Sydney is trying so hard to keep things together while her Mom is sick but everything seems to be stacked against her. As strange happenings intensify in her neighborhood she begins to investigate with Theo who has been kicked out of his new house. Big topics, thrills, love, and lots of action follow. Be ready for a roller coaster ride!

What can I say about this book that hasn't already been posted? Do I feel you should add it to your Fall reading list-Heck Yeah!
Did I like the point of view? Yes, I think it added to the suspense of the story and offered another side of the story.

The story was well written and overall a great read. I have never read a book by this author so I didn't have any expectations while reading but in reading, I relived history, I was scared, I was yelling at fictitious people, and teary-eyed. By the end, to say I was invested would be an understatement. If I had any critique it would be that when I first opened the book the amount of profanity in the first few pages almost made me put it back down. However, the information was so true and presented in such a real way that I pushed through and did not regret it. With all that is going on in the world today, this book seems very timely. I will be adding it to our book club fall read.



I would like to thank the publisher for providing me a free copy of this novel on Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I'll be posting my review on Goodreads and Amazon

I received this ARC around mid-May. It has been my only read for the last month for a number of reasons. The beginning was a bit tough for me to move through and I almost stopped during the first few chapters because there was so much swearing- just not my cup of tea-But I was intrigued by the synopsis so I pressed on. I didn’t expect that this would become so relevant and “hit home”, amidst the Black Lives Matter movement coming to the forefront when I was a couple weeks into it. Because of that, it highlighted just how heavy the subject of gentrification is. I actually had to put it down a few times to process what I was reading. Despite it being an art of fiction, there is clearly an element (or MORE than an element) of truth to it. I can see evidence of it in areas of the city of Houston where I live. It’s made me all the more aware of it and it’s made me desire to do some of my own research moving forward. Overall, this story is one that needs to be told. Put it on your TBR for September 20th when it’s released!

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole was one of my most highly anticipated fall books for 2020. This cover grabbed my attention, and the synopsis had this compared to Get Out meets Rear Window, where gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning. That was all I needed to know. And I think this is a good one to go in blind. So I’m keeping the synopsis vague.

Going into this book, I was guessing it was going to be like Lock Every Door. After reading it, the books have very little in common other then both being great books.

I can see why this book is receiving so much early praise. What a timely book for what is going on in our country right now. This book touches on gentrification, racial bias, history, and social justice. And includes suspense, conspiracy, romance, and mystery.

I definitely recommend this one, and this book is available September 15, 2020 thank you @williammorrowbooks for this gifted copy.

I had such high hopes for this book, but it just didn't work for me at all.

First, this is absolutely not the "gripping thriller," that marketing is claiming it to be. Pacing through the first two-thirds of the book is agonizingly slow. It reads like romance-drama, with a love-hate dynamic between the two main characters.

I think Sydney is meant to be a strong woman, but she instead comes off as brash, angry, and difficult to like. Theo is the male version of the doormat female swooning over a person who treats him like crap.

Then we get to the final third, which spirals at breakneck speed into the advertised "thriller." The problem here is that the content is completely over-the-top crazy, with a strong dystopian or almost sci-fi feel. I know racial tensions are high, and I know bad things happen, but this was just way too much.

Then the story ends, like falling off a cliff. No real resolution.

I was fascinated by the history of Brooklyn, from early slavery to the gentrification of neighborhoods. This content had the unfortunate tendency to feel heavy-handed, rather than a natural part of the story, though I would love to read a nonfiction book on this topic.

And, so, not a book for me. But you might love it.

I totally get the premise and it reminds me a lot of the movie "Get Out" but I must say, it was not properly paced and I felt confused for majority of the book. It was a slow start and again, it start off confusing. It's definitely up with the times but I wish the execution of the story was better.

I was looking for thrillers by authors of color as that is my favorite genre and this one was billed as “Rear Window meets Get Out.” I feel like every book I read lately switches perspective between the two main characters, and this was no exception. Sydney is a black woman who has returned to live in her mother’s home in Brooklyn following an ugly divorce. Theo is a white man who has moved into Sydney’s neighborhood with his now-estranged girlfriend. Sydney and Theo notice many things around the neighborhood, including each other, but more importantly, the disappearance of community members. Are they just being paranoid or is something more sinister happening? I definitely see how it compares to Get Out, having rewatched the film very recently, and it is pretty clear from early on that the gentrification taking place is more than what it seems.

When No One is Watching is not what I was expecting. I was a third of the way through reading this book and though woah this reads like a slow building romance. I went and re-read the blurb and thought yeah, this says its a mystery/thriller. At over forty percent, the book starts to dive into the disappearances of Sydney's friends and neighbors before it turns into a conspiracy theorist's dream. Sydney is a tough, wisecracking black woman who is determined to keep the real history of her community from being white washed and overwritten. The everyday, old faces of her community are slowly being replaced by rich, white people but something sinister seems afoot. Diving into history with one of her new white neighbors, Sydney quickly finds out history has a tendency to repeat its self. Eerie and believable in its evilness, this story becomes a wild ride that leaves me with a lot of mixed feelings about the ending but this book is definitely original if a whole lot of strange. I would recommend for conspiracy lovers but not thriller lovers. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy.

Fast paced and timely, this book is on the surface a thriller about the gentrification of a neighborhood in Brooklyn. But underneath the obvious there is so much going on about the treatment of Black people in this country, both micro and microaggressions, about the history of housing and redlining, and just how far people will go to make money. This is an excellent read not just for the entertainment factor but for understanding what's happening in our country right now in terms of racism and race relations. Recommended!

This one starts off slowly but from the outset, I adored the writing style. It was sharp and witty - something I am always drawn to. I enjoyed the alternating accounts between Sydney and Theo - although I found Sydney unlikeable and almost aggressive at times. The pacing was off - it started slow and then everything wrapped up a little too quickly for my liking. Overall, a solid 3 star read but just wish the tempo was better,

When No One is Watching is a story of a neighborhood take over of a historically Black community in Brooklyn.
The book has a current of crime and deception running through it but even if it didn't, it brings to light some very real issues with gentrification. This is the first book I have read by Cole and the writing style and character development was excellent - the main character was strong and interesting, as were the supporting neighbors. This book was a bit challenging to read because there were so many parts that made me so angry about what was happening, it wasn't "enjoyable". But I am very glad I read the book - it was very eye opening about a situation I don't think I ever really understood from the perspective of the people living in a neighborhood, especially in a city. I would definitely recommend this to my friends. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book. There were a lot of twist and turns I didn’t see coming. It kept my attention and I wanted to keep reading to figure out what was going on. The only thing I didn’t really like was the ending, kinda felt rushed to me, I would have like to know more bout how things play out.

This book punched me in the face and I loved it. What a tornado of a book! The thriller space is not ready. It's essentially a social thriller--Get Out meets gentrification in Brooklyn. In fact, the Get Out comp is most apropos--I'd say if you like or love that movie, this book will work for you. This book was developed off the Get Out premise/tone (it's IP, which I hope means we'll get a movie soon b/c I need it!) and does a lot of what that movie did, particularly with "good white people"-type characters doing villain turns. Given how aggressively white the adult thriller space is, I see this book ruffling the feathers of some readers who are not accustomed to their thrillers existing in Black spaces with Black characters as heroes. The white reader is the outsider here and you have to sit in that discomfort.

Though, to that end, this book does and will have massive crossover appeal beyond the borders of commercial thriller fans--it has a fantastic romance plot (b/c Alyssa Cole is an amazing romance writer), and the social thriller aspects make it incredibly topical and accessible. People need to read this book and sit in the everyday horrors the Black characters face.

The book is dual POV, with an "insider" and "outsider" character who end up teaming up to solve the mystery, such as it is. The book is a slowwwwww build of consistent creepiness answering the question of 'what is going on in the neighborhood?" rather than solving one specific disappearance or murder. Slow not in a pacing way--I was glued to the pages. But the book doesn't smack you in the face with a plot twist at 30% like a lot of traditional thrillers.

Sydney is a lifelong resident of Gifford Place, a historically Black neighborhood in Brooklyn that is facing the threat of aggressive gentrification. A pharma giant just got approval for a new headquarters in the neighborhood and a predatory real estate business is pushing Black residents out of their homes (possibly by shady means) and wealthy white families are moving in, including Kim and Theo, into the house across the street from Sydney. Kim's iced Theo out of their relationship and he's regretting co-buying a house with her. He's unemployed and fascinated by Sydney across the street, who is dealing with her own heavy burdens, including a very sick mother. Sydney ends up recruiting Theo to help her research a historical neighborhood tour she's putting together, and together they dig into the history of Black neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and cycles of gentrification.

I was hooked immediately by the characters. It was actually really difficult for me in moments to read Sydney's POV b/c I related to her so deeply and painfully--the only daughter of a single mother suffering the end days of an illness? It hit me right in the gut. One of the things Cole does beautifully and almost too effectively in the book is write Sydney's anxiety and panic about all the things piling up--bills, debt, things spiraling out of control in the neighborhood. I had moments of my own panic, re: my mother's estate and the to-dos. The suspense and anxiety thread in Sydney's chapters is just exquisite. It's a tense read.

