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The Crustacean
'A harrowing, off-beat novella about the ways in which young teenagers process trauma -- think MY DARK VANESSA meets EARTHLINGS. A truly unique gut-punch of a read' Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller
'The Crustacean isn't a novel, it's an obsession . . . I would kill and die for this book' ALISSA NUTTING, author of Tampa
The year's most spiky and powerful novella
"When I was 13 I knew nothing about anything.
I only cared about love.
And the older man, who I thought I fell in love with, never told me he was divorced.
I made that up on my own."
Chichirim is a plain 13-year-old girl. An ordinary, misunderstood, lonely seventh-grader. A girl with a terrible secret.
Her dad is worse than useless. And her mum spends all her days tattooing thick ugly eyebrows on old women.
Her parents forget her birthday and her sister hates them so much she wishes they were dead.
Chichirim does bad things at school. And still, no one cares.
Until, one day, an older man picks her up on the side of the road.
He tells her she is pretty.
Her tells her what to do.
Underneath her hard outer shell, her softness is being exploited and destroyed by the people she trusts and loves the most.
"I want to come back as a crab. A crab's skin is made of bone and the flesh is inside the bone. But we're the opposite. We have bone inside flesh."
THE CRUSTACEAN is an intricately crafted novella exploring memory, exploitation, and the lasting effects of adult abuse and betrayal, for readers of My Dark Vanessa and Tampa.
'The Crustacean isn't a novel, it's an obsession . . . I would kill and die for this book' ALISSA NUTTING, author of Tampa
The year's most spiky and powerful novella
"When I was 13 I knew nothing about anything.
I only cared about love.
And the older man, who I thought I fell in love with, never told me he was divorced.
I made that up on my own."
Chichirim is a plain 13-year-old girl. An ordinary, misunderstood, lonely seventh-grader. A girl with a terrible secret.
Her dad is worse than useless. And her mum spends all her days tattooing thick ugly eyebrows on old women.
Her parents forget her birthday and her sister hates them so much she wishes they were dead.
Chichirim does bad things at school. And still, no one cares.
Until, one day, an older man picks her up on the side of the road.
He tells her she is pretty.
Her tells her what to do.
Underneath her hard outer shell, her softness is being exploited and destroyed by the people she trusts and loves the most.
"I want to come back as a crab. A crab's skin is made of bone and the flesh is inside the bone. But we're the opposite. We have bone inside flesh."
THE CRUSTACEAN is an intricately crafted novella exploring memory, exploitation, and the lasting effects of adult abuse and betrayal, for readers of My Dark Vanessa and Tampa.
134 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 20, 2023
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201 people want to read
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December 11, 2025This was too much for me. The writing is great the content is horrific and I didn’t like the narration, I wish I’d dnf I need to vomit!
Needs sooo many content warnings I was completely unprepared for how graphic this title be!
Thank you to Octopus Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧
Needs sooo many content warnings I was completely unprepared for how graphic this title be!
Thank you to Octopus Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ALC 🎧
November 28, 2025
Was I scratching my arm in the Chairman? I don't remember. I do remember other things.
I loved terrible memories. I was obsessed with misfortune. I collected awful memories inside the keepsake box in my heart. I was in love with bad habits.
그 체어맨 안에서 내가 몸을 긁었던가, 그건 기억나지 않는다. 기억해야 할 일들은 따로 있었다.
나는 불행한 기억을 사랑했다. 불행에 집착했다. 마음속 보석함에 불행한 기억을 모았다. 내 사랑은 악취미였다.
The Crustacean (2025) is Chi-Young Kim's translation of 치치새가 사는 숲 (2023) by 장진영, the Korean title translates as 'The woods where the chichi birds live', which comes from the novel's opening lines.
내 이름은 치치림. 치치새가 사는 숲이라는 뜻이다. 치치새는 아주 진귀한 새로, 세상에 존재하는지 아직 밝혀진 바가 없다. 그 새는 마음씨가 고운 사람에게만 보인다. 행운을 가져다준다.
My name is Chichirim. Which means the woods where the chichibird lives. A chichibird is an incredibly rare, priceless creature; nobody is certain it really exists. Only someone with a pure heart can see this bird. A chichibird is a harbinger of good luck.
