Reviews tagging 'Death'

Nightcrawling: A Novel by Leila Mottley

71 reviews

thissagreads's review against another edition

ALL OF THE TRIGGERS!! I couldn’t finish this book because the pace was slow. The amount of triggering trauma happening to this *child* was overwhelmingly heavy, without reprieve. After the second hour of listening I was hopeful that the main character Kiara- would catch a break. But she didn’t, and the amount of TW was wild. Yes I understood that the author was shining light on very bleak situations that anyone can find themselves in, if given scraps and being abandoned. 

By the 6th hour, there continued to be a lot of “well I just have to do what I have to do” mentality, on top of having to trick/prostitute  while trying to take care of the neighbor’s kid since his mom is just looking for her next fix …. I don’t really understand the appeal, even if the author is a young, award winning poet and started writing this book at 16 years old. Very disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gun violence, Death of parent, Alcohol, Blood, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Addiction, Abandonment, Child abuse, Rape, Death, and Sexual assault

TRIGGER WARNING!! Kiara’s brother is a shitty rapper who’s not working to pay the bills in the tiny apartment they both share. He won’t step up so Kiara’s been working but still struggling. She’s already asked her brother to help out but he’s whining about wanting to rap and asks for a month to “make it”. She agrees but one night she goes to see her brother’s ex girlfriend (at the bar she works at) and accidentally gets drunk. Then she sees a GROWN MAN who’s into her, and they walk off to -what Kiara thought- was going to be a consensual hook up, but he ends raping her. Then after throwing money at her, Kiara gets the idea to start prostituting herself while her brother gets the month to “release his album”. But unfortunately she gets pulled into the underworld quickly, accepts a gig with cops and then of course everyone takes advantage of her. So Kiara’s life just gets worse. ESPECIALLY after her brother tells her he won’t support her! And on top of that her mom is AWFUL and couldn’t give a damn about her 2 kids struggling to keep the lights on, this monster killed their little sister in the bathtub and refuses to take accountability so she’s been in prison and a Safeway house. This book was just fucking awful and riddled with trauma that I felt was overdone and unnecessary.

mgmsharpe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.25

This was really good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Violence, Child death, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Death, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Vomit, Pedophilia, Drug use, Addiction, Sexual content, Rape, Death of parent, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Self harm, Child abuse, Police brutality, and Grief

whitgilk's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, Death, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Child abuse, Rape, Police brutality, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

chaoticenby's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

Read this book. It’s worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Rape, Grief, Death, Abandonment, Addiction, Trafficking, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

bananahan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Cursing, Child death, Rape, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, Police brutality, Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Vomit, Classism, Gun violence, Addiction, Racism, Pregnancy, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Transphobia

anenome's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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? No

4.5

This story was heartbreaking. Incredibly sad, it incites real anger, such an important story to tell.

It took me a while to warm to the narrator, I found her annoying for the first two chapters. Then I loved her, I've never missed a character so much when a book has ended, an original voice.

The ending was too abrupt and open for me. I didn't like Ale, she was a weak friend and always got a free pass for abandoning Kiara.

Between the dark parts of the book there's a lot of humour, it feels balanced.

If there was more to Kiara's story I would read it in a heartbeat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Misogyny, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Police brutality, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Stalking, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape

Moderate: Vomit, Racism, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Medical content

misssharpe's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

Beautiful writing. But the story was low and by the middle I was just ready for it to be over.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Trafficking, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Self harm, Misogyny, Rape, and Stalking

Moderate: Abandonment and Addiction

Minor: Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Cancer, Child death, Child abuse, Racism, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug use

kelisabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Death, Self harm, Sexual violence, Grief, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Abandonment

pkc's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

It would be weird to summarise a book like this by saying whether I “enjoyed it” or not. It’s not the sort of the book where there’s much to enjoy in terms of a bleak plot and a pervading sense of hopelessness. I will say, there are snatches of poetic writing in amongst the darkness that Kiara, the protagonist is subject to. I also think Kiara is an excellently realised protagonist. Her arc is perfectly plotted and it’s easy to follow her story and invest in her life. 

I will say though, if you’re looking for a neat and traditionally happy resolution, this book won’t do it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Medical content, Bullying, Suicide, Police brutality, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Death of parent, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Abandonment, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Rape, Addiction, Drug use, Excrement, Sexual harassment, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

bessadams's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Death of parent

Moderate: Self harm, Drug use, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Death, Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, and Violence