Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Nightcrawling

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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buer's review against another edition

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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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edarling3's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I found this book to be both captivating and heartbreaking. I was shocked to learn the author started writing this when she was 17. Mottle’s talent is undeniable. I saw other reviews talking about how the ending is unresolved. I appreciated that ending because I believe that’s truly how Kiara felt in that moment. I highly recommend this novel to someone who’s not triggered reading about prostitution, rape, or suicide.

Content Warnings