This in turn a reference to the Japanese and Korean rendition of the Blue Bird from Maeterlinck's 1908 play The Blue Bird e.g. as per the 1980s anime series メーテルリンクの青い鳥 チルチルミチルの冒険旅行.
The novel is narrated by a woman in her 30s, her self-nickmanme Chichirim (치치림) and currently working as a freelance illustrator on a version of Maeterlinck's work, but looking back twenty years, and to the month she turned 13, and first acquired that nickname in an incident that clearly still has repercussions for her life.
The novel's English title in turn refers to another key present-day plot element - the narrator's chronic condition with an itchy skin, one that dermatologist's have struggled to diagnose - and which leads her to tell her, somewhat unsymathetic, older sister that, if reincarnated, she'd like to come back as a crab: A crab's skin is made of bone and the flesh is inside the bone. But we're the opposite. We have bone inside flesh.
The past section is set in 2003, post the World Cup, and there is a telling vignette when the narrator recalls how she resisted the world cup fever sweeping the country - only getting her Be The Reds t-shirt (I still have mine!) in time for the semi-final defeat by Germany.
The narrator herself is slow to reveal the story's central message, indeed around 15% into the novel addressing the reader directly:
Right about now, you may be asking, 'So what are you trying to say here, what's this story about?'
The way my sister would, my sister who I want to kill. You might snap, 'Get to the point'.
Sorry, my story is getting long. Don't be mad. Not yet.
What I am trying to tell you is this: I wasn't pretty.
Although the novel's blurb and promotion (here and see the Amazon page) make this rather more explicit - and indeed, the explicit nature of the central scene was, for me, rather disturbing, but perhaps necessary to bring home to the reader the reality of what happened versus the character's hitherto rather chaste teenage fumblings.
And this is an effective and powerful tale of how parental neglect; childhood abuse from a relative; adolescence; junior high school bullying; and societal peer pressure can create vulnerability of which a predator can take terrible advantage - and of how family members can turn such situations to their financial benefit.
And there's an effective closing scene, immediately after the conclusion of the trial at the end of the past section of the story, where eating lunch with her family in a chain resident, Kimbap Paradise, in front of the Court, and unable to choose what to eat, her impatient mother points to a dish on the wall - 꽁치 김치 조림 - braised mackarel and kimchi, the last syllable of each word spelling, again, 치치림 - Chichirim.
My nose stung and tears clung to my lashes. But I didn't cry. I was happy. My name is Chichirim. KkongCHI kimCHI joRIM - Chichirim.
That day, I was still the plaintiff and, in the future that I could remember, the defendant hadn't yet been acquited.
A novel which when I read it felt deceptively simple, but grew on reflection. 3.5 stars rounded to 4 for Chi-Young Kim's deft translation glosses.
I loved terrible memories. I was obsessed with misfortune. I collected awful memories inside the keepsake box in my heart. I was in love with bad habits.
그 체어맨 안에서 내가 몸을 긁었던가, 그건 기억나지 않는다. 기억해야 할 일들은 따로 있었다.
나는 불행한 기억을 사랑했다. 불행에 집착했다. 마음속 보석함에 불행한 기억을 모았다. 내 사랑은 악취미였다.
The Crustacean (2025) is Chi-Young Kim's translation of 치치새가 사는 숲 (2023) by 장진영, the Korean title translates as 'The woods where the chichi birds live', which comes from the novel's opening lines.
내 이름은 치치림. 치치새가 사는 숲이라는 뜻이다. 치치새는 아주 진귀한 새로, 세상에 존재하는지 아직 밝혀진 바가 없다. 그 새는 마음씨가 고운 사람에게만 보인다. 행운을 가져다준다.
My name is Chichirim. Which means the woods where the chichibird lives. A chichibird is an incredibly rare, priceless creature; nobody is certain it really exists. Only someone with a pure heart can see this bird. A chichibird is a harbinger of good luck.
This in turn a reference to the Japanese and Korean rendition of the Blue Bird from Maeterlinck's 1908 play The Blue Bird e.g. as per the 1980s anime series メーテルリンクの青い鳥 チルチルミチルの冒険旅行.
The novel is narrated by a woman in her 30s, her self-nickmanme Chichirim (치치림) and currently working as a freelance illustrator on a version of Maeterlinck's work, but looking back twenty years, and to the month she turned 13, and first acquired that nickname in an incident that clearly still has repercussions for her life.
The novel's English title in turn refers to another key present-day plot element - the narrator's chronic condition with an itchy skin, one that dermatologist's have struggled to diagnose - and which leads her to tell her, somewhat unsymathetic, older sister that, if reincarnated, she'd like to come back as a crab: A crab's skin is made of bone and the flesh is inside the bone. But we're the opposite. We have bone inside flesh.
The past section is set in 2003, post the World Cup, and there is a telling vignette when the narrator recalls how she resisted the world cup fever sweeping the country - only getting her Be The Reds t-shirt (I still have mine!) in time for the semi-final defeat by Germany.
The narrator herself is slow to reveal the story's central message, indeed around 15% into the novel addressing the reader directly:
Right about now, you may be asking, 'So what are you trying to say here, what's this story about?'
The way my sister would, my sister who I want to kill. You might snap, 'Get to the point'.
Sorry, my story is getting long. Don't be mad. Not yet.
What I am trying to tell you is this: I wasn't pretty.
Although the novel's blurb and promotion (here and see the Amazon page) make this rather more explicit - and indeed, the explicit nature of the central scene was, for me, rather disturbing, but perhaps necessary to bring home to the reader the reality of what happened versus the character's hitherto rather chaste teenage fumblings.
And this is an effective and powerful tale of how parental neglect; childhood abuse from a relative; adolescence; junior high school bullying; and societal peer pressure can create vulnerability of which a predator can take terrible advantage - and of how family members can turn such situations to their financial benefit.
And there's an effective closing scene, immediately after the conclusion of the trial at the end of the past section of the story, where eating lunch with her family in a chain resident, Kimbap Paradise, in front of the Court, and unable to choose what to eat, her impatient mother points to a dish on the wall - 꽁치 김치 조림 - braised mackarel and kimchi, the last syllable of each word spelling, again, 치치림 - Chichirim.
My nose stung and tears clung to my lashes. But I didn't cry. I was happy. My name is Chichirim. KkongCHI kimCHI joRIM - Chichirim.
That day, I was still the plaintiff and, in the future that I could remember, the defendant hadn't yet been acquited.
A novel which when I read it felt deceptively simple, but grew on reflection. 3.5 stars rounded to 4 for Chi-Young Kim's deft translation glosses.
December 4, 2025
Messy, painful and tender, 'The Crustacean' is narrated by Chichirim, a woman grappling with both a serious skin condition and the confusing, haunting memories of her thirteen year old self. Neglected and ignored by her parents, the girl Chichirim becomes obsessed with beauty and love, and by extension her cruel and popular best friend Dalmi, blurring the lines between envy and burgeoning desire. When she meets a predatory older man, the edges of reality and morality become even more indistinguishable as she hurtles towards a sickening, traumatic conclusion, all the while pondering its impact as a woman in her 30s in the present.
I can't fully explain the effect this brief yet insanely layered novel had on me. From the skin issues to the confusing same sex crushes to the unhappy home life to the sheer desperation and ache for love and attention... it was a devastating portrait of the nuances of memory and how we can lie to ourselves and yet be the only true honest void too. Once finished, I had to put it down and make myself a cup of tea.
I can't fully explain the effect this brief yet insanely layered novel had on me. From the skin issues to the confusing same sex crushes to the unhappy home life to the sheer desperation and ache for love and attention... it was a devastating portrait of the nuances of memory and how we can lie to ourselves and yet be the only true honest void too. Once finished, I had to put it down and make myself a cup of tea.
December 15, 2025
Thank you to Octopus Audio and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars.
A 12 year old girl experiences and processes trauma in a challenging novella, translated from the original Korean.
I found this book both beautifully written, as our protagonist tries to process what has happened to her, and also to have a lot of potentially triggering content, which makes it quite hard to rate.
I thought it effectively captured the main character's perspective of the grooming she experiences, but it was a hard read.
A book I would recommend, with caution.
3.5 stars.
A 12 year old girl experiences and processes trauma in a challenging novella, translated from the original Korean.
