Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

19 reviews

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

arthomas's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Classism, Grief, Murder, Drug use, Gun violence, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Colonisation, Death, Slavery, Stalking, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Mental illness, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, and Racism

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, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Violence

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

Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

elzibub's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Racism, and Grief

alexandrapaul's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

This book was crazy, but generally in a good way.  I could feel the unease and paranoia in the writing, however it could also be a bit confusing at times. I thought the conspiracy of gentrification being linked to

a corporation trying to take over marginalized neighborhoods was really cool

and I liked how the author linked it to the actual history of Brooklyn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Dementia, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, and Sexual content

paolina's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

Starts slow but picks up in the middle and races to the end. Truly unsettling, though there weren't any major twists. Just a steady build in tension the whole way until it breaks over your head in the conclusion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Suicide

sarah984'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? It's complicated

5.0

This starts out with a romcom atmosphere and then just keeps ramping up the tension. There were both laugh-out-loud moments and full-volume gasp plot twists. I've seen a few reviews that think the villains are too cartoonish but honestly, there's very little that an antagonist character says in this that I haven't seen a real-world white person say or come close to saying when they think no one is looking. Having the two POVs kept me guessing and also gave the author a way to impart the real-world info (eg about redlining) in a way that made sense with the plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty, Dementia, Genocide, Slavery, Stalking, and Vomit

caseythereader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.5

 📚 I was drawn into Sydney and her neighbors' story immediately. WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING is tense right from the start, and somehow Cole manages to make a mystery that is mostly research-based quite compelling.
📚 There are so many wonderful details, from each neighbor's life story to the look of the buildings they live in.
📚 Cole weaves in so much actual history, too. She includes a list of resources at the end, lest a reader think this story is entirely fabricated.
📚 As much as I love Cole's romance novels, I could have done without the romantic thread in this book. It didn't really seem to add much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence

alylentz's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

This was definitely a quick read that keeps you turning the pages, but I didn't always buy fully buy into some of the dialogue and relationships. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Slavery