Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

97 reviews

pkc's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

3.0

It would be weird to summarise a book like this by saying whether I “enjoyed it” or not. It’s not the sort of the book where there’s much to enjoy in terms of a bleak plot and a pervading sense of hopelessness. I will say, there are snatches of poetic writing in amongst the darkness that Kiara, the protagonist is subject to. I also think Kiara is an excellently realised protagonist. Her arc is perfectly plotted and it’s easy to follow her story and invest in her life. 

I will say though, if you’re looking for a neat and traditionally happy resolution, this book won’t do it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

celesteleila's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A heartbreaking read that was so deeply grounded in devastating realities that people lived. I felt a deep sense of humility after reading this book and I’ll be thinking about this story for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

samreads97's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

This was one of the most challenging books for me to read this year. If it weren’t for the most beautiful prose and the love I felt for the characters, I don’t think I could have finished it. This book is a hard read and Mottley is an incredible talent for weaving so much truth into this narrative. As she brings up in a brief author’s note at the end, it’s not often that these stories in fact or fiction get told from the victim’s perspective. This book really drives home how circumstances and survival force people to make choices no one would ever want to resort to. It also speaks to power dynamics and the trauma policing inflicts on communities. As hard as this book is, it also manages to be beautiful and extremely empathetic and I’m glad to have read it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Trafficking

embringaling's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction

ireadtoescape_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Transphobia

sukhlovesreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense

• 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

_meeg's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

blckmoonlillith's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Police brutality, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Violence

samantha1960's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No

4.5

This story is heartbreaking and absolutely unnerving but so beautifully written it’s hard to put it down once you pick it up. Kiara is a character I’ll think back on for years to come. An unbelievable debut novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

tesslw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

TW; prostitution, coercion, sex / relationships with a minor, sexual assault, drug use and addiction, police misuse of power, police brutality

17 year old Kiara and her big brother, Marcus are living on the brink. With their father dead, mother in a halfway house and rents rising, Marcus’ decision to quit his job and commit all his time to his promise to ‘break through’ as a rap artist is wearing as thin as the clothes on their backs. Desperate, and seeking ways to pay their rent and buy food as well for 9 year old Trevor next door, whose mother is rarely home (more often out searching for her next fix) Kiara begins to walk the streets of Oakland to try to stay afloat - and keep everybody housed. What begins as a dark curiosity quickly becomes a necessity, and then the circle tightens and Kiara finds herself unable to leave - until things turn really sour.

Let me be really clear when I say that this book is BLEAK. Beautifully lyrical in its searching desperation, but it is cold, and barren in so many ways other than the language in which Kiara’s story is told. It’s heartbreaking and uncomfortable but so compelling. I’ve seen a few reviews say the same thing  but I genuinely don’t think I can do this book justice in a short review - I would urge you to read it for yourself (but please be wary of trigger warnings and content - this is about as far from an upbeat read as you can get!). It’s an incredibly important story, even more so knowing that the author took inspiration from a true case in which the Oakland police department were embroiled in a scandal involving the sexual exploitation of a minor at the hands of a number of serving officers - from which no criminal charges were faced. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Police brutality