Theo's chapters have their own dense tension--Kim is a nightmare human and the tenseness in their failing relationship was palpable. If you've ever had a really awkward roommate situation or bad breakup... Theo is a good complement to Sydney since he's white and attached to his rich girlfriend insomuch as that's how he ended up in the story, but he's from a lower class background and has secrets in his past... he's defensive in many moments, re: race but is a character who is able to experience a growth arc over the course of the story. He's a very good example of a well-meaning white person who still fails consistently to "do the right thing"--but comes to grow. That said, the book doesn't offer easy answers especially in light of the world we're in, so don't look to it for any neat solutions, re: racism. The book is raw and real and as such you can't wrap the story's ending up in a nice bow.

That said wow the third act and ending are BANGERS. I was on the edge of my seat, kept gasping aloud, practically cheering at some parts, but then just HORRIFIED and worried for the characters, re: how would they get out of things as the third act escalates. It has as much of a "feel good" ending as the book can possibly have, but it still leaves you unsettled in the best way.

*ARC was provided by the published via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

This was a timely read given current events. Sydney moves home following a disastrous relationship only to find that her childhood Brooklyn neighborhood has drastically changed. Not only has the old hospital been purchased by Verentech to be turned into a research center for opiate abuse, but the brownstone homes are somehow being purchased by rich, white families even though no one is interested in selling. The traditionally black neighborhood is being completely erased and the history of those who live there is thrown, literally, in the trash. Sydney teams up with a new neighbor, Theo, to research and present an accurate tour of the neighborhood's history as part of the annual block party. As they dig deeper into the past, the realize there's something sinister afoot that, to quote a favorite podcast, "goes all the way to the top."

The book started slowly and Sydney was a difficult narrator in the beginning, partially because she seemed unreliable. However, once you started going it was difficult to stop reading. Theo and Sydney's research and experiences force us to own that slavery and oppression go further, and have a much larger impact, than just plantations in the South. From slavery in New York to redlining applications for mortgages, there are more ways than just the obvious ones to "break and build" at the cost of black communities. Knowing the tools of the oppressor, though, may just be the key to saving Sydney's neighborhood.

Overall, this was a great mystery. The pace after about 1/4 of the way through picked up and you were constantly wondering what was real, who was trustworthy, and what was happening. The only compliant I had was what felt like the gratuitous insertion of Theo's backstory right at the moment when you find out the truth about Sydney's mother - it took away from the moment and seemed to lack purpose. This book will keep you thinking long after you finish it, and while parts may seem implausible, you have a sinking suspicion that it might just be accurate.

A timely subject about diversity housing and the effects of the individuals who live in changing neighborhoods, the fight to retain the integrity and the difficulties in doing so. This books took a bit of a sci-fi turn towards the end, which was unexpected and a bit confusing.

The story is about the gentrification of a neighborhood in Brooklyn. It starts out slowly with the main character Sydney struggling with many things in her life, but especially trying to hold on to her mother’s house. The guy across the street, Theo,new to the neighborhood, watches the comings and goings of the residents daily. These two form an uneasy acquaintance to be guides for a neighborhood walk at the annual block party.Neighbors start disappearing, and Sydney and Noah are caught up in the craziness. I felt the book pacing was erratic. It was very slow, then the last third, crazy things happened so quickly. I will say, that the story is very timely in the way the black community is being targeted and the white people with their privilege, act accordingly.

This thriller has you guessing the whole time. It strikes a relevant chord with the themes of gentrification and racial inequality woven into the story. I couldn't put it down and it definitely should be in your beach bag this summer for an engaging read.

UMMMM WOW.

Okay I enjoyed this so much more than I thought. The characters the plot the freaking atmosphere was so scary and chilling I read this late into the night and I had to make sure my doors were locked. Alyssa Cole puts you into this neighbourhood in Brooklyn into Gifford Place and you are transported into Sydney’s world.

Alyssa Cole does a FANTASTIC job in tackling the very real, very disturbing, and very engaging issues of racism and being black in America. We see firsthand the racism that is present in basically all aspects of the world and I would get so angry over comments that were made about Sydney and Gifford Place and Sydney’s neighbours. It is so troubling to read but so necessary especially in today’s climate. I became obsessed with how Alyssa Cole writes because she made me invested in her characters especially Sydney.

This book definitely made me an Alyssa Cole stan and will be reading all of her past and future books.

ALSO THIS BOOK PLAYED OUT LIKE A FREAKING JORDAN PEELE MOVIE!! The vibes were like Get Out but an entirely different story but that is so freaking cool!!!

This thriller could not be more timely given the discussion about race currently happening in our country. While this is clearly a work of fiction, I appreciated the spotlight it gave the topic of gentrification and can see this is a real issue happening in many communities. I was drawn in to this book as it quickly became apparent something is not quite right in Sydney's neighborhood. As things escalate, Sydney is left wondering who she can trust. Not only was this a suspenseful, engaging read, it also encouraged me to think deeply about race and social inequality so I call that a win.