Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

15 reviews

disguisedposer's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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emilyvictoria_'s review

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I enjoyed the book’s unique format of documents which makes it easy to read, digestible, and addictive. It is also interesting in relation the crime/mystery genre, as I found myself trying to piece the evidence together myself. The only issue with this is at some points it felt forced and unrealistic, like recording conversations that would not be relevant, very direct texts and convenient messages that explained everything, not to mention

the play script which for me felt a little too easy and convenient, though I can see why it was included and it did tie things together and make the events make sense as a reader

. I think this format also makes us feel like we are quite distanced from the protagonist and whilst we want to know what happens we are not rooting for her - she isn’t likeable and comes across as very selfish - and she regularly lies to other people and hides things from us as readers, however

considering what we later find out I think this can be somewhat justified

. We also don’t get much impression of her personal feelings which adds to this and makes her hard to identify with, so whilst i did become very invested in the case I wasn’t invested in her character, I did, however love Ellie, she was such a real and comforting character that I genuinely liked and hoped for more from her (

which we did get!

). I quite liked the casual and conversational tone of the book in conversations or text exchanges, it made it very easy to follow and keep reading.

Also, although it was a little slow and repetitive at the beginning (a lot of trying to contact people and getting nowhere), taking a while for things to get going, once it did i found it quite captivating and I suppose this makes her investigation more realistic. In terms of the ending,

I kind of loved the revenge plot - especially since Oliver became more and more annoying - and how Ellie used this for her book (iconic from her). I think it came to a close really nicely and conclusively, it was satisfying to close and I wasn’t left with any questions or uncertainties.

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tspice24's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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agathajanemaud1908's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Anything by Janice Hallett is a winner for me!

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darlab86's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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mels_reading_log's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is like a season of the Podcast Serial mixed with a Sherlock Holmes novel. I’ve never read anything like it and I was engrossed from the first page. Instead of telling a story in a normal, linear way, you are presented with all of the evidence (emails, articles, text messages…) and it is left to you to figure out what to do with it. Highly recommend for anyone who is a fellow true crime junkie!

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lautodd_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Wild. Fire. Disturbing, but couldn’t put it down.

A story about a famous true crime novelist— persistent and doggedly and dangerously determined— writing an exposé novel about The Alperton Angels case: an 18-year old satanic cult case involving several murders-by-suicide-pact and a surviving teenage couple and their 2-month-old baby.

I’m not usually a true crime or mystery/thriller fan, but the story towed the tense line of eerie and practical very well.

In hindsight, it wasn’t a book that moved me so deeply as it was engaging and pleasing. Writing the novel with mixed media— WhatsApp messages, transcribed audio recordings, emails, hand-written letters, excerpts from the book-in-progress—was such a clever, befitting choice for this story and is probably would provoked me to read through the night. There’s something enticing, felt-morally wrong, and revelatory about reading messages and writings and recordings— the ins and outs— of a circumstance or a life. Perhaps satisfying our desires to be caught up in other lives and stories, not necessarily because we are disappointed with our own, but because there are other billions of stories and worlds out there outside of our own, and bearing witness to that— whether a lovely or gruesome one— is beyond fathomable; particularly proving that there’s so much of the finite that is infinite and outside of our control or imagination.

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