Book Review: Need by Carrie Jones

Title: Need

Author: Carrie Jones

Synopsis: 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

Review:

a.) Characters: 1/5 score.  The characters were terrible.  Zara was damaged because she watched her step father die, and she was basically apathetic the whole novel.  And even when she started feeling things for her romantic interest, I still felt nothing from her.  Her lost of her step father and her phobia interest defined her.  The only reason this score gets a 1 instead of a 0 is because Zara’s grandmother Betty.  This was the only character who seemed to have any life (AT ALL) in the whole story.  

b.) Plot: 1/5 score.  Faeries have been done before, but the whole Need part of the story was interesting.  If Carrie Jones had actually cared about the novel I think she would’ve put more effort into creating a story instead of trying to get a book out.  Most of the time these teens were finding this important information out from the Internet.  And they all were just okay with faeries.  And the whole time I kept reading my thought process was “how can she kill this story even more for me- oh that’s how” and it was a never ending process.  

c.) Writing style: 0/5 score.  It felt like I was reading a rough draft, ideas on paper that were connected by a few sentences and nothing else.  It was hard for me to suffer through this writing.  Never, not once, did I feel anything from this story.  Instead of trying to find a creative way to say Zara ran, all she said was “I ran and ran and ran.”  Sometimes when a character is going through an emotional crisis and writing turns to this, I like it.  Because it makes the desperate situation feel real to you.  But the whole story was like this, like Carrie Jones couldn’t find anything creative to put inside the story at all.  

Rating: 2/15 total

Harsh but true.  I always try to give the best reviews I can.  Unfortunately I can't lie. I know my review won't stop everyone from reading- and to be honest, that's not my goal- but only to proceed with caution. I don't think I have ever really read anything that I didn't like- until now.  I don't believe I will be able to stomach reading the rest on the series (unless they are on sale for really really cheap for my eReader).