A Want So Wicked by Suzanne Young

This is the second book in the A Need So Beautiful series by Suzanne Young.

My review of #1: A Need So Beautiful.

Elise woke up in the middle of the desert, not knowing who she was. The memories came back to her, that she is 17, moved from Colorado to Arizona, is a pastor's daughter, and has an older sister Lucy.

But something is different than it was the day before. Now Elise gets this tingling feeling and has an urge to help people in need. She knows their history, she can see what is bothering them, and she knows the right solution to make everything better for these strangers.

She doesn't get these feelings all of the time, but she can help the people in close proximity who need her.

Since Elise is a pastor's daughter, she hasn't really dated that much. Not necessarily because of being a part of the church, but because no boy has really interested her that much to go out on a date with them.

But moving to Arizona seems to have changed that. Not only does she have one boy out for her attention, but she's strangely attracted to another newcomer to Arizona.

Now that she's working at the Mexican restaurant in town, Abe is around a lot since he also works there. And she is attracted to him, but whenever he gets close to him, something repulsive comes to the surface.

On the other hand, whenever Harlin is near, electricity shoots through Elise, making her want to touch and kiss Harlin even though she doesn't know a thing about it.

Not to add anything else to her problems, her sister is being elusive and secretive, something she has never done with Elise.

And the visions. Whenever Elise gives into the Need, a vision of another girl flashes through her mind. A girl who had the same hard choice that Elise is having. But it's more than that. It feels like Elise might have known her, might have been the person in these visions.

Shadows are starting to follow Elise, and they want her Need. Her light. Can Elise find out what is happening to her and save herself, plus the ones that she cares about? Will she be able to stop the Shadows from using up her life essence? Read A Want So Wicked by Suzanne Young to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This book was heartbreakingly beautiful. Even though we were never introduced to Elise in the first novel of this series, it didn't matter. The reader gets sucked into her story and feels what she feels.

There were some parts where I called it before it was revealed as to what was going to happen, but I didn't care because there was always a twist to it that I didn't foresee.

And I was so excited to see Harlin again! I really enjoyed his character in the first novel and was happy to read about him so more, even if he wasn't the main guy lead in this novel.

Elise is a strong willed character who thinks about others, not just herself. She wants to do good and will sacrifice just about anything to help. I'm not sure if it's because her father is a pastor or if it's because her mother died when she was young, but that is the kid of person Elise is.

I really, really liked this series. I'm not sure if it's complete - Young left it open for more to come, I think. Or it could be a concluded series because the ending had a "this could be wrapped up" feeling.

But either way, I think Suzanne Young did an amazing job with these two novels. She has some other novels published which I may have to read because I love her writing so much, and another series that is coming out soon!

I would definitely recommend this to other readers. I just love how different it is from other novels published and I think others would enjoy this hopeful, heartbreaking, selfless series that Young has created. And I think that others would feel the same way after reading the series.

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

This is the first book in the A Need So Beautiful series by Suzanne Young.

When Charlotte was younger, she would get a Need once a year, where she will get this urge or sensation to go to a certain place, find a certain person, know that person's history, present, and future, and figure out what she needs to do to fix a problem that will happen.

Now that she is 16, she's getting the Need more than once a day. And it's definitely hurting her relationship with her boyfriend Harlin and her friendship with Sarah. Until she fulfills the Need, it will send sharp pains throughout her body, making it look like she kind of has asthma.

So she's been doing what the Need tells her to. But now, she has a gold patch on her shoulder where the pain usually starts. And it won't go away. Her skin has peeled away to leave only gold.

Desperate, she goes to the clinic where she works and has the doctor, Monroe, look at it because she doesn't know who else to go to.

Turns out, Monroe knows a lot more than he let on during the last 10 years! Charlotte is one of the Forgotten, a person who helps people in need and gives them hope in their life, rather than the shadows and darkness that will overtake them if Charlotte doesn't help them with their problems.

But the bad part is that Charlotte is starting to wear away. After she helps so many people, she will burst into a brilliant gold light and disappear. She is the Forgotten because everyone in her life will forget it, as if she didn't exist. Including her foster mother Mercy and her foster brother Alex, who she's known for years.

Then, Charlotte meets Onika, who used to be like Charlotte. Except she beat the Forgotten and was able to stay on Earth with her loved ones. Now Charlotte has a decision to make: fulfill her destiny and help strangers in need or fight against the Need and stay with Harlin, Mercy and Sarah. She needs to make a decision quickly, because time is running out.

What will Charlotte decide? Read A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Very uniquely done! I labeled this with Angels because I wasn't sure what else I could label it with, but it's not really angels. Charlotte just helps a lot of people regain the light and hope, which is an angelic thing to do, so I thought it would fit alright.

I really enjoyed this story. I haven't read anything like it and it kept me guessing.

I was also really intrigued that there wasn't a love triangle in this story! Finally! And Charlotte and Harlin have already been dating for about a year, so while they didn't have the first love attraction new relationships have, they definitely still had sparks for one another.

This was a bittersweet novel. Charlotte had two hard decisions to make, neither looking good for her but one she had to make in the end.

Charlotte was a great female lead. She wasn't whinny, she wasn't bad a$$, she was just a girl who wanted to be normal but found herself in a supernatural situation that she had to figure out, mostly by herself.

The ending was a surprise - I wasn't expecting it and that was nice for me since I've been able to guess what was going to happen in the last few YA novels I've read.

I definitely liked this book and I think others would really enjoy it as well. It has an angelic aspect to it, but it is like nothing I've ever read before, so I think others should read it to experience this new concept that Young created in her novel.

There is another novel following this, and I'm about to delve into it right now to see what else is going to happen in this series!