Dark and depressing - hard read. Explores many of today's worst problems - depression, poverty, families dealing with special needs (with no help and no clue how).

Short book - bad ending - I so wanted to know Lynette would be okay!

Read this in 2 days! Lynette has no good luck. Her mother drinks and smokes. Her 30 something brother is mentally challenged to the level of about 3 years old. The bills are piling up and she has depression to deal with. Portland is getting too expensive to live in .pushed to the limit and struggling to survive.. a heartfelt story of survival.

Lynnette is almost thirty. She is working two jobs to pay off her debts and save some money. She has bad credit but she believes that she and her mother can save enough money to buy the house where they currently live. This purchase could be her salvation. The owner is willing to give them a break on the cost of the house in a market with skyrocketing prices. With the money she has saved for a down payment and with her mother’s help, Lynnette finally feels like they may be able to make the deal. Unfortunately, her mother changes her mind and no longer wants to buy the house.

Lynette then decides that she must find enough money to make the deal happen. She wants it not only to better life for herself but for her brother who is developmentally challenged and needs constant care. Lynnette goes to extreme lengths to collect money she is owed from a variety of people. In her efforts to secure the funds, she deals with a criminal element. She makes some bad choices and commits a few deeds where she herself crosses the line between legal and illegal.

This is a book about right and wrong and good and bad. It portrays the plight of someone who suffers from depression and who struggles to rise above her situation. While Lynette moves through a night that is filled with strife, and when she becomes involved in a frantic search for a solution to her money problems, the story delves into the issues of poverty, mental illness and crime.

The time frame of the plot is short. The tenor of the book is dark and disheartening. The compulsive and desperate actions of the characters as they try to find happiness through money is depressing. This story successfully captures the essence of shattered lives that are filled with a multitude of struggles.

Unfortunately, this is a rather painful, gritty, and raw narrative that didn’t appeal to me. However, I feel the book will certainly find an appreciative audience in other readers.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the egalley of this book.

This short and fast-paced story is dark, depressing, raw and gritty and left me really thinking about my own home town, the housing market, gentrification and what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck. I always appreciate how books give me a different set of eyes in which to view the world and this book does just that.

Lynette is 30 years old and living with her mother and developmentally disabled older brother in Portland, Oregon. They are one week away from having enough money to buy the house her family has been renting for years. Her thought is if they can just buy the house, then life will be better. That's the American Dream, right? And their landlord is offering them a deal they can't pass up. But Lynette's mother has other plans which leaves Lynette's future uncertain. So for these two nights, Lynette revisits her past in her attempts to reclaim some money she feels she is owed from former friends, strangers, and enemies. Through these encounters, the reader learns of Lynette's very difficult past and her struggle with her mental health. But the reader also sees a young woman who works hard and wants so desperately to get on the right track. But that track is not easy in today's society where working two jobs still doesn't get you enough to afford a home.

What I liked about this book: This book was fast paced and Lynette's encounters were gripping. This book was hard to put down. I appreciated how gentrification and setting played such a huge part of this story and it really made me think beyond the storyline. The writing is strong and while this is a really dark and depressing book, I'm glad I read it.

What I didn't like about this book: Some of Lynette's encounters were a bit over the top and at times I wondered how much more this poor woman could endure. But honestly, it kept the book exciting even if it does seem outrageous.

I'd give this book a 4.0 to 4.25 stars.

The Night Always Comes can be summed up in one word, DEPRESSING. Not in a mean way but this book was a gritty look into one young woman's pursuit of the American Dream. That dream was going up in a puff of smoke. I was rooting for her so badly.

Lynette shares a run-down house with her mother and developmentally challenged older brother, Kenny. Lynette managed to save $80,000 to purchase the house they had been renting. She was a hustler and worked two legit jobs and one not so legit to earn that money. Lynette's mother was going to get the loan but decided she didn't want o purchase the house. Instead of telling her daughter this, she goes and buys a brand new car. I couldn't stand her mother after that. Plus all she did was complain and chain smoke. The love Lynette had for her brother tugged at me because I know the stress of being a caregiver. She treated Kenny like he was her own child.

Amidst all the depressing stuff emerged some chaos and danger created by Lynette that had me wanting to read faster so I could get to the outcome. Lynette got herself into some crazy situations that took place over the course of a two day period. I definitely wanted to slap her a few times because she was CLUELESS.. She trusted the wrong people and the saying there is no honor among thieves absolutely is true. Lynette was a lot smarter than I gave her credit but she had me on edge with the risks she took. I give this one 3.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this ARC.

