A Need So Beautiful was an amazing debut. You get a good romance, a solid plot, interesting characters and sensible pacing all packaged into a novel with a gorgeous cover. You can't get much better than this. 
 A Need So Beautiful starts off interesting with a protagonist who feels the Need. It's an uncontrollable, irrepressible, unexplainable (in the beginning) need to go to a certain place somewhere to help a particular person. To say that this disrupts Charlotte's life is an understatement, but she was coping with it, until now. The Need is happening more and more frequently, and when she learns the truth about who she is, her world is destroyed. Will she be strong enough to do what is expected of her? 
 This is very much Charlotte's story. Her narrative makes her very easy to relate to; she's just an ordinary girl with an ordinary life and when the Need takes over, you feel sorry for her, not because she has to do it, but because it too comes with its own burdens and that Charlotte is already doing the best she can. 
 Side characters such as Charlotte's mom and her doctor make this story compelling. It's not just her life that's being affected by the Need but them too. It's nice reading her interactions with them because it made her even more real and gave the story more layers. 
 Charlotte's boyfriend, Harlin, is another great character. The romance between Harlin and Charlotte is refreshingly mature and I rooted for them the whole way. His reactions to how the Need affects their relationship was very real and it was nice to see a romantic lead take control of the situation rather than just pander to the girl. The revelation about him too, was surprising, but it definitely warrants a sequel now! 
 The mythology, so to speak, introduced in A Need So Beautiful is an interesting one, where certain chosen ones are compelled by the Need to help others. They are usually guided by a Seer, but in the end, they have a price to pay for this unwanted ability. Needless to say, A Need So Beautiful is a wonderful start to this new premise and I can't wait for the sequel.