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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 5 Feb 2009
Zara has been unceremoniously shipped off to Maine to stay with Grandma Betty in the middle of nowhere during a frigid winter. According to her mother, Zara just hasn't been herself since her step-father passed away, and all of this is apparently supposed to help.
Before Zara even has a chance to snap out of the depression, her attention is drawn elsewhere by a mystery surrounding a local boy's disappearance. Oh, and then there's the strange man who seems to be stalking Zara.
She knew Maine would be a change of pace, but she didn't know she'd be running for her life...much less running from evil pixies!
When the fantastical pixie element is introduced, the excitement is enhanced, and much like WICKED LOVELY and other books of this caliber, the introduction seems natural and believable. These elements don't seem to overrun the story, but compliment it instead.
Author Carrie Jones (GIRL, HERO and other books) has a way of creating unique characters and supplying them with strong voices that seem immediately familiar to the reader. Zara's character is no exception. This immediate familiarity helps engage readers from the very beginning and hold their attention until the very end.
Aiding the familiarity of the voice in this book is its backdrop of Jones's home state. Here, the blistering cold and the frustration at being snowed in comes through loud and clear as we suffer through the Maine winter right along with Zara.
All-in-all, this is a read you won't want to miss, especially if you're a fan of contemporary fiction with fantasy woven in.
Reviewed by: Julie M. Prince
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dissapointing, 3 Jun 2009
Okay, seriously do not read this.
Need, is a Twilight cop off. Its poorly written, the plot and twists are absaloutly, smack in the face obvious. The characters are annoying and just very annoying. Also the ideas of Pixies, I mean come on! Although, I did like the idea of phobia's as chapters and I liked the location, but the phobias also got a bit tedeious and repetative after like the first four chapters. A bit dissapointing.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Autophobia - fear of oneself, 22 Jan 2009
As a lover of YA fiction, when I found this book on Amazon.com, I jumped on it. Early reviews said that it was similar to TWILIGHT by Stephenie Meyer, so I thought that it would be great, but also hoped that there was enough difference to make it special.
The story is about Zara White. Following the death of her stepfather, Zara's mother decides to send Zara to the quiet town of Maine to stay with her stepgrandmother, hoping that the break and change of scenery will help Zara to come alive again.
As she is about to leave, Zara sees a man who then keeps re-appearing as though he is stalking her.
At first, Zara finds it difficult to adjust. Feeling bitter resentment towards her mum for sending her away, she struggles to get used to a place which is much colder than her beloved Charleston.
But things start to get a bit strange to say the least. It turns out that the stalker guy is no figment of her imagination - he turns up in Maine too. And why do people tell her not to go out at night, or suggest that when in the woods she should wear her coat inside out? Is everyone crazy or are there things in Maine that she doesn't yet know about?
That is about the basic plotline. I don't want to give too much away. While there are some similarities to the premise of TWILIGHT, I do feel that NEED is different enough to make its own statement. Zara, for example, is actually a pacifist - she supports Amnesty International. Violence and violations of human rights are not acceptable to her. However, NEED does fall into some of the usual traps of YA fiction. Zara, although a likebale character, does become slightly irritating as she continually seems to do stupid things which put her in danger. Plus, the focus on her relationship with another character Nick becomes so repetitive that it just gets sickening. The number of times she describes him as beautiful and harps on about his physique does get tedious. I know teenagers fall in love deeply and there are intense emotions for them, but rather than creating solid romance, at times it was a little too much to stomach.
Overall though, a good enough read - and by the ending, probably awaiting a sequel.
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