I found this book both beautifully written, as our protagonist tries to process what has happened to her, and also to have a lot of potentially triggering content, which makes it quite hard to rate.
I thought it effectively captured the main character's perspective of the grooming she experiences, but it was a hard read.
A book I would recommend, with caution.
April 4, 2025
Jestem rozdarta, bo temat istotny, a punkt widzenia bohaterki mega unikatowy (mniej niewinny, niż można by się spodziewać po trzynastolatce - ale taka chyba już jest ta dzisiejsza młodzież 😂), ale protagonistka mnie mega irytowała swoim zachowaniem.
No i nie wiem, czy ta scena s3ksu była potrzebna aż w takim szczególe 😅
No i nie wiem, czy ta scena s3ksu była potrzebna aż w takim szczególe 😅
November 19, 2025
This was good, but in a way I will never read again.
December 18, 2025
This is a very disturbing book. Do please check trigger warnings before reading it. I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.
This book made me deeply uncomfortable. We have a neglected teenage girl who is groomed and abused by an older man in a position of authority. The book is all told from her perspective. It’s utterly heartbreaking to see how she justifies to herself what happens to her as love, due to the neglect she experienced, even with the chilling nature of the behaviour. She’s largely ignored, and when people do pay attention to her, it’s because they want to use her. She’s desperate to be thought of as pretty because she thinks it will make her life much better and give her freedom. She holds pretty girls in such high esteem that it leads her to do things that are ill-advised because they tell her to.
I can see this book being up for awards due to the blunt voice of the narrator, the psychology of this character burst wide open for us to see, the inner monologue showing exactly what she’s thinking and why, and the skilful undercurrent for the reader to understand why it’s so wrong even where the character can’t see it.
This was really well written but it is a hard and emotional read. I felt so sorry for the main character. She was really let down by a lot of the surrounding characters and it put her in a vulnerable position. This is referenced as a Lolita retelling in some descriptions I’ve seen.
This book made me deeply uncomfortable. We have a neglected teenage girl who is groomed and abused by an older man in a position of authority. The book is all told from her perspective. It’s utterly heartbreaking to see how she justifies to herself what happens to her as love, due to the neglect she experienced, even with the chilling nature of the behaviour. She’s largely ignored, and when people do pay attention to her, it’s because they want to use her. She’s desperate to be thought of as pretty because she thinks it will make her life much better and give her freedom. She holds pretty girls in such high esteem that it leads her to do things that are ill-advised because they tell her to.
I can see this book being up for awards due to the blunt voice of the narrator, the psychology of this character burst wide open for us to see, the inner monologue showing exactly what she’s thinking and why, and the skilful undercurrent for the reader to understand why it’s so wrong even where the character can’t see it.
This was really well written but it is a hard and emotional read. I felt so sorry for the main character. She was really let down by a lot of the surrounding characters and it put her in a vulnerable position. This is referenced as a Lolita retelling in some descriptions I’ve seen.
December 16, 2025
Thank you, Brazen, Octopus Audio, and NetGalley for the ALC of The Crustacean. I'd seen it mentioned in a new release post here on goodreads and added it to my look out for list on Libby. I was thrilled to see it on NetGalley! This was my first book narrated by Jesse Baek, and I would add her to my auto-listen list of narrators. I'll be looking out for her on future audiobooks. 5 stars.
I enjoyed the narration and had I been reading this book I'm not sure I'd have read it as quickly. I knew going in the content was going to be lolita-esque. I honestly thought it would be more graphic given other's reviews. It reminded me a lot of Almond which I enjoyed. I felt The Crustacean was a little repetitive and didn't warm to Chichirim as much as other characters in translated texts. 2/3 stars.
The Crustacean is out now!
I enjoyed the narration and had I been reading this book I'm not sure I'd have read it as quickly. I knew going in the content was going to be lolita-esque. I honestly thought it would be more graphic given other's reviews. It reminded me a lot of Almond which I enjoyed. I felt The Crustacean was a little repetitive and didn't warm to Chichirim as much as other characters in translated texts. 2/3 stars.
The Crustacean is out now!
