Literally Dead Book Club discussion

for reference, in my paperback edition (352 pages long), page 224 starts wit "Gifford Place OurHood post" right before chapter 15.

what is your final rating?
what was the most memorable scene for you?
do you have a favourite character? did any of their actions impress or surprise you?
how is this book similar to other thrillers you've read?
how does it differ?
what do you think are the building blocks that define a thriller novel?

any final thoughts to share?

Cannot comment on the other parts of this book, because I already started earlier this month and didn't want to stop before the discussion board was created. But I am really struggling to get to the end of the book. I was excited for this book at first, but when I started reading it, it just wasn't it for me. The writing style is throwing me off and how the characters behave and how they think seems made. I cannot really explain it, but I guess it's just not the book for me. I wanted to like it, as the idea for the story seems interesting.

50 more pages to go, maybe the ending can save it.

This book... in the beginning it felt like a romance novel, then it progressed into an intense conspiracy theory plot. I really liked it, I think. I’m torn about the story because I think that the first two-thirds of the book were really believable, but then we went of into illuminati land. I can’t decide if this transition makes the story stronger or weaker, but it was definitely thrilling. I’m looking forward to the live discussion for this one. I think I gave it four stars.

I agree with the comment above. The beginning read like a contemporary romance and honestly I was here for it. But then the last third was so rushed and such a hot mess. I wanted to love this so much but I don’t think the book new what it wanted to be.

That was my main problem with it (the two comments above)
I love a great romance, but it wasn't what I expected, and i couldn't r ally enjoy it cause I was constantly waiting for the more thrillery part to start. I also felt like the end was very rushed, and the action happened all at once, where I would have enjoyed that to be a bit longer.

I agree, I didn’t expect the romance but I actually really liked that element. I loved the characters but feel I was more invested in their relationship than the mystery. I did think that everything seemed to escalate suddenly and thought that some of the actions at the end where somewhat out of character. Overall I enjoyed the story and rated it 4 stars

I agree with everyone here. The first 2/3 felt real with obviously suspicion of something going on, however the last part felt so rushed and the action happened out of the blue. The pacing I think was the downfall of this book. The relationship was great but it got more development.

I think the scenes that stood out was Sydney losing the garden. Then her and Theos confessional with each other. The most emotional scenes that physically hurt. But I ended up giving the book 3.5 stars.

I think many people need to go re-watch Jesse’s video “White Authors Don’t Define What’s Scary” (https://youtu.be/QATXN9SEwDw)

The book was 4-4.5 stars for me and I would highly recommend to anyone and everyone

I honestly was a big fan of the creepy vibe throughout the book and I was pretty satisfied with the ending overall (although it was a little rushed) but I didn't care much for the romance as it felt a little forced.

I was still really intrigued by the story and I enjoyed the book quite a lot.

I was absolutely loving this book until the end. It all felt so rushed. I wouldn’t have liked to have spent more time revealing everything and having it all slowly unfold to really feel the impact of it all. In saying that, would still recommend this book.

Just watched the video you suggested Sheyenne Alexis, thank you for the recommendation. It definitely gave me a lot to think about. I unfortunately didn't enjoy this one, not just because of the elements mentioned in the video, but I'm really glad that a lot of people have enjoyed it. I would definitely be interested to pick up Cole's next book if she does something else in this genre.

I went into this book with kinda low expectations. I had heard that this book wasn't that thrilling until the last third and that the relationship had too strong of a focus. So I was pretty surprised when I ended up really liking this. I think I may appreciate the creepy moments in the first 2/3rds more because I wasn't expecting anything.

I think it's going to be interesting to see who went into this book blind and who had heard some of the criticisms about it beforehand.

Her first “thriller” from writing romance so I’m not judging harshly.
I just think it’s pushing it to call it a Thriller. Mysterious in some places yes.
Interesting about history and buying land/homes.

I can’t say I didn’t enjoy parts of it as I did.

I always stay away from reading reviews if I already want or own the book. I like to go in with as much discovering for myself as I can. Hard at times with hyped books especially.

I was aware though that this was a marmite book. And Thriller, it was not.
I agree with that statement, in the full sense of a thriller THRILLING me it didn’t.

I struggled at the beginning. Hopeful in the middle, then at the end I felt I didn’t know what to call this book, contemporary, literal fiction, mystery, suspense, romance? Historical?
Bit of everything I think.

I liked the way she writes dialogue. I could follow it all pretty well but the plot was very confusing and I had trouble keep picking the book up to read. I was easily distracted.

I liked the mystery, the creepiness in small bursts.

I hope she tries another thriller though, I’d definitely not give up on this author.

I gave it 3***

I loved it so much! 5 star read. I think it did have some issues where I felt like there was a wave towards the shoe dropping and we kind of ebbed back from it. But I was instantly creeped out by the "OurHood" app messages. I read the invite and thought "oh no, this isn't going to be nice is it?" I really liked how we slowly saw the conspiracy form in front of our eyes, because we got hints from the beginning and even if you didn't piece it together, it was easy to follow how we got there. I liked how it was partly a romance in the beginning, but it still took the time to build the background for the reader. I loved the characters and they felt very alive on the page. The ending did go a little off the rails, but it isn't unbelievable if you know some black history (keeping that vague because I dont want to spoil anything for anyone).

I'm confused when people say it isn't a thriller. It reminded me of Rosemary's Baby and that's a well known horror/thriller, and that Riley Sager "Lock Every Door" book that was an extremely popular thriller that shared a lot of elements. Not sure what people are looking for in a thriller that they didn't find it here.

I really enjoyed this book. I think at times it read like non-fiction but I think that’s the point. We have to think about what Cole’s purpose of writing was. This wasn’t primarily for entertainment, but mainly for education. I think we have to remember that the issues posed in this story are real issues. Issues that my city is currently dealing with.

Was it perfectly written? No. This book is a thriller, this is showcasing everyday horrors for Black people. I agree with many of you that the end was a bit rushed. I would have liked to see it develop a little sooner in the book. I rated this 4 stars and I will recommend it to others.

Kim wrote: "I loved it so much! 5 star read. I think it did have some issues where I felt like there was a wave towards the shoe dropping and we kind of ebbed back from it. But I was instantly creeped out by t..."

Kim, the comparison to Riley Sager's "Lock Every Door" is interesting, and actually quite appropriate! Both reveal/ending is rooted in commentary on societal structure (race in Cole's and wealth in Sager's)

I'm also slightly confused at the general comment about this not being 'thriller enough'—it's a slow build and with a slightly more emphasis on protagonist's romantic relationship, but the suspense and tension are both present from the beginning.

what is your final rating?
I gave the book three stars, I liked the writing style but I found the first part too slow and the ending too strange.

what was the most memorable scene for you?
When Sydney tells Theo about her mother, the whole bit of their shared confessions was really good.

do you have a favourite character? did any of their actions impress or surprise you?
I really liked Theo and Sydney. I was glad that the writer didn't decide to make Theo a villain. I also liked Ms Candace, the neighbour, she was great.

how is this book similar to other thrillers you've read?
how does it differ?
what do you think are the building blocks that define a thriller novel?
I don't usually read thrillers, so I cannot say!

any final thoughts to share?
I was really disappointed by the ending! This book got so much hype last year that I had such high hopes, and I thought the whole reveal and the section at the hospital was so bizarre and seemed like it was too much for me.

I know Cole usually writes romances rather than thrillers, but I would definitely be interested to pick up more thrillers she writes in future.

It's a 4 for me.

First I want to say that appreciate that I could read it during black history month. It is interesting how the author can target a thriller audience with black history allowing the important topics covered in the book to reach a wider audience. I learned a lot from reading this, and I believe that is the author's intent. It is refreshing and important to have books like this that can entertain and educate at the same time. The sad and scary thing about this is that this could have been a real-life story- the things that happen in black communities when no one is watching - these things need to be talked about more, and the way the author was able to talk about these topics in a domestic thriller setting is so significant and influential.

