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.

This is a YA thriller that follows our main character Cass who has led a tormented life. She has been the victim of bullying and generally treated poorly and unfairly by some girls in her school. She finds herself deserving of this treatment as she was involved in a fire which killed her then best friend back when she was a child. She makes no secret of her hatred of these girls, and also the hatred of herself. She wishes the girls dead regularly, and this comes back to haunt her as one day she is out in the woods in a secret hideout with her best friend when she hears one of those girls and then hears her scream in terror. Cass straight away assumes the worst has happened, and indeed the reader later finds out this girl has been brutally murdered.

This was a fun read, which was fast paced and easy to fly through. It had typical YA thriller vibes, which I personally quite enjoy for light reading. I will say, the downfall of this book is that it is surprisingly predictable. I guessed who the killer was, quite early on at that. I wasn't hundred percent sure, and the author did try and send the reader on various twists and turns off the scent, so if you are a beginner to the thriller genre, you may not guess correctly. For people who read a lot of thrillers though, I suspect you will find this a little too predictable. I didn't mind too much, as I did enjoy the overall journey. I liked the two main characters Cass, and her best friend Gideon. They were great to get to know and hang out with, though the teenage angst was strong!

This was a fine read, a little above average for me, and other than being predictable it was a great time. If you haven't read many thrillers, or you just enjoy YA thrillers in general, I highly recommend you pick this one up.

Cassidy was an absolute dumpster fire of truly terrible decision making ability.

She continuously chose the wrong actions to take at so many turns, and as the reader I wanted to bang the book against my head every single time.

It was also incredibly entertaining and I loved watching her dig herself into more and more holes. She self-sabotaged constantly.

The whodunnit aspect of the book was fun enough, albeit predictable. There are two characters who are never suspected, so really it was a 50/50 shot about which one was going to be the baddie. Still fun to read, but didn’t have me scratching my head in perplexity.

Honestly the poor girl desperately needs therapy. So much of her life was stunted because of things she hadn’t worked through. I sort of wish the author had made an effort to say it’s okay to seek help.

Such a terrific premise for a book: the main character writes down her secret fantasy for killing off her nemesis, but then someone snatches her notebook and frames her for the murder.

The hook was so great, it kept me reading clear to the end to find out who committed the murder. However, I wish the main character was easier to like. I found myself not really caring what happened to her. She was whiny and repetitive with her complaining. While the story was a compelling mystery to solve, I wanted more character development with richer, fuller arcs.

Nonetheless, if you like interesting mysteries, read LITTLE CREEPING THINGS.

Here are some of my favorites lines from the book:

"Though Maribel boasts breathtaking scenery, boredom is the leading cause of death."
"The name Brandon Alvarez sits on my tongue like a rotten bite of fruit. I want to spit it out."
"I'm dizzy. All that digging and walking and lying."
"Everyone in this town knows I'm trouble. Or troubled."
"But I let myself believe the lie ... and it shaped every decision I made. I let those little creeping things embed themselves inside my brain, inside my very core, until they ate away at who I was."


[I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Net Galley, which in no way influenced my opinion.]

This was fun and quite addicting! I will say, full disclaimer, that I was pretty sure I knew what the deal was from fairly early on, and I did turn out to be right. But, that didn't stop me from compulsively reading to find out if I was! So that is to say, it certainly isn't glaringly obvious or anything, I just had a hunch. Anyway, moving along!

One of my favorite things about this one is that I actually really cared about what happened to Cassidy. She was a great main character, which is sometimes lacking in thriller/mystery types, but not in this one. Cassidy has a really rough background, stemming from a fire when she was young, and it's been haunting her for years. She is not even sure if she is a reliable narrator, which of course makes us wonder just as much.

I loved that she was so desperate to know the truth, even if it implicated her. And she wanted so badly to save Melody, even though Melody was kind of the worst. It was just all the more reason I rooted for Cassidy. I also loved how Gideon was (mostly) by her side no matter what, their friendship, and Cassidy's feelings for him, made my heart melt in the midst of a pretty precarious situation.

Bottom Line: An enjoyable and very readable mystery with a great cast of characters!

As a child, Cassidy Pratt, accidentally started a fire that killed her neighbor. At least, that's what she's been told. She can't remember anything from that day, but she’s pretty sure she didn't mean to do it. Cassi is a victim of the town's bullies, especially the cruel and beautiful Melody Davenport, who won’t let her live down her past. In Melody's eyes, Cassidy is a murderer and always will be.

One day in the woods, Cassidy overhears what sounded like an abduction and Melody goes missing, Cassidy knows she should go to the cops, but, she had recently joked about how much she'd like to get rid of Melody. She even planned out the perfect way to do it and chronicled it in her now missing journal!

Now Cassidy must figure out what really happened, because if she comes forward without a suspect, she knows people will point fingers at her. Again. And she can't let that happen.

Will you be able to guess the truth behind Melody’s disappearance?

YA mystery/thriller

Well, I must admit, this book totally hooked me with its delightfully creepy cover. Being a debut novel, I hadn't heard much in the way of pre-publication noise, so I was definitely curious. Unfortunately, the cover just may have been my favorite thing about this one! Cassidy narrates this one as a high schooler in her small Oregon town. She's on the receiving end of taunts, whispers and outright bullying in the aftermath of an incident that took place a decade earlier that resulted in the death of her best friend. Case starts to feel surrounded by death when she's the last person to hear Melody's voice before she goes missing. And though Melody was a bully, Cass feels invested to solve the crime for fear that she may coincidentally be blamed on account of her reputation as the town "Fire Girl". This puts stress on her relationship with her best friend, Gideon, and times leads her to doubt her own sanity.

The overall lack of character development makes it hard to connect with Cats - or any of the other minor characters. Plus, the book's plot really comes out more in a telling than showing fashion. This really slows the pacing down. The core relatiohships fall flat, too, and it ultimately isn't that big of a surprise when the truth is revealed. I did finish this one, but I have to admit that I contemplated bailing on it a few times because I just never felt all that motivated to keep reading. I really had hoped for something much creepier and more compelling. I guess my love for the cover really set my expectations too high for this one... the book just never felt very grounded in reality, and it felt oddly dated at times (punch at a dance!)... it just never lived up to my hopes.

2020's answer to Pretty Little Liars, anyone? This was fast-paced and very readable. I can totally see it being a new Freeform series. It had a solid plot. I felt like the characters could be a little flaky but perhaps this was on purpose? It was a little difficult to tell at times which I thought better editing could have made clear. Lots of plot devoted to bullying and other issues facing teenagers which made it seem fresh.

I really enjoyed this YA thriller! My main issue with most mystery/thrillers is that the ''big reveal'' at the end of the novel tends to be very predictable, but this book wasn't predictable at all. I was put on the wrong track so many times (!!) and never would have guessed the ending. I also really enjoyed figuring out what happened in Cass's past. It certainly put more dept to the story. Overall, this was a solid 3 stars read for me. It was a fun YA story to read, but I do think I expected it to be more creepy (like the title and cover suggested).

When I first started this book I was really invested on trying to figure out who was the killer and for the life of me I could not figure it out. I really enjoyed this murder mystery. Everytime I thought I figured it out something else comes up. Its was a little irritating to be honest. I really started feeling bad for Cassidy because she always felt alone and felt like she was going crazy. All because no one wanted to actually talk. I did feel like there was like way to much focus on the relationship between Cassidy and Gideon. It was a lot of teen angst and jealousy with a little bit if murder thrown about. That's what the middle of the book seemed to be focused on mostly but the author pulled it all together in the end. This all started with the notebook of Cassidy's. Her and Brandon wrote out a plan and then it come to life. Cass immediately starts thinking about Brandon but as the story progresses she starts finding out more information which causes her to constantly second guess herself. I think the strangest thing about the story is Brandon is a constant in the story for the the most part and then hes just completely gone and not mentioned again. I know this book doesnt have the highest ratings right now but I think if everyone stuck with it it might actually surprise you at the end. This book was fast paced, surprising, and entertaining. I'm looking forward to Chelsea Ichaso's upcoming books.


Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for my arc copy of this book for my honest review.