Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

19 reviews

clarkg's review

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? It's complicated

4.75

When No One Is Watching is unsettling, grotesque, and and believable. Drawing from the real-life horrors of gentrification and medical abuse, this thriller is a stomach-churning exploration of how Whiteness and corporate greed act as predatory forces in marginalized communities. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Gun violence, Torture, Stalking, Racism, Police brutality, Murder, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Gore

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Infidelity

martieliz's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Police brutality

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Panic attacks/disorders

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.

Spoiler

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

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

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

barefootbetsy's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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

4.5

I really liked this. Yes, the pacing could’ve been more even, but the concept was solid and I enjoyed the story!  I, like many other reviewers, could’ve done without the romance subplot; but those issues aside, I thought the story was well done and it certainly drew me in quickly and thoroughly.

The history was fascinating and I have a new appreciation for how difficult (and horrifying) living with the remnants (and current iterations) of slavery and redlining and stolen land must be 😞

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Stalking, Torture, Violence, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, and Excrement

cnricochet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Gaslighting, Stalking, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Police brutality

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual harassment, Violence, Slavery, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Abandonment, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Police brutality, Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Classism, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Hate crime

Minor: Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Suicide, Vomit, Confinement, Dementia, Deportation, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Medical content, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

kumquats87's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Colonisation, Murder, Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, Confinement, Hate crime, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Kidnapping, Medical content, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny

Minor: Police brutality, Vomit, Infidelity, and Homophobia

cooperlentz's review

challenging dark emotional informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Physical abuse, Blood, Classism, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Medical trauma, Slavery, Medical content, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

Minor: Deportation and Forced institutionalization

zoiejanelle's review

challenging dark funny informative mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

(listened to audio book from library)

i am not a thriller girlie but i happened to see Stephen King’s tweet recommending this book and i said, “romantic thriller? okay, let’s do this.” 

and OH MY GOD was it worth it. 

this book is REAR WINDOW meets GET OUT, Hitchcock meets Peele. it carries all of the best parts of the classic thriller genre, but was driven by a timely subject: gentrification. 

i was immediately obsessed with both narrators and how unreliable they both were, even when they tried to be truthful. Sydney and her many secrets and insecurities was lovable from the get, and Theo—poor Theo—was simultaneously hilarious and romantic in all his goofy, well-meaning but off-putting gestures. somehow the combination of the two, one extremely distrusting and suspicious woman and one extremely maleable and dishonest man, was perfect. i was rooting for them the entire time. 

the plot twists were very well timed. twist after twist, i audibly gasped. at one point i had to pause to soak in the information i’d just read. 

overall, a true thrill that made me glad i genre-hopped. thanks Stephen King for the rec. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Classism, Police brutality, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Racism, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Cursing, Colonisation, Gore, Slavery, Addiction, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Xenophobia

Minor: Racial slurs and Deportation

leebeeloves's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Slavery, Classism, Police brutality, Racism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Death of parent, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content