As for the plot & characters Theos chapters are so important in terms of addressing white privilege. Sydney is a great main character, however, I don't love Sydney like I think I was meant to, her mental health and trauma were done very well and I cared so much for her in that way so that's not what made her unlikeable to me but I couldn't get a grip on her personality and I felt like she wouldn't be someone I would trust. The twists weren't really twisty you could see it all coming but it doesn't take away from the plot or the message of the book. Also, I get Alyssa cole typically writes romance.. but was the sex scene really necessary??

I loved this book~ My favorite part was all the historical blurbs that were in it like about redlining and gentrification and seeing it from the perspective of the characters who were experiencing it rather than just the documentaries and books that are more outside-looking-in.

I was also surprised people didn't think this was a thriller? I can't speak for bipoc, but as someone who is a minority where I live and who has experienced everything from diet to just straight up racism, things like this and Get Out (my favorite horror movie <3) always creep me out because they're just so close to reality that I could see them happening. Things like what happened in the book have happened in the past (real heavy Tuskegee Experiment vibes) and to think that those in positions of privilege wouldn't (and don't) throw minorities under the bus for their own benefit...

I get that not everything hits for everyone and everyone has different creep factors, but to say this isn't a thriller is kind of weird to me, personally. To me a thriller is something that has a lot of mystery and tension, some form of danger, or perceived danger, around the corner, and a character/characters whose main goal is to find out about the danger and also defeat/escape it.

I gave this 4.75 rounded up to 5 just because the whole "let's all go on an adventure and save everyone!" thing at the end sounded a little corny and like sequel-baiting, lol~ I'm also not a huge fan of sex scenes, but it was only the one and I could kind of ignore that to get to the good stuff~

I love listening to audio books because I can always hit the 3.0 speed whenever there is a sex scene lol.

In the end this is a 4 stars read for me.

I really enjoy the overall story structure, how it slowly builds throughout the first 2/3, then all hell breaks loose in the final act. (The secondary narrative regarding her mother is also deliciously twisted.)

But I agree the section where Sydney and Theo infiltrate the medical facility is 'too easy', with a little too much suspension of disbelief (does it really make sense for the tunnel entry in the bodega to be that simple to uncover? with no security guards throughout this million+ dollar establishment?).

I also like the idea that the neighborhood is already 'in the know', but would be nice to have some odd behaviors happening prior to be revealed in the end as part of this initiative.

A 3 star read for me.

It took me a while to get into the story, but at around 100 pages I was starting to get hooked. Overall, I was sort of disappointed by the ending; but I'm not quite sure what type of ending for this story would have satisfied me. I think Cole really wanted to drive the idea that just because this scenario in this specific location has been "resolved", doesn't mean that its not over/not happening in other places. I feel like the story grew way to large in order to be resolved at the end.

I definitely noticed some foreshadowing used as well; with the mention of the underground tunnels. I figured that this was going to come back into play somehow and it sure did.

However, I felt like the ending was sort of rushed and at the end of the day it didn't even really make sense. This whole scheme involving this company is apparently on a large scale (involving the police, government, banks, etc), so how can you tell me that these two characters just return back to "normal" life? What happened to the neighbourhood and all of its new and old inhabitants? Also what happened to all the test subjects? Did they just burn up in the building with the rest of the people? I feel like there are just way to many loose ends for a standalone book.

Despite the story being a little messy, I do appreciate some of the history that we learnt throughout the novel. I also liked the fact that Cole included references to where she found this information. I will definitely be going back to look at these to learn more :)

My final rating was 4 stars. I loved it. I felt it was a really good thriller from the start. I loved all of the historical information it provided and the social issues that were present throughout.

It is unlike any thriller I have read before. I really liked the fact that Sydney and Theo were observing the neighbourhood from different perspectives. In the future, I would like to read more thriller similar to this one as I felt that I could not stop reading it.

It would have been 5 stars from me if it had not been for the ending, it seemed too quick and maybe a bit too easy. I am was not sure about it. Nonetheless, it was still a fantastic thriller overall. In the future, I will be on the lookout for other thrillers by Alyssa Cole.

I've just finished the book, over all I found gripping. For me, the first half felt slow, but then it seemed to suddenly pick up and I couldn't put it down!

I’m honestly stunned to see so many high ratings! I gave this a 2.5/5.

