Review: Need by Carrie Jones

Title: Need

Author: Carrie Jones

Reading Level: Young Adult

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 wicked stars

Blurb:

Zara collects phobias the way other high school girls collect lipsticks. Little wonder, since life’s been pretty rough so far. Her father left, her stepfather just died, and her mother’s pretty much checked out. Now Zara’s living with her grandmother in sleepy, cold Maine so that she stays “safe.” Zara doesn’t think she’s in danger; she thinks her mother can’t deal.

Wrong. Turns out that guy she sees everywhere, the one leaving trails of gold glitter, isn’t a figment of her imagination. He’s a pixie—and not the cute, lovable kind with wings. He’s the kind who has dreadful, uncontrollable needs. And he’s trailing Zara.

My thoughts...

Before I get into the book, let me say this cover is amazing :)  It is a very pretty "shiny".   It almost looks like you would think it would be about vampires, but surprisingly, no vampires in this book.  There are plenty of other little "nasties" to keep your interest, though.

Okay now, on to the book.  Zara White is sent to live with her Grandmother in Maine after she never recovers from depression after her step father (and only father she has ever known) dies.  Her Mother hopes the change of scenery will help her bounce back but Zara thinks her Mother is just shipping her off because she can't deal with her anymore.  Zara starts school and makes friends and enemies pretty quickly.  She keeps seeing this person that has followed her from her Mother's house to Maine and is stalking her.  He turns out to be the Pixie King and he is after Zara and will continue abducting teenage boys until he gets her.

Zara is a likable character, I question her judgment in the book a few times, but I guess the heroines have to be doing stupid things to keep the action rolling at times, ha ha.  As the book progresses there are a few surprises, even for me who tries to ferret every possible outcome while reading.  I love it when a book surprises me.

Carrie Jones weaves a magical, entertaining and sometimes actually scary tale.  Once I started this book, I did lose some sleep over getting to a part where the action slowed down enough for me to put it down for the night.  This book has plenty of pixies and shifters to keep those para-lovers (like myself) entertained and enough romance/love interest to give you warm fuzzies. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, Captivate due out January 2010.