Need [Paperback]

Carrie Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 8, 2009 | Series: Need

Zara collects phobias the way other girls collect Facebook friends. 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.

With suspense, romance, and paranormal themes, this exciting breakout novel has readers rapidly turning the pages.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's not hard to see Twilight in the DNA of this novel: Zara's stepfather has died, her mother isn't capable of caring for her, and she has been sent to live with her grandmother in a small remote town in Maine. When her car spins out of control (Calling Stephenie Meyer!), she's rescued by sexy Nick (who turns out to be a werewolf), and something might be cooking with her overachieving classmate Ian. Too bad she's being followed by someone dark and dangerous—a pixie king. This pixie is no harmless sprite: when not mated with a queen for an unspecified amount of time, Zara learns, the pixie kings will demand... young human men, who they kill after using them for their blood-hungry pleasures. Will Zara sacrifice herself to this vampire stand-in or let him destroy everything she loves? Jones (Love {and Other Uses for Duct Tape]) easily wins readers to Zara's side, portraying her as a funny, globally conscious teen who also collect[s} fears like other people collect stamps (obscure phobias serve as chapter titles). Genre fans will enjoy the sizzle between Nick and Zara as well as the paranormal cast. Ages 12–up. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"An exciting venture filled with nasty evil creatures, nail-biting action and heart-pounding romance." --teenreads.com

“Romance, suspense, and a very clever heroine make this a must-read!”  -- Toledo Blade

"It's not hard to see Twilight in the DNA of this novel. ...Genre fans will enjoy the sizzle between Nick and Zara as well as the paranormal cast." –PW

“The resolution of the book was definitely worthy of  praise, and I loved the action that the climax had built. This is a great book for suspense and romance lovers to read.” –Flamingnet.com

"Jones masterfully blends paranormal fantasy, suspense, and romance to craft a new supernatural tale that is certain to appeal to fans of dark urban fantasy like Marr's Wicked Lovely and paranormal romances like Meyer's Twilight books. A likeable cast of engaging and interesting characters combine with a plot that grabs readers and refuses to let go." --VOYA

"A fast-paced novel worthy of the fantasy greats, Need will take you for a ride." --VOYA, teen reviewer

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens; Reprint edition (December 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599904535
• ISBN-13: 978-1599904535
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (266 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carrie Jones graduated from Vermont College's MFA program for writing. She has edited newspapers and poetry journals and has recently won awards from the Maine Press Association and also been awarded the Martin Dibner Fellowship as well as a Maine Literary Award.

Her first book, TIPS ON HAVING A GAY (EX) BOYFRIEND appeared May 2007. Her second novel tentatively titled,LOVE (AND OTHER USES FOR DUCT TAPE) came out March 2008. Another book, GIRL, HERO was released after August 2008. TIPS won the Maine Literary Award and the Independent Booksellers Award.

NEED, an urban fantasy/romance appeared December 2008 and has been named a VOYA Best Books of 2008 and is a finalist for a bunch of other awards.

That's boring though, isn't it? Here, let's try it this way.

Carrie Jones likes Skinny Cow fudgsicles and potatoes. She does not know how to spell fudgsicles. This has not prevented her from writing books. She lives with her cute family in Maine, but she grew up in Bedford, NH where she once had a seance with cool uber-comedian Sarah Silverman.

The Meyers brothers are from Bedford, too, so you'd think it would make Carrie funnier, coming from Bedford N.H. Obviously, something didn't work.

Carrie has a large, skinny white dog and a fat cat. Both like fudgicles. Only the cat likes potatoes. This may be a reason for the kitty's weight problem (Shh??? don't tell). Carrie has always liked cowboy hats but has never owned one. This is a very wrong thing. She graduated from Vermont College's MFA program for writing. She has edited newspapers and poetry journals and has recently won awards from the Maine Press Association and also been awarded the Martin Dibner Fellowship as well as a Maine Literary Award.

Still boring? Still with me? How about this....

2. Carrie can not drink coffee. It makes her insane. Do not give her caffeine.
3. Carrie is very responsive to loving strokes on the hair, kind of like a puppy. However, do not do this without asking first unless you are a ridiculously handsome man or an editor who is about to offer her a trillion dollars for the first draft of her novel.
4. Carrie is secretly really, really shy even though she's pathetically outgoing in person. She has a very hard time calling people. So, if you want to talk to her, make the first move. And, if you're her in-Maine female best friend, Jennifer, do NOT get mad at her because she is so bad at returning emails.
5. Carrie sometimes wears mismatched socks, if you do not think this is cool, do not tell her. You will hurt her feelings.
6. Carrie really, really wants you to like her books. Please like her books. PLEEEAASSSEEEE. She'll be your best friend forever. That is, if you want a friend who is shy about calling and emailing and who wears mismatched socks and can't drink caffeine and likes being pet on the head. Hhmmm???.
7. Carrie is not above begging.
8. Carrie, like Belle in TIPS drinks Postum. It's for the same reason, too.
9. Carrie loves Great Pyrenees dogs. They are huge and white, and furry and it looks like they have white eyeliner and mascara on, which is way too cute. Do you have one? Send a picture!
10. Carrie lives in Maine. She has a hard time with this in the winter. It is bleak in Maine in the winter. Imagine everything shades of gray and brown and no green anywhere except for in people's noses. This is Maine in Winter. Maine in summer is the best place in the world, so it's a trade-off. Feel free to invite Carrie to your house in the winter, but not if it's in Greenland, Canada, or anywhere north of Florida.
11. Forget that. She'd still probably come.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Need's Zara is Bella with a Backbone, December 27, 2008

By 

Karen Rock "Paranormal Rocks" (Upstate, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Need (Hardcover)

Since finishing Breaking Dawn, I have been in a reading funk. My post paranormal romance pout came from Edward/Bella withdrawl and the conviction the no one could outdo Meyer but Meyer...until Carrie Jones' Need. Need filled my "need" (sorry for the unavoidable pun) for a deliciously dark romance with edgy action and mind-blowing paranormal fantasy. In fact, Need edged out Twilight in some important ways.

Main character Zara, grieving from her father's recent death, shows much more character arc than Meyer's Bella. In this page-turner, Zara transforms from a withdrawn, morose girl to a Laura Croft-style monster-whipping machine. Instead of waiting to be rescued by her gorgeous alpha male boyfriend, Zara hunts her hunters, turning the tables on them through her own ingenuity. This was a refreshing change from Meyer's Bella who is a strong, yet passive, damsel in distress. It was a relief to see Bella finally break out in Breaking Dawn (darn- another pun) and fight back- even if it was in a defensive/shield creating capacity. In Jones' Need, we don't have to wait four books for evidence of our heroine's backbone. A more comparable character to Zara would be Holly Black's strong and sarcastic Val in Valiant.

Zara's love interest, Nick, is hot and amazingly, as might be appreciated by conservatives looking for an edgy book that doesn't go too far, a virgin! Their first kiss is hot and pure with Zara comparing the feel of Nick's lips to an angel's breath. It melted my heart and set it pounding. It is every bit as romantic as Twilight's heart-stopping Chapter 13 "Meadow Scene."

Like Twilight, the setting in Need is unusual and interesting. The weather is equally miserable, this time deep Northeast winter. The frigid cold is a stark contrast to the hot romance and action brewing in this backwoods mystery town. The secondary characters are better in Need than in Twilight- particulary Zara's friends. Her quirky band of outsider pals share banter that is laugh-out-loud funny, breaking up intense moments of darkness and angst.

I highly recommend this book to any like me who are grieving the finish of Twilight. Need is an antedote and a promise that the renaissance of paranormal romance is far from over.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intense page-turner, February 25, 2009

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Need (Hardcover)

Zara White lives in Charleston with her mother and stepfather. She loves running, is very active in Amnesty International and trying to save the world, and is a phobia buff; she knows each and every phobia by name, and even comes up with some that should have names. And then Zara's world falls apart --- her beloved dad dies from a heart attack.

After months of deep depression, Zara's desperate mom decides to send her up to Maine to live with her grandmother, which makes Zara very angry. Maine is frigidly cold with howling winds and lots of snow --- not the ideal for a southern gal. Slowly, though, with a few new friends and even a boyfriend prospect in handsome loner Nick, Zara begins to find her smile again. But that's not all she finds.

She first notices the eerie dark man outside her house the day her dad died. She sees him again at the airport, and then at her new school, and hears a voice calling her name. Two boys from school disappear. There is no way to prepare for what Zara is about to encounter. The evil being is the Pixie King, and he needs a queen. Zara and her friends do research and find that weres (werewolves and the like) are the natural enemy for pixies. And as luck would have it, this frigid Maine town has a handful of weres in the population as well. Zara and her friends begin the fight of their lives, and in the process uncover some deep family secrets that will forever change their world. She strives to save strangers with her volunteer work for Amnesty International, but will she be able to save herself and the ones she loves?

Carrie Jones brings readers an exciting venture filled with nasty evil creatures, nail-biting action and heart-pounding romance. She writes with an intense energy that electrifies each page and has a talent for description that brings the story to life (like Maine's charming winter). She has cleverly planned a prolific plot, building suspense and conflict, and revealing many hidden surprises and twists at just the right moment. Her vibrant characters thrive with life, especially Zara, who shares her entire self (including her hopes and fears) with readers. Zara also has a unique way of viewing life and the things around her: "There is something about libraries, old libraries, that makes them seem almost sacred. There's a smell of paper and must and binding stuff. It's like all the books are fighting against decay, against turning into dust, and at the same time fighting for attention."

NEED is an intense page-turner, sure to captivate young audiences with its charms and thrills.

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman

40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Missing some of the story, February 16, 2009

By 

Jennifer L. Rinehart (United States of America) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Need (Hardcover)

I couldn't help wondering what happened to this book, because, in my opinion, parts of it were missing.

I like a tight story, I can think of several books that could have used some cutting; The Historian by Kostova and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel are two examples. But this was brutal, I hardly had a chance to get to know the characters before the book was done.

I don't think it's a spoiler to say there are pixies in this book, but the way all of the characters seem to accept it was a little too easy.

I liked the story idea, but it just didn't add up. Why would her mother send her to Maine? Considering what happened there all those years ago it seemed almost like she was trying to mess everything up. Why was Issie so bubbly? Why was she so oblivious to Devyn? Why wasn't everyone freaked out about the missing boys? I've never experienced such a wholehearted welcome at school and the friendliness of the students seemed trite and unreal.

On the positive side, I loved her Gram. I loved the little humorous bits. I wanted to know more of the day by day stuff, did she ever get her car registered? I know it's a bummer to write that part of the story, but skipping it is awkward.

Furthermore, why didn't anyone do anything about the pixies before?

Then again, I did finish it, which means it's at least ten times better than some of the books I've bought recently. I'm sending this to my little sister, I have a feeling that she'll end up liking it.