Have you ever come across a book that was simultaneously one of the most disturbing and most beautifully written you’ve ever read? 

I’ve only felt this way about one other book, and that was Nabokov’s Lolita; and like Lolita, Creep is so much more than it seems on the surface, sharing that same dark vein of satire and caustic examination of capitalism and beauty standards, combined with lush, decadent prose that unspools into ribbony sentences that then fold into these decadent paragraphs with amazing texture and imagery.

Our protagonist, Alice, is a study in displacement. She feels she is not enough of one thing or another–consistently caught in the middle of two worlds in every manner but one–therefore she is no one and nothing. She’s not light-skinned enough to pass for caucasian but not dark enough to pass for being West African. Not poor enough to be considered pitiful and worthy of sympathy but not rich enough to go to a posh school and be popular by virtue of money. Not dumb enough to not work but not smart enough to get an excellent job. Most of all, Alice feels painfully overshadowed by her thin and beautiful sister, who has always excelled at everything Alice fails at. 

Alice could be almost anyone working in the gig economy today, and there’s the dark thrill of it all. She could be your DoorDash driver, Uber, dog walker. In Creep, she’s in your home and she’s cleaning your house. She’s lonely, she’s lost, she’s curious about your life, and she can poke and prod through your entire apartment without you knowing what she’s touched. She has the time to make up stories about you based on your social media and what’s on your walls, your fridge. She empties your trash. I can’t think of anything more terrifying, and yet I’ve never felt like someone needed a hug more than Alice. 5⭐️

🩶 What to Expect 🩶

🍒 Erotomania

💣 Delusional protagonist

🍒 Sentences so pretty they might make you cry

💣 She was lit major

🍒 Un coup de coeur

💣 Internalized misogyny

🍒 Eating disorder

💣 Violent thoughts

🍒 Shaping your world around him

💣 You must hide who you are or no one will ever love you

🍒 Imaginary anniversaries

💣 Toxic parenting

🍒 Imagined slights

💣 Really holding a grudge

🍒 Superstitions & magical thinking

💣 Self-harming

🍒 Ingestion of questionable materials

💣 Being tested

🍒 Visiting the old folks home for entirely selfish reasons

💣 Jane Eyre is not the best model for a great romance

🍒 NGL, there is a good bit of grossness

💣 Desiring to be small and stay small 

🍒 If I had been less me and more…

💣 Touch starvation

🍒 It was love, don’t you see that?

💣 Oh the possibilities!

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Literary Fiction/OwnVoices/Psychological Thriller/Suspense Thriller/Women’s Fiction