This one was a DNF for me, unfortunately. I really tried. I kept going back after I finished reading another book but I just could not get into it. 

I don't know if this is due to it being a YA book. Normally I love YA as they are easy reads but this one just seemed a little too mehhh for me. I couldn't connect with the character and I didn't relate to the stories. 

I'm sure this book is for someone out there, just not for me.

This was a first read for me by this author and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how well Chelsea Ichaso was able to take my mind in different directions and had me asking who really did what up until the end of the book. This is a great YA read and I know that many YA are going to devour this book once it is released!

Cassidy is labeled in the community as the "Fire Girl" because she set a fire when she was little that ended up killing her neighbor, but she managed to escape. Because her brother was the one to save her from the fire, he has become very protective of her and is always checking up on her making sure that she is ok. There is a bully that always reminds Cassidy of what she has done and kids her about being the "Fire Girl" all the time. Her name is Melody. One day when Cassidy was with another guy friend at a party, she verbalizes her fantasy to do harm to Melody and get rid of her, not actually ever going to act on her actions. The worst part about it all is that she and this guy, Brandon, wrote it all down in her notebook. It's in her handwriting. 

Cassidy has an amazing friend Gideon that is always there for her and is able to look fast her faults. They have been friends for awhile and tell each other everything. When Cassidy starts to act strange, even for her strange, Gideon begs her to tell him what is going on, but she can't bring herself to tell him. The little secret is about that night with Brandon and what she wrote, but worst of all, Cassidy's notebook is missing and she can't find it anywhere.

When Brandon and Cassidy are at their secret hangout, they hear someone in the woods and Cassidy knows that it is Melody by her voice. The other thing is that there is a guy with Melody and she knows that it is Brandon. When Cassidy sneaks a peak at what is going on when Gideon sneaks away to send a text message, Cassidy is afraid that what she sees is exactly what she wrote in her notebook. She can't call the police because then she will be blamed for what was in her handwriting in her own notebook if it is found again. What is she going to do? This is where Gideon and Cassidy begin to have their troubles because Cassidy won't tell him what is going on and why she is so afraid for Melody when she is Cassidy's worst enemy. 

You will have to read the book to find out the rest of the journey Chelsea Ichaso takes you on with Cassidy when Melody end up missing the next day. You will get lost in this read and not realize that yo have flown through it and are almost at the end in no time. I can't wait for more from Chelsea Ichaso in the near future!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions are my own. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

3-4 stars!  While this book had some really creepy, amazing, and shocking things, something just did not completely grab me.  There were times I found myself completely emerged in the story and others I put it away and had a hard time picking back up.  Ultimately, I finished, and yes find the ending to be quite good, so I think it would fall somewhere between 3 and 4 stars!  I would recommend to those who like creepy books with good endings!

Wow I really went back and forth on a rating for this, because there were times when I was hooked and loving it and times where I would be frustrated with it. Ultimately the fact that it really kept my attention and ended up shocking me completely at the end made me
up my rating from a 3 star to a 4 star. Is it perfect? No. I think there were definitely some questionable actions by characters that were a bit unrealistic, but overall it was a good thriller. It also appears this is a debut novel, so I can let some of my character issues slide. I would definitely pick up another book by this author..

Filled with plenty of twists and turns and a fantastic unreliable narrator, LITTLE CREEPING THINGS is a solid entry in the world of YA thrillers. 

The mystery starts fairly early on when fellow student Melody goes missing. Cass immediately feels a sense of panic because not only do she and Melody not get along, she kind of maybe sort of told someone how she’d love to see Melody disappear. Not only that, but her fake plans were handily written down in a notebook. When said notebook goes missing, Cass immediately suspects who could be behind Melody’s disappearance. The only problem is that Cass could be implicated as well, since they were her plans after all. 

LITTLE CREEPING THINGS sucked me in from the very first pages and kept me guessing almost until the end. Ichaso did a pretty good job of pointing the reader (and Cass) in every direction and making every character look guilty as sin. Add to that a narrator that has plenty of dark secrets in her past and is prone to lying, and the result is a well-crafted mystery that very few readers will be able to solve before the big reveal. 

