What a brilliant curtain raiser for a literary career! A debut that sparkles with charm and originality. I loved the vibrant energy of the prose and the shift in tone as the plot darkens.
We all need a little bit of magic in our lives and this novel has an abundance of it.
I was fascinated by this glimpse of black teen culture in Atlanta which is not often featured in fiction published in the UK.
The core subject matter of missing children and teenagers and parental abuse of those most vulnerable is handled with sensitivity and integrity. I hope this will be a reminder to all this novel's young adult readers to take extra care.
A beautifully written narrative. I eagerly await whatever this author writes next.

Needy Little Things is a compelling YA page turner commenting on many important topics and has a diverse cast.
There is a also mystery at the heart of this book. The protagonist Sariyah has an interesting gift. I cannot say that it fully made sense to me, however the story was engaging and Desamours writing style suits the story. Josiah and Sariyah are interesting characters.
I highly recommend this book to YA readers.

Needy Little Things is nothing like I thought it would be. I expected your typical YA murder mystery, but I appreciate the twist Desamours has put on the expected. I enjoyed this one up until the climax, which I really wasn't a fan of. Personally, it felt a bit rushed and a little unresolved in a way, but it's not a bad book.

How good was this?!! Well, I thought it was freaking fabulous!! I’ve not read very many YA books, and absolutely loved this from beginning to end. It’s also hard to believe that this the author’s debut.

Seventeen year old Sariyah (Ri) has a very unique gift of ESP, passed down from her Grandmother. One weekend, she and her three friends attend a music festival, in which one of them disappears. Over the years, there have been numerous girls going missing in Atlanta, and Ri doesn’t want her friend to become another statistic.
She feels guilty that her ‘gift’ of predicting peoples’ needs, failed to protect her friend, and is determined to find out what happened to her. This YA mystery is an absolute addictive page turner, with twists and turns aplenty, with an awesome group of characters, especially Ri’s nine year old brother Josiah (JoJo), who is absolutely adorable, and stole my heart.

This story deals with various issues, such as, racism, missing teens, and dysfunctional families, etc.

Thanks to the author Channelle Desamours, Bloomsbury Publishing, and NetGalley, for providing me with this free ARC, with which I leave a voluntary review.

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Release Date: 13 January 2025

An easy-to-read YA thriller, similar to A Good Girls Guide to Murder and One of Us is Lying.

Sariyah is a Black teen with premonition-like powers, that allow her to identify someone’s “needs”, although if these needs are left unfulfilled, she is left with a splitting headache.

Sariyah and her best friend, Malcolm, are still recovering from Malcolm’s twin’s, Tessa’s, disappearance from a few years ago. They now have to relive their traumas when their close friend, Deja, goes missing at a music festival. Sariyah tries to use her powers to uncover the truth behind Deja’s disappearance.

I really enjoyed the concept behind Sariyah’s ‘superpower’, but there wasn’t much of an explanation about why it only related to psychical things, e.g. a pen, earplugs, pepper spray, instead of more abstract things, e.g. sleep, love, sex.

I also appreciated the message that the author was trying to convey about disappearances of Black teens not being taken as seriously as white teens. However, this left the ending of the book a bit too unrealistic for me. I was also expecting a bit more of a connection to and explanation of Tessa’s disappearances, but this book almost solely focused on Deja. There was a slight cliffhanger at the end though, and I am intrigued to learn more.

Thank you to Net Galley and Bloomsbury for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours (she/her) is the latest YA thriller/mystery that is destined to make waves amongst fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, One Of Us Is Lying and Ace of Spades. This high-octane debut has it all; shocking twists, social commentary, captivating characters, and supernatural abilities. It's incendiary and utterly engrossing, and I have no doubt that Desamours will become an exceptional new voice in the YA genre.

Sariyah Lee Bryant has premonition-like powers - she can hear what people need (tangible things, like a pencil, a hair tie, pepper spray, etc.,) - and while the social commentary on Missing White Woman Syndrome was more prevalent, the undertones of her abilities were striking. How girls and women are taught to put the needs of others above their own, even to their own detriment. How placating forceful and aggressive men is a survival mechanism. How saying "no" doesn't stop men from taking what they want. Sariyah is a protagonist that so many people - young or old - will identify with. While not all of her experiences are universal, everyone will empathise with her, one way or another.

