- When No One is Watching

 When No One is Watching

by Alyssa Cole

Sydney return home after her divorce only to find out her beloved neighborhood in 

Brooklyn is going through several changes and gentrification. 

Her neighbors are moving out of their houses without any goodbyes or notice. It seems like they move out at the same time that white families move in.

She is planning to host a walking tour of the neighborhood in the next block party. With the help of Theo, she is doing some research to prepare for the tour.

 While doing their research about the neighborhood they uncover some disturbing and terrifying information that they can hardly understand.

I must admit that this was one of the most uncomfortable and heartbreaking books I have ever read. The first half of the book is about racism and gentrification. A captivating look into our real-life problems. Problems that exist and no one care to do anything about it.

I appreciate Alyssa Cole for the amount of time and research she dedicated to writing the 75% part of this book. after reading it, I was so touched by the story that I had to research Brooklyn Gentrification history myself.

As for the thriller part of the book, which was the last 15% of the book, it was not for me. I could not connect with the thriller part of the story. My rating for this section of the book will be 3.

Overall, I found this a very well-written story, for the first 75% of the book I connected with the characters, and the details were vividly explained. I could easily imagine the neighborhood layout.

It is a sinister and thought-provoking story that I recommend others to read it. I would choose Historical fiction as the genre not a thriller though.

Have you ever read a book that is not the genre that you expected? How do you rate books like this?