Bottom line — a well-crafted mystery, an unreliable narrator, and a bit of romance thrown in for good measure makes LITTLE CREEPING THINGS a perfect book for both contemporary and YA thriller readers. 3.5 stars.

Little Creeping Things is one of those books that just screams teen angst. I mean that in a good way, because it’s so relatable. Most of us went through this phase as a teen. You know the one, where you just feel like everything sucks. 

Mix that up with the mystery and the fact that you will at some point think everyone is the murderer, and you have a book that’s hard to put down. 

I give this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Total page turner, and like I said, the teen drama and the angst really just felt honest and real. Don’t get me wrong, you will shake your head as an adult and you will know better. But as a teen, you probably would have been feeling and acting the same way as the protagonist.

Based on the cover, I had expectations for this book that didn't quite materialize. However, I do think it's a great fit for its intended audience. Teen angst of the "friends-who-secretly-want-to-be-more" variety doesn't quite resonate with me in this season of life, but I know that will check some readers' boxes!

Little Creeping Things is a YA Thriller that involves a murder that the main character, Cassidy, planned by didn't follow through with. While Cassidy and her best friend Gideon are in the woods, Cassidy hears a scream from the woods which she realizes is her enemy, Melody. When Cassidy checks out the scene she realizes she's seen this all before, in fact this was her idea. Melody doesn't return home and Cassidy is stricken when she realizes the notebook she wrote down the murder plans are in is missing. Not wanting to be implicated in the murder, Cassidy spins a web of lies that threatens to destroy her friendship and possible future relationship with Gideon.
I'll be honest, I was really intrigued in this story especially with Cassidy's childhood trauma and the effects of being known as "fire girl." However, the mystery was very predictable. I was able to guess the "whodunit?" very early on which really took away the spark of this story. Overall, I did really enjoy the characters I just wish that there would have been more careful plot devices that would have allowed the mystery to stay a mystery longer. 

Thank you to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

Little Creeping Things is one of those books that grabs you right from the start and doesn't let go. Cassidy Pratt is known as "Fire Girl" in her small town, because as a child, she accidentally started a fire that killed her best friend. She doesn't remember any of it, but most people at her school won't let her forget. Everyone except Gideon, that is. Gideon has been her best friend and defender since 2nd grade, and they've been inseparable from then on. They even have a secret spot, a "hobbit hole" that they go to even now to get away from everything. One day, when Gideon leaves their spot to use his phone, Cass hears one of her worst tormentors, Melody, screaming in the woods, and she's certain that something bad has happened. What's worse is that Cass will be a suspect, because not only does she have a reputation of being "Fire Girl", but she actually planned Melody's murder one drunken night at a party, and there's proof. She didn't really mean it, but she knows that she will have no defense if Brandon, the boy she planned it with, shows the police her notebook where they wrote all the details. When Melody's body is found, Cass has to decide who she can trust with the truth and how she can find the real killer. 

I am a huge fan of unreliable narrators, and Chelsea Ichaso really delivered. Most authors would make their MC purposely dishonest or shady, but Ms. Ichaso took it a different route by creating a character that is unreliable because trauma prevents her from remembering. The pacing was good, not so slow that you get bored, but not so fast that you feel like you missed something. The ending wrapped up nicely, even if it was a bit obvious by the time you get to the last 3/4 of the story. Also--I love when the title and cover art choices are revealed within the story and aren't just "eye catching", so it was a nice moment for me when I could say "Okay, so THAT makes sense now". It's not a necessity to make a good book, but it is definitely satisfying. As a high school librarian, I will definitely purchase this book and I highly recommend it.

This ARC was generously provided by Netgalley in return for my honest review and feedback.

When Cassidy was a little girl, she was told that she had started a fire that killed her neighbor. Cassidy has no recollection of that night, but everyone in the town remembers and doesn’t let her forget what she did. One day, Melody, the school bully, goes missing. Cassidy is scared because she had previously come up with a plan to get rid of Melody, her biggest tormentor. 

The characters, especially Cassidy were pretty unlikable. She’s rash and isn’t afraid to drag people down in order to prove that she’s right about what’s happening. The ultimate twist in this mystery was not surprising, and it wasn’t built up in a way that the story supported the outcome. Rather than gradually sprinkling hints throughout the story, the author chose to explain everything in 2-3 pages which diminished the overall reveal.

