Book Review: Needy Little Things

Speculative YA Mystery

Goodness, friends! I don’t often stray from historical fiction, but I’ve been on a suspense and speculative fiction kick while I query What Shadows Hide.

Needy Little Things pulled me in because parts of Sariyah’s arc are similar to Sarah from my query project. They both have a sensitive gift that almost ruins them, but if harnessed can be the thing that saves them.

Sariyah from Needy Little Things can sense other people’s needs. I’m not saying she’s an empath, I’m saying she needs headphones to muffle the intensity of all the needs coming at her while walking through crowds. They give her migraines. They pester her so badly that she carries a “Santa bag” of common needs to hand out and silence the voices. Sometimes giving a person something backfires, and other times she blames herself for not being even more present—like when her friend disappears at an event and turns her life upside down.

There are so many layers to this book: parentified child, gifts as a blessings vs curses, missing black kids not getting the same media attention as missing white kids, personal boundaries, and silent obsessions in plain sight.

I would read this book again, and definitely recommend it to others.

Here is the book description:

In this debut speculative YA mystery, a Black teen with premonition-like powers must solve her friend's disappearance before she finds herself in the same danger, perfect for fans of Ace of Spades.

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.

Not trusting the police and media to do enough on their own, Sariyah and her friends work together to figure out what led to Deja’s disappearance. When Sariyah’s mother loses her job and her little brother faces complications with his sickle cell disease, managing her time, money, and emotions seems impossible. Desperate, Sariyah decides to hustle her need-sensing ability for cash—a choice that may not only lead her to Deja, but put her in the same danger Deja found herself in.