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 audio -ARC.

From the first chapter, I was totally captivated by this story and writing style.

This is the story of Sariyah, a young Black teenager who has the incredible ability to anticipate the needs of others. She has struggled with tuning out those perceptions, and knowing her own limitations.

Sariyah’s life is turned upside when her best friend goes missing, and she feels compelled to use her abilities to investigate what happened.

The writing here was both wildly entertaining but also so economical. This is a fairly short book, but I felt like there was a lot of storyline covered and the characters felt very developed. I particularly enjoyed seeing the different family dynamics at play.


There is a lot of important social commentary about racism, discrimination and in particular the ways in which missing people of color are not cared about as much as their white counterparts. I was thoroughly floored by this debut novel and highly recommend if you enjoy authors such as Holly Jackson and Tiffany D Jackson.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for the ALC!

It's really slow in the beginning of this. Nothing on the narrators voice but I may have to read the actual book instead of listening to it.

The cover was what sold me on listening to this book. And what I got was an intriguing mystery with speculative elements, some interesting characters and a deep dive on several hard hitting themes.

The story follows Sariyah and her close group of friends, trying to get through their senior year of high school. During a music festival, one of the friends, Deja, goes missing, bringing flashbacks to her other friend, Tessa, disappearing without a trace five years earlier, and Sariyah has to bring Deja home so she won’t share Tessa’s fate.

Sariyah herself was an intriguing protagonist. She has the ability to hear the needs of most people near her, and sees is as a blessing and a curse. It’s also interesting that she also has ADHD, as some of the traits of ADHD also match her ability, but I think both are more intertwined than anything. I do like how her relationship with her ability changes as the story continues. I also appreciated the family dynamics, which was rather unique. The rest of the cast was well fleshed out and stood on their own merits, with their own quirks.

The story was decently paced. It had a very strong start and hook and early on, it might be a bit too fast paced. It does sorta stagnate a bit on the mystery side in the middle though. The big plot twist at the climax was interesting and actually surprised me a bit. While it did fit in terms of Sariyah’s character development, parts of the climax didn’t fully click. I understood why the ending was open ended, but another part of me was hoping for another chapter to give closure to a plot line that hung around through the whole story. But overall, I was engaged in the story itself.

The big issue the book tackles is a trend where missing white people have a lot more airplay than missing BIPOC people, sometimes known as “missing white woman syndrome”. Tessa, a black girl, was never found in five years while a white girl that was missing around the same time was found dead within days. It does go into the various factors of why that happens as the mystery continues. This also tackles other issues like mental health, physical health, racial justice (or the lack thereof) and friendship, but I feel could have been possibly fleshed out more.

The narration by Alaska Jackson was smooth and made the prose sing.

This is an exciting thriller with a magical element that I’m sure many will enjoy!

I LOVED this book. I immediately told all my booksih friends to read it.

It was beatiful and mysterious and one of the best books I've read in awhile. Alwasy looking for top-tier YA to rec.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Sariyah has a magical ability to hear what people need. Though many people benefit from her gift, Sariyah has to be careful - if she doesn't meet enough needs or gets overwhelmed with too many voices, she can get sick. She can't always know how people are going to use the things she's able to give them when they need it, and sometimes that means they are used in unexpected ways. When a friend of hers goes missing, just like another friend went missing years ago, Sariyah tries to use her gift to help figure out what happened.

This story is written in a very engaging style, and Sariyah's character was well-developed and relatable. Secondary characters felt less developed at times, and the ending felt a little rushed, but overall this was a page turner that drew in the reader.

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!

I really enjoyed this audiobook and the story. Sariyah felt like such a real teenager who was dealing with too much in her personal life while also worried about social issues. There is no subtle messaging in this book, so it was relatively easy to figure out the how of Deja's disappearance, but plot twists and creepy side characters helped to keep the mystery going.

The narrator was great in giving each character an individual voice and bringing the right tone to the suspense. I definitely would recommend this book!

I enjoyed this book way more than I expected. Initially picked it up because of this gorgeous cover and the story did not disappoint. I'm not a big fantasy reader yet the novel's added element of MC Sariyah having a gift of hearing people's needs made it so much more compelling. Honestly, I think the name of the book is also very clever and catchy.

The writing is gripping and kept me turning the pages. I'll admit that the first half was slow, but I genuinely could not put down my phone with the increased drama and pace of the second half. The characters and fleshed out very well and that makes for interesting relationships and banter that I enjoyed. As a POC, I could relate to many heavy conversations in the book, particularly because they were written in such a mature way that still makes sense from a teenager's perspective. The conclusion was not what I had seen coming so I loved it and I'm hopeful that there's more books to come in this series, fingers crossed. Needless to say, I will be reading anything written by this author.

I've read the ARC before the ALC (ebook before the audiobook) and loved the book itself. I love how the narrator did an excellent job of making an amazing book even more engrossing!

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!

Loved the narrator they did an amazing job drawing you into the story!!

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

This audiobook was so well done. The voice in the writing plus the talented narration made for a fully immersive experience. We meet Sariyah in her senior year of high school. Sariyah is special....she can hear what other people need. It's constant and she cannot turn it off which can make it difficult to concentrate. When delivering a need to someone leads to a gift of festival tickets, Sariyah invites her best friends Malcom and Deja to go along but everything goes sideways when Deja disappears at the event.

