Sariyah Lee Bryant has the ability to hear the needs of others. She spends a lot of her day providing people with these needs to stop the voices in her head, while also trying to care for her ill brother, and depressed Mother. Years ago, Tessa, her best friend Malcolm's twin sister went missing. When her best friend Deja goes missing, she refuses to let her become another statistic and so she decides to use her powers to make some extra cash, in the hopes of finding her.

I think this book did a great job with blending social commentary with mystery and magical realism. This was a slow burn story, but I really liked the overall message of this story. It tackles the topic of the unequal treatment of minority victims in missing people cases. I listened to this on audio, and the narrator did an incredible job bringing Sariyah to life. I really enjoyed Sariyah as a main character, and I was so intrigued by her power. It almost felt like her power was an analogy for OCD with the constant intrusion in her thoughts, and the compulsion to help meet the needs of others - but I could be wrong. I do think the topic of mental health, especially with her mother's depression was well done. The ending was interesting, and took a turn I really hadn't expected. It almost felt like we were left on a cliff hanger, so I am hoping there is another installment!

Needy Little Things had such a cool concept and important themes—missing Black girls, a supernatural twist, and a heroine trying to do it all—but the vibes didn’t totally click for me. I loved the idea of Sariyah’s power and the way it tied into community and survival, but the story sometimes felt like it was juggling too many plot threads without fully diving into any one of them. The pacing dragged a bit, and while the mystery kept me curious, I wasn’t as emotionally invested as I wanted to be. That said, I really appreciated what this book was trying to do, even if the execution didn’t land perfectly for me. Solid debut, just not a personal fave.

I am very thankful to have been gifted a copy of this book; however, at this point this book will be moving to my DNF shelf. It sounds like something I would have really enjoyed, and will happily come back and re-review once I am in a better mindset for the book.

4.25 stars

Sariyah is a seventeen-year-old girl who has the gift (or curse?) of being able to hear other people's “needs.” These needs are on repeat in her mind, unless they are fulfilled, or the person is out of her reach. From years of experience, Sariyah learned to keep a bag full of random items, like gum or a pencil, to give to people to fulfill their needs. But when her best friend, Deja, goes missing shortly after Sariyah fulfilled her need, she starts to feel as though her ability is more of a burden than a blessing.

Knowing from past experiences that the police won’t put in the effort to find yet another missing black girl, Sariyah, along with her friends Malcom and Jude, take the lead in the investigation. But as Sariyah delves deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she realizes that even those nearest to her are keeping secrets.

Yes, I did read 61% of the book in one afternoon, and yes, I probably should have been studying for exams, but it was so good! Although the page count was low(ish), Desamours was able to tackle so many topics at once, without slacking on any of them.

Social justice, friendship, dealing with trauma, racism, romance, family dynamics, personal responsibility… all of these were prominent in the book, and all were executed well!

What I really liked is how she was able to blend all those themes with magical realism, and how the characters were well-written. I feel like all of the characters felt real, which shows the skill that she had to create relatable characters in her debut novel.

What a gripping, unputdownable debut! I can’t wait to read more from Desamours, especially (hopefully) the sequel! I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a great mystery book that has relatable characters and a well-thought-out plot.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was so good! It is a ya mystery with a touch of magical realism.

It follows a high school girl named Sariyah and what her and her friends go through when one of them goes missing. This book highlights the pitfalls in society when it comes to missing persons depending on race and sex. It really showcases the disparities in how cases are handled when the missing person is a white girl versus a black girl. I'm pretty dense when it comes to mysteries, so I gasped at each red herring and at the big reveal at the end! Everyone in the book was keeping secrets and it kept me on my toes the whole time. I really think the author did an amazing job handling heavy topics of inequality, race, mental health, addiction, and dysfunctional family units.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Whew!

Needy Little Things skillfully blends mystery and social commentary, and adds just a touch of unique magic. From the very first page, the gripping who dunnit storyline kept me guessing all the way through to the final chapters. I truly did not know how the story was going to go.

The author expertly weaved together the realities of teenage life (teachers and parents IYKYK) —dominated by social media—with the deeper, unsettling issue of missing Black children and the troubling disparities in media attention compared to their white counterparts. [A great topic for a persuasive essay or research paper.]

The magic system, though intriguing and original, feels somewhat abruptly introduced, leaving unanswered questions about its origins and deeper implications.

Nevertheless, Needy Little Things is undeniably thrilling, chilling, and socially relevant. The cliffhanger at the end will no doubt haunt me...

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book!

I really enjoyed this. The MC is a teen girl who is dealing with a lot. She has premonitions of what people need, but only those she isn't close to. Her mother has severe depression and when her best friend disappears from a music festival, she's unsure what to do. All she knows is she has to find her friend.

