A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young
Release Date: June 21, 2011
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Pages: 272
Source: Purchased copy
Rating: 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository
We all want to be remembered. Charlotte’s destiny is to be Forgotten…
Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.
But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend’s arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become–her mark on this earth, her very existence–is in jeopardy of disappearing completely.
Charlotte will be forced to choose: Should she embrace her fate as a Forgotten, a fate that promises to rip her from the lives of those she loves forever? Or is she willing to fight against her destiny–no matter how dark the consequences. – Goodreads
Review:
Charlotte Cassidy has the Need: a call to help others, one that grows unbearably painful if she tries to ignore it. She has no control over it and the pull comes at any given time: at school, when she’s making out with her boyfriend, when her best friend needs her the most… As if that weren’t enough, she soon learns that the more she helps those that need her, the more her loved ones forget her.
I really appreciated the journey of emotions that Charlotte went through in the course of the book. Suzanne Young perfectly displayed the inner conflict that Charlotte endured: the pull in this and that direction, the different degrees of obligation that Charlotte felt — both to strangers and her own loved ones — and, of course, the requisite desire to just be normal. Unlike many of the abilities featured in other YA supernatural novels, Charlotte doesn’t get any cool perks. Sure, she knows that she helped someone, but she loses part of herself in the process. It was a very personal struggle and one that was very heartbreaking.
Most of the minor characters fell flat to me. Harlin came across as the perfect boyfriend and all that good stuff, but I felt that there wasn’t much substance to him. Charlotte’s best friend, Sarah, was a bit more interesting with her family dynamic but, even with her, there was a distinct feeling that we barely skimmed over the surface of her character. Similarly, though Charlotte’s relationships with her family were the most interesting and touching, there wasn’t enough. Yes, this is only the first book of the series, and I’m sure we’ll see more these characters in the second, but there was a certain missing piece to have them “come alive” for me. As for Monroe, their interactions were the ones I enjoyed the most as I actually saw progress — and setbacks — in their friendship.
The conclusion of the book completely turned everything upside down — in a very good way. An already interesting premise has the potential to get even better in the sequel, A Want So Wicked. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing where the story continues!
