A Want so Wicked by Suzanne Young

Publisher's Summary: Elise is a normal seventeen-year-old girl until the day she wakes up in a desert park with no idea who she is.

After that episode, her life takes a bizarre turn. She's experiencing unexpected flashes of insight into people's lives—people she's never met before. Strangers frighten her with warnings about the approaching Shadows. And although Elise has never had a boyfriend, she suddenly finds herself torn between two handsome but very different young men: Abe, the charming bad boy whose effect on her both seduces and frightens her, and the mysterious Harlin, who's new to town but with whom Elise feels an urgent, elemental connection—almost as if they are soul mates.

Now Elise begins to question everything about her life. Why do these guys both want her so desperately? What are the Shadows? Why does the name Charlotte inspire a terrifying familiarity? And who is Elise, really?

My Take: I’m thrilled to say that A Want so Wicked is A LOT better than A Need So Beautiful and I pretty much knew from the moment I picked up AWSW that I would like it better! To me, it was immediately obvious who this new protagonist (Elise) truly is, but I really liked the direction this new story was taking, and I was more than eager to see where it would lead. I loved following along with Elise even though I already knew (for the most part) what I thought she needed to discover about herself, and I wondered if it would end the same way for her that it did for Charlotte.

One thing that I liked most about AWSW is that I connected with the characters a lot better! For me, Elise was a more likable character than Charlotte was, but I was still always kind of hoping that Charlotte would make an appearance somewhere in the storyline. And I really liked seeing Harlin from Elise’ eyes because I felt like I learned more about his character seeing him from the POV of someone other than Charlotte.

The ending to A Want So Wicked was perfect! There was one thing leading up to the ending that I think was supposed to be a surprise twist, but I predicted it pretty early on. And even though I predicted it, I still loved the way it all came together and I loved how everything went down in the end. The way AWSW ended has me content with leaving this series here, and ending also leads to the possibility to beginning a whole new adventure!