Janice has written a great novel here.

I know this because I hated every moment I read it.
The characters ring unique and true
The plot is layered and intriguing
The world building is deep and rich

The problem is not the world on the pages, it's the world it represents
entitled obnoxious students who hide behind their victimmhood.

Reading for reading sake, 5+ stars
Reading for the story 3
Hence the 4 star rating

3/5

Maybe the first time Hallett has delivered a mixed bag in my opinion.

When I initially read the premise of 'The Examiner,' I could not help but to be excited, as it shared many similarities to 'The Appeal' which may objectively be Hallet's best work. However, the final product did not match up to this quality whatsoever. Despite this, there were certainly things to appreciate:

'The Examiner' once again finds a way to build upon the multimedia format Hallett established with her books. While 'The Appeal' and 'The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels' were written mostly in texts and emails, and 'The Twyford Code' was written in voice audio transcripts, 'The Examiner' details most of its storytelling within the confines of an academic management system (think Google Classroom or Canvas). I think this new form factor allows 'The Examiner' to stick out from the rest of Hallett's works.

The character building in this book is also strong. Hallett has never shied away from large ensembles (I have PTSD from trying to remember all the characters in 'The Appeal'), but I feel that she finds the perfect amount of characters to round out this ensemble. I never felt that one certain character didn't get proper development, nor did I have issues recalling each figure in the book.

However, I feel that when you peel back the layers of 'The Examiner' to find what the story is *really about,* it feels rather undercooked. No spoilers in this review, but the actual motivations behind character actions are interesting on paper, but are barely explored or alluded to before they are revealed. This makes for a 'twist' that seems to come out of left field, and not in a good way.

Additionally, while I found many aspects of the story interesting, the intrigue behind two key elements of the story (that being the murder and the radio) turned out to be huge disappointments.

I don't consider this book bad by any means, as I still gave it 3 stars. However, for Hallett's standards, 3 stars equates to her weakest novel thus far.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Janice Hallett you are a damn (evil) genius. I have LOVED everything I have read from her and have recommended her to so many people. The examiner is twisty and surprisingly insightful (I recently completed my master's so I have a lot to say about "teamwork"). I thought the beginning was a little slow but I realize she is painting a picture for the rest of the book (I am a little torn about saying that because I usually listen to her books on audio but this one was an Ebook so maybe that was part of the problem.)

I love everything Janice Hallett does, and The Examiner is no exception. Coming from the world of arts academia myself, I so enjoyed the setting- a small, London based MA Arts course designed to bridge the gap between the artistic and professional worlds. I identified with the student to student dynamics, and Hallett beautifully illustrated the pressure cooker-like tension that is unique to a group of artists coming together in a competitive environment. It’s clear she was writing from experience!

Throw in a few delicious curve balls, then a few more twists and turns, and you have yourself another brilliant, Janice Hallett murder mystery- thank you NetGalley and publishers!!

Janice Hallett has done it again! I am absolutely obsessed with her very unique style of storytelling. The 2 Appeal novels are some of my favorite mysteries of the past few years and this one joins them as a favorite. Set in a master’s program, this is told in her signature style using texts, emails and essays to unfold the mystery. Love it.

I absolutely love a book told through text messages, emails, etc., especially when Janice Hallett is the author. Her writing style is addictive and satisfying. I love the multiple characters and reading their interactions as we piece together the mystery. As with her previous books, the ending came as a total surprise. I highly recommend this for other readers who love epistolary novels with a side of crime.

This is an epistolary murder mystery novel told through class instant messages, essays, emails and WhatsApp messages. The MA art class starts off enthusiastic and optimistic and quickly turns dark. The communication between the students turn you into an investigator trying to fish out the clues if the everyone is who they say they are.

I always enjoy Hallett's work! I love the idea of reading "found" documents to try and piece together the case. There were so many twists that I did not see coming. Loved this book and I can't wait for the next.

Like all of Hallett's books, this one is a delight. Told in epistolary style, this mystery includes all students in a master's degree art class, wrangled together by an adjunct professor of the arts who doesn't want to lose her job. How she collects the students - and why they're in the course - is an important backstory that reveals itself gradually, intensifying the mystery of a supposedly missing classmate.

Hallett plays on our presuppositions about each character, because info about them is revealed so incrementally. It requires the reader to fill in missing places with assumptions that may or may not be correct. The fun part is that each reader brings their own POV to the tale, and this creates a unique reading experience. I look fwd to my book club reading this, and discussing when/how we untangled the mystery.. If it's like Hallett's other plots, each person will figure things out at different spots, despite having identical info.

Hallett's books are always intricate, imaginative, and surprising. She does a twist like no one else, putting her own spin on the big reveal that makes you look at everything else that came before it in a new light. If you've ever been frustrated working on a group project, this is the book for you.

This was brilliant! From the beginning, it demonstrated the trademark Hallett wit and her favored modern epistolary style. I guessed one or two of the many twists, but was blindsided by at least one of the revelations. A few chapters written by Jonathan towards the end repeated information we had already gleaned from other sources. Overall, the characters were consistent and had depth and at least a couple of them were memorable. Like in Alperton Angels, at some point the book started to feel quite eerie and otherworldly, which I appreciated. I still love the Appeal and the Christmas Appeal the best—sorry, but those round robin emails cannot be beat for comedy—, but I like this book more than the Twyford Code or the Alperton Angels. This was a fun, engaging read, and I would recommend this to others!

This book was fun to read, very engaging. It had me guessing what was going to happen next. The way the story was told in chat messages, emails, journal entries, was different, I really liked that style of writing. Also, that ending was unexpected!

Another solid plot heavy mystery told in a unique format. Most of the time I am lost in all the puzzle pieces, but I enjoy the characters and the subterfuge involved.

This book is another gem from author Janice Hallett. Not only does she manage to write an intricate and unique plot but her distinctive writing style of revealing the plot through emails, message board posts, essays, and texts, keeps me hooked.

In The Examiner, we have six art students coming together as part of a new Master's class at a university. The reader follows along as they complete assignments and group projects while learning about the class and each other. Something else, more sinister, is going on though, and one or more of the students is involved. But, who? Why? What does it have to do with an art class?

Once you finish reading this book, as with Hallett's other books, you will immediately want to start over to see what you missed, where, and how you weren't able to figure it out in the end.

Some readers may be thrown off by the length of this book and it does drag at certain parts, but that is a necessity due to some scenes and parts being revisited after a reveal has been made. Additionally, Hallett , in my opinion, gives more depth to these characters verses some of her previous works. Also keep in mind that in everyday life, conversations have plenty of off topic variety and if these emails and messages were solely plot based, it would give the game away.

If I had to pick a gripe, it would be there are several random coincidences upon which several parts of the plot hinge but, to be fair, I've definitely seen worse from other books.

In all, this work is brilliantly done and I think you will find it a captivating read.

I really enjoy the way Janice Hallett writes her books, where the story is told in the form of emails, news articles, web sites, etc. It really makes the story roll along quickly, so I was excited to dive into her new book The Examiner. As with many of her books, there is a large cast of characters, but Hallett is great at developing her characters so that the reader can quickly learn them and tell them apart. I was very into this story of an art MA program where one of the students perhaps disappears....or worse. However, at about 70% the plot started to feel really convoluted and I found myself checking out of the story. It just got kind of strange, and I stopped caring. I did finish reading the book and still gave it 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ To me, the plot kind of fell apart and just started to feel
overly complicated. Not my favorite, but I will definitely continue to read Janice Hallett's books.

This was my first book by Janice Hallett and I absolutely loved the format of being told through texts, emails, chat group posts etc. Unfortunately I didn’t love the book overall as much as I had hoped to. It’s hard to put my finger on why, but it might be partially that I didn’t really connect with the subject matter of academia/art/technology. I did enjoy the twists and turns. I definitely want to read other books written by this author, especially if they are told in a similar format.

Janice has done it again with another whodunnit mystery! This book had a little hidden detail that really makes you go back and reread parts to see how it changed your viewpoint. It was Glass Onion esque. She does a great job giving her characters such personalities that make you annoyed or trust them. Overall it was an amazing read, and one I will read again!

This book was so much fun. It was so hard to put down to do anything else. I was constantly thinking and guessing trying to figure out what is going on in this book! I loved the mixed media. I’ve never read a book with that before. It’s a little hard to do that on kindle but I bet reading a physical copy would be a much better execution. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style as well. Overall, well done!


Thank you to author Janice Hallett, publisher Atria Books, and NetGalley for an ARC for a review of this book

3.5 stars, rounded up
Janice Hallett has once again created a mixed media novel which grabbed my attention. This time, an examiner is reviewing the work from a master’s of fine art class which handles commercial mixed media art. There are six students in the class. And a more diverse group of students couldn’t be found, from the just off her bachelor’s program 21 year old to the 58 year old man who owns his own art supply store and wants to try one last thing before retirement.
The examiner has been assigned to review the work and confirm the grades given by Gela, the professor. Like the examiner, we are also privy to the emails, Doodle interactions, texts, papers, the professor’s grades and summaries.
From the beginning, there’s friction. Accusations are made, things go missing, cheating occurs. But did something even more sinister happen? That’s the other thing the examiner (and yes, we, the readers) must try to figure out.
Hallett’s style is unique and I think it’s one you either love or hate. I love it. If you liked her other work, you’ll enjoy this. It’s not straight line storytelling. It’s fun entertainment but also forces you to think. Characters are unlikeable and unreliable but they were all real. It was obvious things weren’t as they appeared, but I had no idea what was going on. This requires a lot of attention.
Now, I did find the ending to be a bit nonsensical and OTT. But it was fun getting to that point.
I really appreciated her Author’s Note, because so much of what she said rang true. As an English Major, I never understood why so many businesses turn their noses up at a major that teaches you how to think and ask questions. And as someone who endured her share of professional training classes, I totally understand her comment about how they “sapped my will to live.”
My thanks to Netgalley and Atria for an advance copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had not read any books by this author before but my fiancé read The Appeal on a plane ride once. When I saw that her next book was available, I figured I should give it a shot.

All I can say is wow. I love this style of story telling. The voyeuristic nature of an epistolary novel really draws you in. I enjoyed figured things out as I went and being able to go back and remember the clues when things were revealed.

There were elements of this story that were a bit darker and grosser than I was expecting. Not a book I would recommend reading right before bed, as I have.

Overall, an interesting read. I would definitely read whatever’s next (but maybe after letting someone else read it first.)

4 stars