75. Need - Carrie Jones

for: YA
Bloomsbury, 2009
$16.99
306 pgs.
Rating: Hmmmm....3.5?? 4??

Within the first few pages Zara, the protagonist, arrives in Bangor and hits Rte 1A for the coast of Maine. Well. If I had a buck for each time I'd done this..... Every bit of the setting of this story is known to me. All the places that Zara's EMT grandmother is called to - Rte. 9, Acadia National Park. This Bedford, Maine has to be Ellsworth. I can see the high school, have walked the halls (and taken summer workshops) there many times. The library - I love the Ellsworth Library - is one of my favorite places. Betty, Zara's grandmother has to live in Lamoine or Trenton, or one of the long, twisting roads that attach the outside world to Ellsworth. And there's a blizzard in October. Major nor'easter. A little early for my liking - but we're talking Maine here. Those long, cold, gray winter days arriving in October are part of the reason I now live in Tucson!

So.....I loved loved loved the setting of the book. The heroine/protagonist Zara is a gutsy, interesting young lady. Liked her a lot. Some of the other characters were harder to get to know. I wanted more about them before startling images and information were given. Oh well. I must admit I couldn't put the book down. No vampires in this one! However, there are pixies (they sound a lot sweeter and nicer than they actually are) and plenty of "were's." Gold glitter. A lot left to the imagination. Not enough details! Specifics - what does "turning" look like? I needed deeper insight into everything that went on.

I feel like I've already given enough spoilers for the story. I don't want to give away the few secrets that you wait for. It's good. It's fun. Maybe the next in the series, out in January (I think) will give me more of that. I will be standing in line for the first Tucson copy....

So, yes, the book is about to have a sequel! To go to the "series" website click here.