Monday, March 15, 2010

Need

Need (Need, #1) Need by Carrie Jones

Award: VOYA Award/Honor
Series: Book 1 of ? (Need)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Zara's step-dad passes away suddenly from a heart attack, leaving her truly depressed. Her mom sends her to live with her grandma in Maine, hoping that Zara will snap out of her funk. But once there, Zara quickly realizes that instead of ingratiating into the new town, her presence is causing issues in the community and threatening her safety. As Zara uncovers the mystery of what is unsettling her, she is exposed to a world of benevolent weres and evil pixies that she never knew existed.

Here's what bugged:
So, there's no doubt that this book is kind of Twilight-ish. In some ways, it kind of made me appreciate Stephenie Meyer's wordiness, because I felt like this book yanked me from one thing to the next without a lot of lead in. The writing style is a little too simplistic for an upper grade book, in my opinion. And, I can't stand the cover art.

Here's the good stuff:
The storyline was entertaining though and this is a good page-turner. I like the love interest and I also like the supporting characters--Devyn, Issie, and Grandma Betty. I also liked the recurring theme of phobias. I thought it worked well. It's a good book when you want a fun and easy read (I read half of it while waiting for my son at gymnastics!).

Interesting concept overall. I'm not blown away, but I'm intrigued enough to read the next one in the series.

Also reviewed by:
Book 24 of 100 for the 100+ Reading Challenge, Book 15 of 50 for the New Author Challenge, Book 14 of 50 for the YA Reading Challenge, Book 10 of 25 for the Support Your Local Library Challenge

Source: Library

4 comments:

bermudaonion said...

From the cover, I suspected that wasn't for me and after your review, I know it's not.

Kathleen said...

Sounds like I can skip this one and get around to reading Twilight or another YA novel instead!

Veens said...

Not for me! I might as well read Meyer's series :)

Tribute Books said...

Will recommend it to my niece, thanks, not for me.