Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

54 reviews

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

barefootbetsy's review against another edition

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

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, and Excrement

helloiloveyellow's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

engrossing thriller rooted in history, Get Out meets gentrification 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

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: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

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

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

shaqydoo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

whatsamread's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

_cooper_'s review against another edition

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

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

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Deportation

pj_steph's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I overall enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the writing of this book. My favorite parts of the story were discussing the history of gentrification and going in depth on the horrors of the people who live in the neighborhoods. I will say the pacing was a little off. The beginning was a bit slow, but the ending felt REALLY rushed. I thought the middle had the best pacing. The mystery started to pick up and pieces were starting to come together, but then it kind of snowballed at the end. I'm definitely adding more Alyssa Cole to my TBR!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Police brutality and Alcohol

rorikae'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

'When No One Is Watching' by Alyssa Cole is a frightening thriller about gentrification where the dread and fear creep slowly through the book. Cole does an excellent job of replicating the way that gentrification moves slowly and then all at once in the plot of this novel. Sydney notices that things are wrong but the full extent of what is happening isn't apparent until the latter half of the story. Truly terrifying, this book has so many scenes and situations that are a mix of horrifying and frustrating but in a truly effective way. I hope that Cole will write more thrillers in the future because she has a real talent for creating a sense of creeping dread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Suicide and Police brutality

jojo_'s review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infidelity, Slavery, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation