Wants and Needs

by Roxy Dunn

A novel about coming of age when you thought you already had: a story about commitment and independence, about starting all over again, and finding different ways to love along the way

Independence seems to be drifting away from Misty. Just months ago, she was living with her fiancé and planning their life together. Now she’s single, back in her childhood bedroom, on crutches from knee surgery, and relying on her mother to help her with the smallest of tasks. This isn’t how thirty-two was meant to look.

When Misty turns to dating apps, she's immediately intrigued by charismatic, handsome Christopher – so intrigued that she doesn't even notice the acronym 'ENM' on his profile. By the time she discovers that it stands for 'Ethical Non-Monogamy' – and that the man with whom she feels such undeniable, dizzying chemistry, is in a long-term open relationship – she decides to give things a go.

And so Misty makes a pact with herself to date Christopher for the next six weeks while his partner is away. It’s all part of her plan: she wants to learn to become less attached, and to prepare herself for her next ‘real’ relationship. But is what she wants really what she needs?

304 pages, Paperback

Expected publication February 10, 2026

About the author

Roxy's debut novel, As Young as This (published by Fig Tree, Penguin) was sold at auction and was a Best Book of 2024 in The Independent, Harper’s Bazaar, Stylist, Cosmopolitan, and Sunday Times Style. She is also a screenwriter and alumni of the BBC Comedy Room. Her scripts have been optioned by several production companies and her pilot Useless Millennials was commissioned and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Wants and Needs is her second novel. She lives in London.

Reviews

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC from NetGalley

I wasn’t sure what I thought of this book but ultimately ended up enjoying it. I don’t think I’ve read any books with plots around ethical non monogamy (Not to be confused with NME magazine) and I found it really interesting.

I also enjoyed the exploration of the relationship between the MC and their mother.

I will always love a book in which the main character is flawed, frank and complicated but ultimately likeable. I will keep an eye out for more by this author!

[Bobuan · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all tend to avoid facing our fear and deny the existence of our own flaws. Having a fully honest and vulnerable conversation with your inner self can be the hardest thing to do sometimes especially when the stakes are high. This book is not a biblical guide about how to navigate through your deepest private thoughts, but it has done the job serving as a reminder for readers to fight against this human instinct of being in denial!

[Lucy Skeet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh I loved this one, Roxy has done it again. Full review to come soon on Instagram, thanks so much to Fig Tree for my copy!

[gasbolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh ow, oh wow.
I’m a child of divorce. I don’t believe there is anything ethical about non-monogamy (don’t bother proving me wrong). I grew up with a struggling single mum and a mostly physically absent father, and this book had me holding back tears at (so, so, so) many of its fleeting but poignant moments as I devoured my way through it.
I had a feeling right away that this wasn’t going to be simply about ENM. Wants & Needs is a beautifully modern coming of age story of almost mid-thirties raisin lover Misty, and it sets off in the middle of her fiancé breaking up with her, leading her back to living with her mum in Brighton.
“It’s oddly gripping, and well, quietly devastating” is, among all of my several highlighted quotes, maybe the best way to describe this, even though it describes a different book inside this one. Misty doesn’t know much about anything she wants, other than getting others to take care of her needs, as she saunters aimlessly through her life, trying to write and publish a book and failing, because she keeps worrying about what other people might want to read.
It’s very easy to hear Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag at some points, especially the bits where she’s “going to therapy” and refusing to fall into the cliche of talking about her mother/their relationship/how she feels about her, but very much in an original voice kind of way. A way that had me enthralled and devastated all at once.
I’m going to be thinking about this book for a very long time. I might even get it for my mum.
“We humans are such funny contradictory things with all our massive little wants.”

Thank you to Netgalley and Fig Tree for the book, and to Roxy Dunn for all the repeated gut punching feelings I got from this. Goddamn. Ow.

[Chelsea Knowles · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.*

This just wasn’t for me. I was going to write a long review for this but I don’t actually have that many feelings towards this book. As soon as I started it I knew it wasn’t going to be for me. The tone was completely off for me and didn’t fit the book in my opinion. I don’t think this explored ENM in the best way, it just felt like Christopher was cheating on his wife rather than an open dynamic. There was jealously there from Christopher’s wife and I don’t think it was great. I didn’t believe in the romance between Misty and Christopher. There was some weird jokes made that made me uncomfortable particularly one about Misty’s mum tricking her dad into having a child by saying she was on the pill when she wasn’t (I understand this is supposed to be funny but it did not hit for me). This just wasn’t for me and I probably shouldn’t have requested the arc in the first place.

[Kritikal Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come

[Lucxi ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting read but unfortunately not one for me.

Misty as a character felt underdeveloped. I kept having to remind myself that she's supposed to be thirty-two but her intense naivety and lack of seemingly any knowledge make her seem almost teenage-like. This is not helped by how unlikable she can come across - her joyful retelling of tripping over a toddler and hearing it cry doesn't paint her in the best light when the reader is still getting to know her character.

Christopher just felt like a sex object - if he's in a scene I know there's going to be a sexual encounter, joke, innuendo, conversation....etc. It made him feel two-dimensional; his character can be summarised as "a smart guy who is in an open relationship, also he has a kid".

I think the humour is odd. There is a "humourous story" about how Misty's mum baby-trapped a man by lying about being on birth control. If the genders were reversed I don't think it'd be seen as humourous.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

(side note: the ARC contained instructions on how to throw away the book at the end, seems a bit harsh).

[Saffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the author’s debut As Young As This so was thrilled to have the opportunity to read Wants and Needs. The main character is thirty something Misty, newly single and recuperating from knee surgery at her mother’s house in Brighton. When she meets Christopher through a dating app she doesn’t realise that he is in a non monogamous relationship and has a son. I loved the character of Misty, a smart, funny and vulnerable woman who goes on an emotional journey during the novel. I felt that the polyamorous relationship did not benefit Misty, I felt angry and protective of her and felt that Christopher was a selfish character. I loved the sections with her imaginary therapist but did feel some of the sections with her best friend Erica went on too long and lost focus. Overall this was an insightful, funny, moving and hopeful novel that I would recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC,

[charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in a day. Shit this was soooo good.
Loved loved loved.