Review: Need by Carrie Jones

I always love a good bargain, and I picked this book up for $6 when I was doing a Chapters order.

Ever since reading The Iron King my interest in fey stories has been very high. While Need is definitely not the same as The Iron King, it was definitely a unique tale with interesting characters, a memorable force causing havoc and a spunky heroine who's story I enjoyed experiencing.

The Plot: 
(Summary from GoodReads)

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.

In this creepy, compelling breakout novel, Carrie Jones delivers romance, suspense, and a creature you never thought you'd have to fear.

Have you ever been afraid of a pixie? I love the fact that with Need, Carrie Jones is able to take something that our culture has watered down into a cute, passive mischief maker and actually allowed it to reclaim some of its former glory. Fey are not always twinkly little things like Tinker Bell, and even when they are it does not mean that they should be immediately dismissed or disrespected. 

I found their counter, the Weres, a rather strange choice. I think I have read somewhere that dogs and Fey do not always mix, but it felt a little bit of a stretch to me. I also felt that some of the references leading up to the big reveal regarding Weres (which I'm going to stay mum about) was a bit too obvious. I knew what was going to happen long before it did and that was a shame. 

One thing that is not part of the paranormal, and that I think Carrie Jones excelled at, was making the reader truly feel Zara's loss. I don't think a lot of fantasy and paranormal books cover the more human elements of a story strongly enough, so I felt that this was refreshing. I also liked how it tied into the story and how it effected both Zara's character and what she did during the story. 

The Characters: 

I felt that Zara was a likable heroine. Despite her current situation she was able to recognize that things were not right in the town she's now living in, and instead of whining she was determined to do something about it. There are a couple moments where I felt that her actions were a bit careless when considering her abilities v.s. the issues she is seeing around her. But that is a staple of paranormal fiction and I can't fault the book too harshly for it. It was not rampant and repetitive and it was always in a way that made sense for her character, even if it did not necessarily fall in with the capabilities of her character.

Nick is an interesting hero. He's not the kind of guy that's going to make my "heroes of the year" list or anything, but I didn't hate him. I did, however, find it kind of cheesy that other characters were refering to him as a "bad boy". Please. What made that even more amusing, to me, was the fact that I never really saw him do anything that would make someone think that to begin with. He did have some decent chemistry with Zara, but on the whole he did not really amaze me.

The rest of the cast was pretty solid. I liked Zara's grandma, and her friends that she makes at the school. (I've been sick and I finished this a few days ago so the names are a bit hazy.) On the whole the cast was solid, although I feel that the book's greater strength is definitely it's relatively unique paranormal threat moreso then anything else.

The Romance:

I think Nick and Zara play well off each other. I was also cheering for them to get together. As I said earlier, Nick isn't the kind of guy I would be interested in, but that does not mean he did not fit this book. I felt that the way that his character evolved, and the way that effected the romance, worked well, too. 

I also found the tug-of-war over who was with Zara between Nick and Ian rather amusing. For a while it actually made me unsure of which guy to "trust", which I was suppose to be cheering for. And that was rather refreshing.

I look forward to seeing how things go between Nick and Zara as this series continues. (I got Captivate and Entice for Christmas.)

In General:

Don't let my review fool you: I really, really enjoyed this book. (The review is kind of sparse and crappy because I keep coughing every two minutes.) It's funny, you know... I have this love / hate relationship with getting into series long after they've started (technically I think this is a trilogy?)... One one hand I could read everything right away, and on the other hand, it means I risk not really savoring the experience. (I think I did a post about this a couple weeks ago.) But again, I'm getting off topic.

If you've been thinking about checking out Need, there is no "need" to hesitate any longer. This is a fantastic story with interesting characters and a uniquely done paranormal element. In short: evil never looked so cute.