Needy Little Things is an engaging and relevant YA read about seventeen year old Sariyah who possesses a special "gift." The book deals with a variety of themes that makes it applicable to any reader. While this book is considered a thriller, I like that it also tackles social issues. I would recommend this book to any age.

Thank you Negalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really love the magical realism/mystery genre. This had a lot of twists and turns and it kept my attention. Overall I really enjoyed!

This story gave you all the things. All the twists, turns, laughs, and emotions! It was a great thriller. I’m 29, and I love a good YA book and this thriller was no different!

I loved speculative mysteries and so was really interested in the book. I liked the MC and lot. I did like her friends, but I had issue with Malcolm and Deja by the end and wasn't sure she should have forgiven them (or at least not so easily). Jude was a bit bland but fine. I enjoyed the story and how the MC used her ability, but I actually was a little unsatisfied by the resolution of the mystery (although I got why the characters did what they did, I was still annoyed). I also thought--similar to a few other YA books I've read--the writing tried to hard too sound cool and like teens but instead comes off as artifical. Maybe it's because I'm around young adults too much, but a lot of YA reads like adults writing how they want or think teens should be than how they are. Still, it's a really good story!

Sariyah's psychic talent is unprecedented. She continually "hears" people's trivial "needs" for hair gel, nail files, or chewing gum when she's among casual acquaintances or strangers, but she's not so good at sensing the deeper needs of close friends and family.

One of her close friends had become one of Atlanta's many missing young people. The city's high incidence of missing persons was a news item in the 1970s but soon became Old News outside of the city where it's still a close-range, personal problem. When a second friend of Sariyah's goes missing, Sariyah's psychic "gift" doesn't help in any direct way; she has to use more mundane abilities, but she uses her gift along the way.

What's not to love: You may or may not find a character's sudden psychotic break believable.

What's to love: The other characters are believable, and likable. A lively adventure story calls attention to an ongoing social problem. There's a realistic portrayal of the kind of teenaged girl who is likely to become an interesting woman, noticing an attraction to a teenage boy and telling herself that she doesn't need a silly crush right now. (Girls like that always existed; publishers used to reject any suggestion that teenagers had higher priorities than their hormones.) The book is more intense than a "feel-good" story, but love of friends and family gets its reward n the end.

This books was "Available to Read Now for 48 Hours" on NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read. The first couple chapters of the book started off slow. I had kind of started losing interest. But once I got to the main plot of the story I couldn’t put the book down. It wrapped in a direction I was not expecting and made me think “why?” and “how did we get here?”. I think the ending was nice. If you like suspense, magical fantasy, and twists, then I recommend this book. It was almost giving a 'Monday's Not Coming' type of vibe. Overall, I think this was a great debut by Ms. Desamours.

A unique magical concept of telepathically hearing people's needs and fulfilling them drives this twisty, fast-paced mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. The story tackles triggering subjects like racism, missing persons, parental abandonment, drug addiction, mental illness, and dysfunctional family issues with great sensitivity. This book perfectly blends important social commentary with fiction, creating an unputdownable mystery with magical realism that keeps you glued to the pages and delivers a five-star reading experience.

The story follows seventeen-year-old Sariyah Lee Bryant, who has a special gift: she can hear people's needs in her head, from simple things like pencils, hair ties, gum, and phone chargers, to more crucial items like pepper spray! She was best friends with twins Malcolm and Tessa since childhood until Tessa vanished without a trace.

History repeats itself when Sariyah attends a music festival with her friends Deja, Malcolm, and her new crush Jude. While waiting in the restroom line, Sariyah zones out, only to realize Deja is no longer standing beside her.

Determined to find her friend, Sariyah uses all social media platforms to raise awareness. Meanwhile, she deals with her mother's depression, who rarely leaves her bedroom except for work, and her nine-year-old brother who suffers from sickle cell disease. Adding to her struggles, she begins fighting with Malcolm during their search, questions her romantic feelings for Jude, misses her father who remains in Chefley (their former home), and longs for her summer friends.

Questions multiply: What happened to Deja? Why was she acting strange and secretly texting someone? Why does her mother's tears seem fake, as if hiding guilt? Why does Deja's stepdad give off unsettling vibes, and what's the story behind the lock on Deja's room? Was she running from someone? Could Tessa and Deja's disappearances be connected?

The secrets her friends harbor may lead Sariyah down a dangerous path she never intended to take.

Overall: This is a twisty, dark, engaging, and thought-provoking read that I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend!

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for sharing this unputdownable thriller's digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Sayriah is a teen with ADHD and special abilities. She is able to sense the needs of others around her and provide them with the items that they need. Although her abilities don’t work on the people she cares about. Over a span of 2-3 weeks, we follow Sayriah as she navigates the needs of others and trying to find her friend Deja. In the end, Deja is found, her and her father are recovering from the incident that happened, and she received a clue to find one of her best friends that has been missing for years.

