Coming right on the heels of my reading Mark of Athena and Days of Starlight and Blood, I picked up this book (which I started in April) to finish. The problem was, on the heels of the others, this one was so much weaker by comparison to such tight, massive story plays going on.

I wanted more visceral detail about emotions and the things going on with Angels and Watchers than we got. It was good, but it might be a long while before I consider tracking down book two. ( )

Wow. Just....yeah, wow. I've been trying to write this review for days, and I can't seem to find the right words to share with you how gorgeous A Need So Beautiful really is. See, it's unlike anything I've ever read in so many ways. Suzanne Young has written a story that entranced me, broke my heart, and made me believe in hope all at the same time. I'm being truly honest when I say that this book needs to go on your wish list.

Charlotte is an amazingly multifaceted character. On the surface she is a normal teenage girl. Hanging out with her best friend, sneaking out sometimes, and spending ample hours in the arms of her (extremely hot and swoon worthy) boyfriend Harlin. Just on this level alone I already connected with Charlotte. She was so easygoing, and sweet. However what really made her so fascinating was the heavenly duty with which she had been assigned. This is a girl who, while balancing everything a normal teenager must, has a heavenly duty. She doesn't like it, but it's there.

The Need is what really brought this story to life. Charlotte's sacrifices show the reader how deep of a person she really is. It isn't as though she can run away from it when the Need pulls her. Oh, she's tried. Still, watching Charlotte give up so many things that she really wanted, pulling away from people she loved just to fulfill this Need, is what really got me. I know that being a teenager is tough, and at times egocentric. I've been there. Watching Charlotte battle the two sides of herself was utterly engrossing. Would you be able to give up what was comfortable and easy to fulfill your destiny? I'm not sure I would.

In case you're still stuck up there at the name Harlin, yes there is a romance in this story. A Need So Beautiful provides one heck of a love story. If you aren't sobbing by the end, I'll be truly surprised. Harlin is such an amazing character. He's sweet, funny, and so in love with Charlotte that it's crazy. Rough on the outside and soft on the inside, the perfect boy. Even when everyone around her starts to fade away, it's Harlin that is always there in the foreground. The chemistry between these two made me swoon, and to anyone who says it isn't believable, does it matter? I really wish we all had love like these two do. I really do.

Yes, I'm rambling and I know it. It seems that the more I completely fall in love with a book, the harder it is for me to write a coherent review. The raw emotions that this book evoked for me are hard to explain, but I can say that it's one I won't forget. Plain and simple, you need to read A Need So Beautiful. A heartbreaking story of sacrifice, love, and hope, it's just too fantastic for words. My hope is that you fall in love with as much as I did. Make sure to grab a box of tissues before you read the ending, you'll need it.

( )

This book… this book.
This book introduces an interesting and UN-FREAKING-FAIR moral dilemma. The main character is, for lack of a more specific term, an angel. And she goes around doing acts of goodness. And she gets PUNISHED for it.
Yep. Oh, and if she happens to NOT do an act of goodness, she’s doesn’t even do anything BAD, just doesn’t do this particular act of goodness, her skin turns gray and she apparently turns evil.
And it's not FAIR!
This book pissed me off and made me cry. By the end, I was literally sobbing, “It’s not fair. It’s not fair.” For the last two chapters at least.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m just taking this personally, because my greatest fear is being forgotten, but I just… this book.
I HATED this book.
Unfortunately, I will be reading the next one. I have to figure out how this ends. There HAS to be some kind of justice.
There just HAS to be.
Harlin! I saw what happened with him coming Okay, I didn’t SEE it coming as in I said to myself, “I bet he’s a seer,” but I said “He has to remember her. if he doesn’t, I will just die.”
Fortunately, he IS a seer, and therefore, he DOES remember her.
By the end, when she was on the bridge talking to Onika, I knew she was going to go into the light, because if she did anything else… well, it just wasn’t in her character.
There will be some justice. By the end of this series, Sarah and mercy will remember her, or I am going to buy a copy of this series, just so I can BURN it.
That’s right, I just talked about BURNING books. That’s how you can tell I’m DEAD SERIOUS.
Now, I have to go cry some more.

**EDIT** (later the same day)
I originally wasn't go to share this, but I am anyway.
I formulated a playlist especially for this book from songs that were just on my iPod. My iPod has 1408songs on it. The original playlist I formatted had 40 songs.
These 26 songs made the final cut.

Playlist:
Abraham’s Daughter- Arcade Fire
Angel- the Jones Gang
Anyway- Martine McBride
Beautiful Girl- Broken Iris
Broken (feat. Amy Lee)- Seether
Citizen Soldier- 3 Doors Down
The Dirt Whispered- Rise Against
Gotta Be Somebody- Nickelback
Haunted- Taylor Swift
Have You Seen That Girl- Lee Ann Womack
I Am Only One- We Are The Fallen
Inside the Fire- Disturbed
It’s Not My Time- 3 Doors Down
Kingdom Come- The Civil Wars
The Last Dance- Within Temptation
Leave Out All the Rest- Linkin Park
Life is Beautiful- Sixx AM
Never Enough- Five Finger Death Punch
Never Too Late- Three Days Grace
A New Hope- Broken Iris
No More Sorrow- Linkin Park
Nothing to Remember- Neko Case
So Long, Good-Bye- Ten Years
Somewhere I Belong- Linkin Park
Three Wooden Crosses- Randy Travis
Whatever Will Be- Vanessa Hudgens

Other things (that I’m saying cuz I want to get angry and stop crying):

Harlin is a stupid name.

Sarah is shallow.

Charlotte is still a boyfriend-dependant, crybaby, lame-ass heroine.

But I love her anyway, and it’s not FAIR!

Dang. I HAVE to read A WANT SO WICKED.
Ther has to be some justice in the book.
If there’s not, I’m back to burning this series.
Dang, I’m crying again!
I HATE it when books make me cry!
*Grr—hiccup. Sob*
I’m gonna go read Sweet Evil and hope it gets me out of this slump.

I should probably stop listening to the playlist I made, to…

I'm only giving this book three stars, because I honestly can't say I did anything more than LIKE this book. I feel like I should give it five stars, just because it had such a huge emotional toll on me, and most books don't make me so... emotional. but this one did, and it's kind of rare.
but I still can't say I did anything more than LIKE this book, si it is only getting three stars.
( )

I wanted this book before it even came out but it took me years to find it. One day I just happened to be at the book store and there it was, a signed hardcover for $5. I don’t think I’ve ever grabbed a book off the shelves that fast before. As soon as I bought it, I started reading it and I couldn’t put it down. It was just so good. I had to keep reading to find out what would happen next.

The writing, the character, and the plot are all really good. As soon as I finished reading A Need So Beautiful I went to my shelves, picked up A Want So Wicked and started reading it. I needed more. ( )

Really enjoyed it! Review coming... ( )