Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

18 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

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

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

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

bessadams's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, and Police brutality

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Mass/school shootings, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Sexual assault

bmpicc's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

I had fun solving this one too! I give Hallett a lot of credit for the style/set-up of her books. I can't even begin to imagine HOW she keeps it all straight and flowing and interesting... There are a lot of characters again, but I honestly did not struggle to keep track this time. Angels deals with a cult conspiracy and religion, so it might not be everyone's cup of tea. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship

nadiajohnsonbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

 I absolutely adore Janice Hallett's quirky found-footage/epistolary take on mysteries. Hallett is in top form with the Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, which balances quite a dark mystery with her characteristic wit and humor.

The first book of hers that I read was the Appeal, which I found to be quite cozy and irreverent. While the style of Alperton Angels is the same, the characters were a more vicious and the themes considerably darker.

Alperton Angels consists of the collected research materials of fictional true crime writer Amanda Bailey as she digs into the events surrounding the apparent collective suicide of a small cult 18 years prior and the murder of their neighbor. The tragedy left four survivors: the leader, a man who claims to be the archangel Gabriel come to Earth, a teenage boy and girl, and a baby who would now be on the cusp of adulthood. Her publisher wants her to track down the baby and revisit the crime from their perspective.

Her investigation reveals a twisty knot of characters with varied motivations and levels of fanatical belief and so, so many secrets. The closer she gets to answers, the more dangerous the investigation seems to become.

This mystery was an utterly wild ride, and you truly don't know who to trust for the bulk of the text.

With cynical call-outs to the salacious world of true crime publishing and podcasting, Hallett shows how well she understands the genre. I wasn't surprised to see her list the impeccably researched brainchild of Michelle McNamara's obsession, I'll Be Gone in the Dark among her inspirations.

I would enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone who likes learning about cults, reading true crime, and mysteries delivered with a side of cheeky British humor. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Suicide

Minor: Xenophobia, Gore, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Cancer

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

taylormoore's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Mass/school shootings and Abandonment