I really liked Sariyah. She has so much going on her life as she nears graduation. She has a younger brother with an illness, a mother battling depression, her own challenges with school, and now a missing friend that she feels responsible for. Yet, Sariyah is smart, sassy, and strong in the best of ways. She knows who she is and isn't afraid to show it. She is kind and caring even when others aren't always there for her. She made me laugh so many times. I loved her wit.

This is a great young adult novel for anyone but especially for those looking for something slightly different. Sariyah's gift was a fun touch of magical realism. I appreciated the subtle commentary on various social issues in the world today. It was effective without pulling the reader out of the story. This is my first book from Desamours but I will be looking for more from them in the future.

This smart, contemporary teen mystery is a great mix of likable characters, engaging story, romance, social conscious, and just a sprinkle of supernatural

Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours has a strong message. It made me think about biases and discrimination, magical Black girls, inherited conditions, mental health, self-care, friendships and needs vs wants. This audiobook was perfectly narrated by Alaska Jackson. Book synopsis: “Sariyah Lee Bryant can hear what people need—tangible things, like a pencil, a hair tie, a phone charger—an ability only her family and her best friend, Malcolm, know the truth about. But when she fulfills a need for her friend Deja who vanishes shortly after, Sariyah is left wondering if her ability is more curse than gift. This isn’t the first time one of her friends has landed on the missing persons list, and she’s determined not to let her become yet another forgotten Black girl.” This mystery’s plot twist, which normally I despise, made sense for the story. Let’s discuss it. Out on 2/4/25. ALC was provided by Macmillan Audio via NetGalley. I received an advance listening copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book discussed a great topic that needs to be discussed more often. Her super power is a unique one that I’m still not sure if it helped or hurt the overall story. Overall I enjoyed this book and it is a great YA book. Thank you #macmillanaudio2024 for the advance audio of this book.

3.5

I was instantly captivated by Sariyah and how her ability to provide what people needed unfolded in various ways. I enjoyed how some needs were clear-cut, but often the outcomes were surprising. This book addresses tough subjects that aren't usually talked about openly, highlighting issues of social justice and the significant flaws in systems that are supposed to support everyone but often appear to favor certain racial groups. I really liked how mental health was portrayed and its impact on family relationships. The various viewpoints on health issues within a single family could feel a bit overwhelming at times, but looking back, it was very relatable and genuine. It really encourages you to reflect on your own life and the challenges faced by those around you—especially the strain of caring for others while neglecting your own physical and mental well-being.

Wow!! This book blew me away! I requested it thinking it would be a fun read but it was so much more than I expected. I’ll be honest when I see “speculative fiction” I get a bit nervous but this was a very good YA read.

It takes you on twists and turns and uses the real would with magical touches as the FMC can “hear” the needs of people. They are usually mundane things like “need quarters for the laundromat” type needs and she does the best to help meet those needs much to the dismay of her mother.

It has a coming of age quality to it as well as she gets to know herself while also searching for her friend who goes missing while they were out at a festival.

While this is definitive YA I think folks of all ages could enjoy a jam packed novel that has funny moment as well as some sad. It’s a book that has kept me thinking days after finishing it.

I am thankful to have gotten the ALC for free from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley to enjoy which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!

Not gonna lie, when I first started reading this, my immediate thought was that Sariyah was autistic. The sensitivity to sound and the headphones and the "always prepared for what people need" thing sounds like me, lol. But no, it's a super power. Little disappointing, but it's whatever. That's on me for not reading the description of the book better.

Anyway, the story started pretty strong, though the middle was less suspenseful than I would've liked. That happens with most books, though. I'm intrigued by the ending, though! Is there more coming?

3.5 stars rounded up to four out of five for Needy Little Things!

Needy Little Things brings light to the injustices of our nation. Sariyah is a queen and fights against all odds to find her missing best friend. In a compelling realm of magical realism. It is extremely well-written and the plot twist at the end enhances the excitement of the novel. I can’t wait to recommend this book to my 7th graders.

Uhm, what was that ending?! Is there going to be more?? Ahh!!

I could not put this book down! I was immediately hooked on Sariyah and how her gift(?) for giving people what they need played out in so many different ways. I loved the ways sometimes needs were straightforward, but often things worked out in unexpected ways. I also loved Sariyah’s friendships with Malcolm and Jude, and her dynamic with her younger brother, Josiah. This book also has really great commentary on how missing persons cases are handled differently by police, social media, and general public depending on the race and socioeconomic status of the person who’s gone missing. I also really appreciated how different perspectives were presented because while Sariyah and Malcolm both lost Tess when she went missing five years ago, their relationship to Tess and therefore her disappearance are different and cause different reactions. This is a really great, emotional read and I really hope to read more from Channelle Desamours!

The narration was also fantastic and really brought the characters to life and built the tension at the perfect pace.

I received this audio ARC from Netgally and St. Martin's Press.

The premise of this YA mystery was original and pulled me in immediately. Sariya is a black teen who carries around a 'Santa Bag' to fulfill premonition like request that she gets from any and everyone she passes.

Her friend Deja goes missing and her and her friends stop at nothing to find her. Soon Sariya realizes that things are not as they seem and she falls into a dark and twisty situation no one expects.

I enjoyed this audio book for its originality. I loved that Sariya had such a unique talent and how she used it. She had rules about not using it with her friends but you know how that can go sometimes. She was also a force to be reckoned with when defending and protecting her friends in a world where black and brown kids don't get that very often.

4 🌟's I can't wait to get a physical copy!