Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

53 reviews

taelights's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

Honestly I had such high hopes for this book so I'm very disappointed about rating this so low because this idea had so much potential but I thought a lot of it was wasted. While I love a murder mystery type thriller this was completely different with it focusing on gentrification and racism and real world problems so I was so hopeful and so disappointed when it fell flat. 

I loved the general concept and what we found out was going on was very interesting and fucked up. However, it took forever to get to that element of the book and nothing really seemed to happen until the later 75% of the book. There seemed to be way too much filler in this book and not enough of the payoff. In fact it felt like there wasn't a true conclusion to the book at all with it stopping abruptly and the epilogue leaving so many unanswered questions. 

Sydney I thought was underdeveloped and I hated Theo. His POV was always so annoying to read and I thought he was a major creep. Like he's always watching Sydney in the apartment across the street and getting boners for her and acting like a teenage boy going through puberty with how often he's getting horny for her and it's like dude.... Yet he's supposed to be seen in a good light and as like the only non racist and non threatening white person who moved in…. Yikes. Like sure he's not part of the overall group of bad guys but. The bar is in hell. 

The romance between Sydney and Theo was unbearable too. Like I hated them together and thought Theo didn't deserve her and her suddenly wanting him after treating him like a crap until they hooked up made the romance make zero sense. So much of the book is developing this boring gross romance though. Like I know now that this author is a romance author trying her hand at thrillers but my god this seemed like a romance with a side of a fucked up plan featuring gentrification and racism rather than an actual thriller. 

I didn't vibe with the writing style. I saw someone say it read like a YA and I kind of agree. The characters felt very immature and Theo's especially it felt like reading a teenager's POV. 

Overall this thriller really disappointed me and was lacking in so many areas. I have way more complaints about this book than praise unfortunately. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, Racism, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Sexual content, Stalking, Terminal illness, Violence, Addiction, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Colonisation and Cultural appropriation

annibear_bookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Bullying, Body shaming, Classism, Alcohol, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Violence

criticalbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Violence

arthomas's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Classism, Grief, Murder, Drug use, Gun violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Colonisation, Death, Slavery, Stalking, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, and Racism

amandalorianxo's review against another edition

informative tense slow-paced

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

4.0

O M G! What did I just finish reading ?! I know Alyssa Cole is known for her romance novels but dang this was an equally enticing thriller ! The last roughly 50 pages really had me on the edge of my seat. This fictional take on gentrification was unafraid to be blunt and take on realistic tones of how bipoc individuals are treated when it involves driving a community out of one’s home. I’m on the fence about Theo but I enjoyed Sydney’s narration a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Drug use

lookingforlittlelibraries's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Death of parent, Racism, and Drug use

moraofthestory's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Medical content, and Racism

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gun violence

lit_with_lauren's review

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Police brutality

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The discussions on gentrification and racism were really well done! The beginning was a little slow but it picked up quickly and I didn’t want to put it down.

I loved the characters and the building of paranoia/unreliable narrators! As others have said the ending was rushed and left me a bit deflated but overall a great thriller/mystery 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Slavery, and Police brutality

Minor: Drug use

uhhlexiconic's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

The book was hard to put down. Flipping between narratives of a black female resident of a fictional Brooklyn neighborhood and a recent white male transplant, the two begin working together on a neighborhood tour and uncover a more sinister plot behind the recent wave of gentrification. Both of the characters are multifaceted and hiding things, though the nature of the narratives does muddle the effectiveness of some of the twists later in the novel. Some of the most effective horror is the more every day moments, and even without the twist, this wouldve been harrowing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide