Anna Pitoniak | NECESSARY PEOPLE

Plot (via Goodreads):

Stella and Violet are best friends, and from the moment they met in college, they knew their roles. Beautiful, privileged, and reckless Stella lives in the spotlight. Hardworking, laser-focused Violet stays behind the scenes, always ready to clean up the mess that Stella inevitably leaves in her wake.

After graduation, Violet moves to New York and lands a job in cable news, where she works her way up from intern to assistant to producer, and to a life where she's finally free from Stella's shadow. In this fast-paced world, Violet thrives, and her ambitions grow -- but everything is jeopardized when Stella, envious of Violet's new life, uses her connections, beauty, and charisma to get hired at the same network. Stella soon moves in front of the camera, becoming the public face of the stories that Violet has worked tirelessly to produce -- and taking all the credit. 

Stella might be the one with the rich family and the right friends, but Violet isn't giving up so easily. As she and Stella strive for success, each reveals just how far she'll go to get what she wants -- even if it means destroying the other person along the way.

Review:

When I read The Futures by Anna Pitoniak last winter, I absolutely loved it. While it wasn't a thriller or a suspense novel, I still was engrossed and loved the story and the characters. Well, when I found out that Pitoniak's next novel was more of a female fiction/psychological thriller about the dangers of friendships and jealousy, I was all for it! Luckily, after some back and forth with Little Brown and no luck, Book of the Month made this one of their May picks and I quickly snatched up a copy! 

Necessary People is a taut and masterfully created psychological thriller that just kept me invested and intrigued from the first page until the awe-inspiring conclusion that left me with a pretty hefty book hangover. I loved my girl Violet and I just really wanted to root for her the entire time, but Stella was a little intense. I found her character to be a bit cliche at times and at other times, I kind of felt for her. We definitely all have those friends who kind of act out or do things that make us wonder why we are friends with them, but then show a softer side that makes you want to never let them go. I definitely think that Pitoniak wrote this kind of friendship beautifully with grace and style. While the other characters definitely had moments that they stood out and I think they were all written effectively, reading this one was like seeing Stella and Violet flaws and all and then every other character kind of having a blurred face - while their presence is known, the spotlight definitively shone down on these two amazing characters.

The pacing to this novel is a little slower than most psychological thrillers, but it is done in such a glorious way that you aren't wondering what shocking reveal is upcoming or what lurks around the corner. You are witnessing the ups and downs of two strong females in a friendship that is slowly deteriorating and defining the term "frenemy". About 60% into this one, there is definitely a penultimate scene that made me sit up straight and prepare for what lie ahead. I found this to be a little something extra special for fans of Pitoniak as usually all I need to captivate me is her writing, but I was not prepared for the rest of this story and I am so glad that I never even believed she would go there. Frightening, harrowing, and brutally honest - Necessary People is a novel that will stick with you long after the chilling conclusion.

Rating: 4/5