Alyssa Cole
About the Book
Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but the neighborhood she’s always called home is changing faster than she can keep up. Condos are popping up, longtime neighbors are disappearing, and the history of her community seems to be getting erased right along with them. Determined to preserve what’s being lost, Sydney begins researching the neighborhood with Theo, one of the block’s newest residents. But the deeper they dig, the more they realize there may be something much more sinister behind all that “revitalization.” When No One’s Watching is a gripping, layered thriller that explores gentrification, race, community, history, and the unsettling reality of watching the place you call home become unrecognizable.
Genre: Thriller / Mystery 🔎
Spice Level: 🌶🌶
About the Writer
Alyssa Cole is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author known for writing across romance, mystery, suspense, historical fiction, and thrillers. Her debut thriller, When No One’s Watching, won the 2021 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original and the Strand Critics Award for Best Debut. From royal romances to stories rooted in history and social commentary, Cole’s work moves across genres while centering layered characters, sharp storytelling, and the worlds they inhabit. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found watching anime or spending time with her pets.
Our Review
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole was the perfect spicy psychological thriller, seamlessly weaving in sociopolitical commentary without ever drowning us in preachy messaging. Cole managed to create a story that was suspenseful, unsettling, and deeply human, while holding a mirror up to the very real consequences of gentrification and the erasure of Black communities.
What I particularly loved was the grace given to Sydney as a flawed Black woman. She was allowed to be complicated, messy, vulnerable, and, at times, her own worst enemy without being shamed for it. There was accountability, but there was also compassion, particularly in her relationship with Theo. Watching Theo navigate what it means to be an ally while still being allowed his own human flaws, frustrations, and reactions was equally refreshing. Neither character was required to be perfect to be worthy of understanding, connection, or love.
At its core, this book beautifully articulated just how terrifying gentrification can be for people whose families have called a neighborhood home for generations. These communities are more than buildings and streets. They are safe spaces, cultural anchors, and places of belonging built in a world that so often refuses to reflect or protect the people who inhabit them. Cole captured the weight of that loss while making the everyday microaggressions, quiet dismissals, and psychological toll of displacement feel incredibly tangible.
Sydney's increasingly fragile psychological state only heightened that experience. Between the gaslighting she endured in her marriage, the weight of her personal struggles, and the unsettling changes happening around her, maintaining any sense of normalcy felt nearly impossible. And yet, what continued to ground her was community.
That, to me, was the true heart of this story. Community.
The full-circle moment of the community ultimately saving the day, rather than placing the burden of heroism on one woman, was such a beautiful and intentional ending. It reminded us that survival, resistance, and healing are rarely individual acts. There was something especially moving about the role of the elders, whose wisdom, protection, and quiet presence held Sydney even when their contributions weren't always visible or celebrated.
Ultimately, When No One Is Watching was more than a gripping thriller. It was a love letter to the communities that raise us, the elders who protect us, and the collective power of people refusing to let their histories be erased. A reminder that sometimes the very thing that saves us is the community we've had around us all along.
📌 Discussion Prompts
Prompt 1
Gentrification: Progress for Whom?
As Sydney watches her Brooklyn neighborhood transform, we see how gentrification is about so much more than new businesses and rising property values. It's about community, culture, and who gets to call a place home. When does neighborhood development become displacement? And who gets to decide what progress looks like, especially when the people who built a community can no longer afford to live in it?
Prompt 2
Black Women, Stress & Being Believed
Throughout the novel, Sydney's concerns are often dismissed, leaving her questioning her own reality. How often are Black women's experiences minimized or attributed to emotional instability rather than taken seriously? What does the constant pressure to remain vigilant, resilient, and composed do to our mental health? And what does genuine support look like?
Prompt 3
History Is Never Really History
As Sydney researches the history of her neighborhood, she begins to uncover unsettling connections between the past and present. How does our understanding of history change when we consider whose stories have been preserved and whose have been erased? And what responsibility do we have to protect the cultural history of our communities as they evolve?
Prompt 4
The People We Trust & the Things We Overlook
Between Sydney, Theo, and their increasingly suspicious neighbors, When No One's Watching keeps us questioning everyone's intentions. How much of trust is based on what someone actually shows us versus what we want to believe about them? And when our instincts tell us something isn't right, how do we distinguish between fear, intuition, and the very real experiences that have taught us to be cautious?
