Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

191 reviews

anna_in_the_spring's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Rating this book is really difficult. I can tell that it is a good book. It just really wasn't for me.
The writing is lyrical, which I only like sometimes. While I thought it was okay in this book, maybe that was because I had a much bigger problem with the language that is being used. In dialogue and sometimes also in internal speech African American dialect is being used. And I hated that. Let me explain. I am a non-native English speaker with dyslexia. Slangs and dialects in written English ( and any other written language I understand) irritate me greatly. I am at a level of reading comprehension with regular English where I can just read the text. Written dialects trigger my dyslexia and slow me down a great deal and make understanding difficult. They are like another foreign language. And I don't have the energy to deal with that. I just want to read a book, not struggle with a language that to me, who had such a hard time learning the original language, seems just wrong and like someone is playing a malicious prank on me. 
I understand that this is not the intention and I don't have a problem with the existence of dialects. Just with having to read them. I try avoiding these kind of books.
I still struggled through the book , skimming over some parts, because it is a good book. And I understand why the language is as it is. It just wasn't for me. That's fine. 
I didn't enjoy the plot, but I don't think you're supposed to. I'm not a big fan of tragedies, so again, not really for me. The subject matter is also thankfully very far removed from me. Still, if the dialect hadn't been there, I might have been able to enjoy the book, the way one enjoys a tragedy. Like this, I was never really able to get into it.  But without the dialect it would have been a different book. So, again, this was just not for me. And that's fine.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Police brutality, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Alcohol

blckmoonlillith's review

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Violence

kmbutcher's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Classism

samantha1960's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This story is heartbreaking and absolutely unnerving but so beautifully written it’s hard to put it down once you pick it up. Kiara is a character I’ll think back on for years to come. An unbelievable debut novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

emilinaballerina's review

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

thisbookrox's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

this book captivated me with it’s really beautiful writing. it was challenging but well worth the read. the author’s note at the end was great as well. i read this on audio and the narrator was amazing. 

definitely read CWs before reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child death, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

sidekicksam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Kiara is on the cusp of adulthood, but has been dealing with adult issues for most of her life. Since her father died, her mother is at a halfway house, and her brother is chasing a dream of becoming a rapper, coming up with the rent falls to mostly her. 

What a stunning debut novel. It is apparent that Mottley is a poet, as her writing style is lyrical and explores themes as racism, sex work, poverty and oppression without making it overly graphic or horrifying to read, which is quite a feat. 

For me personally, the lyrical/poetic writing style also made it more challenging to get through, as I kept zoning out and took quite a bit of time to read each section, but the story grabbed me by the collar and made me keep reading. 

If you liked this, watch The Florida Project or read On The Savage Side, and if you particularly liked the writing style I recommend Caleb Azumah Nelson or The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

jamieruwen's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A true freight trains of misfortune hits our protagonist and boy is this novel a powerhouse full of trauma, love, and resilience. I loved Kiara so much; her strong personality and convictions, as well as the care and love she has for Marcus, Trevor and Alé are so admirable and I deeply empathised with her. I had such a clear picture of what the environment and the characters looked like without there being obtrusive descriptions; this novel is simply very well constructed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Trafficking, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug use, Vomit, and Alcohol

selenyigini's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Police brutality

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Classism

ashyq's review

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Rape, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism