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A review by samarakroeger
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley
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.
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.
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