Creeping by Alexandra Sirowy

Creeping

by Alexandra Sirowy

Romance, friendship, and dark, bone-chilling fear fill the pages of this “genuine and truly eerie” (RT Book Reviews) debut in the spirit of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Twelve years ago Stella and Jeanie vanished while picking strawberries. Stella returned minutes later, with no memory of what happened. Jeanie was never seen or heard from again.

Now Stella is seventeen, and she’s over it. She’s the lucky one who survived, and sure, the case is still cloaked in mystery—and it’s her small town’s ugly legacy—but Stella is focused on the coming summer. She’s got a great best friend, a hookup with an irresistibly crooked smile, and two months of beach days stretching out before her.

Then along comes a corpse, a little girl who washes up in an ancient cemetery after a mudslide, and who has red hair just like Jeanie did. Suddenly memories of that haunting day begin to return, and when Stella discovers that other red-headed girls have gone missing as well, she begins to suspect that something sinister is at work.

And before the summer ends, Stella will learn the hard way that if you hunt for monsters, you will find them.

Reviewed by shannonmiz on

3 of 5 stars

Share
This review was originally posted on It Starts at Midnight
Saying this book is creepy would just be stating the obvious, yes? Whatever, it was! Suffice it to say that I am really glad that I do not live in this town, for a whole host of reasons. First, the likelihood of getting murdered is pretty high, especially as a female. Second, there are some really strange people taking up residence here. Anyway, there are all kinds of things happening, so I am going to break it all down.

The Characters


At first, I really didn't think I was going to like this book, because I wanted to punch Stella and her friends (but mostly Zoey) in the face. That seems pretty harsh, right? Right, because Zoey is an asshole. Seriously, she made me stabby because I don't understand why a person would have to be so awful. They even spoke ill of Jeanie, who you know, has been missing for over a decade. That's always special. And Stella didn't seem mean (though maybe a bit vapid), but going along with all of Zoey's nonsense certainly didn't endear her to me. At first. 

Stella did have a lot of growth during the course of the book, slowly realizing that she didn't have to be Zoey's relay partner in the Asshole Olympics. It was a slow development, but that is more realistic anyway.

There were a couple of characters who I liked from the beginning, though. Sam, who used to be one of Stella's best friends until she ditched him for Zoey (because of course you'd leave the nice, fun guy behind and run for a girl who insults dead people and the mentally ill) comes back into the picture when Stella needs his help. On one hand, it looked a little desperate, but on the other, I think he was just a genuinely nice dude. Of course, a romance develops. Even though it's kind of convenient and predictable, it was sweet and I shipped it. Stella's friend Michaela was cool too, but I couldn't figure out what she was doing hanging out with Zoey. There's also a police officer who is so, so dedicated not just to the case but to Stella's welfare- they'd become close after him working the case for so many years, he almost seemed like a surrogate father at times.

Why did Stella need a surrogate father? Parent-in-YA Syndrome alert! Dude was busy at work, you see. And Stella's mom left eons ago so... yeah. Here's my advice for Stella's dad: When your daughter's life is in danger, you maybe don't leave her home alone? Use a personal day? Some vacation time? Yeah, he won't up for Father of the Year this year.

The Plot


See, here is where things get good. The book starts off a bit slow, but eventually the plot starts to really pick up speed and turns into something I didn't want to put down. I had to know what happened to Jeanie and Stella all those years ago, what was happening around town currently. I won't say I was floored by how it all turned out, but I also wasn't exactly expecting it either, so a decent set of twists!

The writing also got progressively better as the book went on. At first, I think I was so distracted by the characters and their insults and their not-nice slang that I wasn't even taking notice of the writing, but as the book went on, it is clear that the author has a very good grasp on mystery writing, and that was certainly the shining point in the book.

Overall


At first, this was hard to get into, because mostly I had hoped a giant bear would come into the woods and eat Stella and her friends, and that would have been a super boring book. Two pages of conversation, 398 pages of bear dinner. 

But, when the mystery begins and Stella starts getting her act together, it is quite an enjoyable book, and I definitely didn't know what to expect, which is always a plus in a mystery! It moved at a good pace, and was certainly entertaining. So if you like creepy stuff, this one would likely be a win- as long as you can handle the character annoyances and some slowness in the beginning!

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 5 July, 2015: Finished reading
  • 5 July, 2015: Reviewed