A review by afi_whatafireads
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

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

4.0

The way I was fueled with RAGE AND ANGER reading this.

Defund the bloody police already. The ones who are corrupted deserves to d*e .

RTC.

Edited Review: 12/6/2023

I never thought I've known PURE RAGE , until I've come across this book.
I was angry at a lot of things in a book, but the fact that this is BASED OFF A TRUE STORY hits something deep inside me that doesn't sit well in my brain.


"Letting the streets have you is like planning your own funeral. I wanted the streetlight brights, the money in the morning, not the back alleys. Not the sirens. But, here we are. Streets always find you in the daylight, when you least expect then to. Night crawling up to me when the sun's out."


Best believe I finished this book in one seating fuelled with rage and anger. I was fuming. I was heartbroken. The fact that the ache is still here even if I've finished this novel two days ago, and every time I hear the word nightcrawling, I will remember this book and how it made me feel. It made me helpless, it made me angry and it made me exasperated. The things that you would do and go in the means of survival and I'm just angry, that even now, things hadn't much changed as it had a few years back during the real incident that actually occurred.

I feel that for a book that is Longlisted for The Booker Prize, technicality and writing wise could have been better. But, the fact that this is a debut novel, and the author had wrote this when she was 17, gave it a much more raw impact to the issues at hand. It makes it more close to heart, the fact that Mottley wrote this at the same age of Kiara - our main protagonist - and it reflects what a child at the time should feel. The helplessness, the fact that Kiara has to do things that she hated just to survive the cruel world and in order to protect the people that she loved. That's what the book special to me. Its the fact that the author wrote at an age where the emotions reflected Kiara in ways that adults can never understand. The feelings of being a child that has to grow up too soon, in a world that only treats you like an accessory and not a jewel.


"I was just a child.


Nightcrawling talks about various topics including the systemic corruption, patriarchy, misogyny and the violence on women, and mostly, of the corruption of the justice system that finds ways to use the law against an innocent. A child.

I won't say which case its related to (as it will be mentioned in the book, and I feel that you should Google it whilst reading it and not before), but the fact that those pages had left me with so much grief. Mottley's writing and proses are beautiful. It reflected a kind of hope of things to change but at the same time made the world seem muted in Kiara's mind, eventho the real world is a far cry from that serene moments. Its of showing a family that is broken by the law and injustice, of a movement that is good for the community but can be broken due to the oppression of the system overall.

This book is something. Whilst its not perfect, and it could have been better (because it is longlisted for the booker), I kind of get why its booker-worthy too. There's something about books with the POV of children and teens that speaks volumes to the world. It will never be perfect, and its filled with emotions and heartache, but thats what makes each and every issue in here more prominent. Its something that still haunts our world today and that what makes the story hits. To the very core.

Personal Ratings: 4🌟

Biggest thank you to @definitelybooks for this copy!