Name: jul's review of The Appeal by Janice Hallett
Item: The Appeal
Rating: 4
Author: jul

Janice Hallett

"Welcome to Lockwood, proud home of The Fairway Players, who, under the creative control of Martin Hayward, the owner of the local country club, are putting on a production of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons." The star, as always: Martin's wife, Helen, the only person in the troupe with any real acting talent. But this is not a production like any other: just as rehearsals get under way, tragedy strikes: Poppy Reswick, Martin and Helen's beloved granddaughter, is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. An experimental treatment is available from the US - at a massive cost. The Players and the entire town rally in order to raise the 250,000 pounds needed to give Poppy a chance at survival. Not everybody is convinced that the experimental treatment is all it's cracked up to be, however. First among the doubters is Sam Greenwood, who has only recently moved to Lockwood with her husband, Kel, after spending several years as an NGO worker in Sub-Saharan Africa. Are her suspicions justified? Or does she merely have an axe to grind with the doctor who's looking after Poppy? The tension within the community is palpable, and on the night of the Players' dress rehearsal, things come to a head. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon afterwards, an arrest is made. In the run-up to the trial, two law students find themselves sifting through the evidence in the form of e-mails, texts, and letters, trying to make sense of it all and unmask the real killer"--

A Novel

The Appeal

Laura Dobie

Two communities, one raising money to cure a sick child, the other healing victims of war. Both so kind and caring, so intent on doing what they believe is right. Yet both refuse to see what's wrong. Their solution is to silence the person pointing it out.

You were right about him. I didn't want to believe it. I still don't. But I've seen too many people now. All knew him better than I did. The man they talk about is not the brother I had. Perhaps life here changed him, but I fear it did not - he could mask his darkness before, but this place gave it permission and opportunity. Yet in his letters to me he was always the same. It seems there's only so much you can know from letters. A man can hide a world behind words.

Why do we do this when it's so stressful? It's meant to be a hobby.

Funniest character description I’ve read in a while!

So bloody predatory she probably has a dorsal fin.

APPEAL.

ashwitherow

Sarah Erle

Luke Harkness

Brilliant brilliant book.

My review is on www.lukeharkness.com

Sonia Grgas

Loved this book as an audiobook and hearing all the character voices. Interesting writing style to get the story from emails, and texts vs normal written chapters. Very interesting! 

Lacee Foutch 

literally WTF… that’s it just what the fuck 

belle

This book was GRIPPING - I could have easily read this in one sitting if I didn’t have things like work to get in the way. It took a minute to get all the characters sorted and wrap my mind around everything (because there’s a lot) but once the story got going the pace was thrilling.

This was such a unique concept for a murder mystery; it was so much fun to read and try to figure everything out along the way.

Rachael Bahr

This book was GRIPPING - I could have easily read this in one sitting if I didn’t have things like work to get in the way. It took a minute to get all the characters sorted and wrap my mind around everything (because there’s a lot) but once the story got going the pace was thrilling.

This was such a unique concept for a murder mystery; it was so much fun to read and try to figure everything out along the way.

A gripping mystery which deploys a variety of innovative narrative devices to great effect. The twists and turns kept me guessing until the end. Lots of interesting themes to reflect on - different types of appeal, acting, unreliable narrators, social hierarchies, whistleblowing, power imbalances… I couldn’t put it down and kept on thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it.

Adeline

Ariel

2.5 stars. Super disappointed that I didn't love this as much as I thought I would but I will again pick up more of her books as I think she's good at her craft, but this book was not for me



*****SOME SPOILERS AHEAD******
It was fun for the first half and then it got confusing for me. Unfortunately, I felt myself being more drawn to the "A cure of poppy fundraiser" and whether she was gonna get her cure rather than the play. I also found the huge cast of characters overwhelming and felt more interested in reading from the emails of Martin and Sarah-J rather than the rest. I liked the way the mystery plot was solved- i think the author did a great job at tying up loose ends. I was actually quite surprised- definitely wasn't expecting that it was Martin who was the murderer and mastermind of the plot. I also enjoyed the fact that the chatacters in the book are flawed and I supposed the commentary on society as a whole. However, I just wish I was able to connect the dots in the end or care enough about some of the characters- in a sense I felt a disconnect by the end. Since the whole fundraiser was a scam.

Took a while to get used to the text format 

Joanna Tweedale

James Winduss

I really enjoyed this book! I’ve never read a book set out in this way before and I was surprised at how much of an impact it had on the pace. I found myself barely able to put the book down and, without chapters, it was so easy to just keep reading until the end. Even though I guessed fairly early on, I like that you didn’t find out who was actually murdered until you were already 1/3 to 1/2 way through, and the commentary from Femi and Charlotte really added to the building momentum towards the end. 4.5 stars rounded down to 4! My only criticism is that I personally didn’t like who the killer turned out the be. I definitely think the author could’ve done something more exciting with the reveal, but I do understand why they chose the person they chose.

I really liked the way the book is written, how complex all the relationships were and how they were so entwined. 

Jodie Reads

My head is STILL spinning!!! The formatting of this book definitely will turn some people away from it (it's almost entirely in email and text correspondences) but if you're looking for something out of the ordinary and new, I definitely recommend giving this a shot. At no point did I have any idea who was going to end up being the murderer and even as the two lawyers (Femi and Charlotte) were slowly unraveling the mystery, until the thrilling last section where it all came together, I was shocked by everything. As you grow closer to the end, pieces start to fall into place yet you still don't know how everything will end! I really really enjoyed this and I'm so glad I picked it up at the store because this was such a unique novel!!

Reading through people’s emails and texts was not what I expected when I started this book, but as a self-proclaimed nosy person I loved it. Not the traditional murder mystery style, which makes it unique and exciting to read. For those who are interested in murder-mystery but hate the gore or suspense that can come along with a thriller, this book is for you!

Ariel Correa

SO GOOD. Such a unique format, too — love the feeling of solving the case alongside the narrators. Was hooked immediately!!! I’m not stellar at remembering a long list of character names, but this book made it a lot easier to do so. Multiple plot twists expertly woven together and broken down at the perfect pace. 

Harlee K

Loved it! Interesting format and I was invested the whole time. 

Lauren Wightman

I will say that I finished this book very quickly so that is something to recommend it. The format is so interesting and intriguing with the emails and newspaper articles. I really loved getting to know the different players through their email correspondence and the quirks of online correspondence. The way that one forms a communication to one person versus another and the varying stories that someone tells in the game of online telephone. However, the thing that really held me back in this book was the lack of murder until about 100 pages left in the book. That might seem odd but as the book is advertised as a murder mystery it does feel strange when nothing happens for so long. It feels like the author wants you to do a second read through once you know the victim and circumstances which is valid but is not something I’m compelled to do so soon after finishing. There were also key points to the case that I felt were not addressed nearly enough, ie Sarah Jane’s belief about the child who died before. The conceit of the lawyers reviewing the case works for the most part but there text communication does often feel like red herrings. A masterful example of epistolary writing though.

Emma Miller

my face when this turned into a munchausen by proxy story: 😐. the characters were dreadful and the format made me never wanna read it. 

Tatum Miller

I read this book in a day, I just couldn't put it down, I had to see how it ended. I could also see myself re-reading this over again because I know I missed some clues. I felt like I was reading a British crime show and I loved it. And unlike most thrillers I have read, I didn't guess the killer and any of the twists.  I really can't wait to read more from Janice Hallett and she is now one of my favorite authors. 

Thank you Edelweiss for letting me read and review the book.

Elizabeth Neill

5/5 Stars

I read this book in a day, I just couldn't put it down, I had to see how it ended. I could also see myself re-reading this over again because I know I missed some clues. I felt like I was reading a British crime show and I loved it. And unlike most thrillers I have read, I didn't guess the killer and any of the twists.  I really can't wait to read more from Janice Hallett and she is now one of my favorite authors. 

Thank you Edelweiss for letting me read and review the book.

Courtney 

Sian Wadey

When I bought it, I didn't realise the story was made up of messages and emails. I'm a member of an amateur dramatics society and enjoy reading novels that have this as a feature. I loved this book. I was engrossed immediately, read half of it in one day. Excellent, excellent stuff!

Amie ONeill

3.5

The start of this book really dragged but the ending got me good. 
The characters were all unlikable to me and I didn’t feel connected to any of them throughout the whole story. 
The plot seemed to be going nowhere for a big portion of this book and I felt like giving up many times. But like I said the ending got me and made this book worth reading.

Beth Bartholomew

What a brilliant and unique read! I loved the mixed media of this book and how different each character was. I think this is a real testament to the power of people watching, this author has perfectly captured certain quirks we see in our fellow humans and how people react to things differently. I really enjoyed this story and being part of the investigation as the reader. 

Murder and subterfuge have never been so boring.

jul &
The Appeal by Janice Hallett

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The Appeal by Janice Hallett