So I struggle with this book. I want to give it higher than a 3, but this was middle of the road for me. But giving it just a 3 feels too low, so I’m going to go with a 3.5.

Was it a thriller? Absolutely. It was such a slow build that it almost didn’t feel like a thriller at times but there were so many subtle hints of thriller. Especially because until the big bad reveal, I felt like it was leaning towards more psychological thriller than having an actual bad guy.

I absolutely adored all the solid education that Alyssa Cole put into the book. I have began to learn about these things and the book really taught me more about Black people oppression and white privilege. I love that she took a real fear for so many people and took a popular culture spin on it with the Illuminati.

That was so unique and fantastic that I just couldn’t get over how smart it was.

When Sydney found Drea, my heart dropped. That whole scene just hurt so much. But then I’m really confused what happened to her.

Here’s where I really struggled. As many others have already said, the last part felt so rushed. I was frustrated because she definitely went full there and I liked that, but she spent so much time slowly building in the beginning and piecing things together, I wanted better guild

It felt like, “oh here’s this underground tunnel that’s been mentioned...” and then her writing felt like shit literally hit the fan. It wasn’t that it was too weird, it was that it was so rushed I couldn’t really tell what was going on and I was left with far more questions than answers.

Then the ending felt like it was all tied up with a little bow and boom. The end. Happily Ever After, which doesn’t feel realistic to the story.

I also just didn’t enjoy the romance. Theo was kind of a creep and it felt strange that Sydney went from her jerk of an Ex to this guy that pretty much sucked. I liked the element that he was a liar, but I didn’t like him.

There were just far too many unanswered questions and holes in the plot that really irritate me, so I am giving it 3.5, which is higher than I should give it, but the beginning build in writing real fears and the education value bumps it up.

I do want to read more by this author so I’m glad I got a chance to read it.

I'm almost done and so far I'm not really impressed! It seems to be that the only parts I'm interested in are when something spooky is happening or when someone is arguing with someone else. Other than that, I'm a little bored. If I didn't have the audiobook, It would probably take me a while to finish the book.

This book was a wild ride for me. I wanted to give it a 4.5 up until the end. But I disliked the ending so much, that I gave it 3 stars.

I really liked the first 2/3 of the book. Even though it sometimes stressed me out so much, that I had to put it down. It just built such a claustrophobic feeling for me, while the walls of racism and hatred were closing in on Sydney. Especially the scene, where she is losing the garden, was painful to read.

I also liked to see some scenes from the POV of Sydney and Theo.

But the ending... oh man... for me it was just a mess. It was all a massiv conspiracy... they storm into the evil HQ and shoot the villains down... than the building is burnt down and everything is fine. so they can continue on to save the World...

One small detail, that bothered me: the neigbours were the ones, who dug Sydneys mother up... Because they look after each other... But why did no one talk to Sydney about it, when it was clear that she was suffering?

But it was a really interesting, terrifying and depressing topic to read about. And I really appreciated all the Information, we were given.

I can really tell the author has written romance in the past! As much as I wanted to like this book because I liked the writing style, I just couldn’t. The Illuminati stuff was just too much for me.

it was a 4 for me. Would have been a 5 but the ending felt rushed. I haven't watched the video Sheyenne shared, but from the title I'm guessing I'd agree with the content. I don't understand people saying this wasn't a thriller. I was filled with dread from early on in the book and couldn't put it down.

1) I finished a couple days ago, but needed time to decide my rating. I’m going with ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. It was just okay for me!

2) The most memorable scene to me was when Kavanaugh attacked Theo and while yelling for his Mommy; I found that very creepy and unsettling. The sex scene was also very spicy, lol.

3) Favourite character was Theo. He had made mistakes in the past, but tried his best to make up for them and grew a lot throughout the book. His loyalty to Sydney really impressed me.

4) I read a comment that compared this thriller to Lock Every Door, and I’d agree that they have similar storylines with people disappearing. It’s different than the thrillers I typically read since it deals with heavy, important topics. I feel like I pick up more “popcorn thrillers.”

5) For me, I define a thriller as a book that’s fast paced, keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat. A lot of thrillers are also more plot vs. Character driven.

Overall, I liked but didn’t love this one. I did enjoy the writing style though, and would be interested in reading Cole’s romance novels.

what is your final rating?
3.5
what was the most memorable scene for you?
The encounter that Sydney had with the "uber" driver (one of my irrational fears is being trapped and kidnapped by an uber/taxi driver. Irrational because i never take ubers or taxis ahah)
-Theo witnessing Mr Perkins' capture (which he never mentions again??)
- Sydney revealing the truth about her mother to Theo
do you have a favourite character? did any of their actions impress or surprise you?
- My favourite character was Mr Perkins, i was really invested in his character from the beginning just because of how nice and neighbourly he was and how important those figures in a community can be now that we have that less and less now that the housing market is what it is with high rise flats etc. I also really liked Ms Candace and wasn't sure why Sydney tried to avoid her so much.
how is this book similar to other thrillers you've read?
I do tend to like thrillers seeped in reality. That's what makes them feel even more creepy and ominous for me. I'd agree with other comments about Riley Sager books. His novels also have that contemporary feel to them.
how does it differ?
I liked how this book had a lot of emphasis on social injustice issues and how those were the building blocks to the mystery/plot. It was perhaps the most relevant and timely thriller i've ever read.
what do you think are the building blocks that define a thriller novel?
I don't need a thriller to have horror elements in order to scare me for it to be entertaining or engrossing. The fact that this book was so contemporary made it even more eerie and ominous because these are things that are already happening in a lot of communities and boroughs of London in my close proximity. Yes Cole amped up the action in the last section (this is still a fiction novel) but no one can say that it is unrealistic that gentrification, the government, real estate and the police don't go hand in hand. People can no longer afford to buy their own homes in the areas they grew up in because of the exponential rise in house prices causing many communities to disperse over time and formally low priced, neglected areas and therefore home to lower-income families being re-developed to be more desirable and therefore more expensive to live in, pushing those people out. This isn't happening naturally, this is all making those few people at the top a lot of money!
Whilst the last part of the book wasn't my favourite because of how it turned into an action film that was rushed and left a lot of my questions unanswered, the first 2/3 were very thrilling and eerie for me and so i enjoyed it a lot!

I both loved and hated every minute of this book. For those that were saying that this book didn't thrill them, I wholeheartedly disagree. I was tense the entire time I was reading.There are a few standout moments: the moment drea's body is found, the moment Sydney confesses to burying her mother in the garden, the moment they're about to start experimenting on Sydney and Theo but they end up getting rescued. An emotional rollercoaster (which makes the ideal thriller imo)!
4.5 stars.

I think this is the first book I've read with seemingly all powerful conspiracy being combatted, which I really enjoyed. I understand a bit why people don't like thrillers without out more obvious scary elements. But honestly some of the books that terrified me the most have had similar elements to this, and left me uncomfortable because there was no way for the conspirators to be combatted. Most of those books have been mystery or horror novels where the conspiracy was less the focal point of the story, and having the conspiracy addressed head on was a breath of fresh air.

I think this is going to be a 4 star for me. This was a good book. I went into this, having watched the above mentioned video by bowties and books and think that it led me to think more about what "thriller" means for people, but I don't know that I needed their insight (though welcomed) to think of this book as a thriller.

In movies and books I always like some social commentary thrown into it. This book reminded me a lot of Get Out by Jordan Peele (movie) and the Riley Sager book mentioned above. The ending did wrap up a little to quickly, and I may have liked to see more of what happened "after" everything happened, making it not "perfect" for me, but I really was caught up in the whole book and everything that happened.

I liked how the book led me to distrust Theo, even though I knew that it wasn't who Kim was texting. Sydney is a great character.

As a thriller it was pretty disappointing. But as a fiction book with mystery vibes it was actually really good. I watched a movie that had a similar plot (POC living in the Bronx and evil vampire realtors buying all the houses in the neighborhood), so I was really happy when the realtors actually were evil "monsters". I thought the writing was enjoyable and the characters were great as well. The blurb didn't sound like a thriller and it didn't sound like a book I would normally pick up but I'm glad I gave it a chance and read it. I would recommend it to other people but not as a thriller.

Honestly with how slow burn this is I was expecting a little more of a payoff in terms of gore or horror, or a twist to what was going on. But I do have to say, when Fitzroy came in and I found out what Gracie did, I may have done a “Steve holt” fist pump, and woke up my sleeping husband 😅 I WANT A BOOK ABOUT GRACIE I LOVE HER.
Different topic, I saw that in interviews, Cole was originally going to make Theo black, and I gotta say, I’m glad she chose to make him white. Not because I had someone to project onto, or to have a “white man saves the day” aspect, but because someone was learning alongside me. He faltered, he wasn’t perfect, and I did not want him to be. I needed him to mess up the way most people do when they try to show they care. It’s a safe way for the reader to lean from his mistakes, and understand WHY they are mistakes. Also Sydney explaining things to him makes for natural exposition.

I just watched the video by “Bow ties and books” about POV horror and thrillers, and I figured out why I didn’t think parts that were written to be scary weren’t to me, but for me it wasn’t because they weren’t scary, but my anger of the injustice Sydney was facing swallowed any fear I had. Thrillers bring out a fight or flight response, and I now know mine is fight. I wasn’t scared when Kim threatened to call the cops on Sydney, I wanted to punch Kim in crotch until she became a better person. I wasn’t scared when Preston was framed by police, I was furious for him. But I grew up where my anger isn’t a threat to anyone. If a black person were to show that emotion, they would get arrested at best and killed at worst. Just the knowledge that this stuff happens everyday and so many people (me included) either are blind to it, or realized that it is so ingrained into society that we are powerless to change it is frustrating and infuriating.

For most of the book I did not like it. But the last 100 pages really drew me in. I was ready to give this book 1 star but I have not brought it up to 3.5! I feel this is low because of the ending, but due to it being so slow I can’t give it any higher. I loved the scene where Sydney found all the messages and thought it was between Theo and Kim. I felt this story was kind of predictable but also did have some shocking scenes. For example when we found out her mom was in the garden. I did end up enjoying the last few chapters of the book but would not read it again! Glad to have been able to participate in my first book in this book club!

What is your final rating? I ended up giving this 4.5/5 stars. I honestly think that it could have been 5 stars, but I felt that the ending was rushed and could have been drawn out more. In saying that, I really enjoyed this book a lot!

What was the most memorable scene for you? The most memorable scene was the scene when Sydney went to talk with the cops and the new "owner" of the garden. It was so intense and I really felt for Sydney in that scene.

Do you have a favourite character? Sydney was my favorite character, though I also really liked Miss Candace and her group of friends (who ended up saving the day)!

Did any of their actions impress or surprise you? I did not see that ending coming at all!

How is this book similar to other thrillers you've read? I honestly felt that in the end, this book was more horror than thriller and it was pretty unlike anything I have ever read.

I ended up rating this 2.5 stars. I'm super disappointed that I didn't enjoy this one more.

My favorite character was Mr. Perkins, so I'm sad that he wasn't really included much in the second half of the book. Can't say that I have a favorite scene, honestly.

It definitely felt more like a thriller once I got to the last third, but the ending was super rushed and unrealistic.

I do find it funny that there are a few comparisons between this and Lock Every Door mentioned in the comments. I also rated Lock Every Door 2.5 stars, and it's my least favorite Riley Sager book. My reasoning for the rating is completely different from why I rated When No One Is Watching 2.5 stars, though.

2.5⭐️ it was an entertaining read for sure! In the first 100 pages I was really struggling with it, nothing was really happening and I was honestly a bit bored...
Then it got really intriguing, the whole disappearing neighbors, the "Drea is typing..." thing was making me feel really freaked out, the way Sydney seemed to be growing more and more paranoid and losing her grip a little bit. Every time she mentioned her mom, it got more and more suspicious and you could definitely see there was a lot of guilt there so I was curious.
And then the last few chapters came and it was just absolute nonsense... One thing would be that there was indeed foul play with the disappearances but in shady ways, not full-on kidnapping and human testing... I think it would have been a more exciting ending if, instead of this Illuminati shit, we got just corrupt rich people.

