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wjreadsbooks 's review for:
When No One Is Watching
by Alyssa Cole
When No One is Watching was one of the books that I'd added unto my TBR shelf because I just kept seeing it everywhere on Goodreads, it was definitely one of the most hyped recent releases that I've come across on the site and the plot definitely sounded intriguing: gentrification pushing out marginalised voices in Brooklyn, a determined protagonist who is trying to unravel recent disappearances in her neighborhood? That totally sounded like something suspenseful, even if I'd not read anything by Alyssa Cole before. However, the book had some major pacing issues as the last third of the book was when things finally picked up speed for me - but it also took a turn into the kinda insane category.
Sydney Green's life has imploded all around her and she has moved back to her childhood home, in the process of trying to figure out how her marriage had imploded and how she has fallen so far below her expectations of her life. Moving back to Brooklyn hasn't really helped her to move on, though as her community is going through changes in warped speed:
Meanwhile, Theo is a recent transplant to the community and his life is also pretty much a mess. Theo's relationship with the much wealthier and privileged Kim is dying a slow death and he regrets agreeing to co-own a property with Kim, especially when it's become clear that they do not have much in common in terms of their values.
Theo's arrival is just a much larger sign of how much Sydney's neighborhood is changing, as the influx of richer, entitled white neighbors are starting to push out many of her old friends. And Sydney's research of New York's past shows that there's nothing new about black people getting pushed out from their self-built communities. However, it soon becomes clear that there's something more sinister going on than just realtors trying to encourage the homeowners to sell out as it turns out that her neighbors may not have moved away, as much as disappeared.
In some ways, I think When No One is Watching might've functioned better as a realistic romance rather than a mystery/thriller, because the middle portion felt a lot like Theo and Sydney's friendship turning into something more especially since Theo seems to get Sydney and to understand why her Brooklyn historical research journey is so important to her. Furthermore, I thought that the historical facts about how black people have been marginalised financially and societally was actually very interesting and very well-woven into the backdrop of the book.
However, it seems like the main plot was intended to be more of a mystery/thriller about Sydney's neighborhood and how, when nobody is watching, bad things happen to Sydney's neighbors and nobody seems to care. Unfortunately, this is where things fall a little flat for me because for the greater part of the book, both Sydney and Theo do not realise exactly how bad things have gotten. While this might've been really been the intended effect of the novel, it was a little disconcerting when things so quickly became terrible at the end of the book.
Sydney Green's life has imploded all around her and she has moved back to her childhood home, in the process of trying to figure out how her marriage had imploded and how she has fallen so far below her expectations of her life. Moving back to Brooklyn hasn't really helped her to move on, though as her community is going through changes in warped speed:
People bury the parts of history they don't like, pave it over like African cemeteries beneath Manhattan skyscrapers. Nothing stays buried in this city, though.
Anway: Black America.
White people came to Brooklyn to tour the "faithfully recreated plantation". They sang along to Negro spirituals and took refreshments as they watched Black people, free Black people, pretend to be slaves.
History.
Wild.
After I stumbled onto the article, Brooklyn history became a refuge for me. It blotted out thoughts of my failed marriage and the persistent sense memory of restraints chafing my wrists. It was something to focus on besides my mother's illness and the way everything was changing. Everything, no matter how much I wanted the world to stop spinning for just one goddamn minute.
Meanwhile, Theo is a recent transplant to the community and his life is also pretty much a mess. Theo's relationship with the much wealthier and privileged Kim is dying a slow death and he regrets agreeing to co-own a property with Kim, especially when it's become clear that they do not have much in common in terms of their values.
Theo's arrival is just a much larger sign of how much Sydney's neighborhood is changing, as the influx of richer, entitled white neighbors are starting to push out many of her old friends. And Sydney's research of New York's past shows that there's nothing new about black people getting pushed out from their self-built communities. However, it soon becomes clear that there's something more sinister going on than just realtors trying to encourage the homeowners to sell out as it turns out that her neighbors may not have moved away, as much as disappeared.
In some ways, I think When No One is Watching might've functioned better as a realistic romance rather than a mystery/thriller, because the middle portion felt a lot like Theo and Sydney's friendship turning into something more especially since Theo seems to get Sydney and to understand why her Brooklyn historical research journey is so important to her. Furthermore, I thought that the historical facts about how black people have been marginalised financially and societally was actually very interesting and very well-woven into the backdrop of the book.
However, it seems like the main plot was intended to be more of a mystery/thriller about Sydney's neighborhood and how, when nobody is watching, bad things happen to Sydney's neighbors and nobody seems to care. Unfortunately, this is where things fall a little flat for me because for the greater part of the book, both Sydney and Theo do not realise exactly how bad things have gotten. While this might've been really been the intended effect of the novel, it was a little disconcerting when things so quickly became terrible at the end of the book.