Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

53 reviews

annevh's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Loved the angst of this book and the way racism and its history were used to build tension. The ending felt a bit far fetched and a bit over the top in almost a cartoonish way, which I think ruined the careful build up for me a little. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Toxic relationship

mostlyliterate's review against another edition

dark funny informative mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Slavery, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

entanglednovels's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Wow. Every good thing I’ve heard about this proves true. The amount of twists and turns that all added up so perfectly -while still remaining believable (scarily believable) - just shows how well Cole adapted to the thriller genre. The amount of power and truth behind Cole’s fictional story is both amazing and a little horrifying (mostly due to the truth part). If I can say one thing about this, it’s read it. Just read it. Don’t ask too many questions. I will eagerly pick up more thrillers from Cole should she write more in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Blood, Police brutality, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

kaylamoran's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

This was a lot.  Wow.
I've seen a lot of white reviewers complain that this book wasn't thrilling, wasn't creepy.  As a white person myself I'd just like to ask if they read the same book.  This book was the definition of unsettling.  The creepiness, the dread, it starts in chapter one and never stops from there.
I loved Sydney and Theo.  I loved how easily I could get into both of their minds, how well fleshed out and how human they both were.  Both were so flawed but had such good intentions, and I was rooting for them both the entire time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cursing, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Stalking, and Cultural appropriation

annabeavo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-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: Racism and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

tofugoddess's review against another edition

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? No

3.0

When No One is Watching is a thriller/mystery based around the theme of gentrification. The story is done from two perspectives, Sydney, a black woman who has lived in her historic Brooklyn neighborhood most of her life, and Theo, a white man who just moved in across the street.

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did, but unfortunately I couldn't get past some weird writing choices.

First, the villains in this book are comically flat. They're just pure evil, with no ulterior motives beyond being racist and wanting money. I'm not saying people like this can't exist in real life, but such one-dimensional characters get boring very quickly. Also, every scene with them has them explicitly explaining their evil plan to each other while stating facts that everyone present should already be aware of ("we hold all the power, the police and media are on our side!"). It felt like a parody of itself.

Second, the reveal of the conspiracy at the end was incredibly unrealistic. A supernatural explanation would have made more sense than what was decided on. Structural racism and gentrification are real problems to be solved, but the roots of the issues are complicated and multifaceted. They're not the result of some evil cabal meeting regularly and asking how they can do a racism today while also leaving an easily stumbled-upon paper trail. It kind of felt like what a conservative thinks a liberal believes about the world.

Finally, some of the descriptive language was just plain weird. At one point someone's laugh is described as sounding like jicama going over a grater?? I'm not sure what the author was going for there.

I like the idea of a thriller based on gentrification and still think the idea has a lot of promise if done differently, but I just couldn't get past my criticism long enough to fully enjoy the book. Three stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexual content

megj23's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Forced institutionalization

brookey8888's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this! It had a slow start but I really didn’t mind that because it was interesting. I also liked the romance because I’m a sucker for romance. I did think the ending was too fast like dang. I also learned a lot about gentrification which is good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

sylvanas's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

girlonbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻 (five stars as rated in Sydney’s mamma's sunflowers)

The residents of Gifford Place are disappearing. One by one they are being pushed out of their homes - some forced to sell to highfalutin property investors while others just up and vanish. Sydney Green knows that there’s more going on here than meets the eye and is determined to get to the bottom of what’s happening to her friends and neighbors. 

This book blew me away. Gentrification is a nasty business and this book succeeds in giving it an even more sinister spin with a very Get Out feel. Every twist and turn was genuinely enjoyable to me and the ending had me completely gripped! I love a good thriller, particularly one that is believable. I think what was most chilling about this book is that it isn’t really that far-fetched. After all, what’s more terrifying and depraved than the 400+ year legacy of white supremacy? 

"People bury the parts of history they don't like, pave it over like African cemeteries beneath Manhattan skyscrapers.”

✨ Rep in this book: Black author, Black protagonist, own voices

✨ Content warnings for this book: medical stuff, forced institutionalization, wrongful accusation, racism, death of a parent, murder, domestic violence, abuse, dysfunctional relationship, white supremacy, abuse of power by police and government officials 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Murder