I’m not usually a person who likes to read any kind of creepy things at all, because I will literally have nightmares for weeks. That is to say I’m a huge chicken. Though this book had some creepy moments, I was (thank goodness) able to survive it!

Brief Summary: When No One is Watching follows Sydney, a girl who was born and raised in a historically Black neighborhood in Brooklyn. As time goes on, and Sydney grows up, she notices that her neighborhood seems to change every time a for sale sign goes up on one of the houses. This clever tale spins gentrification into the new monster, and makes us stare society’s evils down head on.

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This book was written so well I was astonished the entire time. I loved how the author managed to make gentrification into the truest evil here. Honestly, I love when books make something we know to be bad into the monster. It’s always so clever and it makes a huge statement. It didn’t slip past me that even though there was a villain in here, the entire time I was tense because of racism and gentrification. It really made you look at the terrible harm that racism and gentrification causes communities.

My favorite part about this story was how the neighborhood took on a life of it’s own. It was a living, breathing, beautiful historically Black neighborhood, and you could feel the energy. But more so, you could feel the energy being leeched away. The underbelly of gentrification felt like a parasite that was slowly sucking the life out of the neighborhood, little by little. Even more pronounced by the tunnels (you’ll see), it was literally like the parasite of gentrification was putting in a choke hold the living organism that was the neighborhood. It was honestly beautiful. This may not be a paranormal / science fiction / supernatural story, but it really felt like there was a legitimate monster because of it. It was really cool, to say the least.

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I thought an incredibly strategic, but not overwhelming piece of the story was that Sydney finds comfort in directing her time and effort in a historical tour of the neighborhood. Alyssa Cole uses this to inform us and educate us about the history of Brooklyn and New York without being overwhelming. It was a way to tie in legitimate history facts without having to shield it in a veil of fiction, where the reader is forced to not understand completely what is fictionalized and what is a hard fact. Because Sydney was interested in doing a tour of the neighborhood and had to research it, we were able to get real historical facts directly into the narrative seamlessly. It was perfect!

When No One is Watching is a thrilling mystery novel that makes you question who the real monster is. The entire setting is so immersive that it feels alive. The writing was wonderful, and it was really informative in the best way. A wonderful story by Alyssa Cole!

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