The entire time I was reading this, I had that song “what would you do?” by City High stuck in my head. If you know that song, it has similar vibes to Kiara’s life in Nightcrawling. This is a well-written book and an important book. It reminds me of Real Life by Brandon Taylor, in that I’m struggling to review it because despite it being objectively well done, and accomplishing exactly what the author set out to do, I can’t say I enjoyed reading it. It is rough. 

I listened to it on audio and if not for this and my long commute, it would have taken me much longer to get through because I can’t imagine wanting to pick this up after a long day of work. The audiobook narrator, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, is fantastic. 

This is quite possibly the longest short book I’ve ever read. The pace feels slow and yet somehow so much happens that there were multiple times when it felt like things were coming to a head, I’m thinking, “ooh this feels climactic, we must be getting toward the end” only to realize I was barely halfway through. 

Obviously, there’s a lot about Nightcrawling that makes it a tough read, but it is very well written. It’s very moody and atmospheric, and Mottley does an excellent job of making the reader empathize with Kiara and feel her every emotion. And, given her young age, I’m sure we’ll see plenty more from Mottley. I’m excited to see what she does next.