Monday, December 28, 2015

Need by Joelle Charbonneau

Title: Need
Author: Joelle Charbonneau
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Classification: Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery
Release Date: November 3, 2015
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you, HMH Books for Young Readers!)
Read: November 2015
"No one gets something for nothing. We all should know better."
Teenagers at Wisconsin's Nottawa High School are drawn deeper into a social networking site that promises to grant their every need . . . regardless of the consequences. Soon the site turns sinister, with simple pranks escalating to malicious crimes. The body count rises. In this chilling YA thriller, the author of the best-selling Testing trilogy examines not only the dark side of social media, but the dark side of human nature. 
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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

When I read the synopsis for Need, I was really excited for the chance to read it. It sounding equally interesting, thrilling, and terrifying. Exploring "not only the dark side of social media, but the dark side of human nature" is 100% correct. Wow! Need definitely has a dark tone and it makes one think and hope that our social media world does not one day reach this level. 

There is a new social networking site called Need that targets students from Nottawa High School. The site is easy to join and promises to grant your needs as long as you do what is asked. Though things quickly escalate from simple tasks and pranks that lead to appalling crimes and outcomes. 

The characters in this book are pretty horrible people, seriously the things they decide to do for social networking site is terrifyingly horrendous! I kept thinking "Would they really do this, would they go that far?" And even though I wondered if it could actually happen, I decided it wasn't exactly outside the realm of possibility. I have heard some horrible and disturbing things happening around the world on the news. 

At first it was a bit difficult for me to keep the characters straight. There are so many points of view in this book, and even though the chapters are labeled with which character point of view it is, I found it difficult to remember which character was which. The only characters I found easy to remember were Kaylee and Nate. I think that is mostly because Kaylee felt more like the main character, she had more development and backstory. Even though I found the characters a bit confusing, I was still interested in finding out what was happening and it didn't necessarily take away from the story. Others might not have as much difficulty remembering the characters. 

The story itself was fairly interesting. I wasn't completely pulled into the story, especially at first. But there was a lot of stuff happening to keep my attention. There were also some heart-pounding twists that I didn't see coming. But the big reveal wasn't completely surprising for me.

My Recommendation:

Need is a dark and at times thrilling story. The characters were a bit hard for me to remember, since there were so many of them. They also were pretty horrible in the sense they do horrific things to be able to get the things they think they need. Need held my attention and surprised me at times. I didn't love the story, but I also didn't completely dislike it either. If you like dark thrillers that make you think, you might want to check this one out. 

My Rating:

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