4.5 stars. LISTEN. This was so good! I ate it up. Couldn’t put it down. It shed light on so many different topics in the Black community and snuck in a thrilling/mystery vibe to it with an ending that left me SHOOK. My gawd. I mean we covered grief and loss, job challenges, outrage between missing girls and how much coverage they get based on the color of their skin. AND I absolutely loved all the characters! JoJo being one of my favs. I went in to this book blind and it gave me everything that I didn’t know I needed.

I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of this book—it was engaging, and I was having a great time. But the last third felt chaotic and confusing, almost as if it came out of nowhere. While I appreciated the author’s intention to tackle Missing White Women Syndrome, it sometimes felt overdone and heavy-handed. That said, I loved the thoughtful portrayal of health issues, both mental and physical, which added depth to the story. The representation was also a highlight, with nearly every character being a person of color, giving the narrative authenticity.


Overall, this book offers an intriguing mix of mystery and social commentary. Although the ending felt a bit messy, the emotional weight and character development make it a memorable read. If you enjoy speculative fiction with heart and purpose, this is worth adding to your list.

I rate it 3.75, rounding up to 4.

“Needy Little Things” is a YA book by Channelle Desamours. This book wasn’t quite what I expected, but I’m not displeased. This book is about a high school senior (Sariyah) who has a “gift” of knowing what people need (for instance a napkin, a nail file, a toothbrush). Her best friends are Malcolm (who’s sister disappeared a number of years ago) and Deja. At an outdoor music event, Deja disappears and Sariyah and Malcolm are determinded to find their friend. That’s one storyline - the other is things happening in society (why is Deja’s disappearance not being picked up by major news outlets?) and in the families (Sariyah’s brother has sickle cell disease, Sariyah’s mother is battling depression). This book touches on a number of social topics. I found Sariyah’s relationship with her brother to be a very well written one - sibling relationships are so complex - capturing both the love and the moments your sibling drives you nuts. I wasn’t as thrilled by some of the choices Sariyah and her friends make - but being a teen, sometimes bad decisions are made, though you don’t realize it at the time.

I didn't know what to expect when i started to read this, but I'm glad it turned out quite good!

Despite the consistent fantasy element throughout the store (i.e., Sariyah's need detector), it is very much rooted in reality through its themes of mental health and social justice, specifically the invisibility of missing Black girls and how the urgency to find them isn't as visible on social media. It tackles these topics hard and with such sincerity and heart, but the book is also very short. I feel like there were a lot of things that were being jumbled. Between Sariah's struggles, her mom's depression, her bro's sickle cell disease, her best friend and his missing twin sister, and so much more, there was a lot to go through in so many pages. Desamours balanced as well as she could of; I just personally wish these issues were paced more evenly, that's all.

Sariyah, this poor girl. I just wanted to give this girl a hug so badly. She directs every bad thing happening as her fault, which fuels her to seek out needs to fulfill only for her to inevitably become devastated once more if another thing happens to go wrong. She constantly directs all these feelings, especially the anger she has towards others, at herself, because she doesn't believe she's allowed to be upset at people when she believes they're suffering more than her. It makes her seem self-centered, but all she does throughout the book is do everything in her power to help, even if she's juggling between helps all at once. As you probably guessed by now, I really loved this girl. Sariyah has become one of my favorite protagonists.

Additionally, the relationships and other characters are done so well. The ones she shared with her mom and brother, particularly, felt so real and relatable, and her little romance with Jude was cute (Side note: Is Sariyah bi/pan? She mentions having a crush on a friend's sister early in the book, but the words are never used on page, nor does she go into further detail on her sexuality later on. I hesitate to label this lgbtq+, so I'll wait until I get official confirmation from the author via post or something). Her best friend Malcolm could have been a protagonist in his own right, with the complexities he displays in the story.

(There's a HUGE cliffhanger at the very end of the story involving his missing sister, and I'm predicting that it will be the subject of Desamours next book, if she writes it. I think that's where Malcolm would become the protagonist, with Sariyah being the major supporting cast, but nothing is confirmed at the time I'm writing this. If I'm right, I'll be SO happy.)

All in all, this is such a great book, and I hope it gets the attention it deserves when it officially releases next February!

Channelle Desamours' debut novel NEEDY LITTLE THINGS is a wow!

Main character Sariyah is juggling so much: a mother struggling with severe depressions; a little brother who needs her care; her missing friend Deja; and the fact that she can hear the needs of people. These "needs" are usually small, like a nail file or pencil or comb, but they are loud enough that Sariyah wears headphones in public to help quiet the voices. One detail that feels especially relevant in this novel is that Sariyah pays for these things herself. It's one of those things that might not be addressed in other books, but in NEED LITTLE THINGS the cost of meeting these "needs" has a big impact on Sariyah, especially when the ice cream store where she works closes for the summer. The attention she receives from some people regarding these needs also provides some great surprises that really work--and that's all I will say to avoid spoilers.

