Jul 31

Jul 31 Nightcrawling

Author: Leila Mottley
Publisher: Knopf
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

Kiara and her brother, Marcus, are scraping by in an East Oakland apartment complex optimistically called the Regal-Hi. Both have dropped out of high school, their family fractured by death and prison. But while Marcus clings to his dream of rap stardom, Kiara hunts for work to pay their rent—which has more than doubled—and to keep the nine-year-old boy next door, abandoned by his mother, safe and fed.

One night, what begins as a drunken misunderstanding with a stranger turns into the job Kiara never imagined wanting but now desperately needs: nightcrawling. Her world breaks open even further when her name surfaces in an investigation that exposes her as a key witness in a massive scandal within the Oakland Police Department.

TL;DR Review

Nightcrawling is a brutal, heartbreaking, beautifully written book that just as often feels like poetry from an astounding young talent. I, like everyone else, can’t believe Leila Mottley published this at 19.

For you if: You like poetic prose and are OK with very heavy subject matter.

Full Review

“Mama used to tell me that blood is everything, but I think we're all out here unlearning that sentiment, scraping our knees and asking strangers to patch us back up.”

Wow. Wowowow. Leila Mottley, a former Oakland Youth Poet Laureate, was just 17 when she started writing Nightcrawling, and 19 when it was published. Then it was chosen as an Oprah’s Book Club pick. THEN it was longlisted for the Booker Prize, making her the youngest-ever nominee. It’s hard not to want to pick this one up out of sheer curiosity.

I’m happy to report that it absolutely lives up to the hype — raw, heartbreaking, her poetic skills on full display — but be warned: this book is extremely heavy and can be hard to read in certain parts. (Biggest TWs: sexual violence, police violence).

Inspired by a real case that happened in Oakland in 2016, Nightcrawling is about a 17-year-old girl named Kiara who’s desperately trying to keep a roof over her and her brother’s heads, not to mention the 9-year-old boy who lives next door, mostly alone. After months of trying to find a steady job, she turns to the only option she feels is left: nightcrawling. Soon she finds herself at the center of a scandal in the Oakland Police Department — and of media attention.

The first thing that stands out with this book is the prose. If you don’t like writing stuffed with poetic phrases and metaphors, this won’t be for you, but personally I love that kind of thing. Then there’s the characters. It’s impossible not to have your heart broken for them again and again, not to love them all (except Marcus, her brother, who I honestly just wanted to punch — but that’s also a sign of effective writing, lol). The end is also very emotional.

Mottley has succeeded in making this Oakland case feel real and personal, and in forcing us to look closer at the kind of cyclical entrapments and impossible choices that too many poor Black women are forced into.