Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - The Appeal

Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

23 reviews

lizzielove2016's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

2.75

This book was kind of a mess. While I can appreciate that mixed media format can be a little confusing at times, this book was just a whole lot of what the heck is happening and why is it happening. My rating is this high mostly because of the parts that were more so a mystery and how the format was. I feel like you couldn't get a chance to get to know the characters because we kept bouncing around so much. Having this many characters in one book also made it so confusing. I would also like to say that the plot "twists" aren't very shocking at all. I would say if you've read a lot of thrillers/mysteries, maybe just skip this one.

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isabellalinares's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

It was such a fun read and the format was exciting. A great change of pace. Loved taking notes while reading to try and figure it all out.

I've already recommended it to so many people.

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booksandtea997's review against another edition

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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

4.25

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alywise's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

4.25

I really like when books feel like nothing has happened, and then all of the sudden a bombshell drops and you realize stuff has been happening the whole time! This felt like… like Liane Moriarty meets Agatha Christie. I was left with some loose ends (who the actual f was Jackie Marsh? Did she ever get her passport back?), but mostly felt like the author gave appropriate closure and answers, without spoon feeding it to the reader.

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hazelgirl21's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

4.25

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jennshelfishlife's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The Appeal is about a small, close-knit community involved in a murder. The story is told in epistolary format, where readers will read email exchanges (note: read the funny end notes on the emails), text messages, interviews, and litigation paperwork.
There are numerous characters in the story; fortunately, it was easy to follow each of their accounts since the characters are outlined in the Fairway Players theatre group's role sheet.

Martin Haywood's family, the alpha family, is undergoing a tragedy in their family as the young granddaughter is diagnosed with rare brain cancer. The family needs a life-saving therapy, still undergoing testing, in America, which leads to a crowdsource event led by the Fairway Players. However, the story is not as simple as that, and readers will delve into the Haywood family's discourse with Dr. Tish Bhatoa and the latter's history. Sam, a nurse, and new Fairway Player, begin to dig to uncover her suspicions of Dr. Bhatoa and finds more than she expected, leading to her untimely death.
A lot can be said about the story and the multiple storylines and how they intersect, but I will leave that to the readers. This reader would also like to note that the irony of the play being rehearsed is not lost on this reader.

The Appeal is a page-turning novel that left this reader appalled and amazed at how the story and the mysteries were unveiled.
The story has triggers (e.g., fraud, cancer, murder, rape), but they are mild, except for the fraud.
I recommend this novel to fans of mysteries and epistolary storytelling.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

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