Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

61 reviews

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

rurouni's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Infidelity, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Stalking, and Deportation

megan_bbender's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

3.0

I felt like this story was very slow in the beginning. When I got to around 200 pages, I logged it on my StoryGraph and said "holy sh*t, I'm not even halfway through?", but it really started to pick up towards the end, the last 150 pages or so were thrilling and it felt like the plot was finally moving, however the ending was so abrupt that genuinely can't believe that was it; it finally felt like something was coming out of this book and then *poof* it was gone.

With that being said I can actually appreciate the abruptness throughout the book, for example the very fast-ending sentences and scenarios really help to gain an understanding about how the characters are actually feeling and how fast everything in their community is actually changing. 

To be honest, I was having more fun learning about the history of the community and kind of forgot about the plot. I did really like the characters though, Sydney is someone that I would love to be friends with, and the way the neighbours always had each others backs was heartwarming, and I definitely got super invested in the slow burn romance. 

I liked the concept of this book and it was really intriguing but I feel like if it was shorter, I would've rated it a bit higher. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Emotional abuse and Alcohol

rcarr14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Deportation

rachelfayreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Torture

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

snd1101's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Infidelity, Slavery, and Death of parent

Minor: Forced institutionalization

ginger95'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

4.75

Pretty good thriller dealing with gentrification/offers two perspectives: a black woman who grew up in the neighborhood, and a white guy who just moved in. The book gets more into psychological thriller/suspense towards the second half. I finished within the day, but because the book takes a lil while to get to the edge of your seat suspense - 4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Racism

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Slavery

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

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

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