Title: When No One Is Watching
Author: Alyssa Cole
Genre: Mystery Thriller, Contemporary
Published: September 1, 2020
Pages: 352
The Carpenter Confessions Rating: ★★.5☆☆☆
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
Rear Window meets Get Out in this gripping thriller from a critically acclaimed and New York Times Notable author, in which the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning…
Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but her beloved neighborhood seems to change every time she blinks. Condos are sprouting like weeds, FOR SALE signs are popping up overnight, and the neighbors she’s known all her life are disappearing. To hold onto her community’s past and present, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour and finds an unlikely and unwanted assistant in one of the new arrivals to the block—her neighbor Theo.
But Sydney and Theo’s deep dive into history quickly becomes a dizzying descent into paranoia and fear. Their neighbors may not have moved to the suburbs after all, and the push to revitalize the community may be more deadly than advertised.
When does coincidence become conspiracy? Where do people go when gentrification pushes them out? Can Sydney and Theo trust each other—or themselves—long enough to find out before they too disappear?
THE CARPENTER CONFESSIONS REVIEW:
When I read the synopsis for When No One Is Watching, I got really excited because I seemed like a fun new idea for a thriller. It had a twist on what you may think is a thriller entails. I started reading the first few chapters of this book and knew that it was going to be an interesting one. Unfortunately I was left quite disappointed and wished it would have been better.
This story first caught my eye because it was a thriller and while in a sense it was, it didn’t have anything a thriller encompasses. Besides the last few chapters of the book, I felt like When No One Is Watching fell into more of a Contemporary genre. I never felt like I was waiting for something unexpected to happen and I didn’t feel like I wanted to keep turning the page as fast as I can. The story didn’t seem to flow and I never knew where anything was heading. The synopsis of the story didn’t come through the way I would have liked. Moral of the story, this book fell quite flat for me and wished it could have been something more.
The only thing I did find interesting about the book was that I learned quite a lot about how different races, especially the African American community, are treated when it comes to status and stereotypes they get pegged with. While I am educated on that aspect, I feel like I learned a whole lot more. If I had one good thing to say about this book, it would be that i learned something new!
WHO I’D RECOMMEND TO:
This book would be a good one for someone who isn’t a huge thriller fan, but still wants to dip their toes into a book that isn’t too overwhelming. It gives a mysterious feel without it being “creepy”. Another aspect to this book that would help me recommend When No One Is Watching, would be to help educate someone of how different races are affected differently and how that can affect each person individually. Honestly, this book for me is a hard one to recommend due to me not liking it, but everyone has a different preference, so if it looks interesting to you, give it a try and let me know what you think!
FORMAT:
Physical Book
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