Need

Author: Carrie Jones
Genre: Young Adult / Supernatural
Pages: 306
Series: 1st book in the 'Need Pixies' series
Series Order:

1. Need (2008)
2. Captivate (Playaway Children) (2010)
3. Entice (2010)

First Line: "Everyone has fears, right?"

Synopsis: Zara has a lot on her plate. Not only does she have the usual teen angst but she's just lived through the sudden and devastating death of her stepfather, has become obsessed with phobias and now her mother has shipped her off to live with her stepfather's mother ... in frigid Maine! Add to all of that the fact that she thinks she has some kind of freaky stalker and it's a bit too much for Zara. Zara has seen him back in Charleston and now he's followed her to Maine leaving an odd golden dust wherever he goes. Suddenly teen boys start to go missing and Zara learns that her stalker isn't human. But how can a pixie be harmful? These pixies are not like Tinkerbell ... they're creatures who feed on humans and have no regard for human life ... and they're after Zara.

My Thoughts: If you enjoyed reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer I think you'll enjoy this book. It has a similar 'feel' to it as Twilight but isn't quite as intense and has more of a teen feel to it. I literally read this whole book in just over one day. I read most of it in one sitting then kept thinking about it all day and had to find some time to finish it so I could find out what happened.

I enjoyed the main characters and liked the budding romance between Zara and Nick. Zara doesn't come off as weak as Bella did in Twilight which I liked. She's a much stronger character who isn't as needy as Bella was. The banter back and forth between Zara and her grandmother, Betty as well as with Nick is amusing.

At first I was a little leary about the use of pixies as the 'bad guy' but I think the author pulled it off. I think Jones could have explained in more detail about why the pixies need to kidnap boys ... it was a little sketchy for me. There were also some inconsistencies with the storyline that didn't sit well with me. If there's a huge snowstorm outside that's closed down roads and even Betty's huge truck can't get through ... how can Nick's MINI Cooper just have a dusting of snow on it and manage to drive down the same roads? Hmmm.

I really enjoyed the secondary characters (Issy, Devyn and Betty) and would have liked to have more input and storylines for them. I also think that Megan could have had a bigger role as the 'bad girl'. She felt like a last minute add on to the storyline.

This book has a bit of everything: romance, humour, mystery and action. Do I think it's as good as Twilight? Not quite ... but it's still a good read. I found this book hard to put down and I've already reserved the second book in the series "Captivate" at the library to see where this storyline/romance goes.

My Rating: 4/5 stars