Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

44 reviews

dcm7918's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Classism

taelights's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Honestly I had such high hopes for this book so I'm very disappointed about rating this so low because this idea had so much potential but I thought a lot of it was wasted. While I love a murder mystery type thriller this was completely different with it focusing on gentrification and racism and real world problems so I was so hopeful and so disappointed when it fell flat. 

I loved the general concept and what we found out was going on was very interesting and fucked up. However, it took forever to get to that element of the book and nothing really seemed to happen until the later 75% of the book. There seemed to be way too much filler in this book and not enough of the payoff. In fact it felt like there wasn't a true conclusion to the book at all with it stopping abruptly and the epilogue leaving so many unanswered questions. 

Sydney I thought was underdeveloped and I hated Theo. His POV was always so annoying to read and I thought he was a major creep. Like he's always watching Sydney in the apartment across the street and getting boners for her and acting like a teenage boy going through puberty with how often he's getting horny for her and it's like dude.... Yet he's supposed to be seen in a good light and as like the only non racist and non threatening white person who moved in…. Yikes. Like sure he's not part of the overall group of bad guys but. The bar is in hell. 

The romance between Sydney and Theo was unbearable too. Like I hated them together and thought Theo didn't deserve her and her suddenly wanting him after treating him like a crap until they hooked up made the romance make zero sense. So much of the book is developing this boring gross romance though. Like I know now that this author is a romance author trying her hand at thrillers but my god this seemed like a romance with a side of a fucked up plan featuring gentrification and racism rather than an actual thriller. 

I didn't vibe with the writing style. I saw someone say it read like a YA and I kind of agree. The characters felt very immature and Theo's especially it felt like reading a teenager's POV. 

Overall this thriller really disappointed me and was lacking in so many areas. I have way more complaints about this book than praise unfortunately. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Colonisation

lorie336's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Death, Sexual content, Suicide, and Death of parent

moraofthestory's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, and Medical content

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gun violence

uhhlexiconic's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The book was hard to put down. Flipping between narratives of a black female resident of a fictional Brooklyn neighborhood and a recent white male transplant, the two begin working together on a neighborhood tour and uncover a more sinister plot behind the recent wave of gentrification. Both of the characters are multifaceted and hiding things, though the nature of the narratives does muddle the effectiveness of some of the twists later in the novel. Some of the most effective horror is the more every day moments, and even without the twist, this wouldve been harrowing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicide

mostlyliterate's review

dark funny informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Slavery, Vomit, and Sexual harassment

alexandrapaul's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense slow-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

This book was crazy, but generally in a good way.  I could feel the unease and paranoia in the writing, however it could also be a bit confusing at times. I thought the conspiracy of gentrification being linked to

a corporation trying to take over marginalized neighborhoods was really cool

and I liked how the author linked it to the actual history of Brooklyn.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Dementia, and Grief

renee_reads_books'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

4.0

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole starts out as a bit of a slow burn, but once it picks up, it moves fast and becomes a page turner. That said, I didn't find myself slogging through the first half even though it wasn't moving quite as fast. It sets up a lot of important background info and sets the scene well for what's to come.

This book is a psychological thriller centered around systemic racism and what happens to people when gentrification pushes them out of the houses and neighborhoods that have been home for generations. It takes place in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Gifford Place where longtime residents have started mysteriously disappearing just as a big pharma company wants to establish a presence there. The black neighborhood is whitewashed more and more each day as main characters Sydney and Theo work to uncover what's really happening. 

The one thing that I felt wasn't really wrapped up or answered was the question of what happened with Marcus and why Sydney had been in the hospital at some point. Also could be that maybe I just misunderstood that part or missed a detail somewhere.

Definitely socio-political, so if that's not your jam, you might not enjoy this as much. There are sources at the end that the author used to inform all the historical background for the neighborhood where the book takes place. It shows how practices like redlining and over-policing (and numerous others) still exist in present times, so it's based on very real and current issues. A good read from multiple angles. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

tofugoddess's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

When No One is Watching is a thriller/mystery based around the theme of gentrification. The story is done from two perspectives, Sydney, a black woman who has lived in her historic Brooklyn neighborhood most of her life, and Theo, a white man who just moved in across the street.

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did, but unfortunately I couldn't get past some weird writing choices.

First, the villains in this book are comically flat. They're just pure evil, with no ulterior motives beyond being racist and wanting money. I'm not saying people like this can't exist in real life, but such one-dimensional characters get boring very quickly. Also, every scene with them has them explicitly explaining their evil plan to each other while stating facts that everyone present should already be aware of ("we hold all the power, the police and media are on our side!"). It felt like a parody of itself.

Second, the reveal of the conspiracy at the end was incredibly unrealistic. A supernatural explanation would have made more sense than what was decided on. Structural racism and gentrification are real problems to be solved, but the roots of the issues are complicated and multifaceted. They're not the result of some evil cabal meeting regularly and asking how they can do a racism today while also leaving an easily stumbled-upon paper trail. It kind of felt like what a conservative thinks a liberal believes about the world.

Finally, some of the descriptive language was just plain weird. At one point someone's laugh is described as sounding like jicama going over a grater?? I'm not sure what the author was going for there.

I like the idea of a thriller based on gentrification and still think the idea has a lot of promise if done differently, but I just couldn't get past my criticism long enough to fully enjoy the book. Three stars.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexual content

amberinbookland's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder