Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

63 reviews

cookie_lover's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Very good book, read in 2-3 days. Interesting formatting - story is told via emails and texts. Not quite a 5 star, the formatting lost me a couple of times.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Medical content, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Vomit

rebeccadiv's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I had SO MUCH FUN reading this book and I cannot wait to get to her others. It was such a cool concept and I really enjoyed the whole process. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Terminal illness

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and War

Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicide, and Medical trauma

redroseses's review against another edition

dark mysterious

• 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, and Suicide

staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Infertility, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, War, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, and Alcohol

jazhandz's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction and Sexual violence

Graphic description of childhood illness/terminal cancer; a brief but detailed description of a pet medical emergency, including discussion of the pet dying.

laurajordensharris's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

thisbookisbananas's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

I love the mixed media and the initial fast-pace of the book. However, I’ll say there are a couple of things that a person picking up The Appeal to read needs to know going into it. 1) The title ‘The Appeal’ mainly has to do with a British meaning for asking people to donate to a charity or fundraiser—not an appeal for a person convicted of a crime. This is the majority of the plot line. I was captivated at first, but then it plodded on and on 2.) The cover of my copy says “One murder. Fifteen suspects: can you uncover the truth?” The murder in this book doesn’t happen until almost 70% of the way through. So the structure of this book is more of a “whydunnit’ and not much of a “whodunnit”. 
I wish the pacing had been better because it was 70% of the same plot line over and over and then it galloped to a crazy twisty end. I will pick up another book by the author. This one just didn’t work so well for me.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual assault and Murder

mrgriffit's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

An extremely well crafted murder mystery. The format of this book is fun and refreshing and feels modern in a way that mystery stories don’t often do.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Toxic friendship

thecozyrogue's review against another edition

challenging mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Infidelity, Violence, and War

Minor: Child death and Infertility

brittaanson's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This is my new favorite mystery format! Sifting through documents to identify what is significant and what isn't, what might be left unsaid, etc. is a fantastic puzzle. Super engaging, but definitely a book that you'll want to give your full attention. I listen to most books on audiobook while doing other things, but this one I saved for when I had the time and mental energy to sit down and read in paperback with notebook and post-its at the ready. Reading on an eReader would also be a good choice, for easy keyword searches when you realize later that something someone wrote a while back may be important.
The emails and texts are written brilliantly, evoking clear personalities in their different styles. It's fascinating to read the difference in tone between a character's public email to a mailing list versus what they text in private to their partner, versus what they purposefully avoid sharing, despite you knowing they have the information in question from what another character wrote to someone else. All of the communication styles are very recognizable and realistic for their characters as well. This book is masterfully constructed, and sucked me right in. I couldn't put it down. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Violence, and War