Took me a while to get to this one, but finally did. I don’t read many YA thrillers, but I do love the genre. This one slightly missed the mark for me.

The pacing was a bit weird. Typically with thrillers it is faced paced. Or maybe just the ones I tend to pick up. I felt like the middle of this book dragged on. I wish that it had kept the thriller feelings that I have come to expect.

I did like that there were twists in the story. That helps to keep the mystery and, at least for me, helped to keep my attention. This wasn’t a bad book, just not a favorite for me.

Cass has a reputation she cannot outrun in the seemingly all-white small town she lives in. She survived a fire when she was a child, a fire that killed her best friend, Sara. The main perpetrator of the abuse heaped on her comes from Melody, Sara’s cousin, who is convinced that Cass killed her cousin. Fed up with the constant torment, Cass copes by coming up, as a joke, with a plan to get rid of Melody. But when Melody disappears in circumstances frighteningly similar to her own plan, Cass gets sucks into a vortex of paranoia and fear. It was hard at times to follow Cass’ thinking, as the author indulges in all the twists and turns of her protagonist’s paranoia. The end comes with a surprisingly insightful commentary on how one’s perception of who we are oftentimes defines what we do. That is, when we think we have done something, we define ourselves a certain way, which leads us down a very different path than the one we are destined for.

Creepy, twisted , as well as a bit dark. And will have you asking yourself can you trust the main character.

I can’t decide if I’m disappointed or relieved that there weren’t more creepy dolls in this.

This is a fun, likable YA mystery that beats much of the genre because it doesn’t use a cheap technicality to solve the mystery. While I figured out who the murderer was a bit earlier than I would have liked, the solve in this worked really well otherwise, rare in a YA mystery, in which I often find myself enjoying the ride and then being disappointed by a poorly done conclusion.

Cass makes a good heroine, and her backstory keeps her from being Average Nice Girl, that pesky and common YA protagonist who you won’t remember a thing about three months after reading the book.

I really don’t love the common YA theme of feeling guilt over something bad happening to your bully that you didn’t really cause, but that’s probably my lone gripe with this book. The story tows the creepy but in a fun way line very well, and the pacing is excellent.

I loved it. I was instantly invested in Cassidy and finding out if she could be trusted or not. I finished the book in a day and a half because I wanted to do nothing else but read it.

Chelsea Ichaso's debut novel, Little Creeping Things, is one that instantly caught my attention – and I knew that I had to make time to read it! One part horror, one part psychological thriller, and one part murder mystery; this book has a little bit of everything that I'm looking for.

Cassidy Pratt has spent her whole life being bullied for a fire she doesn't remember starting. To be fair, the fire did take a life, so she understands that what happened was not something that should be forgotten.

When a classmate goes missing, Cassidy feels like she should speak up with the information she has. But she knows how quickly the public can turn on somebody – especially her. She's experienced all that first hand.

“I've spent the past ten years trying to erase this image. Fire Girl.
Trying to convince everyone - trying to convince myself - I'm not a killer.”

Okay, I'm not going to lie to you: the first thing that brought my attention to Little Creeping Things was that creepy little doll on the cover. I mean, come on! It's so perfect for a psychological thriller, don't you think?

Anyway, let's move onto the actual plot, shall we? Little Creeping Things is a dark and twisty young adult thriller. It's pretty easy to understand the conflict that Cassidy faces. She's spent her whole life getting told one thing, and while it's horrible, she has no memory of it. Even though she really should.

That alone would have been a strong enough promise for this tale, but Ichaso takes it a step further by throwing a missing person into the mix, which is shortly followed by another twist. It's a lot to take in, yet it all worked together quite nicely.

Overall I'd say that this was a solid read, though I think the buildup was stronger than the actual conclusion. Still, I'm happy with the time I spent reading Little Creeping Things and would gladly recommend it to fellow readers.

This book was definitely what the title stated. Creepy. Enjoyed it. I definitely think readers much younger than myself are going to love this. Loved the character driven plot, for sure!

Little Creeping Things is a fabulous YA Thriller that follows Cassidy Pratt and her quest to figure out what happened to the illustrious Melody Davenport, the golden girl of Cassidy's high school.

Cassidy's own past is plagued by a horrific event that took place when she was very young--one where she accidently caused the death of her childhood friend. But even though it was an accident, Cassidy bears immense guilt, and the guilt has followed her her whole life.

Now, once again, Cassidy feels like she may either hold some iota of blame or may have been set up to look like she had a part in another travesty. As she seeks answers, she begins to unravel some of the answers she's been looking for in her past as well. She begins to face the "little creeping things" she has been carrying with her.

This YA thriller kept me going and kept me questioning--there were multiple red herrings that were just too easy, so the reader knew there was more coming. It was a solid 3 stars for me! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Little Creeping Things is in the same genre as One of Us is Lying and Pretty Little Liars- someone is using Cassidy's tragic past and anger to keep her quiet.
I loved how unreliable Cassidy was a narrator- you could never trust her. Her relationships with the other characters could have been fleshed out a bit but the side characters really added to the mystery. The twist was surprising!

I thought this was a fairly solid YA mystery. I did call the ending, but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the journey. I liked the main character and her willingness to do what it took to figure out the mystery. Even though no one believed her. I would recommend giving this one a shot.

I feel like I would have enjoyed this so much more, had I not been able to pick the killer super early on.

First off, it has a vibe to it that keeps you on edge for the majority. Think you know what's going on? Chances are you probs don't.

The characters are all a little ridiculous in their firm sitting on the edge of the teenaged stereotype spectrum. There's the bitchy mean girl, the super popular one who goes missing, the creepy loner, the pined after older brother and the generic male best friend. But I mean, it wouldn't be a good, stereotypical murder mystery without it.

The premise of it was kind of cool but also has been done 1000 times before. Including the final result and the frantic reveal near the end. Its not a bad thing, just a formula that works.

What sets this one apart from other is the smart writing style. Its fast paced and super intricate so as when you think you've found the culprit, there's just enough of a question in the back of your mind to dismiss it.

Overall it wasn't too bad of a novel. The writing wasn't super dumbed down, the suspense was adequate for a YA novel and the characters were for the most part likable. Perfect for fans of Karen Mcmanus and Kara Thomas

Personally didn't buy the creep factor. It wasn't my cup of tea but I'd totally recommend this book to a teen who likes angsty teen novels.

Didn't care for this. The characters were boring and whiny with lackluster writing. Maybe her other book will be better.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

WOW!! This book scared the absolute hell outta me. I already hate dolls, so the cover was just chilling.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

2.5 stars rounded up

What I enjoyed most about LITTLE CREEPING THINGS was the twist on the title/the big theme. Going into it, I expected it would be referring to something related to the missing person mystery. It does to an extent, but it's more about how ideas, especially ideas about ourselves, can creep into us until we form them as truth, even when they aren't. They make it easy for people to forget who they really are and what they're really capable of.

While I enjoyed that theme, the plot fell a little flat for me. I wasn't able to get hooked into the story and had to push myself to finish (mostly because I wanted to confirm if I was right about the person behind everything).

When she was a kid, Cassidy Pratt started a fire in her playhouse that killed her friend. Now a teenager, her friend’s cousin, Melody, goes missing. Cassidy might be one of the last people to see (or rather hear) her alive. She thinks she knows who did it and sets out to investigate with her best friend and love interest, Gideon. She is traumatized by the fire that happened when she was seven, thinking that she accidentally killed her friend. She has life like hallucinations, similar to PTSD episodes, for much of the first half of the book. Because of this, she is an extremely unreliable narrator and I’m left guessing what’s actually happening and what Cass is imagining.

Over time, it becomes more clear, her hallucinations, seeing people with the face of a china doll, are pretty much the only thing that isn’t real. She isn’t imagining conversations or entire events. Only her perception of reality is altered. The mystery is pretty solid for about the first half of the book. But then Cass’s behavior gets pretty erratic in the middle and I kind of lose track of everyone’s motives and reasoning for doing what they do. There are a lot of loose ends that aren’t quite wrapped up by the lukewarm ending.

The relationships are all rather jagged and inconsistent. Is it down to Cass being an unreliable narrator and the fact that the novel is in first person, so my scope is limited? Sometimes, her interpersonal relationships, though she seeks out company in order to investigate, take precedence over the murder investigation. She focuses on her feelings rather than the investigation. Were enough hints dropped about who was the real murderer and I just missed them? There was some small shock value in the true killer but I really think more hints could have been dropped. I felt like I chased red herring after red herring, not able to find the real killer because there wasn’t enough information. Again, that could be because of the first person narrative.

Cass and others receive texts and notes, warning them against telling the police about the contact. But on Cass’s end at least, she doesn’t follow through on any of the texts. She never texts back or calls the number, just saying it’s a burner phone so she wouldn’t be able to. Burner phones are just cheap cell phones. They can send and receive calls and, if it were me, I would have tried to call or text back. Her irrational thoughts and guilt made Cass unlikable, rather than eliciting sympathy. She’s also a bully. Having been bullied and ostracized as the Fire Girl since she was a kid, you’d think she would have more sympathy for other people who are also bullied and marginalized.

The ending was unsatisfying in that it happened over the course of a few pages. The surprise reveal and the aftermath took maybe five minutes to read and then it was over. The ending was lackluster and not all that hopeful. It felt like an odd place to have the title line, as well. Like everything was leading up to using the title line and now it’s over. A long winding story to lead up to one poignant line five pages before the end of the book.

This was a very fast paced read, if not entirely engrossing. It was easy and interesting enough to keep me reading. I wanted to find out who the real killer was and thought maybe Cass herself did it but didn’t remember. It very much read like other YA murder mystery thrillers, though a bit lighter. I might recommend it for people who are just starting to read young adult mysteries, just to get a feel for the genre.

A chilling teen thriller filled with angst. Well written with a touch of romance for the lovers of One of Us is Lying.

It was an okay read. I would recommend it for an easy fluff book, but it also wasn’t particularly gripping. This could just be personally preference, however.

This was a book that I Really enjoyed this read and I would recommend to others easily, I will be looking out for other titles by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

Little Creeping Things
by Chelsea Ichaso

When I requested this book I did not realize it was a YA novel. My mistake. The writing equaled the genre. I found it to be less then inspiring,