Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Nightcrawling

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

280 reviews

siobhanfuller's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

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zids's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Gonna start by saying my rating is generous. I liked the authors note better than the book.
I have never been annoyed by first person until this story. Kiara isn't an annoying character, but she constantly 'realises' 'doesnt understand' 'wonders' things about the characters around her. The author, Leila Mottley, is a poet, which I could've guessed from the prose, which bombarded me with flowery sentences about Every Single Thing the character witnesses and experiences.
I couldn't help but think of that scene from the trailer of American Fiction, where Issa Rae's character says "Where's OUR representation?" before reading an excerpt from her book thay goes "Yo Sharonda, girl you be pregnant again??" I tried not to think about it cause it seemed harsh, but still.
I am not from Oakland and have never experienced desperation like this. I don't know if I'm bad for hoping for a positive ending. To me, the story was too bleak. Kiara had zero allies except for Trevor, who was so young that she needed to shield him from the truth of what happened to her. And after everything she experiences, after her best friend and her brother disavow her for her work (they come around but still, my ass would NOT have forgiven them), after being dragged into media spotlight and humiliated by the police, she gets nothing. The story ended on a kind of lighthearted note? She has consensual sex for the first time and Trevor comes to see her, it just doesn't feel satisfying considering the shit they put her through.
Not that stories need to have a happy ending, this just felt in serious want of one.
I hope I'm not being too brutal. I was tossing up between a Three (I didn't enjoy reading this book) and a four (it had something important to say, very beautiful language, and I think promises much from the author's future) So I settled on a 3.5.

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josie2k's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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abbyslittelife's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

this was such a beautiful read. def parts i wish i had read trigger warnings for (SA) but the writing was gorgeous. Feel like the authors note at the end describes it best: “I wanted to write a story that would reflect the fear and danger that comes with black womanhood and the adultification of black girls, while also recognizing that Kiara—like so many of us who find ourselves in circumstances that feel impossible to survive—is still capable of joy and love.”

want to reread at some point just to analyze all the moon imagery 🌖

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geejeebee's review

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dark emotional sad 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? Yes

3.75

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bessadams's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.25

Content Warnings

samreads97's review

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challenging emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

This was one of the most challenging books for me to read this year. If it weren’t for the most beautiful prose and the love I felt for the characters, I don’t think I could have finished it. This book is a hard read and Mottley is an incredible talent for weaving so much truth into this narrative. As she brings up in a brief author’s note at the end, it’s not often that these stories in fact or fiction get told from the victim’s perspective. This book really drives home how circumstances and survival force people to make choices no one would ever want to resort to. It also speaks to power dynamics and the trauma policing inflicts on communities. As hard as this book is, it also manages to be beautiful and extremely empathetic and I’m glad to have read it

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