Author Desamours brilliantly weaves in the devastation of another missing Black girl with the sister of her best friend Malcolm. This wound, created years before the book starts, also complicates Deja's disappearance and the lengths everyone in their circle will go to ensure Deja's case gets covered by the media.

I couldn't read NEEDY LITTLE THINGS fast enough; I was desperate to know what was going to happen. However, I also did not want the book, and my time with these characters, to end.

What a debut! I can't wait to read more fiction by Channelle Desamours.

This was an interesting take on a missing girl. the main character, has the ability to sense other peoples needs, mostly those she is not the closest to. It is a lot about her relationships to other friends and her gift or sometimes a "curse" Well written and believable characters, and a look at what we really need and how that affects other people and a look at the inherent racism in who gets attention when they have disappeared. Better than a average look at this issue

I think my students will like this book, the characters feel real and relatable and while it is a mystery, a search for a missing friend, it explores a lot of family and friend relationships and issues about racism.

A 3.5 star read.

I enjoyed this book. I like that it dives into the disparities in the United States with regards to the efforts put into a person of color vs. a white person that goes missing in America. The character were very relatable and somewhat likeable. Malcolm did get on my nerves specially towards the end. I guess I understand where he was coming but I do not think his plan was well thought out or well executed. But over all I liked the book and think it was a good read.

As a fan of true crime, one thing that I have become hyper aware of over the years is the discrepancy of press coverage and "viral probability" between missing Black and white girls. This is one of the key themes in Needy Little Things, and I thought that it was addressed well.

The other main plot element in this story is the psychic-like ability of main character, Sariyah, to hear a person's needs before they even know they need them. This can be as simple as "pencil" before a test or as ominous as "pepper spray" before a girl goes missing. This concept was really original and novel, but I do think that her ability could have been better developed since it was all a bit surface-level when it came to needs and need fulfillment. Still, a really intriguing concept that played well into the missing girl plotline.

I thought the characters were relatively well developed, and I appreciated seeing the differences in their relationships with one another. The story started out a little slow, but it picks up in the second half, and it definitely kept my interest the entire time. I did figure out one of the main twists early on, so the ending fell a little flat for me, but I'm sure that it will catch others off guard and be better received.

Needy Little Things is a gripping, suspense-filled ride from start to finish. I absolutely loved this book! Heather Crews masterfully weaves an unpredictable plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering what could possibly happen next. The suspense builds with every chapter, and just when you think you have it all figured out, a shocking twist throws everything into chaos. I was completely flabbergasted by the ending—it was both unexpected and brilliantly executed. If you're a fan of psychological thrillers that keep you guessing, Needy Little Things is a must-read!

This was a terrific and wonderfully well written book! I was able to fully immerse myself into it quickly becuse not only was it a quick paced story but the characters were dynamic, lively, and entertaining as all get out. They seemed to come alive the more I read them into existence in my mind. Those with vivid imaginations will be captivated because this is the kind of book you can imagine in great and immense detail.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books & NetGalley for providing an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest and independent review.


FIVE STAR DEBUT NOVEL BY CHANNELLE DESMOURS! Sariyah Lee Bryant has an inherited hidden ability to hear in her mind what items people need, kept a secret by her family & closest friends. Although she may know WHAT people need, she often does not find out WHY. The story follows Sariyah as she tries desperately to find her missing friend(s) and she learns who she can trust in the different parts of her life, including the police, her friends, a new love interest, and even her own mother as she struggles with severe depressive episodes. The book ends will an unbelievable twist that leaves you fully satisfied!

Channelle Desamours discusses sensitive, relevant topics beautifully without feeling performative or forced at all! From accurate representations of illnesses such as depression and sickle cell disease to the treatment of missing black girls in media and police during their investigations, to LGBTQIA+ teens whose dialogue feels AUTHENTIC to what it's like to be young, queer & dating- Desamours hits the mark across the board! Even as I sit here writing this review, I am filled with so much joy to have such great representation in a novel as it's so RARE to find characters that I can personally relate to my own life experiences or especially, SOUND like me when they talk!

All of that aside, this was such a great THRILLER! You are kept in suspense the entire book and by the end, you could NEVER expect what happened, but it doesn't feel "out of nowhere". It is still an incredible story about a missing teenager & it becomes fatal. DON'T BE SCARED OFF BECAUSE IT'S A YOUNG ADULT BOOK!! Teenagers & adults alike can enjoy Needly Little Things! You become genuinely invested in Sariyah's journey from the start- Channelle Desamours did such a wonderful job of making you FEEL everything Sariyah was feeling and getting you hooked early. HIGHLY recommend it to EVERYONE!