Too YA for me, but I'm a seasoned thriller and mystery reader - and have been since my own YA days. I was raised on Mary Higgins Clark and this just didn't do it for me.

“And it’s easy to get along with yourself at first, having so much in common and everything–that is, until the dark things nestled deep within emerge, and you find that you might not like yourself as much as you thought.”

I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Sourcebooks Fire. When she was a child, Cassidy Pratt set a fire that accidentally killed a neighbor girl. Although her memories of that day have never resurfaced, she’s pretty sure she didn’t mean to do it, but the bullies in her high school, led by Melody Davenport, will never let her live it down. When Melody goes missing, Cassidy is in a panic. Not only does she have a motive to want to kill Melody, she may have inadvertently helped plan her murder. Trigger warnings: death/child death (off-page), fires, injury, bullying, scars, guilt.

This is a perfectly fine YA mystery/thriller, although it does little to distinguish itself from others of its kind. It’s reasonably paced, with most of the thrills coming at the beginning and the end with few in the middle while Cassidy agonizes over what to do. More than any murdery/thrillery disappearances or threats, the novel is an interesting look at living with the guilt of something that happened when Cassidy was a kid and the bullies who won’t allow her to let it go. The premise reminds me of an older YA book, Right Behind You by Gail Giles. I remember liking it quite a bit back then, but I don’t know how well it’s aged. The current disappearance is more lackluster, and it mainly involves Cassidy accusing everyone under the sun of having murdered Melody. I guessed the killer but not the truth about the fire when Cassidy was a kid, so the book had a couple surprises for me.

The characters aren’t bad. Cassidy feels like a realistic teenager, who knows she should do the right thing but struggles with it alongside her history. I got a little weary of her bff/romance relationship with Gideon, who’s a pretty standard knight in shining armor, but I’m rarely one for romance. One of the problems I have with the characters as a whole is that all the men have a bit of hero complex, which constantly forces Cassidy into damsel in distress role. She has a protective brother, a protective best friend, and at least one random guy promising to fix things for her. The female relationships aren’t much better, since the only female friend Cassidy has she’s also sort of using to get information on the investigation. None of them are deal-breakers in terms of enjoying the novel, but it’s not all that memorable either.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

This story follows a girl, who is known as The Fire Girl. It seems her past is out to haunt her, as her one mistake years ago labeled her as a murderer. When a Cassidy hears the last moments of her nemesis Melody, no one wants to believe her, especially not her best friend. Cassidy is scared to go to the authorities, as she's afraid they'll blame her for not stepping in, or maybe even accuse her of being part of the disappearance. And then the threats start.

Honestly, it was a solid YA mystery. It really focused on the relationships more than on solving the mystery. Cassidy was a tad dramatic with her accusations, but felt authentic to a teenager and her dramatic feelings. It didn't surprise me much, or creep me out as I hoped, but the dark little notes of it were a nice touch.

Even though I am way past the YA target audience, I enjoyed this book.  The cover with the creepy doll drew me in.  There was plenty of mystery and suspense which moved at a pretty good pace.

She never meant to kill anyone. She doesn't even remember setting the fire, or anything about that fateful day. But the town Cassidy Pratt lives in has never let her forget that the fire killed her neighbor. She is labeled a murderer, and has to live with it. When a local who bullies her about her past disappears, Cassidy's life is once again thrown into chaos. She had just joked about the perfect way to rid herself of Melody before the disappearance....  She can't go to the police. She will just look guilty. And then there's the chilling text message she received. I'm glad we're in this together......

This book was an exciting and fun read. Nothing new here, but an enjoyable, suspenseful story nonetheless. The plot moves along at a perfect pace....revealing just a little bit of the truth at a time until the very end. Nicely done. Very atmospheric and creepy cool. 

Well written and entertaining. I look forward to more by this author. 

