Someone is Always Watching

“Do you want to do something bad?” That was the question that started Blythe and Tucker’s seemingly impenetrable friendship all those years ago. On the surface, the two could not be more different—the rule-following, boring Blythe, and the rebellious, fun Tucker. But with Tucker’s sister, Tanya, and their other friends, Gabi and Devon, they formed a tight-knit group that was always there for one another.

Now, at age 17, the landscape of Blythe and Tucker’s friendship has changed significantly as an act of violence at Tucker’s hands causes Blythe’s family to restrict her from spending time with him.

Then strange things begin to happen around the school the friends attend and in the larger community, including terrifying nightmares, violent events, and missing memories. Gabi becomes increasingly paranoid about the security cameras at the school, and her behaviour becomes more and more erratic. Things spiral out of control when Gabi, with no recollection of what happened, is found with blood on her hands near the dead body of their principal,.

Fissures form in the once-unbreakable friendships, and deep-rooted secrets begin to emerge. Blythe does not know whom to trust as she searches for the truth behind the strange occurrences of late. To make matters even more confusing, the adults in the friends’ lives seem to know things they aren’t telling. Blythe wonders if she can even trust her own experiences and memories as she searches for the truth in order to help her friend Gabi.

Someone is Always Watching is author Kelley Armstrong’s latest offering for Tundra Books. This is Armstrong’s fourth young adult thriller, following The Masked Truth, Missing, and Aftermath. Armstrong is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and has written numerous series and standalone books for middle-grade students, teens, and adults. After obtaining a degree in psychology from the University of Western Ontario, she switched to pursuing computer programming in order to have time to write her novels before beginning writing full time in 2002. With her husband, children, and pets, Armstrong lives and writes in rural Ontario.

In this novel, Armstrong has created a diverse and unique cast of characters. Readers are likely to connect with and root for at least one character in the book. The characters are not without flaws, but this is what makes them realistic and relatable. The author has written three strong female characters in Blythe, Gabi, and Tanya. From the beginning of Someone is Always Watching, Gabi and Tanya are shown as independent young women who stand up for what is right, regardless of how they may be viewed or what the consequences may be. As for Blythe, she views herself as “boring”, not as strong or adventurous as her friends, always playing it safe. She self-describes as rule-following-– the tone accompanying said description is sure to be identified as negative by readers, demonstrating Blythe’s view of herself. As the text progresses, readers will follow Blythe’s character development and realize, along with Blythe, herself, that she is much stronger than she thinks she is. The overall message demonstrated through this progression is that we are all capable of much more than what our self-limiting beliefs tell us.

The text takes readers on a wild ride of psychological uncertainty. As the characters are wondering what is real, what is fiction, and whether they can trust each other and their memories, readers are likely to feel the same way. Armstrong explores interesting psychological concepts, such as manipulation and gaslighting, as well as the precariousness of memories and the idea of both implanted, false memories and recovered memories. The manner in which the author demonstrates Blythe and her friends’ feelings about and reactions to their ever-changing realities serves as an examination of how identity is formed as a result of human experience and how that can be impacted by one’s memories being thrown into question.

Someone is Always Watching is a well-crafted, high-quality work of psychological fiction by bestselling author Kelley Armstrong. The book delves into some serious and relevant topics for those in the target audience, including friendship, psychological manipulation, memory, identity, family, trust, secrets, loyalty, truth and lies. This fast-paced, edgy, and suspenseful thriller includes interesting and realistic characters, and the plot contains many twists and turns that are apt to leave readers guessing until the very end. Readers are likely to relate to and root for the strong female protagonist. For these reasons, this book is anticipated to be a well-loved addition to any library or bookshelf.