Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

55 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.

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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

poppyelizabeth's review against another edition

funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Mental illness

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Suicide

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

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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

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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

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

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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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual assault and Murder

tweesee_93's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide

rremmel's review against another edition

Every single character in this book is so unpleasant I couldn’t even get to the murder. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Cancer

photogenicegg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

A very interesting way to tell a story. I enjoyed it, definitely thought I had it figured it out (or at least who it ~wasn't~). I liked the thorough investigation of different theories at the end and a complete explanation of the correct answer. Very much like solving one of those murder mystery boxes. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Murder

rachel101's review against another edition

challenging funny informative mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Don’t be put off by the style of the book, stay with it…. It’s a fabulous read 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Toxic friendship