Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

176 reviews

jenbertface's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

This book was a fun read and very informative, I learned a lot about Brooklyn history! The down side was it took a while for the characters to get to the heart of the mystery at work in the story. Once they did, the last few chapters flew by and it felt like the story wrapped up a little too quickly. I really liked Sydney but wasn’t really a fan of Theo’s narration.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Gun violence, Grief, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Confinement, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization

rurouni's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Colonisation, Murder, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Slavery, Stalking, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, and Police brutality

megan_bbender's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.0

I felt like this story was very slow in the beginning. When I got to around 200 pages, I logged it on my StoryGraph and said "holy sh*t, I'm not even halfway through?", but it really started to pick up towards the end, the last 150 pages or so were thrilling and it felt like the plot was finally moving, however the ending was so abrupt that genuinely can't believe that was it; it finally felt like something was coming out of this book and then *poof* it was gone.

With that being said I can actually appreciate the abruptness throughout the book, for example the very fast-ending sentences and scenarios really help to gain an understanding about how the characters are actually feeling and how fast everything in their community is actually changing. 

To be honest, I was having more fun learning about the history of the community and kind of forgot about the plot. I did really like the characters though, Sydney is someone that I would love to be friends with, and the way the neighbours always had each others backs was heartwarming, and I definitely got super invested in the slow burn romance. 

I liked the concept of this book and it was really intriguing but I feel like if it was shorter, I would've rated it a bit higher. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Death of parent, Gun violence, Blood, and Confinement

Minor: Alcohol and Emotional abuse

bessadams's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Animal death, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Trafficking

Minor: Infidelity

rcarr14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Classism, Death, Gun violence, Slavery, Racism, Police brutality, and Colonisation

Moderate: Mental illness, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Medical trauma

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Deportation, and Abandonment

rach_fornow's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

I really enjoyed this thriller. 
The main character was really likeable although she was really going through it. Like I really wanted things to turn out for her. 
I've seen people say that this book would've worked just as well without the white guy and I agree. Like the only important plot point he matters for is when

for a moment she thought he had played her and was working with his gf to get rid of her

. 
Things I did see coming

the mom dying

Things I didn't see coming

1. the friend being dead. I thought she was just also kidnapped. I am confused about how that happened. Like how was she murdered and left in the crawl hole or just stuck there and died without anything happening to the MC? 
   Also I did not see it coming that the neighbors were the ones that moved the body. I loved that.
   I did not see all that bloodshed coming!

I did like the pacing as well going through the stages: the creepy part, the person falling apart with all the tension rising, and the bloody conclusion. I loved her use of real concepts into thriller form. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Gun violence, Racism, and Torture

rachelfayreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Hate crime, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Classism, Racism, Medical trauma, and Police brutality

Moderate: Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Torture, Slavery, and Panic attacks/disorders

snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Abandonment, Addiction, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Alcohol, Classism, Gun violence, Violence, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Death, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, and Racism

hollywobble'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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Blood, Mental illness, Death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Deportation, Grief, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Confinement, Cursing, Kidnapping, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Gaslighting

katelynprice's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I really think this would be most enjoyable if you go into the book completely blind. I knew too much to appreciate it at its fullest, but that is not the fault of the author. The first 40% was steady, if not slow, but the pace really picked up toward the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Sexual content

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Medical content