RaveChicago Review of BooksIn The Need, Phillips fashions an addictive thriller, pairing the highs and horrors of motherhood with the reality bending of science fiction. Her second novel and a follow up to her short story collection...The Need continues Phillips’s threading of speculative elements through what would normally be inescapably mundane ... One of the most brilliant things about The Need is that Phillips knows that the most terrifying thing about parenting isn’t the human monsters that parents fear are living in their children’s lives. It’s the fact that in perilous situations, babies and toddlers are absolutely giddy to do what most likely could get them killed or grievously hurt ... The seamless cutting between timelines is slick at first. The flipping between the heart-stopping invasion day and the timeline of its origin story grows a bit tired over time, but it’s a small price to pay for a novel that keeps you wanting to turn the page.