My favorite characters were probably Mr. Perkins (sorry he was adorable), Theo, and the elders from the day center. They were so bloody hilarious and there was a badass old lady poisoning her husbands and the bad guys, I'm obsessed!

Overall an interesting premise, with very important topics but it just got too bizarre for me.

I gave it 5stars! read this book from 6Feb - 12Feb. It was a qiuick paced read for me & I truly enjoyed reading it.

I did enjoy the 2 narrators & think that they balanced each other out well. I did not expect for them both to become unreliable narrators! That was an exciting development as was the unpacking of their actual lives vs. what the other person expected/what the reader expected.

I really enjoyed the Grifford Place OurHood posts, I think they gave extra insight in what was happening overall & towards the end also added to the wild situation.

I did predict that the 2 narrators would get together, that the gentrification was more sinister than it seemed, that her mom had died, and that there was some kind of experimentation going on.

I was surprised by alot of the developments & by how the plot points came out!

My most memorable scenes were: the garden take over/confrontation, when she found her friend in the hidden staircase, and the chapters when they interrupt the meeting & discover the victims of experimentation.

My favorite characters were: Sydney, Theo, Mr Perkis, & the elderly day care neighbors.


My critics would be that the romance was a bit too emphasized & that the ending felt a bit rushed. I also wish she would've explained more of that illuminati/rich people company that was gentrifying/experimenting on people. Maybe in a sequel she will discuss what happened on the inside or what happened after these events in the other cities...

It is very different from other thrillers i've read. I can't think of a "perfect" comparison but I can think of 2 thriller/horrors I read last year that have some correlations. Catherine house for the narrator's confusion, unreliability, BIPOC narrator in a evolving environment, & experimentation aspect. Home Before Dark for the narrator's confusion, an unexpected twist at the ending, a multimedia format of sorts between some chapters, and an unreliable narrator to an extent.
I'm excited to see the liveshow & hear what other books folks recommend.

I think the building blocks for a thriller are: a mysterious premise that has action in it. To me, this book was more horror especially when it turned into medical horror/abduction etc.

As a BIPOC reader, I found alot of elements to be more horror than thriller. I have relatives who have lived in Brooklyn & NYC for decades so I found so much of this to hit home. It was hard to read some of the scenes as I imagined something like this happening to relatives, although hopefully never so horribly. It also was so clearly Horror to me that I can't fathom not finding it to be in the horror genre with thriller as a secondary or subgenre.

I am going with a 3 star rating. It read kind of slow for me but I still enjoyed it.

I read this in one day so forgive me if my thoughts are a bit jumbled together. But its at least a 4 star read for me.

I really enjoyed this book, as much as I could enjoy a book that left me in a constant state of anxiety and dread. I can appreciate why some people don't think this book felt like a thriller, but I can't help but see it as a psychological thriller. The constant pressure and weight of terror and dread, knowing that something very wrong was happening but not being able to figure out exactly how it was all connected. As anxious as it made me, I felt the slow build up to the reveal of everything felt cathartic in a way, like finally I could see the puzzle I'd been putting together in the dark the entire book.

The ending. Maybe it was a little rushed or felt incomplete to some, but it sort of had to feel that way. They were rushed because they were piecing it together as people (cops) were literally storming the street to forcibly remove the people who lived there. And the scenes in the tunnels / medical center, again they sort of had to be quick because you don't have that time there. As for the ending, it was exactly what needed to happen because there isn't any help coming for the people living in Gifford Place. There were too many people in on it and they could really only take care of their own and shut down what was happening to them. Maybe they can offer support to other people in other cities this is happening to, but what else can they do? There's so many people in on it and to me, that was incredibly believable. The amount of things people try to do (or actually do) when they think or know they won't be caught knows no bounds.

The scene that sticks out for me the most is when Sydney finally goes into Drea's room after hearing things and starts to panic at the bed bugs, the receipt, the missing air conditioner. (I did figure that Kim had taken it since Theo pointed out she had two air conditioners.) But there were so many scenes that were similar in tone and feel, that I could have chosen many of them.

Overall, I really liked this book and would to see what else Alyssa Cole could do within this genre.