There were some twists in this one. i clocked farily early on something was awry but the journey was still worth it. This is a really involving read!

(4.5/5 stars)

Needy Little Things is a debut YA speculative mystery by Channelle Desamours.

Sariyah inherited a form of premonition from her grandmother; she can hear what people need, be it a bobby pin, paper straw, or a pencil. If she doesn't listen and/or fulfil the need, she's prone to migraines. One day, after she fulfils a need for one of her best friends, her friend disappears. Since Black girls don't get as much air time as white girls, Sariyah and her other friends band together to make their missing person search go viral.

This is a solid debut novel! I borrowed the audiobook from my local library while I followed along in my physical review copy. The narrator did a great job in making me really feel like I was following a bunch of high schoolers, along with voicing all of the other older and/or diverse characters around town. Every character was distinct, and it was really easy for me to follow along with the story.

I really enjoyed the magical realism here. There's some mixed media elements, mostly in the form of text messages or emails.

As a neurodivergent person, I think the author did a phenomenal job with the representation of depression found in this novel. There's also great representation of different family structures. For example, Sariyah's parents are still married but live apart, so her younger brother can be closer to better hospitals due to his sickle cell disease.

I'm really hopeful, especially because of the ending, that there will be future books featuring Sariyah moving forward!

Sariyah Lee Bryant is a teenage with clairvoyant type powers. While she doesn't get visions she can hear people's needs without them voicing them. In fact she hears them so loudly she walks around with varying items to gift people to silence the voices in her head. The loud voices make it hard to concentrate and as a result she's doing badly in school. The problem is this gift doesn't work on those she's closest with. While attending a music festival with her friends one of their friends disappears. For Sariyah and her friend Malcolm this hits too close to home as Malcolm's sister was kidnapped a few years before. Now Sariyah must try and use her gift to piece together her friend's disappearance.

This book address a number of issues from dealing with a family member with chronic illness, depression, family separation, money troubles, and ADHD. And that was in addition to the discussion surrounding the way missing Black girls are treated.

Needy Little Things centers around the disappearance of young black girls and how they fall through the cracks, race and class being major factors. this story also highlights mental health and complex family dynamics.

Sariyah's has a supernatural gift, surrounding needs, is unique and it often has its pitfalls. They storyline was strong and it kept you engaged. Loved Sariyah as a dynamic and interesting character.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

It's been a long time since I read a YA book, and this was such a good one to start back with! The plot was unique and so was the writing. I really enjoyed the friendship between Sariyah, Malcolm, and Tessa. Sariyah is such a good friend - the lengths she went to to help find Tessa were heartwarming, even though the overarching story had a deep and twisty undertone.

Thank you to the publisher for my ARC!

Wow. It took me a minute to get into the story. Not because of the story itself, but because I'm a mood reader and tend to have depressive episodes where it causes me to not to be able to get into a story. One that changed, I was enthralled and captivated by the story. It had my emotions all over the place and would not let go. This was such a gripping and captivating story that at times took my breath away. I was also left shocked and flabbergasted many of times. It just had the right mix of everything needed for such an enjoyable book. I'm not always into YA, but this one takes the cake, and I'm definitely going to be looking for more from this author in the future

Sariyah’s younger brother has sickle cell anemia. I think this is the first time I’ve seen that represented on the page. Her mom is also depressed, and Sariyah has ADHD, so there’s quite a bit of representation for those conditions.

The novel’s pace didn’t match what I expected, which isn’t to say that it was bad. Based on the back cover copy, I made assumptions about the story that turned out to be wrong. For example, I thought that Sariyah’s decision to use her gift for money would have been a bigger or longer part of the story.

Sariyah’s ability to hear people’s needs reminded me of the main character in Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. In that book, Lauren, the protagonist, can feel others’ pain, which affects her ability to live her life. Sariyah’s experience isn’t quite so potentially life-threatening. However, it leaves her struggling to balance meeting others’ needs, which gives her internal peace, versus protecting herself and her ability so no one exploits or endangers her. I thought the similarity/difference was interesting. The author used Sariyah’s gift well to drive the story forward and create thought-provoking situations.

I enjoyed the book, especially once I was better attuned to its main theme (finding a missing girl). I’d love to read more by Channelle Desamours, so I’ll be on the lookout for her books.

