Reviews with content warning for Grief - When No One Is Watching

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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taelights's review

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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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