Wants and Needs is a beautifully written exploration of life and love in the aftermath of loss. In her thirties, Misty is dumped by her fiancé and moves back in with her mother in Brighton. She has no clue what she wants or needs. Her aspirations of becoming a published author have trickled out, and for all intents and purposes, her life has stalled.
Enter Christopher.
The perfect guy to save her from herself, but he’s too busy with his long-term partner and child. Having matched with him on a dating app, missing the PSA of “ethically non-monogamous,” she falls headfirst for the one person who can’t give her what she thinks she wants.
“We humans are such funny contradictory things with all our massive little wants.”
While I may not be a 30-year-old, dumped and living with my mother, there were parts of Misty that resonated with me, making this book nearly impossible to put down. Being able to connect with readers, to make them see themselves in a character, requires considerable skill and perception of the world. Roxy Dunn does this effortlessly. She has a great and unique voice that shines through her writing and offers an elegant dissection of society and love in a way that hooks you from the very beginning. I loved that Misty and the therapist she regularly visits in her head were continuously witty and self-aware in a way that made her very relatable.
Wants and Needs is for anyone who looks at the world from a unique perspective, digging slightly deeper, and questioning the “why” of everything. Misty, for all her quirks and flaws, commits herself to growing and learning, first for the benefit of Christopher but then only for her.
The conversations with others and herself are so well written. Flowing and articulating ideas that seem so daunting, but spinning and trimming away at them till all that’s left is the answer to a problem no one was even aware of. Dunn’s exploration of monogamy, love, and connection was bold and profound. These themes, though not often played out in media, offer new perspectives and a wider view of love and relationships. Can true love only happen between monogamous people? Or does allowing outside connections actually strengthen that core relationship?
Misty struggles with sharing the man she loves, forcing her to figure out what she really wants and needs from her relationship and from her life. Grappling with the loss of traditional relationship milestones, like marriage and the mundane day-to-day, she tries to find happiness in her fleeting moments with Christopher. Weighing her desire for him, with the needs that aren’t being met.
Misty goes on the typical self-love journey one might expect from someone in her situation. Prioritising herself, her wants and her needs, she moves into a new version of herself–with the help of her internal therapist–and comes into her own. Her single mother played a large role in her perspective on aloneness and independence, and the glimpses of their relationship added a great narrative to the story. I would have loved to see their dynamic explored more, as it directly influenced how Misty looked at love and at Christopher.
Wants and Needs is a great, thought-provoking and unique read. Misty and the other characters are all very dynamic and real, making the book a new and refreshing take on love and life.
Words by Gracyn Gilliam
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