Waiting on Wednesday (11)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that highlights future releases that we are excitedly anticipating.

By Suzanne Young
Publication Date: June 26, 2012

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 affect 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?

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

I knew nothing about A Need So Beautiful when I picked it up. I hadn't even read the description or blurb on the pack of the book. I could not have told you that the books is the story of Charlotte, your typical teenager with a boyfriend she adores, a foster-mother that adores her and a best friend obsessed with shopping and boys.

However, Charlotte has very untypical compulsions. She is often struck by a "Need" to find a certain person and deliver a message - a warning, a direction, something the universe wants that person to know. When Charlotte is struck by these Needs, she cannot ignore them and experiences physical pain if she tries. A Need So Beautiful is a heart-wrenching story that follows Charlotte as she discovers and deals with who and what she is.

Just as the title suggests, this is a beautiful story. I am not an emotional person, so you can imagine my surprise to find myself wiping away tears at the end.  This book tore me apart.  I finished last week and am still haunted by it.  Kudos and thanks to Suzanne Young for this astonishing story.  I will be waiting for A Want So Wicked with excitement and trepidation.  Oh, and I will definitely remember Kleenex...

~Shel