Review: When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

Overview:

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

When No One Is Watching has been on my list for a while now, and I’m glad I finally got to it before the year was over. Overall, I enjoyed the deeper themes explored by the author in this one, but I thought the development of the characters and the pacing was a bit off.

Content Warning:

When No One is Watching contains profanity, gore, sexual content, racism, classism, gun violence, police brutality, gentrification, and references to mental illness.

Book Description:

When No One is Watching is marketed as a contemporary psychological thriller that takes place in Gifford, a Brooklyn neighborhood that is quickly becoming victim to gentrification. Sydney, having recently returned home after a rough divorce to care for her sick mother, wants to protect her home and her friends. Theo, a man with a dark past, is an outsider looking for a fresh start. After an awkward meeting, both characters commit to creating a walking tour of the neighborhood that celebrates its black history and highlights the harm caused by colonization and white supremacy. Their research unearths something far more gruesome than they were expecting, however. As neighbors begin disappearing, they learn that the “revitalization” promised by big businesses is far more malevolent than anyone anticipated.

On the Larger Themes of the Book:

When No One is Watching juxtaposes a culture of collective care and mutual aid with one that is ruled by white supremacy and individualism. On one hand, readers are exposed to the potential of a world in which neighbors build community gardens and care for the elderly together. On the other hand, we are forced to face an all too common reality in which profits come before community well-being and whiteness is wielded as a weapon to benefit the few. This stark contrast of the two cultures, demonstrated through Cole’s depiction of everyday interactions and individual decisions, invites the reader to explore how their handling of community relationships either perpetuate harm or foster well-being.

On the Characters’ Believability [Spoilers]:

Both of the characters in this novel, Sydney and Theo, have big reveals that are central to their personalities and their roles in the plot, but only Sydney’s is believable. Throughout the text, Cole hints at the fact that something is wrong with Sydney’s mom: Sydney gets immensely sad and anxious when people ask about her, she never picks up the phone when Sydney calls, and there are no scenes with her actively in them. Thus, when it’s revealed that she’s dead, shocking as it is, it’s also convincing. Theo’s disclosure of being a former mafia member, however? TOTALLY OUT OF NOWHERE. Maybe there were a few times in his narration where it was mentioned that he had gotten into work trouble, but nothing before this reveal ever suggested that he was so heavily involved in violence and crime. Such additional knowledge so late in the book was hard for me to reconcile with the character that I had developed in my head.

On the Pacing:

I’m no expert in the thriller genre; I typically pick them up in between books with heavy world-building or character development as a more passive read. Still, I don’t think this book follows the typical flow and pace of most thrillers. According to the Thriller (genre) Wikipedia article, the genre is marked “by the moods [it] elicit[s], giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety.” When No One is Watching begins as an adult fiction that follows the lives of two people who are experiencing the opposite ends of gentrification. While the first two-thirds of the story are interesting, the actual introduction of thriller conventions such as crime, suspense, and clue finding don’t actually occur until the last 100 pages or so of the book. Consequently, I didn’t feel that steady building of anxiety and excitement that I was expecting to have leading up to the end of the novel. Additionally, because the plot was mostly developed and resolved in the final pages of the book, it felt rushed and unsatisfying.