A review by tiredgirlreads
The Appeal by Janice Hallett

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? Yes

3.5

A clever, well-planned novel that I can imagine taking a LOT of effort to write. Hallett does a remarkable job of creating recognisable voices with the texts, emails and other documents, something that I found quite impressive. There’s such a sense of character without any description about how something is said or how characters look, showing remarkable skill.

The main things stopping it being more stars is that I was constantly waiting for the murder mentioned in the blurb to happen - for it not to occur within the first 278 pages felt a little unfair. Although that couple possibly be because I was reading this in short bursts every day, which could’ve made the pace slower. Idk I think I just spent a little too long waiting to understand what I was supposed to be learning from all of the correspondence. That said, there were a few reveals that I really enjoyed and overall I had a good time reading this book!