bit here but you get my meaning.
The characters just didn’t seem real to me. They didn’t make me want to like them. Zara is in danger really before the book even starts and I honestly wasn’t rooting for her. I almost wanted something to happen to her so we could see some real action.
Oh – and I get it – Maine is cold. It’s not really that big a deal.
I know I’m being harsh and I really wish I weren’t. I’m just disappointed. So many people love this book – and I wanted to be one of them. Bottom line, this book just isn’t for me. I urge you to read it for yourselves – and to check out other reviews I have posted below. If you have read it, I would love to hear your thoughts.
I have the second book in this series, Captive and I will be reading it. I’m curious as to how much more story Jones can get out of these characters and I’m interested to see where she takes them.
2.5/5 stars
Books in the Series:
Need - January 2009
Captive- January 2010
Linkage Love:
Publisher's website
Author's Website
Other Reviews:
Once Upon A Bookcase
All Things Urban Fantasy
Wicked Awesome Books
Page Turners
I didn't love this book either. I gave it a 3/5. I thought the characters were really cutesy and seemed really young, but I still enjoyed a little bit.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this one yet, but I've seen a lot of mixed reviews over the last year or so.
ReplyDeleteThanks for an honest review, and I hope you enjoy the sequel more (if you read it).
Fab review. Thanks for the honesty. I hear the other book in the series is better.
ReplyDelete