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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

What a fantastic debut!! I wish I had gotten a physical proof of this so bad for my shelves!!

17 year old Sariyah is no stranger to the heartbreak of losing a friend even at her young age. So when another of her best friends goes missing she knows she has to do everything possible to find her. And she has her own gift to aid her in her search.

This book has everything! I don't think it was lacking in any area! Teen angst, the difficulties of navigating friendships and school. Mental health issues both within the young adults but also parents and how that impacts children.

This book is also a sad reflection of the world today in how social and economic dynamics effect how visual someone's plight is made by the media and shared by the general public.

I found I really resonated not only with Sariyah but also Malcolm, Sariyah's mother & several other characters.

I was constantly kept guessing through and didn't have this figured out at all even though I thought I did!!

I can't wait to read what Channelle writes next!!

Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours is a compelling blend of mystery, heartfelt emotion, and social commentary. At its core is Sariyah Lee Bryant, a teenager with a unique ability: she can sense what people need—specific, tangible items like a pencil or a phone charger. While this gift might seem trivial at first glance, it carries heavy implications, especially when one of her friends, Deja, vanishes shortly after Sariyah fulfils a need for her.

This isn’t Sariyah’s first encounter with tragedy. She’s painfully aware of how often missing Black girls are overlooked, their stories forgotten by the authorities and media. Determined to break this cycle, Sariyah rallies her friends to investigate Deja’s disappearance themselves. But as her personal life spirals—her mother loses her job, her younger brother’s sickle cell disease worsens—Sariyah is stretched to breaking point.

Desperate for cash and answers, she turns to hustling her ability, a choice that not only sharpens her focus on Deja’s fate but places her directly in harm’s way. Sariyah’s journey is fraught with twists and turns, blending tension-filled moments with deeply emotional ones.

Channelle Desamours crafts a story that delivers everything—edge-of-your-seat suspense, moments of levity, heartbreak, and a cast of unforgettable characters. Sariyah is a brilliantly nuanced protagonist, navigating the pressures of adolescence, systemic injustice, and the burdens of her extraordinary ability. The narrative shines a stark light on societal neglect and systemic inequities, offering a haunting yet vital commentary on the value placed on certain lives over others.

The book’s pacing is expertly handled, keeping readers hooked with its mystery while leaving space for tender, human moments. By the end, the characters feel like friends, and the story’s poignant message will stay with you long after the final page.

Needy Little Things is a rare gem—a gripping mystery wrapped in a deeply moving narrative that refuses to shy away from tough realities. Channelle Desamours has delivered a must-read that’s as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Incredible debut novel !! Everything a YA thriller should be, with twists and turns which kept me guessing the whole way through. The added unique ability of the FMC only added to the suspense. I cannot wait for what’s to come next from Channelle - easy 5 stars !!

Centred around a young girl who has the strange and inconvenient gift of not only being able to sense what other people need, but is also compelled to give it to them, this is one of the most creative clever, and original young adult stories I have read in a while. And I read a lot of YA!

Sariyah has a form of ESP that makes her intrusively aware when people need anything from chewing gum to pepper spray. And as she is beginning to discover, sometimes people's needs are even more complicated...

When her friend Deja, another young girl of colour disappears after four of them go out to a music festival to celebrate Sariyah's birthday, it is particularly traumatic for her and her best friend Malcolm, whose sister Tessa - also Sariyah's best friend - disappeared five years prior to that, leaving them both devastated.

As the story unfolds, the sickening hypocrisy and widening cracks in the social cohesion of America become all to evident to readers as well as to Sariyah and her friends, all of whom are sensitively portrayed.

Now where is this more evident than when the reaction to Deja's disappearance is compared to the similar taking of another young, but white, girl several months prior to that.

There's a lot packed into this story, but it's well handled. I would recommend it to anyone looking for an intelligent and insightful take on being a young black person means in contemporary America.