NEED

The basic premise of this just seems so much more like a summer teen horror movie than even a beach read. A random social network appears, and people start dying. Yep. It's just too thin a premise, and too ridiculous, to work as a novel. 90 minutes of running and screaming and tight close-ups of terrified beautiful people? Absolutely. A few hundred pages of reading? Nope. That gives you too much time to gag on the stereotyping, the plot holes, and so on.

I unfortunately guessed most of the plot twists before the first hundred pages and I wish I had been wrong. NEED is a great concept and the execution isn't bad...but it's not great either. It felt rushed and shallow when I needed character depth desperately. The constant character changes between chapters would have been great if the main character's, Kaylee, portions had been longer. As such, I got characters mixed up and combined and apparently I missed multiple deaths.

NEED is a new social networking site targeting Nottawa High School students. To get what they "need" they must perform a task.

I have always loved watching television, so I really enjoy a novel that reads like a television movie. If I scrolled the TV Guide and saw "Need based on the novel by Joelle Charbonneau" in the listings, I would not hesitate to set my DVR. I was intrigued from the very beginning. There are quite a few teen characters to keep track of, but the story is so well-written I never got lost.

This is Murder, Mystery & Suspense worth reading. Real life or fiction, death isn't easy to hear or read about - it's wanting to get to the whodunit that keeps me interested. But who was behind NEED? I was intrigued by everything that led to the answer.

NEED unleashed psychopathic behavior, destroyed relationships, revealed selfishness that endangered lives, took advantage of family discord and caused extreme feelings of guilt and despair. A couple of characters may have made the same choices without NEED, but, as for the others, these things wouldn't have happened if they hadn't allowed social media to control them.

Not much profanity. I appreciated that.
Favorite Character: Nate
Least Favorite Characters: Kaylee's mom (didn't like how she treated her daughter) and Ethan (crazy person)

I really enjoyed Joelle Charbonneau's Testing series, so I was excited to see that she had a new book coming out. Her newest book, Need, is a keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller. It's pretty fast-paced and alternates between several character's viewpoints. The main character, Kaylee, just wants to save her very sick brother, which adds a another whole layer to this Young Adult novel. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who loves mysteries and/or thrillers.

**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

Being that I'm slightly older and not a teenager, I still love a good YA Fiction book. I find them to be fun reads, good story lines, and interesting characters. Very insightful. "Need" by Joelle Charbonneau definitely gave insight into human nature. It's sad to say there are people out there who would behave in a manner such as that in this book... which is quite terrifying in itself. Selfish, needy, and not knowing the difference between a need and want.

"Need" centers on a small Wisconsin town in the midst of Christmas break. Teenagers stuck at home, sleeping in, and playing on their computers. Suddenly a new invite-only social media site called NEED comes up and within a matter of days the entire high school is on it. So what's the big deal? Need asks you what you NEED after explaining the different between a need and a want. In typical teenage fashion... new phones, video games, computers, good grades on tests without the work, and simple WANTS are added to the list. All you have to do is invite a few friends to the site or do a simple task. It doesn't take long for some to realize these tasks are not so simple and could have deadly consequences. The stories' main character is Kaylee, possibly one of the ONLY students who puts a real need... a kidney for her sick little brother.

Charbonneau took a very real situation, the selfishness of today's youth, and tied it into a movie about a website that ends up terrorizing a town all because of selfish behavior. I loved Kaylee's character because I relate to her. I loved her drive to help her brother, even if it meant the entire town thought she was crazy. While I loved Kaylee, a lot of the other characters I disliked. I disliked some of the parents because it seemed like every parent in the book had a favorite child and basically ignored the other. I didn't like some of the kids because I would like to think more kids have a better head on their shoulders than to do some of the things these kids do. I think there is a line that has to be drawn on what is realistic and what is not. I believe kids will do something they feel is innocent even if it ends up being not, but I don't think perfectly normal teenagers will do blatantly evil things for something as little as a new phone. At least not in the masses they do in this book. It seems like normal, every day kids turned into psycho, serial killers all because they liked getting new stuff. Maybe one, but not multiple. It's like they had no conscious.

The reality in the story is what lowered my rating to 3-stars. I liked the story and some of the characters. I loved the suspense as you waited to see what happened next. However, I did not like the reality of the overall situation. Between the characters acting very out-of-character for today's teens and a conspiracy I would like to believe would never actually take place, it was hard to shake that unbelievable feeling. I also was a bit thrown by the switching P.O.V.'s. I understand where Charbonneau was coming from with showing you what people were thinking throughout the town, but I think it would have increased the mystery had it been a single P.O.V. or even a two person P.O.V. With as many as there were, sometimes I had to stop and go back to figure out which person it was I was reading about and which story went with them.

Maybe I'm naive in a sense that I'd like to believe people are better than this. However, with the lack of reality and fast swapping story lines, I still like the book. I'd likely read it again and I'd definitely read more work from Joelle Charbonneau. She has a good writing style, the story did flow with a beginning, middle, and end that was not confusing, and there wasn't a lot of jumping around in the timeline. Kaylee had a very developed character and we knew about her and her past, but I wish we had gotten a little bit more story from some of the other characters we heard from regularly. If you are looking for an easy read with some twists and turns to keep you interested, pick up a copy of "Need".

Really enjoyed the authors Testing trilogy and was excited to read this book. It is different but it deals with an interesting topic. The characters are very interesting in the thriller. Kaylee is trying to save her brother but gets into deep in the new social media website for local teens. She then must find out what is truly going on. Good read and very enjoyable. You'll keep reading to find out what is really going on.

NEED was amazing. It has a little bit of everything and mixes them together in a way that no one element overpowers the next. It takes a good look at human nature and how we interact and takes it to another level - leaving me wondering if something like this could happen.

Much of our society today is about instant graft cation and not working it
You go on a website invite so many people to join and you get it. Things rapidly get out of control and 12 people die. Teens could learn a lot from this book.

Book #115 Read in 2015
Need by Joelle Charbonneau

I enjoyed The Testing by this author and jumped at the chance to get this book to review. It did not disappoint. This book had twists and turns throughout the entire book. Need is a new media site where the local high students receive invitations to join it and then they are asked "what do you need?" If it is a true need, their wish will be fulfilled. If it is a want, not a need, as most requests are, the students are giving a task to do to have the need met. A first seemingly harmless, the tasks soon take on a sinister, and often deadly, turn. How many people will be harmed before someone stops this site? This book was a gripping read and both high school boys and girls, as well as adults, would enjoy it. I received a copy of this book from the store Vine in exchange for a honest review.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

I really enjoyed this book. Kaylee was an amazing, well-developed character. The situation created in the book was a compelling one, although a very dark look at humanity. Interesting discussions could be had in a classroom about the difference between a want and a need.