Thursday, June 23, 2011

A Need So Beautiful

A Need So Beautiful

Author: Suzanne Young

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 272

Read Time: 1 sitting

Tag Words: Supernatural, Love story, mystery, good versus evil, foster care, being forgotten, fear, best friends, family dysfunction, doing good, light, Best I’ve Read 2011

My Summary:

Charlotte has been suffering from the Need since she can remember.

She didn’t know what it meant when her skin began falling away, revealing a gold as pure as light.

She didn’t know what it meant when the Need became more urgent, less easy to refuse.

She didn’t know that it meant she was loosing the limited time she had left of being remembered.

Charlotte doesn’t know what she is, but it doesn’t matter, she will be Forgotten. It is her destiny.

My Review:

I wrote this review on Goodreads immediately after finishing A Need So Beautiful and when I sat down to write my full review for the blog I realized I cannot do any better then what I said just after reading the last page, tears streaming down my face.

And as a plus Suzanne Young, the author, saw it within hours of my writing it and she said it brought her to tears.


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's perfect, it made me ache, almost from page one.

I felt I was Charlotte, not simply reading her story. Just as Charlotte experiences visions and becomes her Needs through them, I became Charlotte.

I loved a boy named Harlin, more than words can describe. I had a mother named Mercy, and I never thought she was enough, until then end. My best friend was in agony and I could do nothing to save her, I could only wait for her to forget me.

I am not sure how Young did it, but tonight I was someone else, I was somewhere else and it was so Beautiful.


A Need So Beautiful is one of my favorite reads so far this year, I hope you will pick it up and feel it the way I did- to the core.

Notes on the Names:

THE NAMES! Not only did Young write an incredible novel, she gave her characters incredible names!

Charlotte, Harlin, Sarah, Monroe, Mercy, Seth, Alex, Georgia, Jeremy, Henry, Olivia, Callie, Onika, Jacqueline, Miles, Gillian, Lourdes, Raphaela, Kendra, Madeline, & Warren

Charlotte means, “free woman,” and just thinking about that makes me want to cry again.

Thoughts on the Cover:

One word: Perfect.

I cannot wait to see what they do for the final dust jacket, I’m hoping for some gold embossing!




Parental Book Review *spoilers*

Sexual Content:

Heavy.

Charlotte and Harlin are always attempting to have sex, but the Need interrupts them.

One sex scene occurs, but it is not described past the kissing.

Sarah gives Seth a blowjob and he spreads rumors about her after.

During a Need Charlotte sees a man in bed with his mistress.

Heavy Innuendo.

Language:

Heavy

Bas***d- 7
H- 31
B- 3
A- 10
D- 17
Slut- 1
Pr**k- 1
Jesus- 2

Violence:

During one of Charlotte’s Needs she sees a girl get molested by her stepfather.

Charlotte experiences severe pain the closer she gets to bursting into light.

Because of the way Sarah’s father treats her- as a disappointment- Sarah drinks a whole bottle of Tequila and gets alcohol poisoning.

Georgia tells Charlotte about the druggies who attacked her and her mom when her mother was a dealer.

Other Notables:

Warren dies an old man and Charlotte’s Need is to be there so he doesn’t die alone.

1 comment:

Bookish Brunette said...

I haven't read ONE bad review about this book! I can't wait to read it!!

The Bookish Brunette