Special thanks to the author & @wednesdaybooks for my gifted copy and to @Macmillan.audio #MacAudio2024 for my gifted ALC‼️

Sariyah Bryant isn’t a normal teen she’s a Black girl who inherited the ability to telepathically sense people’s needs from her grandmother. With this type of ability comes great responsibility but it could also lead towards danger. When her friend Deja disappears from a music festival without a trace it opens the door for hidden secrets and the harboring truth that society doesn’t care as much when a Black girl goes missing.

This book was everything I thought it would be. I love when a mystery keeps you guessing and has you pointing the finger at everyone. That’s how great of a job the author did with creating the whodunit suspense amongst the characters.

The danger surrounding Deja’s disappearance had me on edge until that unexpected reveal left me like WTF. I really wished the author went in a different direction honestly. But I thought the book had an interesting premise and I liked the shift in Sariyah’s perspective before and after she discovered the truth about everything.

Overall, the book was great but the ending felt rushed and I was still left with unanswered questions. It explored themes of systemic injustices within the Black community, the lack of media coverage given to missing Black girls , and the trauma of dealing with a parent with mental health issues. If you’ve read One of Us is Lying, Ace of Spades or A Good Girl's Guide to Murder you might enjoy this book.

Oh my goodness! The ending really got me. I loved all of the twists and turns. The way different mental health issues were handled were refreshing.

This story was not what I expected at all! I really enjoyed how mundane Sariyah's powers seemed but how in the end (as she said) all these little ripples came together in the end to help save her own life! I was kind of pissed at Malcom and Deja for what they did though especially since Sariyah was actively putting herself in harms way to try to find Deja. I was glad that they found each other in the end but it felt unnecessary for them to make her worry and fret like this. I think it's also very interesting that Sariyah couldn't sense Jude's needs at all, even though they barely knew each other, but she could sense Deja's. To me, it read that since Deja wasn't being as open with her about everything in her life that Sariyah would sense her needs and because Jude wanted to be open with her, she didn't get much of a sense from him at all. I'm not sure if that's it though. Overall I did really like the narrative and the characters and I'm wondering what's going to happen in book two!

A YA speculative fiction thriller new release book.
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Sariyah can hear what people need before they even sense it sometimes. It’s a power she got from her grandmother and wishes she didn’t have, especially since she can’t hear the needs of those closest around her, just acquaintances and strangers. On the night of her best friend, Malcolm’s, 18th birthday celebration at a music festival, their other best friend, Deja, goes missing. Like thousand of Black girls before her, Sariyah and Malcolm, whose sister disappeared years ago with no resolution, realize it’s up to them to find her. The police and media won’t help so Sariyah tries her best to use her powers to find Deja before she she, too, goes missing.
👧🏾
This was a gripping debut by CD that uses magical realism with thriller elements to point out a huge flaw in our judicial system, which is when girls and women of color go missing, they’re not given the same media or police attention as those who are white. I’d love to host a book club with teens for this one. Also, the audiobook is fire!

CW: sickle cell disease, depression, migraines, racism, microaggressions, grief, kidnapping, violence, blood, mental illness, medical content, hospitalization, death, toxic friendship, gaslighting, alcoholism, murder, physical abuse, child abuse, adult/minor relationship, forced institutionalization, drug abuse, injury, ableism, confinement, abandonment

This book started off with very cute banter and I liked the idea of her special ability. I also appreciated the storyline shedding light on something that happens far too often concerning the plight of missing Black women. However, even with all that, this book did not hold my attention. It was hard to get through for me and I don’t think it was because it’s YA. It wasn’t the best, but it certainly was not the worst. I still completed the read and think that this author is worth another try for future books. Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Boos for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

✨Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours✨

The premise of this book was really interesting! Sariyah has premonition-like powers, and she senses items that people need most, but doesn’t know when or why they will need them.

When she starts fulfilling the needs of people in her life like her boss and her best friend, and things start to happen, her boss stabbing a man with the nail file Sariyah gave her, and her best friend disappearing after she gives her pepper spray at a music festival, Sariyah starts to wonder how much she is at fault for what happens after she gives people the items they don’t really realize they need until the moment comes.

This is a YA mystery thriller, a super quick read, I read it in about two days I was so invested in finding out what was going on, and the twist at the end was unexpected!

One thing, and I may have missed this detail, but Sariyah carried around a bag with items in it to give people. I didn’t really understand how she always had the items they needed at the ready, was she buying these things? Did she just have them? Usually it was random stuff that you might have in your bag, but other times I didn’t get how she had the items.

That was minor though and I could have missed it, and overall this was an engaging read that had me hooked from the beginning!

Thank you @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

4.25 This book was so good! If you are a fan of Tiffany d. Jackson then this is the book for you. The plot twist that came was not one that I was expecting at all. There was also a great ending and it made me tear up. I look forward to reading anything that this author does next.