Creep follows a high school student, Rafi who has become obsessed with a popular "it" couple. I enjoyed listening from the perspective of the stalker and understanding the reasons why Rafi turns to obsession. It was hard to read at times how creepy Rafi became as she descended further into stalking but engaging. While, I appreciate the writing and Rafi's character development, the ending felt unfinished. I can enjoy a book that leaves room for interpretation and doesn't tie the story with a neat bow but I did not enjoy the ending which impacted my overall enjoyment of the book.

the synthetic voice is hard. It makes it hard to connect to the story and as an audiobook reviewer its such a big part of my process.

OMG this book is so creepy. The person telling us the story is so mentally delusional she trying to put herself in a relationship that not even her. She even act like what happening to one of the people is happening to her. Now i don't know if the voice will be monotoned in the actual audiobook but in the Arc it was and it added to the creep factor big time. over all I think I'll give this book 4 stars..

I'm just going to go ahead and say it, I had really high hopes for this. I wanted something that was going to give me the creeps and make me just feel sort of icky and crawly. This just didn't do it for me.
Sure the main character is a bit weird and obsessive to be sure but to compare her to someone like Joe Goldberg of You just sets the reader up for disappointment. This character has none of the "charm", and she is in no way ae twisted or as desperate. I desperately wanted this to be what I was promised but it just fell short in every way.
Now all of that isn't to say this want a good book for what it was. This book was good it just didn't push the subject hard enough. There is definitely an audience for this but if you are wanting something truly scary with the stalker that is going to make you feel crawly just read You.

If ever a title was a perfect match. This audiobook kept me both creeped out and feeling sorry for the protagonist. A lost girl trying desperately to connect with the world I all the wrong ways. The book had a computer-generated narrator and I can only imagine how much more disturbing it will be with a human voice. This story stayed with me long after I finished the book.

Rafi is obsessed with her high school’s cutest couple, Nico and Laney. Rafi weaves her way into their lives, her obsession growing throughout the story. Lygia Day Peñaflor does an amazing job in her character development of Rafi. The way Rafi rationalizes her disturbing actions was written flawlessly. While Rafi’s obsessive behavior is cringey, I couldn’t wait to find out what she would do next. If you enjoy stories written from the POV of unreliable narrators or the show/book “You” I highly recommend this book!

4 stars for being completely creepy and unique.

I enjoyed this as an audio. And listening to this girl insert herself into two other people's lives, imagining what they were like and picturing them being perfect friends for her was enough to make my skin crawl. There are so many great one-liner obsessive thoughts from the MC that were just so creepy. The audio did a great job of really making you feel like you were an accomplice to all the watching, stealing and manipulating that Rafi was up to. As the end neared, I couldn't help but feel the dread coming, wondering how this would all go. It's hard to say I loved this one but it did a great job of really pulling you in, keeping the tension high with characters you couldn't help but be emotionally tied to.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Disclaimer: I received this e-audiobook from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Creep

Author: Lygia Day Penaflor

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: Young adult readers, thriller, mystery, stalking

Publication Date: September 27, 2022

Genre: YA Thriller

Age Relevance: 17+ (stalking, sexual content, romance, pregnancy, abortion, parental abandonment, miscarriage, gore, violence, religion, drugs)

Explanation of Above: Sexual content and romance are mentioned and talked about a lot throughout the book, but from the viewpoint of a stalker. Speaking of: the main character of the book is stalking/obsessed with other characters. Pregnancy is also discussed, as well as abortion being mentioned and miscarriage happening. There is some parental abandonment talked about. There is some physical violence and some vomit and blood gore. Drugs are also mentioned occasionally. The Catholic religion is mentioned occasionally throughout the book.

Publisher: Clarion Books

Pages: 272

Synopsis: Laney Villanueva and Nico Fiore are the perfect couple: beautiful, popular, talented, and hopelessly in love. Everyone looks up to them at Holy Family High School.

But Rafi doesn't just admire them. She watches them. She's drawn to them.

Intent on becoming their closest friend, Rafi weaves her way into their lives. She starts small: taking photos of the senior class for the yearbook, joining Laney's club, and babysitting Nico's little sister. And it works--soon they invite her to parties, take her on joyrides, and ask her for favors. Rafi's actions quickly turn invasive, delving deeper and deeper until she's consumed by their most intimate secrets.

When tragedy strikes the young lovers, Rafi's obsession spirals, and she will do anything to keep the perfect couple together. Anything . . .

Review: Ok so this is a really weird book, but it’s oddly pretty good. The book takes place from the viewpoint of a stalker who uses their position in school to get closer to the people she’s obsessed with, eventually leading to her purposefully getting ran over by a car to become friends with them. The book is weird, but well written for the most part. The character development is ok and the book overall is ok.

However, I’m very creeped out the by book, pun intended. The book is slow paced and kinda boring. It took me forever to get through even though it’s only 272 pages. The MC also wasn’t compelling enough and I found myself wanting to know more about her teacher who was her previous victim than anything else. The MC is also taking on the role of an angel of death to her victim’s relationships and I think that wasn’t explored enough in the book.

Verdict: It was weird, but ok.

This book was the first one I listened to that was a synthesized voice but I’ll tell you, I was just as captivated as if it was professionally narrated or I was physically reading because it was so engaging. I love a good love story but I would’ve never thought to read one from the perspective of a stalker! When I tell you I was yelling back in response, making faces and holding on to my sanity by a thread several times…… *cocks head to the side* Chileeeeeeee, if I wore pearls, I would’ve clutched them because this chick was unhinged and I just couldn’t stop listening! I was wishing that I could hear the professional narration because if they do it right, anyone would be looking over their shoulder throughout the day. There was so much that went on in the story but it was just the right amount of tew murch. If you’re a fan of shows or books with stalkers, you’ll definitely enjoy this story.

I hate that I didn't get all the nuances in the story because I wasn't physically reading the book or listening to the professional narrator but this was still a very solid story that I won't ever forget!

This is a new author to me and I absolutely loved this book. It gave me vibes of Fatal Attraction but in a teenager version, so no murder involved.
I'll definitely be looking for more to read from her.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to listen to the audiobook early.

I didn’t care for this book. The description gave me high hopes but it just ended being not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for review.

This is a complex book that will hit home with a lot of teenagers. The basis for the story is a young teen dealing with the ideal couple that she has a need to connect with. The more she wants the stronger her fixation grows.

It was an okay book. I was confused sometimes. Not something I would listen to again. But, it was entertaining.

Laney Villanueva and Nico Fiore are Holy Family’s golden couple, and Creep is the story of their love as told through the eyes of their stalker, Rafi. Rafi steals moments from them where she can—taking pictures for the yearbook, babysitting Nico’s little sister, even hiding in their special spot. Can Rafi help this couple stay together forever, or are they destined to repeat her parents’ mistakes?

This book was, in a word, *creepy*. It makes you feel like you are the interloper in Nico and Laney’s relationship, that you have snuck into Nico’s room or keep popping up in the strangest places where Laney happens to be. It evokes the feelings of being back in high school where you might have felt all these obsessive feelings and what it might have felt like to actually act on them instead of just giggling about that cute boy in your history class with your friends. You can feel Rafi’s obsessions wafting off the pages (or through your headphones for the audio), wondering what might have happened if you had done the things she did just for one more glimpse.
I listened to the audio, and the constant repetition of the couple’s name just hammered home how obsessed Rafi is, and you almost cringe with secondhand embarrassment. I highly recommend this book if you like books that make you *feel* as you read, this one was a doozy!

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4. I am basing this review on the content alone, since the audiobook was basically read by Siri. You really had to pay attention to stay focused on the story over the voice (and it will be read by a professional when it is published/released).

Rafi is a teen girl who becomes obsessed with the perfect high school couple, Laney and Nico. She does everything in her power to become part of their lives. Eventually, she does get into their inner circle, and does everything she can to stay there forever.
I normally do not read (or listen) to YA content because it does not have enough for me, but I am glad I received an ARC of this, because it was worth the read. It had a great creep factor and I felt like it was written exactly how an obsessed teen would respond. There were a few untied loose ends, but overall, it was a great YA read. I say YA because it is definitely fit for that age panel. Definitely not written for those younger, and anyone older than the YA age bracket will just assume it is a replica of the movie "Obsessed" or "Fatal Attraction" but with teens.
If you are just starting off on psychological thrillers, this is perfect without going too in-depth.

I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

Creep is told in a similar manner as You, except more targeted towards a teenage audience. It follows the MC, Rafi, who has developed an obsession on a couple at her school. I think that this book could have been pushed further with what it was trying to accomplish. I never found it creepy, but the age group that it is intended for might. I also wanted to see Rafi's character to be fleshed out more. We only see her thoughts on what is going on with Laney and Nico, but never any real fleshing out of the past issues with a former teacher of hers or why she is no longer friends with another girl at her school. The issue with the former teacher is more straight forward and developed more than the issue with her former friend. However, I wanted to see more of the story fleshed out and a more concrete fleshing out of Rafi.

One of my favorite methods of writing is utilizing the voice of an unreliable narrator, and the author did this very, very well. I was given the opportunity to listen to the audio book, which I think was an ideal medium with the contents of this book. It kept everything atmospheric, and it truly gave the creepy vibe as we explored the actions of Rafi, our MC.

Rafi was abandoned by both her parents - parents who were the it couple and conceived her in high school. Because she blamed herself for the reason her parents separated, her new goal is to ensure the success of this year's it couple. And in order to do that, she will do anything.

The author did a great job of explaining Rafi's motivations while keeping her voice clear and within her wild reasoning. Fans of the show 'you' will love this book, but also, fans of books that don't really show the whole picture until the end. I wish we got a little more on the teacher subplot to truly tie the story together, but all in all, I really enjoyed this one. It kept me on my toes, and I just wanted to keep listening. 4 stars!

A creepy tale that dabbles with the discussion of what is and what is not stalking. When a teen takes an interest in the local cute couple and starts doing things to be around them is it cute or too far. Where is the line. This was a disturbingly enjoyable read. I found myself saying someone please stop her, normal people don't do this, several times. Definitely a story that keeps you captivated. I would have liked to see more consequences and learning for her in the end of the story, instead I just see her continuing this behavior and twisting narratives in the future.

My rating for this is specifically for the VoiceGalley and has nothing to do with the actual book. I requested this originally because I was interested in the idea of a computer/software generating an audiobook before a voice actor was cast. Maybe it's just me but that DOES NOT work in my opinion. I found the voice very distracting and I couldn't focus on the story. I will give this another try either when a person does the recording or when I can get it in print.

**I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

CREEP lives up to the title of the book. It is an extremely unusual account of a teenager obsessed with the relationship of two others in her high school class. As she imposes herself into their lives, at first through an incident where they become "friends" to a very uncomfortable intrusion.

The storyline was intense at times making the reader even more distraught with anticipation. It reminds me of a teenage version of Fatal Attraction, the movie starring Michael Douglas and Glenn Close in 1987. There is no homicide in CREEP, but the tenacity of Rafi to embed her life into the dating life of Laney and Rico is alarming and disconcerting.

CREEP is recommended for Teens and Young Adults. It would be enjoyed by readers who enjoy psychological thrillers.

The audio for this book was not produced with the final production voice(s), therefore I cannot comment on the quality of the narration.