"Needy Little Things" by debut author Channelle Desamours is an intense, unstoppable force that blends mystery and magical realism flawlessly. With themes of friendship, mental health, disabilities, secrets, and betrayal, readers are invited into a multidimensional world with relatable characters and an unforgettable journey.

Having supernatural abilities sounds great unless you are Sariyah Lee Brant, a teenager blessed (or cursed) with the ability to hear what people need. From little things like a hairbrush or a pen to something major like pepper spray, Sariyah can hear it all whether she wants to or not. When she fulfills a need for her friend Deja, who goes missing shortly after, Sariyah feels like she's to blame. It doesn't help that another friend from her group went missing years ago and still hasn't been found. She does not want Deja to become another forgotten Black girl.

Determined, Sariyah and her friends do everything they can to find Deja. But when problems arise at home and Sariyah finds herself short of funds, she must utilize her gift in a way that earns her money. Doing so leaves her open to people who want to abuse her gift for themselves and may lead her straight into the same danger Deja found herself in.

"Needy Little Things" is one of those novels that is not only hard to put down but also leaves an impression. Packed into the mystery of Deja's disappearance is a social exploration of how the media and public handle the disappearances of missing girls due to their appearance. Deja's disappearance feels all the more real and desperate in light of this glaring discrepancy. This explains the determination Sariyah and her friends have to take matters into their own hands and find their friend before the police and the public give up. While they put themselves in danger, clearly they have a lot of love for their friend and will do whatever it takes, even uncovering dark secrets, to understand what happened to Deja and where she went.

Even though the ending wasn't a big surprise, the events leading up to the end were gripping. It's easy to get caught up in the characters and the struggles they're grappling with, on top of the mystery of Deja's disappearance. "Needy Little Things" is a rollercoaster of emotions, causing laughter one moment before dropping into a tearful low. The story is a reminder that Sariyah's story, though infused with the supernatural, is also a painful reminder that there are people who go missing every day, people in our community, who are friends and children, who deserve equal chances of being found.

"Needy Little Things" by Channelle Desamours is highly worth the read for the humour, the powerful friendship, the heartbreaking disappointment from family members, the struggle with mental health and physical limitations, and the unflinching message delivered within the story. Make sure to add "Needy Little Things" to your TBRs and look for the book on its expected publication date of February 04, 2025!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press (Wednesday Books) for providing me with a free copy of this e-arc and the opportunity to share my honest opinion in this review.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the copy of Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours. This is an amazing debut novel and I loved every word of it. I loved Sariyah’s talent of being able to hear what people need, even if the people have no idea they need it. She goes a step further and carries around a bag of random items so she can supply the needs. It was so clever how her talent was woven into the story and the plot. Sariya is an engaging and relatable main character and I enjoyed learning so much about her family and friends. The characterizations were deep, especially for a short book. If you’re looking for a beautifully written and captivating story with an ending that will shock you and make you think, don’t miss this book. I will be anxiously awaiting Desamours’ next book. 5 stars

A Black Female Lead, who know what someone wants in the moment??? Sign me up!! i might be the friend that’s too woke, but being black and then everyone around you expects you to know what other people need is the parallel of this female lead. The suspense, there. Friendship? there. I want more of this, i had to hide under my covers because it was intense

This had such a strong start. I felt like the playful chemistry between the characters really made for an enjoyable read. It felt like it was written for✨ the culture✨. The banter is top tier and the spotlight on topics such as depression, adhd, sickle cell disease & racial bias was done well.

Unfortunately, once I reached the 70 percent mark, I could already see where the story was headed (which annoyed me) and the final twist just didn’t make sense to my adult brain. All and all, I loved how this book had an essence of fantasy tied to our main character. However, the ending landed flat for me and I was tired of reading the words “Santa Bag”.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book!

What a debut! This is a book that has a little something for everyone--fabulous suspense and twists, realistic depictions of the characters' lives and struggles, and a great deal of complexity. I will be adding this to my classroom library for sure!

Needy Little Things
by Channelle Desamours
YA Fantasy Mystery Speculative
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: Feb 4, 2025
St. Martin's Press
Ages: 14+


Even if they don't know themselves, just like her grandmother, Sariyah can hear what people need. A pencil, a phone charger, a hair tie, etc. Hearing all of these needy things from a lot of people at one time can be overwhelming and if she doesn't give out the needs, she'll get a migraine.

After handing over a need, she hears it was used to protect a woman's life, landing another in the hospital, then after fulfilling her friend's, Deja, need, she disappears.

Five years ago another one of Sariyah's friends, the twin to her best friend, is still missing, but another girl was found within a few months after her disappearance, and her disappearance went viral.

Because of the past, Sariyah and her friends don't trust that the police are not taking Deja's disappearance seriously and will not investigate, so they start their own.


This story's plot is mostly focused on the disappearance of young girls and the lack of police and the public's interest, focusing on how not everyone is treated equally; and how money and race have a major influence. And I agree, this is an issue and one that should be addressed and fixed!

Sariyah's gift is a unique one, and being able to go to a store and fill a bag (called Santa Bag) full of things, then be able to hand what another needs before they need it, is very cool.

Two other plots in this story are mental health; how depression affects everyone, not just the one suffering, and sickle cell disease and the pain, physical and emotional, it causes.

Overall, this was a good story and all but the beginning of the book moved along at a great pace, but there were a few characters whose importance grew towards the end of the book and weren't really talked about or explained in enough detail to reflect on the ending and make it as dramatic as it should have been. But the ending of one of the side plots was a great conclusion!

A faster paced beginning, more about the other disappearances, and the development of those important minor characters would have earned this one more star!

3 Stars

I'd give Needy Little Things a 3.8. I enjoyed it but it didn't grab me as much as thought it would. However I would still recommend it to others and would definitely read more of the writers work.

Phew!! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this!

two sentence review:
some people say the teens sounded too old, but as a youth librarian, I’ve seen teens have hard conversations like these with eloquence and understanding. what an incredible novel; hoping there will be a part two.

The writing is well done and it really evoked Sariyah’s complicated feelings in me. Her gift is unusual, which I think is a fun way of creating mystery when Sariyah’s power is almost psychic-like. The differences in how society handles Casey’s and Tessa’s missing cases are obviously connected to the book's social commentary; however, it was done in a way that never felt forced or out of place just to drive the point home. I think certain plot points were explored too much when they were not really revisited at the end.

Sariyah knows when people need things before they need them. And that knowledge is overwhelming. And now for the second time, she has a best friend that has disappeared.

I loved the magical realism tied with the mystery along with the mental health aspects. This blends so many real life issues with a touch of magic.

Pub Day: Feb 4


Read if you enjoyed: Monday’s Not Coming, Not Like Other Girls or Dear Martin

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for generously providing me with an advanced e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Without giving too much of the plot away... the story follows Sariyah, who has an amazing gift that seems to be both a blessing and a curse for her. What's the gift you ask? Well, she can anticipate the needs of others. Having survived the trauma of a friend going missing, Sariyah finds herself dealing with another friend who goes missing. While trying to advocate for her friend's disappearance (amongst other good deeds), Sariyah dealt with more than she was equipped to handle.

The characters were dynamic and well-written. Though Malcolm got on my nerves, he provided a depth to the novel that added additional complexity. Sariyah is a wonderful, sister, friend, and human being who can empathize with others, even when I was not so sure they deserved it. While the plot elements were a little slow for my liking, the ending's plot twist made it completely worth it. I highly recommend the book and rate it 4.5 stars out of 5.

I cannot fathom having my mind and brain infiltrated by the constant thoughts or needs of others .. the needs of the people around me taking residency in my head… I feel like I would go insane. The responsibility, the constant need to feel like you MUST give them what they need..

My first thoughts was that it’s so… black 😂 & I mean that in the best way possible. The way it’s written, the language, the relatable nuggets we all know from growing up in a black household, the way the parents spoke etc. For the most part, I really enjoyed the characters and their dynamics/relationships. Though this had a very promising start with great potential, it did fall a little flat near the last 25%. I figured out a huge part of the “twist” fairly early but even with that, the ending still felt like it didn’t make sense 100%. All in all, this is one of those situations where you really love the journey even if the final destination wasn’t great. Giving this 3.5 stars but let’s round it up to 4!

Thank you Net Galley for this e-ARC.

I loved the concept of this book. I thought it had a very unique premise. The main character, Sariyah, has this gift where she can predict what a person around her is going to need, for whatever reason. She carries around a bag (named ‘Santa Bag’) with items inside that she can give to a person to fulfill their need.

Sariyah has two close friends, Malcolm and Deja. Early on in the story, Deja goes missing and Sariyah, Malcolm, and Sariyah’s new friend, Jude, try to find out what happened to her.

I thought this was a pretty good mystery. I loved trying to figure it all out and I didn’t find it predictable. However, the pacing felt a little off. The beginning was intriguing and seemed fast-paced, the middle dragged a little, and the ending seemed rushed. I wasn’t really a fan of the ending. I liked what the author was trying to convey, but I didn’t like certain characters’ actions.

I liked the main character. I thought she was a really interesting and strong character.

I did really like this author‘s writing and I liked the theme of this book. I do look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

This book is a thought-provoking novel that follows Sariyah, a girl with the rare ability to fulfill people’s needs. Though Sariyah uses her powers selflessly to help those in need, her own life becomes complicated as she struggles with the emotional toll of constantly giving. the novel skillfully blends the supernatural with a searing critique of society's neglect toward Black girls who vanish without a trace while addressing the lengths that people go to challenge that neglect. There were a lot of moving pieces that kept me engaged and sometimes even on edge. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book as it combines an emotionally gripping narrative with an important social message.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours is a first person-POV YA speculative thriller. Sariyah Lee Bryant has the psychic ability to hear the minor needs of others and spends a lot of her time fulfilling those needs, such as giving a classmate a piece of gum or a coworker a hairbrush. When her friend Deja goes missing at a music festival, Sariyah and her other two friends, Malcolm and Jude, do what they can to find her before it’s too late.

To many of the people she helps, Sariyah is probably an NPC who just gives them a small thing and that’s the end of the role she plays in their life though it does indeed help them and her actions do sometimes come back to her, such as gifts to a concert. Needy Little Things fleshes this idea out further and shows the ways that this constant knowledge of other people’s needs actually harms Sariyah despite how hard she tries to push it away. She has to wear headphones to block some of it out, she needs extra time for tests (she also has ADHD but that’s independent of her powers), and her grades are suffering because of this.

Deja’s disappearance has two parallels: to Tessa, Malcolm’s twin who disappeared years ago without a trace, and Casey, a young white teen whose body was later found. Even though Sariyah recognizes that social media wasn’t as big when Tessa disappeared, it doesn’t make it any less unfair that Tessa and Deja vanishing never gains as much attention because they’re Black. There’s complicated feelings around reducing a person to a hashtag, on how maybe more could have been done to find Tessa (more money, more resources, more eyeballs, more everything), and how Deja vanishing triggers Malcolm and Sariyah as they never got over what happened to Tessa. Sariyah’s voice feels really frustrated during these moments and I don’t blame her one bit because we’ve been discussing for at least a decade how there is barely a blip when Black and Brown teens go missing compared to what happens when a white teen goes missing and it doesn’t feel like much has changed.

There is a growing romance between Jude and Sariyah amid the case and Sariyah’s own suspicions of Jude. The two have been classmates for months but since Sariyah is so focused on trying to focus and block out the world, she doesn’t notice Jude but he notices her. They finally have their first conversation at their part-time job at an ice cream shop and Jude lets her know that he’s aware of her powers because he’s super observant. I was really interested in this dynamic from the beginning because their romance is so quiet and ever since Bridgerton season 3’s romance arc of Francesca and John, I’ve been craving a romance that captures that similar feeling of someone who recognizes you without needing grand gestures and likes just spending time together. Jude and Sariyah hit that dynamic pretty well for me.

Content warning for mentions of racism

I would recommend this to fans of speculative thrillers involving psychic powers and YA readers looking for a novel exploring the racial bias on the reporting of missing teens with a speculative twist

I loved the original need-reading power the main character had in this book, and how the author explored all the possible consequences and dangers that would put her in. The mystery aspect of the story kept me well-hooked throughout, but beyond that the characters were complex and nuanced, the emotions were authentic and deep, and the themes of forgotten missing women of color were poignant and relevant. Definitely a great story to not miss out on!

Needy Little Things is a debut YA mystery, where Sariyah Lee Bryant, a Black teen with the ability to sense people's needs, must solve the disappearance of her friend Deja. After fulfilling a need for Deja, Sariyah fears her power is a curse. Distrusting the police, she and her friends investigate, while juggling personal struggles at home. Desperate for money, Sariyah begins using her ability for cash, putting herself in the same danger Deja faced. Will Sariyah and her friends be able to find out what happened to Deja, without facing too much danger of their own?

I thoroughly enjoyed this YA mystery! Sariyah’s perspective was compelling, and the magical realism element of her ability to sense others' needs added a unique layer to the story. The book tackled important themes in such an engaging and thoughtful way, and Channelle wove those elements seamlessly into the plot.

Sariyah's character development was one of my favorite parts of the book. Watching her grow throughout the story was a rewarding experience, and I can’t imagine how challenging it would be to hear the needs of everyone around me. She handled it with a mix of strength and vulnerability. I also loved the evolving relationships between Sariyah and Jude, Malcolm, and Deja—they felt real and heartwarming.

I finished the book in just two days and absolutely loved it!

Spice: 0/5
Rating: 4.5/5

Tropes:
The Amateur Sleuth
Really Crappy Parents
Self Sacrifice
The Missing Girl

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and Channelle Desamours for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you St Martin’s Press @stmartinspress , Netgalley @netgalley ,and Channell Desamours @elledesamours for this free ebook.
“Needy Little Things ” by Channelle Desamours ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: BIPOC Speculative YA Thriller. Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Time: present.

High school senior Sariyah Lee Bryant lives with her mother and younger brother Josiah. Her mother battles depression, and Josiah battles sickle cell disease. Sariah’s ADHD and migraines aren’t her worst problems- her personal battle is different, and overwhelming: She hears the small things people need—like a pencil, a hair tie, a phone charger—an ability only her family and her best friends know about. She’s celebrating best friend Malcolm’s birthday at a music festival when their friend Deja disappears. The authorities are no help-just like when Malcolm's twin sister Tessa (also a young woman of color), went missing 5 years earlier. Sariyah with her odd ability and her friends work together to find Deja. But the more clues she finds, the closer she gets to home. Meanwhile, her mom loses her job. Desperate, Sariyah decides to hustle her ESP ability for cash—a choice that may lead her to Deja, but also puts her in danger.


Author Desamours has written a very original speculative thriller full of interesting characters, and very bipoc-centric in a lovely way. In addition to the plot, she makes us aware (or reminds us) how race, sex, and economics affect how missing persons are handled by the police and media. Desamours adds twists, subplots, and a final big twist. If you liked One of Us is Lying or A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, this book is right up your alley! In any case, read this book for its incisive commentary on who society cares about. It’s 5 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼‍♀️.
#NeedyLittleThingsbook #NetGalley #channelledesamoursauthor

I really enjoyed this book. Sariyah was such a great FMC. I related to how she tried to so hard to do things for others even while forgetting her own needs. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have all these needs from others going off in your head. The situation with her two best friends while understandable was heartbreaking for all those that were affected by it. Also, the twist about who the true “villain” was surprising. I definitely recommend this book!

Thanks to Net Galley and Wednesday Books for the advanced e-arc!!

“I spend an unhealthy amount of time thinking about brains. ”
Here are reasons to read the YA Mystery book:

Skill - Sariyah has a special skill : She is able to hear what other people need
Music Festival - For her friend Malcolm’s birthday she scores tickets to a music festival
Missing Friend - Where her friend Deja goes missing
Investigation - this prompts an investigation on her part, diving into the familiar world of missing girls in her life

I really enjoyed the mechanic of Sariyah’s skill in this. She basically has to fulfill the need for each person or else it continues to reverberate in her head. She wears headphones to block out noise when in large crowds, because as you can imagine, that’s a lot of needy voices. What is very cool is she carries around a bag full of random items to help fulfill people’s needs, and it’s almost like these items finding to be given out is also part of her skill. This is a debut novel and I will definitely be reading more from this author.