X-Book

The Crustacean

Click Buy to Log in and see personalised pricing.

Send as a gift Get in the xigxag app
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

'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.

Critics Review

'THE CRUSTACEAN isn't a novel; it's an obsession. The narrative voice of its protagonist ate me alive. A raw, brave missive from the abyss, told slant through the wryly comedic lens that is so necessary for survival. I would kill and die for this book.'
author of Tampa
'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'
author of Death of a Bookseller
Author Jang Jinyeong
Narrator Jesse Baek
Duration 5 hours and 3 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781840919134
Format Audiobook
Publisher Octopus
Genre Feminism and feminist theory, Fiction: general and literary, Modern and contemporary fiction
Availability AU, GB, IE, US

About xigxag

xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK’s only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.

There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at £8.99. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from £3.99. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.

Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.

Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.