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A review by cestnicka
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.5
3.5 stars. This was a very interesting read and I'm glad I checked it out, and probably would have rated it higher but the ending really threw me off!
This book was a " get out" style thriller with the black female main character named Sydney living in a historic area of Brooklyn that is being gentrified and her neighbours are going missing left and right and she is determined to get to the bottom of it.
I actually loved the premise. I thought the concept was really cool, I loved all the history and the way that she put it into the book and integrated it into the story.
I like that she touched on a lot of really important topics like racism, gentrification, and classism.
I liked the relationship between her and Theo and the little bit of romance sprinkled into the thriller was a really nice change!
I also thought the narrators were great! I always love when there are two distinct voices for the two main characters.
Where the book lost me was the ending. The whole book was really nice and subtle with a little bit of mystery not knowing where the neighbours are disappearing too. It really felt like this was something that could happen in any neighborhood. The white folks moving in were just what you would picture in real life.
And then it took this crazy turn to a dystopian like whirl wind of an ending that seem to happen so fast. It just felt really unrealistic and I didn't feel like it matched the first half of the book. It just felt like something totally seperate and I wish the ending had taken a different direction.
I liked the writing style and I would still check out more of this authors work and see if they improved a bit as I know this was the authors first book in the thriller word and I thought it was pretty good for a first thriller!
This book was a " get out" style thriller with the black female main character named Sydney living in a historic area of Brooklyn that is being gentrified and her neighbours are going missing left and right and she is determined to get to the bottom of it.
I actually loved the premise. I thought the concept was really cool, I loved all the history and the way that she put it into the book and integrated it into the story.
I like that she touched on a lot of really important topics like racism, gentrification, and classism.
I liked the relationship between her and Theo and the little bit of romance sprinkled into the thriller was a really nice change!
I also thought the narrators were great! I always love when there are two distinct voices for the two main characters.
Where the book lost me was the ending. The whole book was really nice and subtle with a little bit of mystery not knowing where the neighbours are disappearing too. It really felt like this was something that could happen in any neighborhood. The white folks moving in were just what you would picture in real life.
And then it took this crazy turn to a dystopian like whirl wind of an ending that seem to happen so fast. It just felt really unrealistic and I didn't feel like it matched the first half of the book. It just felt like something totally seperate and I wish the ending had taken a different direction.
I liked the writing style and I would still check out more of this authors work and see if they improved a bit as I know this was the authors first book in the thriller word and I thought it was pretty good for a first thriller!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism