Need ~ Carrie Jones

“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.”

“Friends help friends fight pixies.”

Need was one of those that I kept waiting and waiting for. My job is awesome in that I get to search out fabulous books; it just isn’t so great when the wait for them exceeds anywhere between four months to a year. So, as soon as I even thought this one was on the shelf – ah, a day early ’cause I can be impatient like that – I scooped it up (along with Lesley Livingston’s Wondrous Strange, which I’ve also been waiting on forever.)

And, yeah, it was good. And, man, now I have another werewolf to sigh over. (It seems the walls Anita Blake’s Richard made me put up are being forcibly knocked down by all of these YA weres.)

Zara is an emotionally rich character. Her step-father’s death is the catalyst to get her to Maine, but it’s an event that shapes her entire personality. She begins to focus on phobias, hers and the rest of the world’s, and it makes for an interesting trait that makes her someone to relate to. Most of us have fears of some sort, and most of us try to deal with them or face them, and so Zara’s struggle feels like much more than words on paper. And because you can get behind her so well, you become invested in the story itself, and the rest of the people whose lives tangle with hers.

There were some interesting twists in this novel – which I won’t give away, of course – and I loved the pixie aspect, a supernatural creature we don’t see too much of in fantasy. Plus, there’s Nick. And, trust me, Nick is…yeah.

This didn’t feel like the start to a series to me, and I’m not sure if Carrie Jones has any plans to continue on with Zara’s story, but I can tell you I definitely want more.

So, while this was released at the end of ’08, I’m going to go ahead and say that Need kicked off what I have a feeling is going to be a most excellent year in YA fiction.