Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

63 reviews

zoiejanelle's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative mysterious 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? No

5.0

(listened to audio book from library)

i am not a thriller girlie but i happened to see Stephen King’s tweet recommending this book and i said, “romantic thriller? okay, let’s do this.” 

and OH MY GOD was it worth it. 

this book is REAR WINDOW meets GET OUT, Hitchcock meets Peele. it carries all of the best parts of the classic thriller genre, but was driven by a timely subject: gentrification. 

i was immediately obsessed with both narrators and how unreliable they both were, even when they tried to be truthful. Sydney and her many secrets and insecurities was lovable from the get, and Theo—poor Theo—was simultaneously hilarious and romantic in all his goofy, well-meaning but off-putting gestures. somehow the combination of the two, one extremely distrusting and suspicious woman and one extremely maleable and dishonest man, was perfect. i was rooting for them the entire time. 

the plot twists were very well timed. twist after twist, i audibly gasped. at one point i had to pause to soak in the information i’d just read. 

overall, a true thrill that made me glad i genre-hopped. thanks Stephen King for the rec. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Classism, Police brutality, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Cursing, Colonisation, Gore, Slavery, Addiction, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Xenophobia

Minor: Racial slurs and Deportation

leebeeloves's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Slavery, Classism, Police brutality, Racism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

ret1234's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Absolutely loved this book. “Get out” vibes FOR SURE! Cole did an amazing job covering the racial history of brooklyn and new york and the horrors that gentrification impose. Slow to start but once it picks up I couldn’t stop thinking about it!!!!!!! MUST READ!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Deportation, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Addiction

anniexx13's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? No

2.0

The ending felt rushed and a bit ridiculous, especially because the plot up to this point was fairly gradual and realistic. It made the action at the end less authentic and hard to follow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Addiction, and Racism

d0505's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Addiction, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Racism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Police brutality

mandi_lea's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Suicide, Death, Kidnapping, Confinement, Medical trauma, and Torture

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Panic attacks/disorders

madmantha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.75

One of the best books I’ve ever read, if not THE best. 
Thrilling, anxiety-inducing, emotional and yet hilarious at the same time. 

Can’t wait to suggest this read to others, I loaned it from the library but will definitely be purchasing my own copy. This is something that deserves to be remembered and celebrated for years to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Torture

Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma

Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Homophobia, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Vomit, Alcohol, Addiction, Hate crime, Outing, Racial slurs, and Slavery

dcm7918's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug use, Medical trauma, Addiction, Death of parent, Medical content, Gun violence, Infidelity, and Racism

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Torture, and Sexual content

vasha's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

Were you watching when your neighborhood, or someone else's neighborhood, slipped away? If you get caught up in this tense novel, a thriller of gentrification, you can't look away, seeing through the eyes of Sydney who's losing her home and Theo who's seeing the destruction of what could be the home he's never had. It's a good thing this book is so well written, its characters are so likeable, and it has a happy ending (more or less); or its basis in reality could make it too grim. All the historical racism recounted in it actually happened; and the fictional events have real-world analogues, even the parts that may seem outlandish (

like the medical experimentation: Tuskeegee was long ago but the experimentation by US corporations in Africa was not, see  Unethical human experimentation - Wikipedia

). The one thing I didn't think so highly of was the way it goes from a creepy slow burn, with detailed setting, to the ending being an over-the-top action-movie cleanup of villains.

All the heads of a major corporation meeting in an abandoned hospital? Seriously?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Gun violence, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Police brutality

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicide, Vomit, and Blood

Minor: Addiction, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, and Genocide

srocheteau's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Racism, and Addiction