The (Many) Problems of Need by Carrie Jones | Book Breakdown

Be warned: the following was originally included in my review for Need and is an extensive breakdown of all the parts in it that I found stupid, illogical, and exasperating. The entire thing is a huge, uncensored and honest spoiler. Read it only if you've read the book, or if you're really interested in reading all that got me so fired up about this mess of a book.

SPOILER // SPOILER // SPOILER // SPOILER // SPOILER

Need by Carrie Jones
Need #1
First Published: 2008
Paperback
Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating:

Zara collects phobias the way other girls collect Facebook friends. Little wonder, since life's been pretty rough so far. Her father left, her stepfather just died, and her mother's pretty much checked out. Now Zara's living with her grandmother in sleepy, cold Maine so that she stays safe. Zara doesn't think she's in danger; she thinks her mother can't deal. Wrong. Turns out that guy she sees everywhere, the one leaving trails of gold glitter, isn't a figment of her imagination. He's a pixie--and not the cute, lovable kind with wings. He's the kind who has dreadful, uncontrollable needs. And he's trailing Zara. With suspense, romance, and paranormal themes, this exciting breakout novel has readers rapidly turning the pages.

CLICK HERE FOR THE SPOILER FREE PART ONE  

Okay, let's get started. Those are just some of the specific problems I had with the book, and definitely the ones that jumped most at me.

Pixies are the first suggestion after the "Pointing Man" appears. 

If you've read the book, you know that once Zara sees the pointing man and questions start arising, the immediate answer is Pixies. Even though Nick tells Zara they didn't know about the existence of said creatures prior to that week. Why do they jump to that conclusion so quickly and surely? Why is it their first and only guess? And why, for crying out loud, does everyone simply accept it? For that matter, why does no one insist he just might be a man? 

(side note - for somehow who claims to be new to Pixies, Nick sure seems immensely knowledgeable).

Speaking of which...

How come they don't know of Pixies--or realize there's a couple so close by?

According to the book itself, the shape-shifters are able to smell Pixies. And yet, we find out at the end of the novel that their whole lives they've had a couple of pixies in their backyard, interacting with them on a daily basis.

Yet, you expect me to believe they didn't know of their existence? Are you kidding me? Didn't they literally smell something fishy? And okay, say they didn't realize about the smell... once they were opened to the possibility of pixies and caught an exemplary scent of them, shouldn't they have immediately figured it out?  

You can't have it both way, Jones!

Speaking of those fishy pixies, why is the glittering dust so special and frightening?

I mean... it's freakin' dust. Why is the idea of it proof of the unknown? It bothered me to no end that there was such a big emphasize on it, especially since it was not found near Devyn's attack or anything -- which would explain at least a small bit of the suspicion towards the dust -- but just by Zara's car. For all they know, Zara's grandma likes to sparkle things up! 

And yet, somehow, it cutting proof of pixies. Did I miss the part where it suddenly woke to life, flew up in the air creating shapes than spoke in a hiss "the Pixies are coming"? Cause that would've been way cool.

Moving on from the Pixies... What's up with Zara's fast and startling recovery? 

Zara comes to Maine a (self proclaimed) numb, still, brokenhearted girl in mourning who has lost passion for all the things she held dear before her father's death. After a week in Maine she's... recovered? Barely gives a second thought to her dad?... so much so, that all she wants to do is make out with Nick? WTF girl!

The King should've been able to enter the room

I'm jumping ahead to the scene where the King of the pixies imitates Zara's dad's voice to make her open the door, because the rules say you need permission to enter a place. Zara shouts tauntingly "Why won't you open the door, then?" and "Go ahead!". Both of which should count as plenty permission, because since when does those limitations bow down to tone? If anything, those crafty pixies should've immediately latched on to that!

The fact she did this was idiotic, and the fact it succeeded left no hope for this book to me. 

And then finally... THIS sentence: "I've been denying everything. That there were pixies... that there was something supernatural going on... how hollow I've been... who my father is."

Back up. Please tell me this is some leftovers from an early draft the editors missed or something, because this entire sentence contradicts everything we've read so far. She accepted the pixies and supernatural almost immediately, so no denial there. She's the one who's been calling herself "hollow" the whole book, pushing the words into everyone's mouth. And she couldn't have known about her father because she never bothered to ask any questions! The sentence above is uttered the moment she founds that out so it appears to me like she's accepting it alright.

I literally spent five minute reading and re-reading that one sentence, trying to figure out how I was reading it wrong because that just can't be what it says! 

And I'm not even going to open the can of worms that is the ending of this book. Like, seriously, this is four years later and I'm still marveling at the talent it took to make something so horrifyingly ridiculous!

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So, okay. Glad I got all that out.