Buckle up y’all.
This book grabs hold of you and holds on desperately til the very last sentence.

Based on a true crime in 2015 involving institutional exploitation, brutality, and corruption in the Oakland police department, Nightcrawling gives voice to Kiara Johnson, a 17 year old Black girl who, after her father’s death and mother’s detention in a rehab facility, becomes a sex worker to pay for the rent she was never supposed to have to afford. She also needs to look after her disillusioned older brother Marcus, who spends all his time chasing after the dream of a music career, and Trevor, the 9-year-old son left behind by a drug addicted neighbor. What starts as a desperate grab at keeping the lights on soon turns into a crazy dilemma that thrusts Kiara right at the center of a life-shattering crime. Nightcrawling makes room for a series of impossible decisions…forcing a child made to grow-up too soon to examine her moral compass as consequences unfold all around her.

This book is HEARTBREAKING. Tragic in both is plausibility (as I know there are many women who have been placed in similar positions in their lives) and it’s exploration of how inherently flawed our justice system is. Who do you call when the people who are supposed to protect you are the ones you need rescuing from?

And this was written by a 16 year old girl!!! finished when she was 19 and fresh out of high school. Black Girl Magic indeed ✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars