Reviews

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

lampbee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Really well done thriller, no overly unreal aspects so it’s really easy to stay hooked. The twists are semi predictable but that doesn’t cheapen the read , it’s still very entertaining. Reading it as a white person might make you question just how realistic some of the depictions are but just lean into it, she’s right. The two leads Sydney and Theo are a good pair but for a lot of the book I found Theo very unlikeable , though as it continued I feel that that was intentional. A lot of the situations of conflict within the book make your stomach turn with frustration and helplessness which is the whole point but get ready to be very angry at a plot point  with absolutely no recourse. The build up is fantastic, the final reveal is fantastic, the way that that is dealt with is sort of lack luster bit it’s still worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Police brutality, Classism, Murder, Sexual content, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Kidnapping, and Racism

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery

Although it’s meant to be a huge if not the biggest twist in the book

Sydneys mom being dead the whole time

is fairly obvious from the first we hear of the situation. The reveal about 75% of the way through feels a little silly because of it, like, duh… Also I felt a little annoyed at how

blatant Kim’s racism and generally evil personality was

, it felt so intense that it was no longer believable. Also the

sex scene between theo and sydney

was pretty unnecessary, is that just me ? Is anyone else getting tired of every book having a weirdly graphic scene for no real reason?

axmed's review against another edition

again, just like with Kiley Reid's new book, the story is also told from the pov of a white character who is a gentrifier.  this is absolutely unnecessary,  uninterestin and boring as hel. and since the author writes romance novels as well, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns into some palmiteiro shit. 

no thank you.

dwinareads's review against another edition

3.0

Wow, talk about CREEPY.

This book doesn’t feel like a thriller when it first begins, but the deeper we get into the happenings around this neighborhood, the clearer it is to see that something is VERY wrong.

This story definitely kept me on my toes and shocked me. I needed to know wtf was happening! A truly sinister look at gentrification and blatant racism.

3.5 stars!

megankrone's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

mohanmo's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense

3.0

imontambourine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lavitanuova's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

fleuribeur's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

peggykelly95's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood is very sinister, and also very much pointing at white privilege and racist history. There were points where it moved very slowly but Theo and Sydney were very not-perfect main characters.

kaila2464's review

Good book, wrong time so I’m dnfing but I will come back