About the Book
-
Author:
- Carrie Jones
- Genres:
- Boy-Girl Romance
- Paranormal
- Voices:
- Cis Girl
- White (Non-Specified)
BFF Charm: Yay
Talky Talk: Internal Monolougerific-ish
Bonus Factors: Mysterious Loner Pixie King
Relationship Status: Last Year’s Summer Camp BFF
The Deal:
Zara and her very own gang of Scoob are settling into a calm winter in Maine in this sequel to Need. The pixies are contained, and Zara and Nick are super-in-love. But even as the kids work on their book How to Survive a Pixie Attack, they know they’ve only put a Band-Aid over the pixie problem. See, the pixie king is growing weaker in his Zara-induced prison, and his control over his pixies is slipping. That’s something that won’t fly in the pixie world. New kings are going to start arriving, and declaring war on the old king to take over the area. And that could spell trouble with a capital “T” for the humans.
When such an one shows up, he actually approaches Zara in peace. He says he’s not evil, and that pixies and humans and weres can actually co-exist peacefully. (Nick believes this is hogwash.) But the new king is insistent, and he also thinks Zara is fated to be his queen.
Tragedy strikes and Zara is thrust into acting rashly to save the one she loves. But just what will she give up, and how will that change her destiny?
BFF Charm: Yay
I ADORED Zara in the first book, much like you do when you’re getting to know your new BFF, BEFORE you learn they have any faults. In this book, Zara was established, and actually in a healthier place mentally than the first book, but because she was moving forward, I felt I got a little bit less of the inner-workings of her brain – and I missed that. I definitely still loved her in this book, but the bubbles in my champagne adoration had fizzled a little bit.
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
I love Zara and Nick together, and with the introduction of Astley the groundwork is laid for some nice lover’s geometry in the next installment. However, being older than the target audience for this book meant one thing for me: I wanted a LOT more intensity than I got. (I mean, come on, they’re TEENAGERS for Christsakes! Shouldn’t they at least WANT to jump each other’s bones? I mean, plot and action are all well and good, but they’re in Maine, let’s turn up the heat!)
Talky Talk: Internal Monologuerific-ish
This book doesn’t suffer from the typical middle-book-in-a-series-slump. It has a lot going on, and the characters develop immensely through its pages. However, I think I’m going to like the next one more.
Carrie Jones’ writing style REALLY appeals to teenagers, which is good, because she knows her target audience. The teenagery-ness didn’t detract from my reading experience, per se, I just wasn’t quite as in love with it as when I read the first book. Then again, I just LIKED Need the first time I read it, and it took a second perusal to put me under its thrall, so maybe this one would be the same.
Bonus Factor: Mysterious Loner Pixie King
I know, guys, faeries and pixies, really? But these pixies are actually pretty creepy! They can appear human, even to themselves, but they are really quite beastly. I tell you this because with the torrent of YA fantasy that is being published, it seems the established boundaries of each mythical creature is being completely re-written. And in this case, that’s a good thing. So, is Astley a good pixie king, as he claims? We don’t know, but he ratchets up the intensity, and for that, I really like him. (But my super loyal nature is still rooting for Nick.)
Relationship Status: Last Year’s Summer Camp BFF
I tried to keep in touch with this book, to keep up our BFF-ness, really I did. But I got caught up with my other friends back home. So maybe that’s why I felt like me and this book didn’t quite connect the way we did last time. Or maybe you can never recapture that first summer at camp together. We’re still definitely friends, and I look forward to camping with the third installment, but I think once we stop going to camp we won’t connect for, like, 15 years, until it looks me up when Facebook is invented.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received neither money nor cocktails for writing this review (dammit!). Captivate is available now.
