Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Nightcrawling: A Novel

For some reason, I went into reading this book thinking it was a thriller. I am not sure where I got that idea. In reading the synopsis it sounds like a young girl, with little options, finds herself involved in a criminal underground. While that is an accurate synopsis, this book is 100% heartbreaking drama with no real suspense. And I don't mean that in a bad way. It's been awhile since I read something picked for Oprah's Book Club so I forgot that she can pick such soul-destroying tales. This is the story of Kiara, a teenager who turns to a life of prostitution in East Oakland in order to provide for her brother as well as a young boy in her apartment complex who has no strong parental figures in his life. It's a story of resiliency but also of how US American society fails it's most vulnerable. Children of Color are often objectified, vilified, and ultimately disregarded as children when no protective adult is present. This story is a challenge to the notion of "It takes a village to raise a child". Across this country there is an expectation that when children (especially non-White children in urban areas) are without a parent/guardian, it is then their responsibility to raise themselves and grow up to be productive members of society who pay bills, make good choices, and don't break the law. There is no guidance, there is no charity, only pressure from authority and a never-ending stream of predators. The sexual exploitation of minors is a behemoth of an issue on it's own, yet when combined with the willful ignorance and shortcomings of social systems, communities, and people we trust to protect and serve, it's a whole new category of human atrocity. I was angry and frustrated from beginning to end while reading this book. The Content Warnings could probably wrap around a building and while I don't really recommend this book outright, I do think it's a story that conveys a clear image of the shared experience of teenagers raising themselves the best they can because no one else is able/willing to step up and keep them safe. It's proof that Love, alone, is not enough when it comes to having children. As one mother says in this story, "I love my baby, but love don't fix the other shit".

Content Warnings

alisonannk's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

savvylit's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-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

4.5

Nightcrawling is a heart-wrenching book about a young woman who is forced to grow up much too soon. Kiara's life is defined by losses of every kind. Her trauma stacks and stacks yet she never has a chance to process any of it. Because she has to be responsible. For herself. For her brother. For Trevor. For the needs of the awful johns she meets on the street. For other sex workers.

In Kiara, Mottley has created one of the most memorable and multi-dimensional characters in recent memory. Kiara is compassionate, creative, fierce, vulnerable, naive, and savvy. It's not often that readers gain such empathetic first-person insight into all the ways that a society fails young Black women. That in itself is an additional failure - the way the publishing industry rarely gives priority to voices such as Mottley's.

Kiara reminds readers that the only real thing that any of us are guaranteed is the few core people we love and who love us back. This is especially true for young Black women like Kiara, who know that most of the world outside has no interest in protecting them.

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