Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really wanted to love this one. But, I've found that Janice Hallett's recent publications (this one, as well as its predecessor, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels) are just not as accessible for the reader to follow along with. They're long-winded, convoluted, and just... strange.

I loved The Appeal and enjoyed The Twyford Code. I even really appreciated the little companion novella she produced called The Christmas Appeal. But these past two have shown promise and lost me by the end every single time.

The Examiner is, in typical Janice Hallett fashion, told through a series of correspondances. In this case, an impartial examiner is sifting through emails and text threads between a group of art students enlisted in a special program. In doing so, the examiner begins to notice some strange occurrences and questions the safety of those involved. While I loved the academic setting of this one, I felt like Hallett focused a bit too much on some of the particulars. There was one twist that I really enjoyed and didn't see coming; however, the actual mystery element of this was a bit of a letdown.

If you enjoyed The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, this might be enjoyable. However, I personally found the two to share some of the same issues and, as such, ultimately wasn't into it.

This was a great book! The different format from a typical book helped the storyline flow quickly keeping me on my toes! It kept me guessing on the outcome and I didn’t expect the ending at all! I really enjoyed it and have recommended to many of my reader friends already!

First, I want to thank NetGalley for the ARC. This is my first book by Hallett and I must say… I’ll be looking into her other ones! I thoroughly enjoyed how this book is presented. It’s told through messages, the course work throughout, as well as the examiner. I hate to admit that numerous times I thought I had it figured out, only to be proven wrong (which was fantastic!) I’m not one who typically rereads thrillers or mysteries, but this one may be an exception just so I can see what I didn’t pick up on before!

Since Hallett's debut novel, The Appeal, I've been waiting for her to write another book just like it. This was even BETTER. The perfect book for someone who loves internet deep dives and wishes reading felt more like snooping in someone's email. For at least half of the story you don't know what it's building towards and I didn't care. Reading felt more like scrolling and my interest didn't flag. Now that I know how it ends, I want to go back and read it again to see the clues.

With her trademark use of mixed media, in the Examiner Janice Hallett tells the story of an academic review board evaluating the results of a year-long multimedia arts course. While I do enjoy this unique method of storytelling, and Hallett continues to find fresh ways to use the method, this one fell a little short of the others I've read of hers. If you like to follow along and play detective, this story may be frustrating. I felt like it was a bit slow and convoluted for the first three quarters.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #AtriaBooks for a free copy of #TheExaminer by Janice Hallett. All opinions are my own.

Through the use of message boards, emails, essays, and text messages the reader follows 6 students through a Masters in Art program. During the course, the students work together and ultimately someone ends up dead. Who did it and why?
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I haven’t read a ton of books written in this format, so at first, I thought it would be confusing to keep track of the characters. However, the characters were diverse and easy to keep track of.
The pacing of the book was a little off for me and the first half of the book was a little slow. About halfway through the book, the pacing picked up and I was excited to see how the book ended. The ending delivered and I was not disappointed!
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery and a non-traditional format. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC!

Thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for the ARC. This is one of the greatest and cleverest books I have ever read. I love how this story is told through messages, course work, and examiner notes. Huge fan of non traditional story telling formats and I love how Janice Hallett has used this method to make the reader involved in solving the mystery. This book was really funny, something I did not expect. The first half had me laughing so much. The tension between the course mates had me thinking the story would go in a certain direction so I was really happy to be proven wrong. Also, I love Jem's character. She is written to be unlikeable, but this also makes her really funny. I won't say too much, but now she has my heart. All the characters were extremely well written. Certain parts of the book gave me the chills. Overall, this is one of the best mysteries I have ever read and I am in awe at how cleverly the author has constructed the tale and woven the narrative through the messages, course notes, and course work. Also, I need to reread this book after certain revelations, which make so much sense for the story.

Hallett's unique style of story-telling has made her an auto- read mystery author for me. In this book, the use of the university's internal message boards and examination system, along with WhatsApp messaging, makes the story spill out in a very interesting order. I was pulled in early on and made incorrect guesses all along the way - it was such a fun read!

I loved the characters on this mystery. The setting is current, interesting and diverse. The mystery held my attention throughout the entirety of the book. Since I’ve read JH’s first mystery, I purchased the 2nd and 3rd today to ensure I read the full set.

This author has earned an auto-buy from me. Great read, highly recommend.

A review has been posted on StoryGraph.

My introduction to Janice Hallett's writing was The Appeal. It was such a a unique writing concept, it blew my mind. Maybe there have been books in a similar fashion that were published prior to Janice's, but I hadn't known.

I had just picked up her newest book, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton's Angels when I happened to see The Examiner available for request on Netgalley. Of course, I immediately jumped on it.

6 students in an MA Art Program must work together throughout the year to accomplish a large group project, while also completing their individual projects. The entire story unfolds through essays, grades, Doodle messages, Whatsapp chats, and emails. Here and there, we get little tidbits that something might not be what they seem. I was guessing up until the last few chapters and GASPED more than once. Not only is the a great whodunnit, it's a great who did it get done to book.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria books for the advance copy!

Janice Hallett is the queen of mystery and her non traditional form of writing. Every time she puts out a book it is a must read for me. Her stories always draw me in and I love her unique style of writing and how she uses different forms of media (ex: phone calls, emails, texts, voice recordings) to tell stories. This book was wonderful and as always leaves me wanting more to read from her.

4.25

janice hallett's mind is craaaaazy. she does not miss! i stayed up til 2am reading this and then had to pick it right back up in the morning in order to finish. i haven't done that in ages.

oh my goddddd is it to early to say this is my favorite read of 2024?? this was too good. i literally couldn’t put it down.

I previously read Mysterious Case of Alperton Angels and cannot wait for what Janice Hallett does next. This was so not what I thought or was expecting. She really keeps you on your toes. But by the end, all my questions are answered. She ties it all together so perfectly.

Yet another challenging mystery with a university based Master’s art class as the focus (but yet so so much more!!). Once again Janice Hallett has used her unique storytelling method (e.g., apps, texts, emails) to engage the reader from beginning to end.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Janice Hallet never disappoints. This book is unique because it is written in a series of essays, texts and emails to tell the story. The story follows the students in a masters program and you are following along and picking up clues along the way. I have never been able to predict a Janice Halley books ending and this one is no different.

What a unique and novel approach to storytelling. The story really drew me in so much that I had to make myself stop reading in order to get some sleep. I can't wait to get back to the story and finish it!

Free eARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher for reviewing purposes!
3.5 stars rounded up.
To begin with, I am a big Janice Hallett fan. I have enjoyed all of her mysteries, I love her style, the mixed media format, the way she builds mysteries, and the way things wrap up. That said, this ranks lower on the list of her books for me personally. The story is as engrossing as ever and the characters are compelling and realistic. However, without revealing too much, I think she goes a bit far out with some elements of the plot. Some things happen that are beyond my suspension of disbelief for how real-world the setting is, and one particular plot point is so gruesome that I found it hard to keep thinking about in terms of resolving the mystery. In addition, in her prior mysteries, it did feel like you could solve it while reading, but The Examiner purposely withholds information for the reader that makes this nearly impossible (I think some readers will choose to immediately reread this book because of this, but I will not be doing that). A couple other issues I had that prevented this from being four or five stars for me: (with minimal spoilers ahead) something that felt repeated from her novella The Christmas Appeal, and the way that this book just felt really really long. Somehow I felt that at around 30% in we should be about 3/4s done with the book. More things happened, of course, that majorly contributed to the mystery and plot, but it did have me setting the book down more frequently than I usually do with Hallett's works. Still engrossing and still a good mystery, but not my favorite.

Once again, Janice Hallett has written an unputdownable story that is so creatively constructed through mixed media. This is an epistolary-style story, set in a university MA program, told entirely through the characters’ conversations in their university intranet messaging system, WhatsApp messages, and emails. And yet every character felt fully realized and three-dimensional. How does she do it?? It’s incredible.

I think this is the type of book that is best experienced going in with the publisher's synopsis and ONLY that information. I hesitate to say anything beyond that at the risk of spoiling the story! But I will say this: like THE APPEAL, I loved feeling as though I was solving the mystery alongside the characters. I read this book in two days, picking it up any chance I could. I felt as though these were real types of people that I *knew*, and the university aspect was so relatable to my college days and professional development courses.

Pick this one up if you like academia settings, mixed media–style stories, or even because you like a book with a puzzle at its center.

(Note: I will post my review on my social media sites the week of the publication date.)

Janice Hallet DOES IT AGAIN!

When I found “The Appeal” I knew that every book written in this format from Janice would be a “instant read/buy” for me. It is so creative and I have yet to read a book like it. I know that this is type of book layout is not for everyone, but the girls that get it, get it.

The way Janice’s books are told are via text messages, emails, transcripts, ect. You are essentially trying to piece together what happened in a murder mystery. It is a perfect combination of murder mystery, twists and clue. I can not say enough good things about Janice Hallet’s books, I am OBSESSED. I kicked my little feet and screamed when I got the ARC but also was a little sad because now it means I have to wait even LONGER for her next book because there simply is nothing like her writing in todays market.

This book follows a masters art course at a college and the fourth wall breaks with the Examiners of the course. You are essentially an Examiner (a person that looks over the course work submitted and deems that the course and greats were done correctly and college should keep this course) and get all of the documentations from the masters course. Almost immediately one of the Examiners feels there is foul play done and so we know that something sinister may have happened. That is when the fun begins.

We follow Gela, the art course instructor at the start of the course with her new students, Patrick, Alyson, Jem, Cameron and Jonathan. What Janice does WONDERFULLY in her books is makes you feel so irritated and annoyed with characters and this book is no different. Jem is someone that you know is sheltered in life (we find out more later on in the book) but WOW she is… something else. Which honestly I love to hate her. Now every character in this book has something that they bring to the murder mystery and Jem is the obvious antagonist. However, what is obvious is always not what it seems.

The twists and turns in this book were crazy. There was more than a few times where I had to put the book down and be like “what the heck did I just read” and re read it. So so so so good. And when you think the twist is over, BOOM, another twist.

Highly recommend this book to anyone that is wanting something to kick them out of reading slump. I read this book in less than 24 hours, just like I did with all of Janices other books. 5 out of 5 stars my friends!

Of course this was a five star read. I had no doubt. Janice Hallett has become a favorite author. Her books are so bingeable, smart, and kind of dark. The Examiner is no exception. I loved the dynamics between the students, the mystery, and the creepiness. I already cannot wait for her next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.