Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

12 reviews

thissagreads's review against another edition

ALL OF THE TRIGGERS!! I couldn’t finish this book because the pace was slow. The amount of triggering trauma happening to this *child* was overwhelmingly heavy, without reprieve. After the second hour of listening I was hopeful that the main character Kiara- would catch a break. But she didn’t, and the amount of TW was wild. Yes I understood that the author was shining light on very bleak situations that anyone can find themselves in, if given scraps and being abandoned. 

By the 6th hour, there continued to be a lot of “well I just have to do what I have to do” mentality, on top of having to trick/prostitute  while trying to take care of the neighbor’s kid since his mom is just looking for her next fix …. I don’t really understand the appeal, even if the author is a young, award winning poet and started writing this book at 16 years old. Very disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

TRIGGER WARNING!! Kiara’s brother is a shitty rapper who’s not working to pay the bills in the tiny apartment they both share. He won’t step up so Kiara’s been working but still struggling. She’s already asked her brother to help out but he’s whining about wanting to rap and asks for a month to “make it”. She agrees but one night she goes to see her brother’s ex girlfriend (at the bar she works at) and accidentally gets drunk. Then she sees a GROWN MAN who’s into her, and they walk off to -what Kiara thought- was going to be a consensual hook up, but he ends raping her. Then after throwing money at her, Kiara gets the idea to start prostituting herself while her brother gets the month to “release his album”. But unfortunately she gets pulled into the underworld quickly, accepts a gig with cops and then of course everyone takes advantage of her. So Kiara’s life just gets worse. ESPECIALLY after her brother tells her he won’t support her! And on top of that her mom is AWFUL and couldn’t give a damn about her 2 kids struggling to keep the lights on, this monster killed their little sister in the bathtub and refuses to take accountability so she’s been in prison and a Safeway house. This book was just fucking awful and riddled with trauma that I felt was overdone and unnecessary.

anenome's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring 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

4.75

This story was heartbreaking. Incredibly sad, it incites real anger, such an important story to tell.

It took me a while to warm to the narrator, I found her annoying for the first two chapters. Then I loved her, I've never missed a character so much when a book has ended, an original voice.

The ending was too abrupt and open for me. I didn't like Ale, she was a weak friend and always got a free pass for abandoning Kiara.

Between the dark parts of the book there's a lot of humour, it feels balanced.

If there was more to Kiara's story I would read it in a heartbeat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Stalking, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

kaimetcalfe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Blood

Minor: Confinement, Gore, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Grief

tarnya_smith's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book has many trigger warnings so please check those first. 

I really enjoyed this book. The narrator on audio did a great job. Tackles the brutality of cops with the black community, especially black women. This was dark, this was raw, gave me insight into America, PoC's lived experiences, the law and cops, the life of a sex worker, many things I've never read before. It was very well told, honest but with emotion. 

Despite the mess she got caught up in, I was just routing for Kiara the entire time hoping it got better for her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment

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

brookesbooks18's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Literally traumatising 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Police brutality, Murder, and Abandonment

melissa_francesca's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol

geraldinerowe's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful tense 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

4.5

An extraordinary novel from an author still in her teens. It does an excellent job of demonstrating how the powerless in society are pushed into making what the rest of us would consider "bad" decisions, which ultimately keep them powerless. A very moving novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality

Moderate: Alcoholism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent

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

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, and Physical abuse

travelseatsreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Nightcrawling takes us into the life of 17 year old Kiara (Ki) whose world is crumbling down around her. Her father has died, her mother is in a halfway house, she's jobless, she lives in a high rent hovel, her brother has zero notions of pitching in and she's caring for her addict neighbour's little boy, Trevor. Despite all her attempts at keeping her head above water she becomes involved in a world of sordid abuse and manipulation by a group of police officers who coercively control her as an underage 'nightcrawler'.

The novel is absolutely devastatingly gripping from the very first page. Immediately, it's obvious Kiara is in an awful situation and the urge is to wrap up her up and take her from this devastation. Mottley writes so well that there's an immediate emotional connection and investment with Kiara and you can't help but want to run in and rescue her.

Leila doesn't shy away from the nasty, gritty and graphic reality of this case. And honestly that's one of the most frightening parts, that this story is based on true events which occured in the Oakland area. Leila allows us to see into a world overflowing with poverty, abuse, police brutality and incredible injustice. Not only does she allows us to catch a glimpse of this world, she is so authentic and faithful in her writing that it is hard not to feel the fear and desperation seep from the pages. 

It's hard to imagine that such a well written, gripping and important book is a debut novel but even harder to imagine that Leila began writing Nightcrawling just before her 17th birthday. I was completely consumed by every page and am very excited to see what's to come next from the wonder that is Leila Mottley.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol