The Crustacean: The spiky revenge narrative from Lolita's perspective

Paperback Published on: 07/05/2026
Price: £10.99
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Bookseller Reviews

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The Crustacean
To Be a Crab
This was an interesting, and certainly at times, uncomfortable read. The setting moves between the present day with the narrator as a grown woman sufferi... READ MORE
Amy , Watford
The Crustacean
A shocking story of childhood abuse that grips you in its pincers and refuses to let go.
A woman in her mid-thirties suffering from a condition that leaves her with itchy skin recalls the formative experience that took place when she was 12 yea... READ MORE
Red
The Crustacean
a short but hard hitting novel
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 l... READ MORE
Sinéad

Synopsis

'THE CRUSTACEAN isn't a novel, it's an obsession . . . I would kill and die for this book' ALISSA NUTTING, author of TAMPA'MY DARK VANESSA meets EARTHLINGS. A truly unique gut-punch of a read'Alice Slater,author of DEATH OF A BOOKSELLER"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 an ordinary, misunderstood, lonely schoolgirl. She's also in possession of a terrible secret. Her dad is worse than useless. And her mum spends all her days tattooing thick ugly eyebrows on old women.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 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.

Publisher information

  • Publisher: Octopus Publishing Group
  • ISBN: 9781840919110
  • Number of pages: 160
  • Dimensions: 196 x 126 x 20 mm
  • Weight: 117g
  • Languages: English

Customer Reviews

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The Crustacean
Gut-Punch After Gut-Punch
I read The Crustacean in an evening and it had the tone of a friend telling you a story, but every new detail was another agonising stab. We've all been 13... READ MORE
Codi
The Crustacean
Hard to Hear, Harder to Forget
This audiobook is not something you casually press play on. The Crustacean tackles an incredibly grim subject, and it does so without flinching. It’s uncom... READ MORE
Luise
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
The Crustacean
Disturbing
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... READ MORE
Jennifer Charlton
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
The Crustacean
All in all, a rather upsetting and unpleasant read about man's inhumanity to women
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. This is a very well told story of a young girl of 12/13 who prefers to be called... READ MORE
am/am/am
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
The Crustacean
Dark and compelling.
‘The Crustacean’ is a dark and compelling novella perfect for anyone who’s ever wanted to see ‘Lolita’ from Lolita’s perspective. Naturally, the subject ma... READ MORE
BB
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
The Crustacean
Teen Trauma
A real Rubik's Cube of a book - pieces seem so disjointed but then they somehow manage to click into place in the most satisfying way! The protagonist's vo... READ MORE
melissy teapot
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.
The Crustacean
An unflinching scalpel to everyday trauma
Set in the stratified culture of South Korea, The Crustacean takes an unflinching scalpel to the seams between accepted "civilised" behaviour and the thing... READ MORE
Huttson Lo
This reviewer received a free of charge product for review.