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Sourcebooks. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

RATING: 2 STARS
2020; Sourcebooks Fire

Little Creeping Things has a creepy cool cover that drew me instantly to the novel. The summary was right up my alley with suspense and teenage drama. However, there was just too much petty selfish drama than fun drama. I am probably being a bit too generous with the two star rating for how I feel about this story and writing. I would HIGHLY recommend you read other reviews as this is just my opinion. Honestly, it was a difficult novel to get through. I had to skim through the middle to finish it. I found the main character, Cass just too annoying. She would jump to conclusions before even getting the facts, that soon you did not trust anything she was saying or even seeing. Cass would throw her friends and family under the bus as quick as she jumped to the conclusions. There was no suspense or even creepiness. There wasn't any motivation to the story, and the ending was just there. I think this is Ichaso's first novel, so I would try another book in the future.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

From the description this sounded like everything I look for in a YA thriller; an unreliable narrator who might be a killer, teen angst and romance, mean girls getting payback. Unfortunately, I knew pretty quickly that the writing style was not going to be for me. The tone felt off, the pacing was uneven and it felt somehow too juvenile for YA. While I am considerably older than the target audience I do read a lot of YA so while this may explain some of my issues connecting with this book I don’t think it can be blamed for all my concerns.

Cassidy was very hard to like as she seemed very silly and over-dramatic. Every time she accused someone of being the murderer (and she accused pretty well everyone) she completely overreacted and panicked. She had no common sense and no calm which in a way is understandable since she’s a teenager but she accuses a different boy every day and is deadly serious about it, to the point that one of them is held in jail. Talk about jumping to conclusions! It was just so irresponsible and irritating and had serious consequences for the lives of other people. I’m not sure why Cassidy would possibly do the things she did or make the terrible decisions that she made. It all just didn’t make sense to me. She definitely wins the award for worst detective ever!

The resolution when it finally came in the last few pages was not a surprise at all. I thought the identity of the killer was pretty obvious all along. The motivations for this murderous behaviour were vague and unclear. Basically he’s just a psychopath and no one noticed anything unusual for his entire life? I would think there are usually signs of psychopathy like killing animals or something leading up to killing humans. This seemed like it was completely out of character and that didn’t sit well with me.

After finishing I think that the characters were just loosely drawn and not at all developed so I had a hard time caring about them or understanding their motivations. This was a brief skim over character and plot and truthfully I expect more from a story than this quick, superficial treatment. In the end I did finish this book without skimming but I can’t say that I enjoyed it or can recommend it.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

This book kept me reading late into the night! I thoroughly enjoyed it. It kept me guessing until the very end. There were several times that I thought I had it all figured out, and then another twist came! I appreciate that the scenarios and twists were believable, none too far fetched. 

There were moments when I felt there could have been more commentary for the sake of clarity. At times, it felt like it jumped and the time line was a bit difficult to follow. However, the likable characters and suspense that was built made up for it. 

Thank you for the thrill ride!

I enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it. I felt like it had potential to be really great, but just slightly missed the mark. 

I found myself annoyed at the main character's decision making, though she is a teenager so maybe on some level it's more realistic. She generally doesn't know what she thinks or believes and changes her mind a lot. I also was bothered by some of the reactions of other characters. Their relationships seem to come and go. 

I found the story to be interesting, except I knew who the 'bad guy' very early on. There was really only one person it could be if you paused to think about it. I'm glad the author went with this person though, as I would have been really disappointed if she had tried to add a twist and make someone else the perpetrator. 

There are a couple of things that happen towards the end that don't really make sense and some that are never fully explained. I wish that part was worked out a bit better. 

I don't think I'm really the target audience for this book. It seemed to me that a younger audience may appreciate it more. The main characters were all teenagers and their relationships and thoughts fit that age group. Also, having read many mystery/thriller books made it fairly easy to see where the story was ultimately going. 

Overall, this was a solid debut and I would recommend it to a younger audience that enjoys the genre.

Little Creeping Things get a solid three stars from me. I had my issues with the story but the writing was good.

There are a lot of twists to be had in this YA thriller and I didn't even have them all figured out. At times it became comedic just how many different people the main character accused of murder. Swinging wildly from one suspect to the next with each new piece of "evidence."

There was a point at which I felt like we had been really focused on the teen romance for a LONG time (it was actually only like a chapter or two) but to be honest I really enjoyed the romance subplot a lot. It's a teenage/first love/best friends kind of romance and so, so sweet.

Little Creeping Things starts pretty strong, lags a tiny bit in the middle, and finishes well. Three stars.