I believe everyone should read this book. If I hadn't picked up Olive Juice by TJ Klune a few years ago, I might never have heard of Missing White Woman Syndrome (MWWS). Now, I'm painfully aware of the media's continuous fascination and constant coverage of missing white women over missing BIPOC. With a bias, Western media, sex, race, and socioeconomic status play a large part in the victims we see and the victims we don't. This was a roller coaster ride of emotions; anger, sadness, indigence, frustration, grief, love, as Sariyah searches for her missing friend against the clock, with little faith in the police or the media.

Desamours did an excellent job portraying so many hard-hitting themes. Depression, sickle cell disease, drug addiction, grief and loss, racism and violence. I loved how platonic relationships took precedence over romantic ones. How the characters interacted with each other. How the red herrings were executed masterfully rather than hindering the journey, something that has encumbered previous experiences with the thrillers I've read.

Most of the way through, I truly believed I had everything figured out, but I was WAY off the mark. The twist threw everything I thought I knew off kilter (in a good way!). Without giving away any spoilers, I will say that the actions of some of the characters were careless, but I could absolutely see their reasoning.

I'm excited to read anything Desamours writes in the future. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review. To all of the amateur sleuths and thriller lovers out there, grab your own copy on February 13th, 2025.

This mystery features an unusual teenage protagonist. Riyah is both blessed with and plagued by the ability to hear/sense the needs of anyone within a few metres of her. Because her head is constantly filled with requests for such things as mirror, pencil case, paperclip, bucket etc, she can’t concentrate in school and is failing her grades.
The mystery involves the disappearance of local girls, with the focus of the story being on the different ways media and social media respond, depending on the race of the missing girl.
Told in a breezy, American teen voice, this book is ideal for fans of YA stories that give an important message.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

On publication, I will post my review on my blog and GoodReads.

Firstly, I did not read what this book was about, I just saw the cover and went into it and I’m glad I did. I’m still in shock with everything that happened. It was so twisty. Sariyah is that girl!

You think you know how it’s going to end but it just takes a different turn. The mystery was just getting deeper and deeper. The twist was REALLY good. What I liked about this book is that it was so different. It was such a gripping YA story. It was also insightful when it touched on sensitive topics such as sickle cell and depression.

This is a book that I would definitely buy when it comes out. I would definitely recommend.

Thank you Bloomsbury Publishing UK and NetGalley for this ARC.

I had to stay up late to finish reading this because I was hooked!

The FMC has this ability where she knows what a person ‘needs’. She gives her friend an item she needs and then her friend goes missing. There are are some strange characters around town that are super suspicious. Sariyah and her friends don’t believe the police will find Deja so they need to take it into their own hands.

If you love YA thrillers like The Blonde Dies First, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, or Catch Your Death, then you should check this out.

A surprising book as a group of friends try to uncover the mysterious disappearance of another friend.
Sariyah can hear what people need, the constant noise in her head causing stress as she tries to help others by providing what they need.
When her friend disappears, Sariyah feels guilty and tries to uncover the truth of what happened.
An unusual book I enjoyed reading.
I hope we see Sariyah again.

Really enjoyed this, really well written, so many twists and turns and has you guessing right till the end. The characters are unique and really well developed and the ending was just amazing!

I want to start by saying all in all I had a good time and I liked the FMC because she had depth even if she was occasionally a little too trusting.

I have a little issue with the repercussions for what happened and the reasoning behind everything that happened. I’m just made at some of the side characters cause their intentions were in the right place, but the delivery was awful.

The FMC carried the book, if there was another book following another path her gift leads her down then I would read it.

I’d happily rate it 3.5 - 3.75

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of time in exchange for a review. It didn't disappoint! Must read!!

3.5

I did enjoy this book, I found it fast paced and engaging. The subject matter is so important and I liked how the author got the point across (I'm trying not to include spoilers hence why this is so vague).
I found the first bit slightly slow going but it did pick up and I was hooked. I loved the characters, however misguided their decisions may be!
I wasn't overly keen on the whole 'santa bag' aspect of the plot but it was necessary so that's just my personal opinion.
Overall, a good YA read.