The Need by Helen Phillips
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: July 9, 2019
Length: 272 pages
Amazon

{A Bit of Backstory}

Single Sentence Summary

While getting her children ready for bed, Molly thinks she hears an intruder in her house, and from that point on Molly is never quite sure about anything else.

From the Publisher

“When Molly, home alone with her two young children, hears footsteps in the living room, she tries to convince herself it’s the sleep deprivation. She’s been hearing things these days. Startling at loud noises. Imagining the worst-case scenario. It’s what mothers do, she knows.

But then the footsteps come again, and she catches a glimpse of movement.”

The Draw

• A mother alone with 2 kids hears footsteps.
• Emily St. John MandelAND Rebecca Makkai
• These words: “subversive, speculative thriller.”

{My Thoughts}

The Need by Helen Phillips is not going to be a book for everyone. It leaves you constantly feeling a little off balance and always questioning what is really happening. You’ll need to go back and reread passages or look at them from a different angle. Theories will come and theories will go. Tension will rise, you’ll feel a little scared and you’ll continually be asking yourself, “What?” I loved it!

“She wondered if other mothers experienced it, this permanent state of mild panic, and worried that perhaps they didn’t, that perhaps there was something wrong with her.”

This is one of those books that I can’t really say much about without ruining it for others. At its core The Need is mainly a meditation on young motherhood delivered in a spectacularly unexpected way. It covers the addictive joys and complete drudgery of life with young children, especially when going at it solo as Molly is while her husband travels with his band. Molly, an archeologist at a site that has recently acquired notoriety because some very bizarre relics have been found among the dinosaur bones, is already just barely hanging on when an all too familiar stranger enters her life.

“Understanding buzzed electric through Molly.

The things she had known and not known for a long time. The unfathomable fossils. The unfathomable artifacts. Evidence of other iterations of the universe.”

I know I’ve given you little to go on here, but it’s with intent. The Need is a book best gone into with few preconceived ideas or expectations. The books itself as well as the chapters are short making it possible to fly through The Need in only a day or two. You’ll sink into this book that refuses to be defined. Thriller? Partly. Horror? Perhaps. Sci-fi? Maybe. Fantasy? Possibly. It doesn’t really matter. But, when you finish you’ll need to find someone to talk this book over with, to help you understand, to share her/his own theories, to lift the confusion. For these reasons The Need would make a perfect book club selection. The discussions would be rich! Some will love it. Others will hate it. All will want to talk about it! Grade: B+

If you liked this book you might also enjoy:

• Foe by Iain Reid – Another sort of speculative thriller that will keep you completely off balance. (my review)
• If, Then by Kate Hope Day – After an unusual tremor nearby, residents of a small college town begin to experience glimpses of other realities. (my review)

Note: I received a copy of this book from Simon & Schuster (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Associate links included within this post.