Nightcrawling
2022
Ratings18
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings18
Average rating3.9
BOOKER PRIZE LONG-LIST • NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK • A dazzling novel about a young Black woman who walks the streets of Oakland and stumbles headlong into the failure of its justice system. This debut of a blazingly original voice “bursts at the seams of every page and swallows you whole” (Tommy Orange, author of There There). 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. Rich with raw beauty, electrifying intensity, and piercing vulnerability, Nightcrawling marks the stunning arrival of a voice unlike any we have heard before.
Reviews with the most likes.
heartbreaking and depressing.
rant incoming:
I grew up dirt poor and being poor as a child is basically being an adult stuck in a kid body. From birth-18 years old, we shouldn't have had to worry if we would be evicted, had power shut off, wondering when we would eat next but we went to bed and school with thoughts clouding our heads of how and when we could make rent.
Poor children don't get childhoods!
The world works hard to keep poor people under their shoes. The rich don't get taxed but a person who works overtime to not even be able to afford rent gets hounded and fined for being late paying a bill.
I will forever hate this world until the rich realise they are rich because of us. I will hate this world until children don't have to sell their bodies to be able to eat and survive while celebrities hoard wealth.
Oh, what to even say about this book!
An incredible book that was so beautifully written! It was so sad, heartbreaking and just really, really gut wrenching!
As I read about poor Kiara and Trevor and their struggles just to make ends meet, my heart broke for them again and again.
It made me so sad/angry/frustrated that the people who were supposed to protect them took advantage of them!
On a slightly positive note, I loved the relationship between Kiara and Trevor.
Thank you to PH for sharing this excellent book with us. If not for you I don't think I would have even read it. Thank you also to author Leila for sharing this book with us!
I cannot recommend this book highly enough!
“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.”
Every sentence reads as it's part of a poem - where words pierce you and stay with you for longer than air stays in your lungs. This is a beautiful story, and I say beautiful with caution and more in regards to how much feelings it can produce.
