Title: When No One Is Watching
Author: Alyssa Cole
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, September 1, 2020
Pages: 352
Genre: Women's Psychological Fiction
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?
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?
I'm shocked that I managed to finish this book as quickly as I did. I had to stop MANY times because it's VERY f*cking scary. But then I would HAVE to know what happens, so I would start listening again once my heart rate slowed back down to a safe level.
All I could think the entire time listening to this was: Insidious Gentrification
The way this story played out made my skin crawl. You can tell that's the intention, but dang is it effective. I knew it was a thriller, but I was not ready. The unreliability of both of our narrators really helped to keep me guessing until the very end. Sydney and Theo are going through the shit and the more you learn about them, the less I trusted them. And it made finding out what was actually going on imperative!
Some of the scenes in the book where there is blatant, aggressive racism happening, and Theo is just standing by watching and trying to just change the subject were hard to read. But Theo being smacked in the face by his own hypocrisy was really satisfying.
Ratings
Stars: 5/5
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