A review by emilyvictoria_
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

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

4.25

I enjoyed the book’s unique format of documents which makes it easy to read, digestible, and addictive. It is also interesting in relation the crime/mystery genre, as I found myself trying to piece the evidence together myself. The only issue with this is at some points it felt forced and unrealistic, like recording conversations that would not be relevant, very direct texts and convenient messages that explained everything, not to mention
the play script which for me felt a little too easy and convenient, though I can see why it was included and it did tie things together and make the events make sense as a reader
. I think this format also makes us feel like we are quite distanced from the protagonist and whilst we want to know what happens we are not rooting for her - she isn’t likeable and comes across as very selfish - and she regularly lies to other people and hides things from us as readers, however
considering what we later find out I think this can be somewhat justified
. We also don’t get much impression of her personal feelings which adds to this and makes her hard to identify with, so whilst i did become very invested in the case I wasn’t invested in her character, I did, however love Ellie, she was such a real and comforting character that I genuinely liked and hoped for more from her (
which we did get!
). I quite liked the casual and conversational tone of the book in conversations or text exchanges, it made it very easy to follow and keep reading. 
Also, although it was a little slow and repetitive at the beginning (a lot of trying to contact people and getting nowhere), taking a while for things to get going, once it did i found it quite captivating and I suppose this makes her investigation more realistic. In terms of the ending,
I kind of loved the revenge plot - especially since Oliver became more and more annoying - and how Ellie used this for her book (iconic from her). I think it came to a close really nicely and conclusively, it was satisfying to close and I wasn’t left with any questions or uncertainties.



Expand filter menu Content Warnings