A review by sydneyraereads
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

emotional 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

Sydney Green is watching her neighborhood change right before her eyes. Her life-long neighbors are up and leaving, white people are moving in and renovating, and businesses are changing hands whiplash quick. Her plan to learn and share about the history of her neighborhood joins her with new white resident, Theo. This story is emotionally-gripping and unapologetically tense. 

All I knew about this book going in was Alyssa Cole is typically a romance writer, this thriller paints gentrification as the entity of evil, and the main character had the same name as me. This is a new favorite, hands down. I was quite literally on the edge of my seat during the latter half of this book and totally enthralled during the first half. I sat and devoured this in one sitting.

I have seen some complaints that the pacing was off for a thriller. I don't read a lot of thrillers, so I can't speak from genre experience. However, the pacing was absolutely on for me. It felt like things were consistently happening and the teetering between the mundane and the extreme was expertly done. Sydney's anxiety was heart-racing and Theo's openness was palpable. The beauty of this neighborhood was so vibrant and rich without distracting from the fact that this was a story under mysterious circumstances. I'm also not mad about the ending because it
was basically just the physical culmination of all the injustice and felt truly like reparations despite the multiple homicide with no follow up consequences being somewhat unbelievable


I honestly have no critiques. 
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