Book Review!

This weekend I read Need by Carrie Jones.  I would probably rate it somewhere between 2.5 and 3 stars. 


Synopsis from good reads website: 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.

I had heard that people were comparing this novel to Twilight and I can see where they were coming from, a girl moves away from her mom to a small town in a cold place, this girl meets a mysterious boy and is intrigued by him.  There are definitely similarities. 

*spoiler alert!*

I had some issues with the book though. First, it was choppy.  The language and the story were all over the place.  When the characters would have any sort of conversation it was always short sentences if even that.  I had to go back and reread several times just to figure out exactly what they were talking about.  There were a lot of words between the characters, they just never really said much of anything.   

The story was confusing sometimes as well.   Nick who is a "were" can smell the pixies as they approach Zara's home but he can't smell the ones standing right next to him at school?  Huh.  That didn't make any sense to me.  I also thought it was strange that Nick also had to discover on his own about the existence of the pixies.  He is supposedly the protector of the area and his shape shifting abilities are passed down from parent to child through generations, so did his parents really never clue him in?  They were probably the same age as Zara's dad so they would have been around when he had his troubles with the pixies.   


Another story line issue I had came when Zara's mom made her escape from the pixies.  I don't believe for one second that if she was being held captive for the pixie King no one noticed she was making her escape!   If she was so important to the King, someone would have been on her at all times.  When they finally did notice she was leaving, they all just watched and announced to the King that she was escaping.  The King just sat there like a bump on a log and did nothing.  Really?  No one tried to grab her?  

The best friend Issi?  She was annoying.  


I did like the premise of the story and I wish that the book had been longer so the author could have worked out some of the scenes with more depth.  A few more pages here and there would have given us an opportunity to really get to know the characters and what to expect from them.    


Would I recommend this to someone to read?  Yes, but I wouldn't buy it, even with all of the issues I had with it I would say give it a try.  But I would also say not to have your expectations too high.  I haven't decided if I will read the 2nd book yet, I'll let you know.