ellen_willaert's review against another edition
5.0
I'll need two weeks to recover from that ending. This woman is truly brilliant my god
gemloukay's review against another edition
4.0
Having read The Appeal, I was keen to read the next Hallett book, this time with a mystery being unveiled via a series of audio messages. The case follows Steven or "Little Smithy" and his quest to find out what happened to his teacher Miss Iles in the 1980s and in doing so attempting to solve The Twyford Code. But all is not as it first appears!
I can't say more without major spoilers but this is another great book by Janice Hallett and I only haven't given it 5 stars because the majority of the clues are so hidden and obscure that it is almost impossible to solve without reading the book twice! Or maybe I mustard missed something...
Definitely worth a read for those who love a twisty mystery.
I can't say more without major spoilers but this is another great book by Janice Hallett and I only haven't given it 5 stars because the majority of the clues are so hidden and obscure that it is almost impossible to solve without reading the book twice! Or maybe I mustard missed something...
Definitely worth a read for those who love a twisty mystery.
vaudevillianveteran's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Wew, this took forever to finish and compared to The Appeal <spoiler? it's not that good.
That feels a little disingenuous to say but it was ridiculously hard to get into, taking me over a month to finish a just under 400 page book. This book was plotted in a really interesting way, as far as a mystery it's definitely *there* but my God trying to focus up and keep up with what's going on is tortuous.
The gimmick to this one where The Appeal was a story told through emails, Twyford Code is told through the ramblings of a man through his IPhone transcribed through a deciphering service.
I actually picked this up in the hopes of trying to breeze through a relaxing read after having such a fun time with her debut novel but instead I just struggled basically from the get go. I also picked up Alperton Angels so I'm hoping that it's a bit better.
That feels a little disingenuous to say but it was ridiculously hard to get into, taking me over a month to finish a just under 400 page book. This book was plotted in a really interesting way, as far as a mystery it's definitely *there* but my God trying to focus up and keep up with what's going on is tortuous.
The gimmick to this one where The Appeal was a story told through emails, Twyford Code is told through the ramblings of a man through his IPhone transcribed through a deciphering service.
Spoiler
The problems is that for plot reasons this is an absolute chore to read. Large amounts of the text is read as though in a thick South London accent i.e : A character called Miss Isles is missiles, must've is mustard, etc. etc. There's a plot relevant explanation for the prominence of this later but by that point I was pretty checked out of it all.Spoiler
There's some decent twists along the way and towards the end - but it was less of a "OH SHIT" and more of a "huh neat".I actually picked this up in the hopes of trying to breeze through a relaxing read after having such a fun time with her debut novel but instead I just struggled basically from the get go. I also picked up Alperton Angels so I'm hoping that it's a bit better.
kendal14's review against another edition
4.0
I… do not know how to feel after that ending. It’s well done, just not sure it’s what I like in my mystery books. (Also the tagline of the book is so misleading 😅)
tornado_ali's review against another edition
4.0
Im really torn on this one. It gripped me immediately, with a compelling main character and concept. As the story got more and more complicated, I had a sinking feeling that the conspiracy being established was going to turn out to be untrue, which was disappointing because it was so fun. As the middle dragged on, I hoped that the end reveal would be satisfying enough to make it worth it. It was interesting and to some extent satisfying, but it also didn’t seem to justify the amount of pages and detail required to get to it.
I enjoyed reading this a lot, and I liked the ending, but it also left me feeling a little cheated.
3.5 stars
I enjoyed reading this a lot, and I liked the ending, but it also left me feeling a little cheated.
3.5 stars
kerryanna2709's review against another edition
1.0
I absolutely loved The Appeal so couldn't wait to read this but found it so disappointing.
The whole book felt repetitive - Steven searches for someone to help him crack the code, gets thrown off track, falls out with someone, starts again - and very disjointed. While I'd found the email style of The Appeal compelling, in this book the audio files felt hard to read and the transcription 'mistakes' were jarring.
But, worst of all, for roughly the second half of the book, I just had no idea what was happening. The clues felt too random to be solvable; the plotline became impossible to understand due to not knowing what was truth and what was fabricated; and I have no idea whether the gold existed, if there WAS a Twyford Code, whether Miss Ilses or Colin died, where Steven was, or if Lucy was a made up character. And I'm not sure I cared!
The whole book felt repetitive - Steven searches for someone to help him crack the code, gets thrown off track, falls out with someone, starts again - and very disjointed. While I'd found the email style of The Appeal compelling, in this book the audio files felt hard to read and the transcription 'mistakes' were jarring.
But, worst of all, for roughly the second half of the book, I just had no idea what was happening. The clues felt too random to be solvable; the plotline became impossible to understand due to not knowing what was truth and what was fabricated; and I have no idea whether the gold existed, if there WAS a Twyford Code, whether Miss Ilses or Colin died, where Steven was, or if Lucy was a made up character. And I'm not sure I cared!
readingqueen83's review against another edition
5.0
What a uniquely written novel!!!! The entire book is written like audio files. I almost stopped reading it the first quarter of the way through, but it started to pick up and then didn't want to out it down!!! It's a very cleverly written novel about secret gold and puzzles to be solved!!!
abigailwantstoread_01's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
coffee_and_chapters's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Another Janice Hallett masterpiece! I thoroughly enjoyed The Twyford Code, in the same way (but also in a different way) I enjoyed The Appeal. It is a similar format, only this time the story is told through audio excerpts from a very unreliable narrator – Steven. We follow Steven as he tries to understand what happened the day that his English teach, Miss Isles disappeared and what this has to do with Edith Twyford’s book, and the secret codes within them.
I loved following Steven’s audios and trying to decipher what he was going on about half the time! He was a very unreliable narrator, but one that you cannot help but love, and root for to succeed in his quest. I think the book constantly kept me on my toes and kept me guessing. I was shocked by the ending and the reveal of what happened to Miss Isles, but I loved the journey I had to get there.
fromsarahsbooknook's review against another edition
5.0
THE TWYFORD CODE was BANANAS and I mean that as a high compliment.
We've got hidden codes, past secrets, foggy memories, and lots of questions like, who is Maxine exactly? AND WHAT HAPPENED TO MS. ISLES?!
Told through transcripts of voice memos recorded by our main character, Steve, THE TWYFORD CODE is a delight of a mystery and a puzzle that begs you to try to figure it all out along with the characters. . . good luck.
I fear saying too much more. It's definitely a book you just need to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the free review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
We've got hidden codes, past secrets, foggy memories, and lots of questions like, who is Maxine exactly? AND WHAT HAPPENED TO MS. ISLES?!
Told through transcripts of voice memos recorded by our main character, Steve, THE TWYFORD CODE is a delight of a mystery and a puzzle that begs you to try to figure it all out along with the characters. . . good luck.
I fear saying too much more. It's definitely a book you just need to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the free review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.