September 19, 2025
A teenager wise beyond her years (thanks to neglect) enters into a series of physical relationships, recounted from the reflective distance of two decades. With dark, boisterous humor, the narrator revisits the heinous and absurd things enacted upon her. Cause and effect, premonition, bestowal, and circularity are layered to looping, interconnected effect, elevating sharp prose into a microcosm of stifling adolescence, malaise, longing, and withdrawal.
Though the narrator insists she was in control, the novella keenly reveals how a lack of love can condition someone to see abuse as a form of attention. It’s this tender paradox that Jinyeong navigates with dignity and preserving lyricism. Hilarious and harrowing, this is a story to read laughing, and with one eye open.
I’m stunned this isn’t more widely known—especially with an Alissa Nutting author review attached. It’s exactly the kind of whip-smart, emotionally complex novella that deserves a cult following.
Though the narrator insists she was in control, the novella keenly reveals how a lack of love can condition someone to see abuse as a form of attention. It’s this tender paradox that Jinyeong navigates with dignity and preserving lyricism. Hilarious and harrowing, this is a story to read laughing, and with one eye open.
I’m stunned this isn’t more widely known—especially with an Alissa Nutting author review attached. It’s exactly the kind of whip-smart, emotionally complex novella that deserves a cult following.
September 28, 2025
Novel ini menceritakan kehidupan Chichirim, seorang gadis yang sering diabaikan dan dipandang sebelah mata, yang ingin sekali diperhatikan di tengah dunia yang kejam dan tak adil. Keinginannya untuk dicintai dan dihargai membawanya ke pengalaman yang traumatis, di mana kepercayaan dan cinta malah jadi alat manipulasi. Seiring waktu, Chichirim menyadari bahwa orang-orang yang dia percayai memiliki agenda mereka sendiri. Konsekuensi dari pengkhianatan itu baru benar-benar ia pahami setelah dua dekade kemudian. Jang Jin-yeong menenun kisah ini dengan ketegangan emosional yang tajam, menghadirkan campuran tragedi, humor gelap, dan perenungan yang mendalam. Sebuah novel yang “berat,” memikat, dan menyayat hati tentang memori, eksploitasi, dan dampak psikologis dari luka masa kecil. https://blog.periplus.com/2025/09/15/...
December 20, 2025
This book follows a young teen Chichirim, she comes from a family that neglects her and after getting admitted to an undesirable high school feels like her life is over. Craving validation, she does small acts of rebellion and has a relationship with Dalmi (a conventionally attractive girl). She meets an older man that abuses her but showers her with the compliments and attention she craves. This was a very hard read but also important too. I enjoyed the insight into South Korean law and the details/ conditions that are required to get a conviction . Overall, a quick but difficult read.
Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley and Octopus Publishing , Octopus Audio | Brazen in exchange for a free and honest review.
Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley and Octopus Publishing , Octopus Audio | Brazen in exchange for a free and honest review.
August 11, 2025
i think the author does a fantastic job of using a narrative that travels back and forth in time to weave in the effects of abuse on the main character's life. the childlike and naive narrative voice makes it so much more shocking when the plot unravels and the truth of the abuse is revealed in explicit detail, because the readers can only understand as much of what's happening as the main character herself does. it's a short but hard-hitting novel.
(i felt like i should leave a proper review instead of saying "me likey😄" because i did get a proof of this from work and got to read it before it's published this september)
(i felt like i should leave a proper review instead of saying "me likey😄" because i did get a proof of this from work and got to read it before it's published this september)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 9, 2025
This was so unbelievably complex, harrowing and full of so much for a novella. I’m very surprised this doesn’t already have a cult following. Some of the most horrific topics written in one of the most nuanced narrative voices that fully embodies the trauma and misshapen perspectives of someone who has been through too much too young. Just like how I feel about A Little Life, it was an amazing read that I couldn’t possibly read again.
November 18, 2025
This unlocked so many memories of my own time as a 12/13 year old. A very intense, claustrophobic read that felt specifically tailored to the sort of tone I like reading. I feel both fuller and emptier having read it.
December 16, 2025
this felt like someone's real life experience.... and the author note makes my speculation even stronger. what happens in here is heart breaking and when she realizes why she is named what she is named.... it was like sprinkling salt on one's burns/wounds....
full rtc
full rtc
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