Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

53 reviews

shaun_dh's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative mysterious sad tense 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

spicycronereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

The first half is very interesting but it did not read like a thriller until the second half. Seeds of mystery are planted along the way that keep your interest. And the history is fascinating.

The thriller aspects really picked up and all the pieces started coming together in the second half in a way that really paid off. And there are a few jaw dropping moments! 

The dynamic between Sydney and Theo really works. They have fun banter and he seems like he is genuinely interested is learning to do better. There is one spicy scene but otherwise the focus is really on the events in the neighborhood. 1/2 🌶️

The audio book performances are great. 

Overall I found it engaging! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / .5 🌶️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Slavery

Gentrification

callidoralblack's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Deportation

sfdogmom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Slavery, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

jenbertface's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

This book was a fun read and very informative, I learned a lot about Brooklyn history! The down side was it took a while for the characters to get to the heart of the mystery at work in the story. Once they did, the last few chapters flew by and it felt like the story wrapped up a little too quickly. I really liked Sydney but wasn’t really a fan of Theo’s narration.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Confinement, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

dark informative 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Stalking, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

hollywobble's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Terminal illness, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Deportation

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

findingt_ri's review against another edition

emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

Kinda slow for me at first, but once the dots started connecting I was HOOKED! Did an all-nighter finishing this, very worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Blood

Minor: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

raptorq's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Racism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Gore and Suicide

Minor: Drug abuse

livlamentloathe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

I loved the build-up. I loved the intricate webbing of the neighborhood and white supremacy and patterns in history. I couldn’t stop reading! I sped through the book cause I was so curious about how it pieced together and what would bring it to a climax. But the ending did not pay off.

It fell a bit flat for me. And didn’t solve a lot of the intricate side plots. This book fell into its own trap. I think the plot got too big for itself so when the ending came, it could never have properly wrapped up all the loose threads. The main problem is a pitfall I’ve seen a lot of books struggle with: the villain became too omniscient.

There were ring cameras everywhere. The cops were in on it. Politicians both local and brand name, lawyers, nonprofits and nonethical companies alike. The white folk too indomitable by the end. And the ending does nothing to combat this. What is there to imply it won’t start back up immediately? If the gang of golden-oldies were in on it, why couldn’t they do more?? All they did was charge in to finish Sydney and Theo’s work?? They should’ve pulled Sydney into the work! They should’ve done more to stop local kids and families getting mixed into it! I can’t just believe everything is all right now. What about Drea and the man dead in Sydney’s house? What about the strange bedbugs?

I have more questions than answers after all that. And while I’m glad Theo helped Sydney through it all, I never trusted him. I was waiting for him to pull an Allison Williams the whole dang time. The ending felt like the end of a battle, not a war. And it’s hard to believe this one neighborhood can fight that big of a fight. Although I did appreciate the friendly neighbor motif and how togetherness is the way to win. I wish there’d been more closure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Addiction, Racial slurs, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent