I have a few good things to say about Need. If you are an aspiring psychologist or psychiatrist thinking of specializing in phobias, well – this is the book for you. Need is a great vocabulary builder. Instead of numbered chapters, each chapter is named after a phobia with its definition below. So you get to learn great and useful words like:Phobophobia – a fear of phobiasAutophobia – a fear of yourselfCacaphobia – a fear of uglinessToo bad there isn’t a word for fear of dull reads – dullreadophobia.Need was an unsatisfying read. Many times I had a sense of déjà vu. I’ve read this story before, somewhere. I don’t think it is fair to compare to other books, but as I was reading this, I had this “same old, same old” thought in my head.Zara, grieving after the sudden death of her father is sent to live with her grandmother Betty in rural Maine. Zara gets the use of the sensible Subaru, goes to the local high school, makes a few friends, and has two boys vying for her attention. Oh yes, there is a stalker and a warning to stay indoors at night. Zara is a smart, articulate young woman. Yet, she has absolutely no sense of self-preservation. Everyone warns her to stay in, she goes out jogging at night on rural roads. Who does this? Rural roads are not for night jogging. Pixies....Here’s where I had a problem with this book. I just can’t imagine a pixie as a threat. I just can’t picture them as human sized and dangerous. Pixies need blood? Pixies leave sparkly gold dust on the snow? They just don’t have the same cachet as vampires and werewolves do. There was a little excitement in the book, but I felt that it came too little, too late. The resolution was just too easy. I understand that there is a sequel to this book. I think I’ll pass.
