The Need by Megan Mostyn-Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
**2.5-stars rounded up **
I finished The Need over 10-days ago, and I’ve been putting off writing this review. I am honestly at a loss for words. I really don’t have much to say about it.
It was rough for me. I can see its merits though, so wanted to give it at least a 3-star rating upon finishing. In hindsight though, sitting here now, trying to come up with something to say, I’m struggling.
The concept is great. I liked the idea that in the world of this story, there are people who carry a genetic disorder that requires them to eat human flesh. We follow a family, Talia, and her two teen children, Sam and Rosie. Talia and Sam have the condition, but Rosie does not.
Because of their ‘need’, no matter where they go, they end up getting in a spot of trouble, usually meaning Sam will kill and eat someone they know. After that happens, they need to flee. They live under assumed names and it’s a very lonely, nomadic lifestyle, especially for Rosie.
That’s the basic set-up, and in the beginning my interest was definitely piqued. I was excited to see where the author would take it, and I was happy that we were getting all three perspectives in the family. I thought initially we would just be getting the kids, so I was glad when we got our first section of Talia’s perspective.
However, soon we were getting a lot more other perspectives outside of the family, that to me, were the downfall of this story. I would have much rather stayed focused on their immediate family and gone from there.
It also, somehow, became incredibly boring. There was nothing happening, certainly nothing with the kind of intensity, or gore, I’m looking for when I pick up a Horror novel of this type.
Overall, the execution felt messy. Honestly, I hated how many different perspectives there were. I know I mentioned it before, but I just can’t get over that decision.
I almost feel like if the author was going to do that, all the perspectives, it could have worked better as a series, maybe a trilogy, like Justin Cronin’s The Passage series. That way, we could have some characters being followed in the 1st book, different ones in the 2nd, and then maybe everyone together in the 3rd.
In fact, now that I’ve said that, this does remind me in some ways of The Passage, a series I DNFed after the 1st-book. Maybe if you loved that series, this could work for you. I also think this could work for readers of Darker Literary stories that are more character-focused, than plot-focused.
At the end of the day, I’m glad I gave it a shot, but it’s definitely a bit of a disappointing read for me. Alas, we can’t love them all and that’s just my opinion. If it sounds interesting to you, you should absolutely give it a shot.
Thank you to the publisher, Del Rey, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I appreciate it!