Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Passeggiare la notte by Leila Mottley

67 reviews

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

123aah456's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Grief, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Racism, Police brutality, and Trafficking

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

syds_shelves's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I really fucking liked nightcrawling. it was so sad throughout that I took a 3 week break from reading it. I have two younger brothers so anything with a young boy that needs protecting is immediately gonna crack my heart open. The last 3 pages also beat me down in a way I wasn’t expecting BECAUSE the end wasn’t that bad? I’m not sure if i’ve been hearing too many folks say the ending really hurt them or what but… I feel like this reality is very true and near for a lot of black folks so I was not hurt or surprised more than I am by being black every day in a country that doesn’t give a shit about me. Maybe it’s all the open ends and “what happens to ___” that has left folks reeling but, again, cannot say. 

That aside, the book??? It felt like my emotions were getting jumped every single page. There was nearly no relief, but I couldn’t stop reading. I think this book is very similar stylistically to The Hate U Give (A lot of colorful background characters that aren’t fully fleshed out, a lot of strong values and beliefs presented from the author through the main character, and a deep love for where the characters come from. You can tell Leila has a deep love for Oakland) until it’s not. Some of this prose is for sure over written and flowery but fuck did it knock me out of my shoes. Because who would think to pair the blows of poverty, trafficking, and how generally deplorable police are with language like this.

There are other parts where I read and was like “yeah, this feels like a debut by a young author” in the kindest way. There is always room for growth, and I think this is also the unfortunate result of reading a heavily talked about Oprah/Booksta book. She’s made a fan of me and i’ll ABSOLUTELY be back for her next ones.

I get why this book was what it was, but personally I do wish it had more black joy. Take it or leave it, but there is so much misery and awfulness going on that I think you have black books for white folks and black books for black folks. The difference between The Help or a Tyler Perry production and a James Baldwin or Toni Morrison. Sad, but loving black folks vs sad and putting that on display for folks who don’t know black people irl, people who don’t watch the news, people who aren’t tapped in to politics, etc. This didn’t feel like the former, but it wasn’t quite at the ladder for me. A weird limbo. I think when writing truth to power for all these stories for and about black folks, I personally as a reader value something to pull your head above water.

The characters, I wanted to love but so many of them felt cut short just as i was beginning to know them. The really bad ones felt super hallow and like they were there to serve only a purpose and get you to the next few pages. This is where it can get hard to critique something based on a true story. Something that happens every day more gruesome than even described here. idk I guess all i’m saying is being black every day prepared me for this ending but not the things leading up to it. The book itself was very good, and I have high hopes for what will come next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, Misogyny, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Vomit, Gun violence, Self harm, Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Blood, and Rape

spkme_44292'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality and Bullying

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Physical abuse

Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Domestic abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Excrement, Grief, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Vomit, Police brutality, Rape, Trafficking, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, and Child abuse

soavezefiretto's review against another edition

challenging dark tense

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Rape

Minor: Drug use

alexandraramz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Violence, Classism, Blood, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship

readingfortomorrow'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I’ve never wanted someone to forge a resume for CVS so badly

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Violence, Police brutality, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment

myinfinitetbr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Wow. What an absolute gut punch of a book. But while it’s emotionally devastating, it's also got moments of quiet hope and beauty that shines through. To say it's incredibly written is a supreme understatement.

Nightcrawling is a confronting and powerful story of classism and racism; the cycles of systemic oppression; the brutality and exploitation that exists in police forces and the justice system.

Told through Kiara’s day to day life and her determination to keep her family together, to survive in a system set up for failure, her viewpoint was all at once with childlike innocence and way beyond her years.

Heartachingly intense. I started this one on my kindle and had to take a break, knowing I would come back to it soon. It stuck with me for two months until I finally finished it on audio. And still, I struggle to find words to do it justice.

Mottley was 17 when she began writing this book, and 19 when it was published. It's her debut novel and it's been longlisted for the Booker Prize. I will be reading everything she puts out into the world.

Phenomenal. Just read it.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the e-arc and PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook. All opinions are my own

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, and Addiction

Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, and Drug abuse