Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

21 reviews

disguisedposer's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic friendship, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Abandonment, Police brutality, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

notlikethebeer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Having read (and adored) The Appeal, I was really excited to read this one - and I don't think it disappointed!! It was a fast-paced, super twisty page-turner that I found really difficult to put down (and therefore raced through). I do think that it was hindered by there being a LOT of characters, and I found it really hard to keep track of who was who, which isn't helped by the epistolary format that puts distance between the reader and each character. The format also made it hard to follow at times and a bit confusing, especially towards the end. However, I also liked the way that various elements came to light more slowly, and that things you thought were/weren't important were later revealed to be quite the opposite... I also really liked that the characters were quite complex, and at times there were some good critiques of true crime and the lengths some will go to. I thought the ending was fantastic, there were some bold decisions made by the author but personally I loved them!!! More than anything, I absolutely loved the dedication to Jill Dando, Michelle McNamara and Lyra McKee, as well as the brief explanation in the acknowledgements.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Murder, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

tabby2920's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I don't know how Hallett does it! Another winner by Hallett that dives in how far we can go to discover the truth and sometimes our faith can lead us down treacherous paths.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship

ashleysilver7's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

I ended up loving this book - what kept it from 5/5 stars for me was the format. For the entire book, you are reading email exchanges, Whatsapp messages, police excerpts, etc., all from the "research" of journalist Amanda Bailey. Amanda is researching a book on the infamous Alperton Angels, a religious cult gone bad in a London neighborhood in 2003. This whole book covers "her" story and all of her research for the book. I've never read anything like it - it's definitely an intriguing story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Adult/minor relationship, and Emotional abuse

agathajanemaud1908's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child death, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Violence

darlab86's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Police brutality, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Emotional abuse

tamara_joy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Blood, and Gun violence

Minor: Racism and Fire/Fire injury

lautodd_'s review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Violence, Murder, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Gore, Kidnapping, and Blood

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Mass/school shootings

naluju's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Interesting structure

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Violence, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

merrynthomas's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Mass/school shootings, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness