Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Synopsis
We all want to be remembered. Charlotte's destiny is to be forgotten. Charlotte's best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she's cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what's really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger. But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend's arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become—her mark on this earth, her very existence—is in jeopardy of disappearing completely. Charlotte will be forced to choose: Should she embrace her fate as a Forgotten, a fate that promises to rip her from the lives of those she loves forever? Or is she willing to fight against her destiny—no matter how dark the consequences?
Is A Need So Beautiful appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 13 and up.
This contemporary fantasy explores destiny and identity through a teen girl who discovers she's an angel-like being meant to help strangers at the cost of being forgotten. Mild romantic content (kissing, teen relationship tension) and emotional intensity around loss of identity and leaving loved ones.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, mild sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include identity loss, self-sacrifice, and mental manipulation (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Teens will connect with Charlotte's struggle between her normal life—friends, boyfriend, school—and a supernatural calling that threatens to erase her existence.