Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

18 reviews

faduma's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-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: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Body horror, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

cassielaj's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

I have so many thoughts about this book, but it’s also rendered me speechless. Holy shit. This is not for the faint of heart. It starts slow, with a sinister undertone of microagressions, racism, and gentrification, and then it builds to a truly harrowing climax and conclusion. I definitely understand some of the criticism, especially about pacing. While the slow build served to make the whole thing more unsettling, it did cause the ending to feel a bit rushed, and some details/points felt unresolved. The romance was also totally unnecessary. That being said, this story made my stomach hurt. The premise and writing are really well done, and it’s one of the most disturbing thrillers I’ve read. Worth the read — just proceed with caution. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Violence, Gun violence, Police brutality, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

Find a comprehensive list of trigger warnings and TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. This book is heavy

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

cooper_reads_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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: Addiction, Physical abuse, Blood, Classism, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Medical trauma, Slavery, Medical content, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

Minor: Deportation and Forced institutionalization

aud_must's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

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

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

backseatpocket's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

While I found this story very engaging, I found the extremely fast pace of the climax and conclusion to be abrupt and unsatisfying. 3/4ths of this book are a slow, simmering build that has your gut clenched in uneasy anticipation and then the last 4th feels so rushed. It feels like a disservice to the story that had built up to it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Medical trauma, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Blood, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Gun violence

annibear_bookworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Bullying, Body shaming, Classism, Alcohol, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Violence