Desperation seeps through the words of Vlautin’s work. Like so many growing urban areas, Portland Oregon’s working class is being forced out by gentrification. I felt like in a Tennessee Williams story not set in the south. Lynette, is trying to attend community college, care for her disabled older brother and pay the rent on their falling down house. Her mother seems to have given up and Lynette finds herself caught in a position where she can make the down payment on their and makes some either stupid or courageous decisions on how to get the money. And as the title indicates, this is not a happy story. At the end, the reader is left to decide what will happen to Lynette. Do you see her glass as half empty or half full? I listened to the audiobook narrated by Christine Lakin and highly recommend it, but I suggestion you choose a time when you can dedicate to listening to the book. Once started, the mental picture created by the narration and the author’s descriptions will make it really hard to put down.

I had never read Willy Vlautin before and now I know he is too dark for me! I was interested in the characters and the story all the way until the violence and crime started happening and for some reason that took it out of my wheelhouse. I can bet he has a great and established audience, I'm just not part of it. Thank you!

I found myself truly sympathizing with Lynette. Vlautin succeeds in creating a relatable and realistic character that the reader (at least this reader) really cares about. I would add that the novel is incredibly timely. The only real criticism I have of this book (and its really detracted from my enjoyment) is the awkward bits where characters provide backstory through lengthy and improbable conversations that just do not seem to make sense within the reality of the rest of the novel. These sections seem like the author is trying to inform the readers of backstory but it comes across as inelegant to put this information into conversations that seem to come out of the blue, lengthy, and disruptive to the flow of the novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC of The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin.
The Night Always Comes is a depressing story of a dysfunctional family being pushed out of Portland because of economic changes. People on the fringes, blue-collar, those with emotional issues can no longer secure housing or a future. Willy Vlautin portrayed the situation with accuracy, making the reader feel Lynette's hopelessness. A sad, tragic book but a necessary read for privileged Americans.

The Night Always Comes is destined to be one of my all-time favorite novels, with pulse pounding terror and suspense, intricate plotting, family drama, and a main character who is brave, loyal, kind, tough as nails, and horribly broken. The incredible audiobook is NOT TO BE MISSED. Narrator Christine Lakin is a super star.

The Night Always Comes
by Willy Vlautin
Lynette is a character you want to succeed. She tries, doesn't always make the best choices, but she tries. And it's not just for her, it's for her mother and most importantly, her brother. My heart went out to her over and over. Vlautin shows just how mental illness can affect people and haunt them even when they are trying to do what's right.

I absolutely loved this book. It was pretty depressing though. Lynette was a complicated and wonderfully crafted character. I was rooting for her every step of the way. I loved how the author slowly revealed the things that warped and damaged her but also made her a survivor. She would routinely put her self down but what she lack in book smarts (or so she thought) she made up in resourcefulness. She got her self out of situations that could have ended badly for her. And that is why I had hope for her as I got to the last page. And I needed that hope considering how hopeless everything seemed. I recommend this book wholeheartedly, and I'll be looking into more books by Willy Vlautin.

Vlautin's newest title hits hard describing classism and the limits we are pushed to just to survive.

Vlautin's writing is so real and descriptive, you can feel Lynette's anxiety and desperation to acquire some necessary stability. The scenes with her brother were personal, and equally touching and painful as she tries to navigate the impossible caregiver role she must take. It's a hard book to read. But considering how many people are struggling in lives just like Lynette's, it should be hard to read. It should needle at something inside us as we learn and understand how hard it is for some people to survive despite all their best efforts and the desperate lengths they go to. And ultimately, that's exactly what this book did.

For the love of humanity, this was a hard, emotional read. I applaud Willy Vlautin, which could possibly be one of my new faves. He captures the hope of the American people, but the unattainable goal for many. Lynette is trying to find her place in the world with her hard work ethics. With so much at stake at only 30 years old, she provides for her special needs brother. Hoping to save enough money for a down payment on a home that they have been renting. Hoping to have her mom's help with the money, instead she spends the money on a new car.
In a neighborhood that once was labeled as a poor urban area, has been changed through gentrification. A very controversial topic with the influx of more affluent residents and businesses changing the facade of the area and displacing many of the ones that were already having a difficult time surviving.
Depression sets in as her world becomes bleak with desperation to make unwise decisions. She could settle for less than safe neighborhoods she could afford, but not what they want to do. With a fine line drawn in the community with poverty and criminalization, some find themselves crossing it just to survive. This book captures her bleak life and the working people and their economic struggles.
"You cease to distinguish between right and wrong. You can no longer see clearly what is good and what is bad."
Good job, Willy Vlautin. I can't do this book justice.
Thank you,NetGalley for this incredible ARC for exchange of my honest opinion.

Lynette works multiple jobs, some legal and some not, saving up her money to help her mother with a loan so the two of them can buy the house they’re currently living in with Lynette’s developmentally disabled brother Kenny. When Lynette’s mother drops a bombshell on her, she decides to cash in her chips, so to speak, and takes two days to track down and collect all of the money she’s owed, revisiting her past as she veers between situations that escalate into violence again and again. This book is fine; Vlautin’s writing is extremely deliberate and there’s charm in the specific intentionality of his pacing, the very calm step by step narration of everyone’s actions. I found I wasn’t a fan of the pages-long diatribes Vlautin puts in his character’s mouths.

Willy Vlautin delivers his view of greed, gentrification and ‘takers’ in a two-day two-night punch. The characters express Vlautin’s thoughts of what is wrong in this world, His main character, Lynette, is the one altruistic character who, ironically, will do anything to get what is rightfully owed to her. Can she use past ‘takers’ to make a future? The author offers us a look at the dark side of life and allows one light to shine, but how many wrongs make a right? This book is as uplifting as a pandemic. It may become your next book club selection because it will create a lot of conversation!

Oh my goodness! I had to take a break about halfway through this book because of the anxiety! Great writing, non-stop "OMG! What is she doing NOW?" action. Whew........

Vlautin paints an intimate and heartbreaking portrait of a family struggling with the gentrification of their Portland neighborhood and their relationships with each other.

The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin is a very highly recommended, heartbreaking, working class drama of greed impacting the life of a young woman.

Lynette, 30, has been working three jobs for three years and is exhausted. She is trying to gather the money for a down payment on the dilapidated rental house she lives in with her mother, and her developmentally disabled brother Kenny in Portland, Oregon. The owner wants to sell the house and is going to give them a good deal if they want to buy it. Lynette has a bad credit rating, but if her mother can provide some of the down payment and cosign the loan, the three of them will have the security they have never had before and a chance to fix up the house. That was the plan, but at the last minute her mother backs out, putting money down on a new car instead, setting Lynette out to collect on the money she has loaned others in order to get the whole down payment on her own.

This brief novel is set over just two days and nights and follows Lynette's quest for the money they need. The night is a long, tortuous, violent, and desperate hunt that puts her in contact with greedy men, prostitution, hustlers, cons, abusers, users, and others who prey upon the vulnerable. As she is trying to gather the money she needs, she is also keeping track of how easily her car starts. As the night goes on flashbacks will tell Lynette's backstory which provides even more depth and understanding of what this young woman has endured.

Lynette is a character you will fiercely care about and worry over her safety. I can't remember a character whose story totally consumed me like Lynette's did. Obviously, to care so much about a fictional character clearly shows that this character is very well-developed. This is a novel of the working class and how the American Dream seems unattainable; for many people working two jobs and wearing yourself down is a daily fact of life.

The writing was absolutely flawless. As we follow Lynette in her search, The Night Always Comes seized my attention and evoke all the emotions. The ending was perfect and provided a measure of hope. Even though the plot seems simple, this is one of the best books I have read. It will certainly be on my list of top novels of the year and I will be seeking out and reading other novels by Vlautin.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.
After publication the review will be posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Real estate prices are rising throughout the US, but nowhere more so than in Portland. Lynette’s dream is to purchase the rundown home she, her mother, and her mentally challenged older brother have lived in for years. She has worked two jobs, scrimped and saved for a decade, and even worked part time as a high-dollar escort to get the down payment. But her dream is jerked from her when her mother reveals she has no intention of buying a home and asks Lynette to leave and take her brother with her. Lynette is desperate, and as a result she enters into a downward spiral that may cost her everything, her freedom, her sanity, and perhaps her life.

This gritty look at the frustration and hopelessness in too many lives exposes the seamy underbelly of society and the despair and betrayal it often entails. Those who avoid sex and violence in their reading will want to go elsewhere, but readers who do not object to raw, sometimes ugly realism may enjoy this short novel.