Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

195 reviews

spicycronereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

The first half is very interesting but it did not read like a thriller until the second half. Seeds of mystery are planted along the way that keep your interest. And the history is fascinating.

The thriller aspects really picked up and all the pieces started coming together in the second half in a way that really paid off. And there are a few jaw dropping moments! 

The dynamic between Sydney and Theo really works. They have fun banter and he seems like he is genuinely interested is learning to do better. There is one spicy scene but otherwise the focus is really on the events in the neighborhood. 1/2 🌶️

The audio book performances are great. 

Overall I found it engaging! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / .5 🌶️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Classism, Racism, Grief, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Slavery

Gentrification

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?

ariajb's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Police brutality

bringitona's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Violence, Death, Blood, Racism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Hate crime, Sexual content, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Drug use, Confinement, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury

tey_lynn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Gore, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Blood, Classism, Gun violence, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury

callidoralblack's review

challenging dark mysterious tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Abandonment, Infidelity, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Bullying, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Gaslighting, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Sexism, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Medical content, Physical abuse, Stalking, Cancer, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Deportation, Mental illness, and Sexual content

sfdogmom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Colonisation, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery

brennahbrown's review

informative mysterious 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse

jenbertface's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

This book was a fun read and very informative, I learned a lot about Brooklyn history! The down side was it took a while for the characters to get to the heart of the mystery at work in the story. Once they did, the last few chapters flew by and it felt like the story wrapped up a little too quickly. I really liked Sydney but wasn’t really a fan of Theo’s narration.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Gun violence, Grief, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Confinement, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization

rurouni's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Colonisation, Murder, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Slavery, Stalking, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, and Police brutality