review: A Want so Wicked by Suzanne Young
A Want so Wicked by Suzanne Young
Release date: June 26,2012
Publisher: Balzer+Bray
Book links: website, goodreads
Source: review copy from the publisher
From Goodreads.com: Elise is a normal seventeen-year-old girl until the day she wakes up in a desert park, with no idea who she is.
After that episode, her life takes a bizarre turn. She’s experiencing unexpected flashes of insight into people’s lives—people she’s never met before. Strangers frighten her with warnings about the approaching Shadows. And although Elise has never had a boyfriend, she suddenly finds herself torn between two handsome but very different young men: Abe, the charming bad boy whose effect on her both seduces and frightens her, and the mysterious Harlin, who’s new to town but with whom Elise feels an urgent, elemental connection—almost as if they are soul mates.
Now Elise begins to question everything about her life. Why do these guys both want her so desperately? What are the Shadows? Why does the name Charlotte inspire a terrifying familiarity? And who is Elise, really?
my take: The first book in this series, A Need so Beautiful, captured my heart with its bittersweet ending and theme of love and sacrifice (see review here). With the way it ended, I really didn’t know what to expect in the next book.
This book begins with Elise, a naive and sheltered girl with a good heart. The flashes she gets from Charlotte’s life, and the Need, terrify her. Her confusion and the episodes lead her to wonder if she is going crazy, but we know what’s happening to her. Elise is strong though, and she has a strong sense of faith.
Elise’s Dad is a pastor, and he seems like a pretty normal and nice parent, and is very close to his daughters after the death of his wife, their mom. Elise’s sister Lucy is the typical rebellious pastor’s daughter … with secrets of her own.
I was glad to see Harlin come back in this book, even if I did want to thump him in the head several times. I just wish he had more page time, as he didn’t really have a lot to do until halfway through the book. Abe was a charmer with a dark side, and I felt like I could tell his role in the story from almost the beginning.
A good follow-up, but we don’t have the poignant ending this time, and it’s definitely set up at the end to continue on.
See you in the STACKS,
Nancy
