The Creeping
Written by Alexandria Sirowy Book Review by Miranda Moses (Fraser) ISBN: 978-14814-1887-4 We're getting so close to the end of this year's Halloween Book Review series! Only two more books after this. I loved The Creeping! This novel is another mystery-style novel, but I'd almost call it a thriller. The story revolves around a small town where 11 years ago two little girls went missing but only one returned. They never found the missing girl or any signs of her. But the girl who lived, Stella Cambren, came back with no memories of that day. She could only say, "If you look for monsters, you'll find them." I was completely engrossed in this novel and the roller coaster of emotions it took me on! While she has two other novels out, this is Alexandria's first novel and what a start to her career! I WILL be looking into her other novels, so keep your eyes out for next year's series. When Stella Cambren and Jeannie Talcott were six, someone or something took them out of Jeannie's front yard. Only Stella returned- with no memories and her hair french braided. For eleven years the town has looked at her as the lucky one. And every year, on the anniversary of the kidnapping, detectives working her case show up to ask if any memories had come back to her. The answer is always, "no" but they keep trying and hoping. If Stella's being honest she doesn't really remember Jeannie either. Everyone tells her she adored her, that they were best friends, but Jeannie is just a blurry memory filled in by the picture on her missing poster. But on the 11th anniversary of her kidnapping, a fresh corpse shows up with eerie similarities to Jeannie. When Stella looks at the girl all she can see is Jeannie... and the memories start coming back. I feel like this conversation really explains it: 'She was this black-and-white outline to me before' 'And now she's being colored in.' However, in a small town, when you start looking for monsters... you just might find them. The more that Stella searches for the truth the more horrifying secrets she uncovers. Will finding out the truth keep her safe or just open her eyes to things she'll wish she never knew about? There's also the fact that someone clearly wants her to stop looking into Jeannie's disappearance. Someone broke into her house, left threatening "gifts" on her porch, and so on. In a small town, there are always those that believe in fact and those that believe in the supernatural. The more Stella uncovers the town's history the more she fears that a supernatural monster truly is at the heart of this. And if it is, what can be done about it? Now, I chose to put this book under young adult fiction, instead of just fiction, because this book was SO well written in the direction of teenagers. Throughout the drama, there is the life that Stella has built up since being a traumatized six-year-old. Her friends, the boys she dates, the petty high school drama. Popularity and grades. Love interests and jealousy. Childhood sweethearts. The works! It was so well woven together that it was so believable... I'd say maybe even relatable at times. With these kinds of novels it often feels like the mystery takes over the whole book and we lose who the main characters are. What their lives are like outside of the search for the unknown. Alexandria did such a great job writing her characters that I spent so much time going back and forth on whether I loved them or hated them. I will admit that I often read mystery novels with everyone on my suspect list. There's always a plot twist.... what if this sweet character is actually evil? What if this total B is more jealous and possessive than we thought?! It kept me truly guessing and waiting to find out who was hiding what. I mean, how deep do cover-ups in a small town really go? In the end, I would highly recommend this story to anyone who loves a good page-turning mystery. A true edge of my seat who did it, kind of mystery. I will say that there are some trigger warnings to address... One: Animal sacrifice has a brief appearance. And obviously two: death of children. They're not overly graphic but detailed enough that you know what you're looking at/dealing with. If you can handle things like that, go get yourself a copy of The Creeping! Read on my fellow bookworms. May we one day have Belle's library! And as always links to the author's pages can be found down below.
0 Comments
|
YA Fiction Reviews |