muse19's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
marta_reads's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.75
Started off super slow. There was a lot going on and nothing at the same time. I picks up drastically at towards the end of the book. While I did enjoy this book the ending was very lack luster for me. I feel like it left me with more questions that could have been summed up within a few more chapters.
Overall it was an enjoyable read.
Overall it was an enjoyable read.
amyeicher's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
sweetxsage's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I want to start off by saying, I was not really expecting the twists and turns, but the second they were revealed it made perfect sense. 10/10 foreshadowing.
This story is takes place in the middle of a brooklyn, NY community that is going through gentrification. You read from the POV of a (rightfully) pissed off Black woman, named Sydney, who has lived her whole life in this community, and the POV of a white man, named Theo, who is part of the wave of white people moving into the community.
These two are nothing more than neighbors living on the same street until Theo volunteers to help Sydney with her community history research. The stresses of racism, medical debt, and past emotional abuse catch up to Sydney as she realizes… some of her neighbors are missing..
it’s up to her and theo to solve what’s going on.
If you’re a fan of Get Out or Who Cloned Tyrone, you will probably love this book. I read absolutely nothing about this book before reading it and I really did enjoy it. I would love to know who the book was targeted to because it feels very much like it’s trying to teach the reader about the very real horrors of gentrification, almost a little too forcefully.
Sydney is brutal, rude at some points, but she’s a fed-up woman who has the weight of everyone she loves on her shoulders. It was hard to connect to her in the beginning because her anger clouded everything else about her. It’s hard to get to know who she really is until maybe halfway through the book.
Theo is kind of an easy guy to read. Momma’s boy who just wants to protect people (women) around himself. Obviously not scared of being the violent one, but he has patience. We learn all of this within the first 30 pages or so and he stays true to this throughout.
SO MUCH JUST TO SAY.
It was an okay read! I ended up finishing it when I should have been sleeping so i’m typing this at 4:35am or so. lol Characters were fun, the twists were great, and the ending was okay. For someone who feels the housing problems mentioned in the book, it was hard to read and disconnect. I found familiar faces in some of the characters and it made it more difficult and heart breaking to read.
I want to start off by saying, I was not really expecting the twists and turns, but the second they were revealed it made perfect sense. 10/10 foreshadowing.
This story is takes place in the middle of a brooklyn, NY community that is going through gentrification. You read from the POV of a (rightfully) pissed off Black woman, named Sydney, who has lived her whole life in this community, and the POV of a white man, named Theo, who is part of the wave of white people moving into the community.
These two are nothing more than neighbors living on the same street until Theo volunteers to help Sydney with her community history research. The stresses of racism, medical debt, and past emotional abuse catch up to Sydney as she realizes… some of her neighbors are missing..
it’s up to her and theo to solve what’s going on.
If you’re a fan of Get Out or Who Cloned Tyrone, you will probably love this book. I read absolutely nothing about this book before reading it and I really did enjoy it. I would love to know who the book was targeted to because it feels very much like it’s trying to teach the reader about the very real horrors of gentrification, almost a little too forcefully.
Sydney is brutal, rude at some points, but she’s a fed-up woman who has the weight of everyone she loves on her shoulders. It was hard to connect to her in the beginning because her anger clouded everything else about her. It’s hard to get to know who she really is until maybe halfway through the book.
Theo is kind of an easy guy to read. Momma’s boy who just wants to protect people (women) around himself. Obviously not scared of being the violent one, but he has patience. We learn all of this within the first 30 pages or so and he stays true to this throughout.
SO MUCH JUST TO SAY.
It was an okay read! I ended up finishing it when I should have been sleeping so i’m typing this at 4:35am or so. lol Characters were fun, the twists were great, and the ending was okay. For someone who feels the housing problems mentioned in the book, it was hard to read and disconnect. I found familiar faces in some of the characters and it made it more difficult and heart breaking to read.
dolphingirl6's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-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
2.0
katekate_reads_'s review against another edition
5.0
I heard “Alyssa Cole wrote a thriller” and I was already sold that I was going to read it. I heard “Rear Window meets Get Out” and I preordered a copy.
Once you start, you won’t be able to put this down. Sydney lives in Brooklyn and her neighborhood is starting to change around her. She sees walking tours come through and decides to join one and hear what’s being shared - and she realizes huge parts of the history of the neighborhood’s history are being left out. She decides to do research and offer her own tours with the real truth. Only she ends up discovering more than she could have anticipated.
Read this book with a friend because you are going to want to discuss it!! Thank you to William Morrow for the gifted book and I also bought the kindle version. This is a thriller that will definitely stick with me - highly recommend!
Once you start, you won’t be able to put this down. Sydney lives in Brooklyn and her neighborhood is starting to change around her. She sees walking tours come through and decides to join one and hear what’s being shared - and she realizes huge parts of the history of the neighborhood’s history are being left out. She decides to do research and offer her own tours with the real truth. Only she ends up discovering more than she could have anticipated.
Read this book with a friend because you are going to want to discuss it!! Thank you to William Morrow for the gifted book and I also bought the kindle version. This is a thriller that will definitely stick with me - highly recommend!
vanmiegheml's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
_sarah_reads_'s review against another edition
4.0
I found this book very stressful--the racism and the fact that I couldn't see where the story was going made me quite tense. But I realized that meant that the author (and narrator, as I listened to this on audio) did a fantastic job. That sense of being gaslit...gaslighted?...translated really well!