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A review by blogginboutbooks
Need by Joelle Charbonneau
3.0
One of Stephen King's most memorable books, at least for me, is NEEDFUL THINGS. It's brilliant in a lot of ways. NEED has a similar premise. I was hoping it would be like a less R-rated version of NEEDFUL THINGS, updated for a new generation. Was it? Yeah...no. While NEED asks some of the same questions, it's so completely unconvincing that I just found it annoying and dissatisfying overall.
First off, the book suffers from having way too many narrators, making it impossible to really get to know or care about any of them. Kaylee is the most sympathetic, but she's so prickly and whiny that it's hard to like her much. Second, although the book's premise is intriguing, the execution is SO far-fetched that it's totally unbelievable. My willing suspension of disbelief had to stretch too far to make this one work. Third, overall, this is a depressing book that seems pointless in the end. For all these reasons, it just did not work for me.
All that being said, NEED is a fast-paced story that kept me reading. I finished it in a day. Because it was compelling enough to hook me like that and convince me to read to the end, I gave it three stars.
First off, the book suffers from having way too many narrators, making it impossible to really get to know or care about any of them. Kaylee is the most sympathetic, but she's so prickly and whiny that it's hard to like her much. Second, although the book's premise is intriguing, the execution is SO far-fetched that it's totally unbelievable. My willing suspension of disbelief had to stretch too far to make this one work. Third, overall, this is a depressing book that seems pointless in the end. For all these reasons, it just did not work for me.
All that being said, NEED is a fast-paced story that kept me reading. I finished it in a day. Because it was compelling enough to hook me like that and convince me to read to the end, I gave it three stars.