Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

14 reviews

barefootbetsy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? Yes

4.5

I really liked this. Yes, the pacing could’ve been more even, but the concept was solid and I enjoyed the story!  I, like many other reviewers, could’ve done without the romance subplot; but those issues aside, I thought the story was well done and it certainly drew me in quickly and thoroughly.

The history was fascinating and I have a new appreciation for how difficult (and horrifying) living with the remnants (and current iterations) of slavery and redlining and stolen land must be 😞

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, and Excrement

jlferrazzo27's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

3.5 Stars — The concept was dark, disturbing, and highlighted the reality of white supremacy. Some parts of the book fell a little flat for me, but overall an enjoyable thriller!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Genocide, and Gun violence

shaqydoo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Grief, Gun violence, Police brutality, Addiction, Death, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Genocide, Medical trauma, and Murder

jojo_'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Medical content

Minor: Genocide, Suicide, Alcohol, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Infidelity, and Slavery

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

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

cheye13's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I have quite a bit of Alyssa Cole on my TBR because I like romance, but for some reason this was the first I picked up. This was masterfully done – there were moments I felt Sydney's anxieties as if they were my own. The "everyday" anxieties – having a creepy uber driver, a local pub suddenly closed – are woven into the extreme so seamlessly that I bought into every second of the story.

I think this genre in general – the horrors of gentrification, the racism and eviction at play – is a deep well of content, and I haven't seen/heard of many other stories like this. It's a great way to bring attention or a perspective shift to a topic while also providing a good story.

From reviews, and knowing Cole is a romance author, I expected a lot more on the romance front. I didn't exactly like the romance scenes, but it didn't take anything away from the story imo. Theo fell a little flat as a character, but I liked them as a pair, and I was very relieved that Sydney wasn't alone/totally isolated through everything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Genocide, Kidnapping, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, and Police brutality

additionally: bugs

persimmons's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Stalking, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Blood, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting, Genocide, Drug abuse, and Cultural appropriation

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

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

ejthelibrarian's review against another edition

informative 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? No

5.0

An electric, gripping spin on gentrification, told with a perspective similar to the Handmaid's Tale, in which none of the horrifying content prompts the comforting reaction of "good thing that hasn't happened/isn't happening/won't happen". The sinister genius of Cole's plot stays just close enough to reality to make you ask yourself: "Where is this taking place in my city?" Perfectly paced.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Racism, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Genocide