Creep: A Love Story

Gr 9 Up–Peñaflor tells a tragic love story about a popular and beautiful  couple, Laney Villanueva and Nico Fiore, who attend Holy Family High School. She does this through the perspective of Rafi, a sophomore girl who attends the same school and is dangerously obsessed with the couple. Rafi finds ways to insert herself into their lives (joining Laney’s club, babysitting Nico’s little sister, etc.) while fantasizing and stalking them, but when tragedy strikes the couple, she will do anything to keep them together. Rafi’s personality is very disturbing and creepy as the title suggests, and it’s clear that she suffers from severe mental illness that stems from childhood. Readers know that she feels guilt and abandonment surrounding her parents, but the plot lacks more of a back story on the subject. The author’s writing is quick-paced and suspenseful, making it a very easy read, but the climax leads up to an abrupt ending that falls a bit flat, leaving readers with some unanswered questions. Filipino, Black, Latino, and mixed race students are represented in the school. Laney is Filipina.