Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

20 reviews

singlespeedahead's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Child death, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, and Violence

chelle22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Confinement, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, and Violence

kp_writ's review against another edition

3.0

Extremely mixed feelings about this read. Some of the most poetic and mesmerizing prose I've seen in a novel, with very real and poignant slice of life writing for the first quarter of the book. But the plot and pacing honestly made this read a bit miserable. 

Very bleak and caused me to dissociate, so I admittedly skimmed through half the novel and therefore missed out on that poetic prose that was the strongest asset. The plot wallowed so much in its depressing and traumatic turns (of which there were many...) that it got in the way of any character development and relationship building. While the conflict between characters was very real and nuanced, the relationships themselves felt static and stubborn, usually forgotten when the two characters weren't interacting on the page. 

In the end, each character felt less like a person and more like an object to project plot points and thematic messaging, which of course under baked any message that was conveyed. I cannot understate how much trauma these characters endured, and how unnecessary some of the descriptions and events seemed to me. While I don't doubt this amount of trauma is reality for some Black Americans, the overuse of it, in combination with some of the other weaknesses of this book, took away from the storytelling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Stalking, and Rape

Moderate: Racism, Addiction, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Bullying, Death, Misogyny, and Mental illness

bambooboy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Transphobia, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Classism, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Vomit, Colonisation, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Violence

hinkleh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Trafficking, Rape, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Child death, Stalking, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Blood, Excrement, Terminal illness, Addiction, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Suicide

hapikohw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

To be 17 and write something like this, so heavy, with such fullness, grace, lyricism and most importantly - empathy. Wow, we have a writer right here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Pedophilia, Child death, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Rape, Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child abuse, Stalking, Transphobia, Abandonment, Blood, Misogyny, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Violence, and Grief

luckyone's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Classism, Stalking, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gun violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Rape, Trafficking, Child death, Suicide attempt, and Confinement

Minor: Racial slurs, Police brutality, Violence, Suicide, Death, and Death of parent

juliaureads's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Drug use

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Trafficking, Rape, Abandonment, Racism, Child abuse, Classism, and Police brutality

samarakroeger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

3.75

I can’t believe Leila Mottley wrote this when she was 17! it’s so rare for someone that young to put out a book that shows this much promise. While I do think Nightcrawling was hindered by some hallmark traits of debuts, I will for sure be following Mottley’s literary career and reading whatever else she writes. 

a note for the weak-stomached: this book is GRIM. it is unrelenting. it is a tough read, but it would certainly be doing people a disservice if it wasn’t written this way. 

I did find the beginning harder to get into than I anticipated, but became a bit more invested in the last section of the book. The writing was a tad overwritten (not surprising for a poet and a debut novel), but beautiful on a sentence level. It just got to be a little over the top for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Trafficking, Abandonment, Death, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Stalking

alisonannk's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Abandonment

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Trafficking, Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Chronic illness, and Excrement