Need, by Carrie Jones

Need, by Carrie Jones (Bloomsbury, 2008, 290 pages in ARC form)

Carrie Jones is one of my favorite writers of books about teenaged girls. So when Need arrived, I jumped right in without stopping to read the back of the book. I began reading along happily, following Zara to her grandmother's house in Maine. She's been sent there after the death of her father has thrown her into a depression to deep for her mother to cope with (but there's more to it...). "You look like a zombie," says a random stranger on the plane, and indeed, that's how she feels--dead inside, filling her mind by naming fears and writing Amnesty International letters. And she arrives in wintry Maine (only October, actually, but plenty cold and snowy), and starts a new school, and meets some cool kids, mean kids, and extraordinary kids, and, unlike Zara's grandmother, I was more or less untroubled by the creepy guy Zara keeps seeing.

But then!

It turns out that he is not just a creepy guy, he is a Wicked Pixie, driven by inhuman needs to do inhuman things! The back cover says this too, so I don't count this as a spoiler. But anyway, this book is not like Carrie Jones' other books. It is not just a high school story, it is a high school story about nasty pixies, cool were-creatures, and a struggle to the death (or at least to life-long imprisonment, which in this case, since we're talking inhuman-type creatures here, can be rather long). And that's all the plot I'm telling about, so as not to spoil it. But it has action, suspense, and luv.

It is also about winter in Maine (chilly), starting a new high school (fraught), and coming to terms with the death of a beloved parent (even more fraught). And those realistic elements were the parts of this book I liked best--the fantastical plot was lots of fun, and kept me turning the pages, but I found it a tad over the top. But fans of paranormal fantastical romance adventure stories featuring high school students should adore it!

Amazon gives the release date as December 23--this means that if you have someone on your gift list who fits the above description, they probably will not have had a chance to read it yet and it will make perfect gift. At her blog, Carrie wrote of having a contest to give an ARC away, and as soon as the co-worker to whom I have lent mine gives it back, I will be passing on my ARC to a lucky reader here. Unless my co-worker is a book mangler, and returns it in unsuitable for giving away condition. I will leave a note here when I know.

UPDATE: My ARC of Need is now up for grabs here!

But in the meantime, there are Carrie Jones' other books, two of which I've reviewed-Tips on having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend, and Girl, Hero.

An aside: here's what I found creepiest about the book--the cover when you glimpse it upside down and the trees turn into the straggly hair of some eyeless horror. Coincidence, or conspiracy?