When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole -> Restarting February 2nd, 2022

[Alaina]

The gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning…

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?

[Kelly]

Ch 5 - (view spoiler)[ Omg, can I punch this racist ? (His ex-girlfriend needs to stop and he needs to get rid of her) (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

Ch 20 - (view spoiler)[Woo the romance is happening. (hide spoiler)]
Ch 25 - (view spoiler)[The beginning hooked me and I was curious but right now, I'm kind of bored to be honest, I have a hard time focusing on the audio. (hide spoiler)]
Finished - (view spoiler)[They made it out alive. yay. Too bad this book kind of lost me after a while. I liked the premise and idea behind it though. (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

5 chapters

(view spoiler)[ Yeah, that group of neighbors are absolutely awful

so far I love the MC - I think she's hilarious and I like how cautious she is. I'm kind of excited to read about the history of her neighborhood (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

10 chapters
(view spoiler)[ so it's good so far, and I'm liking it okay
but.....I'm not finding much of a suspense/mystery type story. it sounds like we might finally have our first bit of mystery
but this is much slower of a story (and a lot more about social aspects of being neighbors) than a mystery type story.... (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

15 chapters (view spoiler)[ So I thought her mom might be gone...but I didn't think she was in the garden!? OMG

this isn't much of a thriller/mystery. I know two people, I assume, are missing - but I assume it's the bad white people in the neighborhood...like maybe Kim? (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

and I'm done

I completely agree with your 2 star rating(view spoiler)[ this was not a good mystery. It took almost the whole book for it to finally be a mystery. Otherwise, this was just you getting to know the neighborhood and the 2 characters - and the history of the neighborhood. It jumped huge when it went to some mass conspiracy. Meh, not a fan of this one (hide spoiler)]

[Trisha]

Kelly wrote: "Ch 25 - [spoilers removed]
Finished - [spoilers removed]"

YES!(view spoiler)[ Once I hit probably 15 chapters, over 150 pages in and there wasn't actually a mystery other than wondering where a few neighbors were, I was just bored. And sure, they finally hook up but I was thinking this was a full on mystery story
the mystery is really only the last few chapters as you realize the couple arrives with the dog (the old neighbor's dog) and then she finds her friend after they kill that guy. THAT'S when you really know that crap hit the fan. lol (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

Trisha wrote: "Kelly wrote: "Ch 25 - [spoilers removed]
Finished - [spoilers removed]"

YES! Once I hit probably 15 chapters, over 150 pages in and there wasn't actually a mystery other than wondering where a few..."

I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling this way about the mystery ^^ When I saw the author's name I thought there might be a romance in it and there was even though I wasn't really invested in it.

[Marissa]

Prologue - Chapter 5 (view spoiler)[
Wow, Kim is a jerk. If she was going to constantly complain about her neighborhood and surroundings then why did she even move there?? Theo needs to back right away from Kim and get some space from his toxic girlfriend. I also feel bad for their neighbors for having to put up with Kim's attitude and racism. Josie and Terry can also get out. (hide spoiler)]

[Marissa]

Chapters 6-11 (view spoiler)[
Wake up Theo! Clearly Kim put something in that Riesling since she said you could have it and then you got extremely drunk. Anyway, something is definitely off. I have been getting some weird vibes in the last couple of chapters. (hide spoiler)]
Chapters 12-17 (view spoiler)[
I can't put this book down! There is definitely something dark and shady going on. I really hope that nothing bad has happened to Mr. Perkins and Drea. They aren't dead, right?! I also am wondering where Sydney's mom's body is… (hide spoiler)]
Chapters 18-Epilogue (view spoiler)[
Wait, what? How did Drea die?? I was really hoping she was just held prisoner or paid or something, but the fact that she was right there hidden all along… Anyway, this whole thing went a bit wild all of the sudden at the end. I still enjoyed the story, though. I liked Sydney as one of the MCs, and I am also glad that Theo didn't turn out to be a bad guy. (hide spoiler)]

[Aly]

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RESTARTING FEBRUARY 2ND 2022

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[Isabel]

Thank you for the thread !

[Isabel]

Chapter 7

up until now, i don't like either Sydney, nor Theo. (view spoiler)[ both are very prejudiced and neither of them works to better themselves or their relationships. theo is fully enabling a racist and Sydney is judging every white person to be a hell of a racist but makes a special exception for Theo because he's hot? makes no sense to me. they also seem so two-dimensional (hide spoiler)]

[Isabel]

Chapter 10 (view spoiler)[ Okay, so I think I'll sie on this hill but both Sydney and Theo suck to me. She seems incredibly fixated on her past neighbourhood - like, really unreceptive to any change - and Theo prioritises the possibility of getting her ass over anything, which doesn't make me invested at all. I'm liking the tour aspect and the neighbourhood's backstory, as well as the contextualisation about gentrification. (hide spoiler)]

[Isabel]

Finished

the last third of the book was ridiculous. i don't like either Sydney, nor Theo. (view spoiler)[ Sydney is incredibly self-centered and the white people are racist caricatures. (hide spoiler)]