Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Nightcrawling: A Novel by Leila Mottley

101 reviews

geneebee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Trafficking

kaimetcalfe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Child death, Drug abuse, Trafficking, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Suicide, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Blood, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Alcoholism

Minor: Mental illness, Gore, Terminal illness, Grief, Vomit, and Confinement

srobertson's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Misogyny, Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Classism, Child death, Death, Grief, Racism, and Trafficking

erikaareadss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

THAT WAS  A HUGE PUNCH TO THE STOMACH. OH MY GOD. I WANT TO CRY. I WANTED THE BEST FOR KIARA AND OMG TREVOR. TREVOR. ALÉ. ALÉ AND KIARA I CALLED IT RIGHT FROM THE START. I NEED TO REREAD THIS OMG. TEARING UP. WTF. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Self harm, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Racism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

hailcornell's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

A poignant novel. Truly a challenging read that was so well written and so harrowing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Self harm, Blood, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

issyd23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Harrowing! Child turns to sex work to pay bills thanks to deadbeat family. Horrifyingly inspired by true events. NB ACAB! 3🚔

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Sexism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Racism, Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Child death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Terminal illness

bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This reads bleak and yet it's also laced with so much joy -- a combination harder to strike than I think it seems. The critical acclaim is well-earned.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Grief, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Abandonment, Suicide, and Drug use

Minor: Alcohol and Cursing

buer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

Nightcrawling is the stunning debut novel of Leila Mottley. The story follows Kiara: a teenager on the cusp of adulthood whose crumbling family has left her with very few options to stay afloat. After trying to find a job to pay for the ever-increasing rent (and getting no support from her brother) she stumbles into sex work. Mottley drives the book with Kiara's internal monologue, which illustrates how the girl found herself deeply ingrained in a profession she never sought out, buffeted by the looming threat of eviction and the explicit threats of police and men who abuse and take advantage of a girl who hasn't yet learned how to advocate for herself and suffers incessantly because of it.

I had incorrectly heard that this was a true story and it was only once I reached the end of the book that I realized that it was inspired by a true story but is actually a complete work of fiction. I wish I had realized this before I read the book because there were many moments that were so speculative (and rightly so! it's fiction!) that they irked me when I thought that they were being attributed to actual people who lived these events.
 
Kiara is a frustrating character because she does not make decisions: she is swept along by her circumstances and although she has a moment of happiness at the end of the book she doesn't seem to have grown much. Mottley very effectively shows her readers what a person trapped by the current of an out of control life looks like. Mottley asks her readers to empathize with a girl who is so busy trying to keep her head above water that she cannot even think about swimming toward shore.

It is difficult to evaluate the quality of the writing when you are listening to a book, but I can definitively say that Mottley does a great job setting scenes and bringing the reader deep into the inner life of her characters. This is a visual and introspective story and it is told beautifully. I think the end could have use a little more editing, as it kind of began to feel like the narration was looping without treading new ground, but overall a lovely telling of a really difficult circumstance. 

I enjoyed the narration by Joniece Abbott-Pratt. Toward the end of the book I started to find her performance a little grating, although this is very likely a me-problem. The end of the book is emotionally raw and Abbott-Pratt is an emotive reader. I was rushing to finish the book before the due date and something tells me that if I had not been binging those last few hours I would have enjoyed it more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide

wordsofclover's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

Minor: Child death, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

planning2read's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Death, Death of parent, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Blood