Nightcrawling

"Powerful and heartbreaking"

"This is a bleak story of trauma, poverty, corruption, desperation, love, and the will to survive. Throughout the book the protagonist continues to happen into situations that decide her fate for her, and you can feel the crushing pressure of the lack of freedom or hope for another life. We come to know her so well that we feel everything along with her and hope against hope for a lucky break. "

"Stunning, heartbreaking story, exquisitely well-told. The depths of love and despair and hope and conflicted emotion and exploitation…it’s just a masterpiece. "

"California "

"While reading this book, I had to keep reminding myself the author is only seventeen and this is her debut! That fact alone propelled me to finally finish the book. <br/><br/>I enjoyed the story, once it finally got rolling, however the writing style was evident of not a fluid seasoned writer. I found I needed to skip pages ahead, the prose was a bit too lyrical for me and left me feeling disconnected. <br/><br/>I do believe this book is only the first draft to a brilliant literary author of our future.<br/><br/>Many thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the gifted copy."

"When the story opens we meet 17 year old Kiara Johnson. Kiara and her older brother Marcus live in the Regal-Hi Apartments. Their father passed away and their mother is in a halfway house after a stint in prison. They are barely making ends meet when they receive a notice their rent will be increasing. Marcus has dreams of making it big in the rap game. Kiara is just trying to figure out how to keep them afloat. <br/><br/>A case of mistaken identity or just dumb luck leads Kiara into sex work aka nightcrawling. Initially, nightcrawling provides Kiara with a way to keep her apartment and helps her take care of her young neighbor Trevor. Soon Kiara becomes a witness in a police corruption scandal and her world explodes. <br/><br/>The reader is taken on a journey through the streets of Oakland as Kiara tries to navigate the legal system and keep those she loves safe.<br/><br/>This was a slow and somewhat disjointed read for me. I contemplated DNF, but I pushed through. Though it was a decent read I feel like something was missing. <br/><br/>I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review."

"This book is alright I guess, the authors writing is good when it comes to the dreamy, surreal descriptions, but lacks when it comes to solidifying the characters or story.<br/><br/>Trevor is described as a kid, then a kid whose almost a man with muscles and then he's tiny, and she's carrying him. He's 9, apparently. Just inconsistent descriptions.<br/>Also Kiara is not a good character, I don't feel for her at all, she's alll dreamy and loving in her head then just a dick with one word or one sentence answers to everyone else. That makes sense with the Men she deals with on the streets and the cops. But with everyone else it doesn't at all.<br/>Also, I have no idea how much time actually passes in this book, because of random jumps and lots of time spent in her head and memories, which is fine, except it doesn't add to her relationships with anyone in the current story, like she takes Trevor to the bus once, plays basketball with him and then suddenly he is like her entire world? That's ridiculous to me since the author didn't include anything building the relationship, just those two events and some unknown jump in time and boom she has a new kid.<br/>But there is lots that feels left out or added after the fact, like we get 2 or 3 meets with Camilla then she isn't mentioned then near the end we get a meet that happened between the previous second and third meetings that seems to be wedged in and irrelevant.<br/><br/>I don't know, this whole book just let me down, the end is slow and unsatisfying. Not to mention it ends with Kiara in the exactly the same place it started, with no money, no job but now she has a kid to feed. Her brother just gets left in jail, so she still has no help.<br/><br/>Meh"

"Every bit as original and stunning as you've heard it is. I am so glad Leila Mottley is out there and writing about what she's writing about. Nightcrawling completely absorbed me, broke me, and stayed with me for a long time. I know I'll be going back to this one in a few years and falling in love all over again. <br/><br/>Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!"

"Such a powerful story. <br/>Heartbreaking but eye opening. Kiara will stay with me for a long time."