Astonishingly, this intense and compelling thriller is this author’s debut novel, but it is so well crafted and with such thought-provoking themes, that I am sure she will quickly become one to follow with eager anticipation.
In an original, magical realist twist on the thriller genre, the emotionally complex central character, Sariyah, has an uncanny psychic ability to sense what people need. Often these are small things that the recipient doesn't yet know they'll need, but these needs invade her mind, making it difficult to concentrate and any unfulfilled needs give her intense migraines.
How such a peculiar talent, known only to her family and her best friend Malcolm, would affect a normal teenager’s life is explored in convincing detail, particularly as she has to contend with guilt from the negative consequences of some of her donations. Most especially the one to her friend Deja, just before she goes missing. Her best friend Tessa was never found, and Sariyah is determined that this will not happen to another black girl, even if it means putting her own life in jeopardy.
The author does a brilliant job of highlighting the shocking bias in media coverage and police action, when a black woman goes missing compared to a white woman. But she is equally strong with complex family dynamics and relationships, teen friendships and emotions and her depiction of mental health and disabilities, as her mother struggles with depression and her brother has sickle cell disease, is both sensitive and realistic.
You can only admire the skilful way the story weaves in these heavy topics with levity, great dialogue, wonderful platonic friendships and the inevitable YA romantic interest. Add in a jaw dropping ending and you can see why this is such a powerful and thoroughly engrossing debut.
Sariyah is determined not to let her missing friend become just another statistic, one of many vanished Black girls. But despite her talent for ESP, Sariyah is struggling, even when the clues point surprisingly close to home.
When Sariyah's birthday celebrations at a music festival turn sour with the disappearance of one of her friends, she knows she can't rely on the police to find her. The authorities are no more help than they were when her friend's twin sister, another young woman of colour, went missing five years earlier. Sariyah feels guilty that her uncanny ability to predict people's needs didn't help to keep her friends safe. She is determined to find out what's happened to Deja. But the more she cracks the clues leading to her, the closer she gets to home …
A brilliantly page-turning thriller with an unusual psychological twist, which fans of One of Us is Lying and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder will love.
Highlights a real issue with lack of police and public attention paid to the disappearance or murder of women of colour.
'Engrossing and original, with a twist to leave you gobsmacked. Chanelle Desamours is an exciting new voice on the thriller scene.' - Jessica Goodman, author of The Legacies and The Counselors
'An unputdownable mystery centering a missing Black girl and the relentless search of friends who won’t give up on her. Speculative elements expertly weave in intrigue and scathing commentary on who society wants to be found. Needy Little Things is a triumphant debut.' - Jessica Lewis, author of Bad Witch Burning
Author
About Channelle Desamours
Channelle Desamours is a high school science teacher from Atlanta, Georgia, who loves writing tales about magical Black girls. When she's not napping to recover from her five-A.M. writing sessions, she can be found building tiny homes on The Sims 4 or tending to her house plants. Needy Little Things is her debut novel.
