"Need" by Carrie Jones

From Goodreads: "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."

This is a great book to start the new year off with- if all of the books that I read this year are as good as this, well then I have an amazing year ahead of me! I think that this book has the perfect amount of adventure and romance and therefore this book= perfect for me!

I am not going to lie, I had no idea what this book was about prior to buying it- in fact, I didn't even figure out what type of paranormals were in it until 70 pages into the book and when it was revealed that the paranormals were pixies and weres I was quite surprised. I can't recall ever reading a story where both of these magical races play leading roles together/ the history of them being arch enemies was something new to me, so I just thought that it was a unique spin on the typical were/ faerie story.

Anyways, I am in love! I know, I know, I profess love for every new male character I happen to come across, but this time I am serious! Nick is a combination of Jace Wayland and Jay Heaton- he is all bad-ass like Jace and all cute and caring like Jay= perfect.  

I can't help but think that maybe it would have been best had Zara's mom stayed with her dad at the end of the novel. I mean, her mom did technically send her away because she didn't want to deal with her and her depression anymore and as such, was most likely not going to be a major component of her life anymore. So I don't understand why having a pixie mom would be such a big deal? I just think that cheesing her father off will make him even more vengeful and because they double crossed him he will no longer be willing to make any deals with them in the future. Talk about burning that bridge... Plus Zara talked to her father about martyrdom, sacrificing oneself for the greater good- why could she not have understood and accepted that this was exactly what her mom was trying to do?  

 Anyways, I have read numerous reviews where people have said that this book is a blatant rip-off of "Twilight" and though there are some similarities between the two novels, I feel like these similarities are coincidental or that they are so minuscule that they by no means have that much impact on the outcome of the story/ plot line. For instance, both books start off with the main characters on an airplane, moving across the country to start a new life- that is where that similarity ends. It is Bella's choice to move in with her father so that her mom and step dad can start a new life together, whereas Zara has no choice in the matter when it comes to moving in with her grandmother, her mother forces her into it, thinking that a change in scenery will help alleviate her daughters depression. Another similarity that arises is that both male main characters cars are mentioned throughout the novel- personally I'd take Nick's car over Edward's any day. 

Whereas Edward is all pretty boy, very much someone who is unattainable in the realm of high school, and someone who I believe the reader may have a difficult time relating to, I think that Nick is kind of  lumberjack chic or humble jock boy, an all around nice guy with a hero complex, and a guy who is entirely relatable to the reader- he is just like that childhood friend that you've grown up with and have always been able to depend on. Both females are warned about the boys that they eventually fall for- Bella is warned by Jessica not to get too attached to Edward because he has no apparent interest in high school girls, whereas Zara is warned that Nick is "bad news". Both girls have a quirky BFF, Bella has Alice and Zara has Is. Both Zara and Bella think about sacrificing themselves in order to protect those that they love, but only Bella goes through with it, as Zara chickens out at the last minute. However, Zara more than makes up for it with her plan at the end of the novel. Thankfully Nick and Zara do not profess their love for one another early in the plot line like Bella and Edward do, in fact, they do not profess their love for one another whatsoever, they only admit to "really, really liking" one another.  Unlike in "Twilight" however, in this book I actually really like the main female character, Zara. Zara doesn't do the whole bittey lip thing, she is quite strong and independent (well, after she gets over her depression that is) and she actually has a personality. Furthermore, I didn't really feel any connection to the authority figures in "Twilight" (ie. Charlie, Carlisle, and whatnot), like I did in this book. Betty? Yeah, friggin hilarious and Zara is super lucky to have her as a grandmother.

Even now I admit that I feel like I had to fish for the similarities- kind of like how I think that the critics of this book had to- this is a YA adult, and as such the characters are typically teenagers. Well what do teenagers do? They go to high school, make friends, gossip, think about cute boys, start dating cute boys and whatnot, as it is for every other YA plot line. So I don't think that it is fair to say that this is a rip off by any means, these are necessary elements of a YA novel. Furthermore, in my opinion the differences fair outweigh the similarities. 

Rating 10/10