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geauxgetlit's review against another edition
2.0
The gentrification of Brooklyn was at the core of the book. Race contentions and conspiracy theories were also at play. I listened to this book on audio, so that might have made a difference in my opinion. However, the writing and the tone didn’t sit well with me on this book. The twist at the end was somewhat predictable, yet it delivered a much greater punch...but still left things flat.
tellsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely out there! However, not too far out there because shit was really real. Author Alyssa Cole dropped a serious Jordan Peele flex with this book. What she describes in this book outside of the people ending up in a test facility, was really real!
This book scared me, gave me psychological terror vibes, but I love the modern Black Twitter side-eye style commentary that it was written in it from page one. When No One Is Watching gave me elements of Get Out with a few moments of Radha Blank’s new film, The 40 Year Old Version. The main character Sydney was a hot mess. The secrets, the rage, the injustice she felt, I love that she was a complex and complicated character, but she loved gardening and history, it was heartwarming. I could see, if this ever became a movie, the chick from Netflix’s The Weekend, Sasheer Zamata, playing her. It did feel Hitchcockian and I also loved that about this book.
As fun as this book was, there were elements that really got on my last damn nerve. For example, some of the disgusting exchanges that didn’t even feign civility between characters. I’m going to chalk it up to my sensitive Canadian sensibility but the passage where she goes to the garden only to find it being overtaken by a white man with a fake deed.. that whole scene ate me right up and I just feel like some of the wording could have been executed better. I don’t know if it was done that way for shock value, but I felt so upset and alienated out of the story by that moment that I felt like not reading any further. I was about to DNF this book, I was too enraged. In this climate, that felt like unnecessary violence against your black readers.
Anyway, that moment aside, I thought this book conceptually was right on the money. I felt thrilled by it, so that ‘thriller’ descriptor feels accurate. I was legitimately scared by the end of the book winding down to the last pages wondering just how this shit was going to end. I’m glad that I wasn’t disappointed I felt like Alyssa Cole slam dunked the ending.
This book scared me, gave me psychological terror vibes, but I love the modern Black Twitter side-eye style commentary that it was written in it from page one. When No One Is Watching gave me elements of Get Out with a few moments of Radha Blank’s new film, The 40 Year Old Version. The main character Sydney was a hot mess. The secrets, the rage, the injustice she felt, I love that she was a complex and complicated character, but she loved gardening and history, it was heartwarming. I could see, if this ever became a movie, the chick from Netflix’s The Weekend, Sasheer Zamata, playing her. It did feel Hitchcockian and I also loved that about this book.
As fun as this book was, there were elements that really got on my last damn nerve. For example, some of the disgusting exchanges that didn’t even feign civility between characters. I’m going to chalk it up to my sensitive Canadian sensibility but the passage where she goes to the garden only to find it being overtaken by a white man with a fake deed.. that whole scene ate me right up and I just feel like some of the wording could have been executed better. I don’t know if it was done that way for shock value, but I felt so upset and alienated out of the story by that moment that I felt like not reading any further. I was about to DNF this book, I was too enraged. In this climate, that felt like unnecessary violence against your black readers.
Anyway, that moment aside, I thought this book conceptually was right on the money. I felt thrilled by it, so that ‘thriller’ descriptor feels accurate. I was legitimately scared by the end of the book winding down to the last pages wondering just how this shit was going to end. I’m glad that I wasn’t disappointed I felt like Alyssa Cole slam dunked the ending.
vacantbones's review against another edition
3.0
I really, really wanted to love When No One is Watching. I bought a copy soon after it was published and kept bumping it down to the bottom of my TBR list in order to read books that I was much less excited about. Unfortunately, this read just fell really flat for me.
The core messages regarding race in America are important, and When No One is Watching serves as a great, brief history lesson in gentrification and the cyclical nature of racist action in this country. The author does a superb job at drawing comparisons between the thriller aspects of the story and the historical context.
Something that really distracted me as a reader, however, was the way in which the "bad guys" of the book are portrayed as being almost cartoonishly racist. I believe that this book could've benefitted greatly from subtlety in this aspect. At points, the racist characters are very explicit in their hateful views, and it just felt like a caricature. The more subtle jabs in the novel were great - one of the racists has a Michelle Obama portrait in her living room, perfectly portraying the ways in which white people convince themselves that they *can't* be racist if they're not throwing out slurs. I wish this was the rule in this read rather than the exception.
I also did not care for the moments when the book started to read like a romance novel. I understand that the author has previously written romance novels, and it was definitely clear from certain scenes in this book that she's a pro at it! However, the parts where the book began to read like a romance novel felt at odds with the thriller tone, like I was reading an entirely different book.
I don't want this review to serve as me trying to detract from the importance of this book. The things being said in these pages are things that we need to hear. It's worth a read, but at times feels like it is one step behind what was achieved in Get Out.
The core messages regarding race in America are important, and When No One is Watching serves as a great, brief history lesson in gentrification and the cyclical nature of racist action in this country. The author does a superb job at drawing comparisons between the thriller aspects of the story and the historical context.
Something that really distracted me as a reader, however, was the way in which the "bad guys" of the book are portrayed as being almost cartoonishly racist. I believe that this book could've benefitted greatly from subtlety in this aspect. At points, the racist characters are very explicit in their hateful views, and it just felt like a caricature. The more subtle jabs in the novel were great - one of the racists has a Michelle Obama portrait in her living room, perfectly portraying the ways in which white people convince themselves that they *can't* be racist if they're not throwing out slurs. I wish this was the rule in this read rather than the exception.
I also did not care for the moments when the book started to read like a romance novel. I understand that the author has previously written romance novels, and it was definitely clear from certain scenes in this book that she's a pro at it! However, the parts where the book began to read like a romance novel felt at odds with the thriller tone, like I was reading an entirely different book.
I don't want this review to serve as me trying to detract from the importance of this book. The things being said in these pages are things that we need to hear. It's worth a read, but at times feels like it is one step behind what was achieved in Get Out.
stsylvester666's review against another edition
5.0
This book is AMAZING. Super smart and well written, this book has everything you look for in a thriller. Alyssa Cole did an amazing job and I can’t wait to read more of her books.
danamariea's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
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
3.75
lunaeternity's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
amariew125's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
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? No
5.0