A review by deidra_shadetreereads
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

4.0

3.5 of 5 stars: I was really excited to read this and I'm glad I got the urge to pick it up this month. Glowing reviews and hype for this book abound and I do appreciate that Cole stepped outside of the genre she's "best known" for with When No One is Watching. That said, I don't think this is a thriller and I feel like the marketing did it a disservice by calling it that. For me, it lacked the pacing and high tension in the beginning that comes with a thriller. A friend who'd already read it suggested that I think of it as a horror novel and when I did that my reading experience got better!

So as to not give unintentional spoilers, I won't try to summarize it since you're here on goodreads already. But I do want to start with the things I didn't like to be able to end my review on a high note. If and when I make a video wrap-up of my reading over the last couple of months, I'll go into some spoilery deets. My main two gripes with this book were who Theo turned out to be and that I was left with lots of questions in the end. Don't get me wrong, I liked him. We were meant to like Theo. However, I felt that the impact of his actions would have been greater if he was any other race than what he was. Now, I realize that poses a problem for his girlfriend but this was a choice that I would have liked to have seen Cole not make. It gave me a vibe of a trope that I hate (that I won't name here because spoilers). The questions I had in the end were about loose ends that I felt took away from my enjoyment and somewhat created plot holes. Over the last year or so, I've read a few books that executed integrating social commentary into the plot better and I can't just put that out of my mind.

Whew! OK! So what did I like? I REALLY REALLY enjoyed the premise of defending your hood against a hostile takeover. Like that is just tooooo real. And the spin that Cole put on it was *chef's kiss*! Gentrification is a real threat and problem. I don't think I've read anything with that premise before. Also, I liked that it was told from dual perspectives. It felt balanced and the 2 MCs felt real to me. I know I said earlier that it lacked the pacing of a thriller. But once I shifted my thinking to horror, I felt like the pacing was great! It didn't lull unnecessarily and there were no huge info dumps. This novel was entertaining and I wanted to know what was gonna happen next. I would recommend this book to people who like a touch of romance with their horror/thrillers. Also if you've seen the new Netflix movie Vampires vs The Bronx and enjoyed it, then I think you'd like this one too.