WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING BY ALYSSA COLE

11/2/2020

While When No One is Watching is one of the most original thrillers I've ever read, the story was extremely slow. I loved the plot but I feel like I needed it to be faster paced.

Rating: ★★★
Release Date: September 1, 2020
Genre: Psychological Thriller. Suspense.
Series: None. Complete standalone.
Pages: 360 pages
Format: Paperback. Purchased.

Rear Window meets Get Out in this gripping thriller from a critically acclaimed and New York Times Notable author, in which the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning…

Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but her beloved neighborhood seems to change every time she blinks. Condos are sprouting like weeds, FOR SALE signs are popping up overnight, and the neighbors she’s known all her life are disappearing. To hold onto her community’s past and present, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour and finds an unlikely and unwanted assistant in one of the new arrivals to the block—her neighbor Theo.

But Sydney and Theo’s deep dive into history quickly becomes a dizzying descent into paranoia and fear. Their neighbors may not

have moved to the suburbs after all, and the push to revitalize the community may be more deadly than advertised.

When does coincidence become conspiracy? Where do people go when gentrification pushes them out? Can Sydney and Theo trust each other—or themselves—long enough to find out before they too disappear?

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READ MY BOOK REVIEW

My Rating: 3 Stars
Genre: Psychological Thriller | Suspense

WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING by Alyssa Cole is a standalone, psychological thriller. If you follow my reviews, you know that along with romances I love psychological thrillers. There’s just something about novels that keep me on the edge of my seat that excite me. Therefore, I grabbed a copy of this this one knowing virtually NOTHING about it. 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗜 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗜𝗧? Yes. There were many fantastic pieces to this puzzling story that kept me interested. For one, Alyssa Cole takes a stance on gentrification and how the process is harming those who live within the neighborhoods that are being changed. I honestly learned a lot about the process just from reading this book! I also love how history was interwoven with the mystery in the novel and found it to be quite perfect for everything going on in todays world. However, these few things didn’t make the book loveable for me. Had the focus JUST been on these issues and all the others that people of color are/have faced, I would have loved the novel. But the book took some really weird turns that didn’t sit well with me as a reader. I’ll describe those below (𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗).

First and foremost, the suspense building in this story was SLOW. I’ve learned from the past few books I read that I actually prefer a fast-paced thriller rather than a slow paced one so this took away from a lot of my enjoyment. 𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗘𝗡𝗝𝗢𝗬 𝗦𝗟𝗢𝗪 𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗦, 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗕𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗬𝗢𝗨. Many people do like a slow buildup and that’s fine. But my personal preference is one that goes hard FAST. This one didn’t actually pick up until we were 200 pages in, and I almost stopped reading! That’s how slow it felt to me. (PS: The book is just under 350 pages).

Another thing that I didn’t care for was the ending. I wanted some more answers. We get this massive climax that’s action packed and thrilling, but nothing on what happens NEXT. I feel like it ended to quickly in that aspect and would have loved an extended epilogue of some sort that wrapped things up. I mean, I totally understand why the author decided to end it with those messages at the end, but again, my personal preference would be a snappy ending with answers.

Finally, I felt the book was a bit farfetched. For a thriller to be nearly unbelievable takes away the enjoyment from some readers (like me). I just couldn’t see things happening quite like this.

Aside from the few things I didn’t like about this book, there are many things that make it remarkable and memorable. For one, this is one of the most original thrillers I’ve ever read. Alyssa has built up quite the story here and I think many readers are going to find it to be wholly unique. Additionally, the book holds a creep factor and parts of the novel made my skin crawl which was really cool and unexpected.

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