Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

23 reviews

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

emilyvictoria_'s review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

aileron's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Police brutality, Violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, and Gore

Minor: Classism, Bullying, Car accident, and Vomit

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

thisbookisbananas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

That was a wild ride! I haven’t read a lot of mixed-media books,so I had to get used to that. Once I did though I was completely captivated. I haven’t been so invested in a mystery in a really long time. I look forward to reading this author’s backlist. Headed for the Twyford Code next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Stalking, and Blood

Minor: Child abuse

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Violence, Gaslighting, Blood, Mental illness, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Suicide

dizzymisslizzy's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gaslighting, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

Minor: Sexual violence

paronomaniac's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Mass/school shootings