Alyssa Cole | WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING

Plot (via Goodreads):

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? 

Review:

Phew. I think I have a new favorite fictional character and her name is SYDNEY GREEN! This book was all sorts of messed up, eerie, and bewitching - combine that with some of the best characters who are often laugh-out-loud funny and an ending that was a major show-stopper? Ladies and gentlemen, we have one hell of a winner on our hands. Alyssa Cole's writing is sharp, witty, and very well detailed. You could feel the heat come off the sidewalks, smell the air, and feel the tension page after page. Right from the first chapter, I was hooked and I fought long and hard to avoid everything I could to finish this one. 

I would consider this to be a thriller noir with a Hitchcockian vibe to it. It's not overly fast-paced, not violent, but still chilling and eerie. I love the Get Out comparisons and feel like this could be in an anthology along with that movie because the vibes are similar and yet Alyssa Cole and this story and stand well on her own. I loved the plot and the characters to this one and I can't even begin to express how much I loved this story. My advice? Go in blindly. This is the perfect novel to get lost in. It is timely, creepy, and the writing is hypnotic and immersive. 

Special thanks to William Morrow for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5