Book Review - The Examiner by Janice Hallett

Title: The Examiner
Author: Janice Hallett
Genre: Mystery
Published: 2024
 
Description: The students of Royal Hastings University’s new Multimedia Art course have been trouble from day one. Acclaimed artist Alyson wants the department to revolve around her. Ludya struggles to balance her family and the workload. Jonathan has management experience but zero talent for art. Lovely Patrick can barely operate his mobile phone, let alone professional design software. Meanwhile blustering Cameron tries to juggle the course with his job in the City and does neither very well. Then there’s Jem. A gifted young sculptor, she’s a promising student… but cross her at your peril.
 
The year-long course is blighted by accusations of theft, students setting fire to one another’s art work, a rumored extra-marital affair and a disastrous road trip. But finally they are given their last assignment: to build an interactive art installation for a local manufacturer. With six students who have nothing in common except their clashing personal agendas, what could possibly go wrong?
 
The answer is: murder. When the external examiner arrives to assess the students’ essays and coursework, he becomes convinced that a student was killed on the course and that the others covered it up. But is he right? And if so, who is dead, why were they killed, and who is the murderer? Only a close examination of the evidence will reveal the truth. Your time starts now…
 
Review: Janice Hallett’s “The Examiner” is, as we’ve come to expect from her, a unique reading experience. Hallett remains the queen of the modern epistolary style; the story is told entirely through emails, text messages, transcripts, and official documents. Although this format is once again ingeniously crafter, this book managed to captivate me not as much as her earlier work, such as “The Appeal” and “The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels”.
 
The book follows six students pursuing a master’s degree in Art at the University of Royal Hastings. Their project is closely monitored by an external examiner, who soon notices that behind the artistic expressions lies a web of jealousy, passive-aggressive emails, and a dark secret.
 
It remains impressive how Hallett can weave a complex murder mystery using only digital communication. It feels very relatable and modern. The tension among the group of students is, at times, delightfully uncomfortable. The passive-aggressive tone in the group chats is spot-on.
 
Unlike her other books, I found it difficult to really connect with the characters. This time, they felt more like “types” than real people, which made the final resolution less impactful for me. The middle section drags a bit and it takes a while before the true stakes of the mystery become clear.

“The Examiner” is a solid whodunnit for lovers of the genre and fans of Hallett’s distinctive style. It’s a cleverly constructed puzzle, but for me it lacked the urgency and sharpness that made some of her previous books so spectacular. A good read, but not a standout.
 
Rating: 3/ 5 

Book Review - Half His Age by Jenette McCurdy

Title: Half His Age
Author: Jenette McCurdy
Genre: Fiction/ Romance
Published: 2026
 
Description: Waldo is ravenous. Horny. Blunt. Naïve. Wise. Impulsive. Angry. Forceful. Hurting. Perceptive/ Endlessly wanting. And the thing she want most of all: Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher with the wife and the kid and the mortgage and the bills, with the dead dreams and the atrophied looks and the growing paunch. She doesn’t know why she wants him. It is a passion? His life experience? The fact that he knows books and films and things that she doesn’t? Or is it purer than that, rooted in their unlikely connection, their kindred spirits, the similar filter with which they each take in the world around them? Or, perhaps it’s just enough that he sees her when no one else does.

Review: After the impressive “I’m Glad My Mom Died”, my expectations for Jenette McCurdy’s fiction debut were sky-high. Unfortunately, “Half His Age” is a massive disappointment that falls short in nearly every way. What works as a direct and honest voice in her memoir feels unpolished and repetitive here.
 
We meet Waldo, a 17-year-old girl who starts to show a special interest in her creative writing teacher, Mr. Korgy, who is 40.
 
Waldo is meant to be a complex character struggling with trauma and a shopping addiction. Instead she comes across mainly as insufferable and one-dimensional. Her obsession with her teacher lacks emotional depth. Mr. Korgy himself is a cliché and he is utterly uninteresting. Because you don’t connect with either of them, their destructive relationship feels more like a tedious repetition of tropes than a bold literary statement.
 
The book relies heavily on explicit, often vulgar scenes that push the boundaries of discomfort. Although McCurdy indicates that this discomfort is intentional, in practice it mostly feels like cheap shock value. There is one scene especially (if you read it, you know which scene I mean) that was so gross. The couple already gave me the ick, but that scene made it worse.
 
I love Jennette McCurdy, and I really wished I liked this book, but it lacks humor, nuance and sincerity that made McCurdy such an interesting voice. “Half His Age” is mainly a frustrating reading experience that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone.
 
Rating: 1/ 5

Movie Review - Scream 7

Director: Kevin Williamson
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2026

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Joel McHale, Anna Camp, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, McKenna Grace, Asa Germann, Celeste O’Connor, Sam Rechner, Matthew Lillard, Ethan Embry
 
Description: When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the town where Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter becomes the next target.
 
Review: “Scream 7” feels more like a desperate attempt to artificially keep the franchise alive. Although Neve Campbell’s return as Sidney Prescott brings a touch of nostalgia, even her presence can’t save the shaky script.

Sidney is living a happy and calm life with her husband Mark and three kids. But Ghostface is back and is now after her daughter Tatum.

The film clings desperately to the familiar formula and barely dares to experiment, resulting in a predictable experience. I knew the minute a certain character was introduced, they were Ghostface.
Aside from Sidney and Gale, the new characters are flat and forgettable. The dynamic lacks the energy and humor that made the earlier installments so strong.

The reveal is very unsatisfying. Like I said, I predicted it and it feels forced and doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Despite its shortcomings, any film in this franchise will always be entertaining. And the kills are bloodier then the previous films in my opinion. And I did like the opening scene, set in Stu Macher’s house. Fan service for sure, but it does have the tension that the rest of the film is lacking.

“Scream 7” was not necessary at all. Fun time though.

Rating: 2/ 5

90s Movie Review - Mrs. Doubtfire

Director: Chris Columbus
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 125 minutes
Year: 1993
Starring: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein, Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence, Mara Wilson, Robert Prosky, Anne Haney, Polly Holliday

Description: After a bitter divorce, an actor (Robin Williams) disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children held in custody by his former wife (Sally Field).

Review: “Mrs. Doubtfire” is universally acclaimed as a heartwarming family classic, carried by and iconic and award-winning performance by Robin Williams. A favorite for my family when I was a kid. Although the film is known for its slapstick humor, I always appreciated the serious undertones regarding divorce and parenthood.

Robin Williams plays Daniel Hillard, a divorces father who disguises himself as the British nanny Mrs. Doubtfire to be with his children. He is the heart of the film. The film dares to present an honest portrayal of the impact of divorce on children and fatherhood, without resorting to a standard “happy ending” where the parents get back together.

This film brings back so many memories and as an adult I can still appreciate this film.

Rating: 4 / 5

Book Review - King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

Title: King of Ashes
Author: S.A. Cosby
Genre: Thriller/ Crime
Published: 2025
 
Description: Roman Caruthers left the smoke and fire of his family’s crematory business behind in his hometown of Jefferson Run, Virginia. He is enjoying a life of shallow excess as a financial adviser in Atlanta until he gets a call from his sister, Neveah, telling him their father is in a coma after a hit-and-run accident. When Roman goes home, he learns the accident may not be what it seems. His brother, Dante, is deeply in debt to dangerous, ruthless criminals.
 
And Roman is willing to do anything to protect his family. Anything.
 
A financial whiz with a head for numbers and a talent for making his clients rich, Roman must use all his skills to try to save his family while dealing with a shadow that has haunted them all for twenty years: the disappearance of their mother when Roman and his siblings were teenagers. It’s a mystery that Neveah, who has sacrificed so much of her life to hold her family together, is determined to solve once and for all.
 
As fate and chance and heartache ignite their lives, the Carithers family must pull together to survive or see their lives turn to ash. Because, as their father counseled them from birth nothing lasts forever.
 
Everything burns
 
Review: “King of Ashes” by S.A. Cosby is a gripping, gritty crime thriller that explores the boundaries of family loyalty and moral corruptions. Powerful yet tragic, though its explicit rawness requires a strong stomach. But if you read from S.A. Cosby you know what to expect.
 
The story revolves around Roman Caruthers, a successful asset manages in Atlanta who thought he had left the darkness of his hometown, Jefferson Run, Virginia, far behind him. When his father falls into a coma after a mysterious accident, Roman returns to the family business: a crematorium. He finds a mess, His brother Dante is deeply in depth to the violent Black Baron Boys gang, and his sister is struggling to keep the family together.
 
The raw and poetic style of Cosby is one of the reason why I love his stories so much. He describes Jefferson Run as a town slowly rotting away, which perfectly mirrors the characters’ inner struggles. The core of the book isn’t just action, but the traumas that have haunted the family for twenty years since their mother’s disappearance. The dynamics between the brothers and sister feel painfully real.
 
Roman is not your typical hero, but an intellectual anti-hero who uses his financial skills as a weapon in a deadly game of chess against criminals.
 
The book is extremely violent at times. Trigger warnings for readers who have a hard time reading about severe abuse and violence.
 
“King of Ashes” is a blood-curdling thriller about how far you’ll go for you own kin. It didn’t hit me as hard as “Razorblade Tears” and “All the Sinners Bleed” did, but if you’re a fan of S.A. Cosby, you should definitely pick it up.
 
Rating: 4/ 5

Book Review - Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino

Title: Best Offer Wins
Author: Marisa Kashino
Genre: Thriller/ Fiction
Published: 2025
 
Description: Eighteen months and 11 lost bidding wars into house-hunting in the overheated Washington, DC suburbs, 37-year-old publicist Margo Miyake gets a tip about the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, slated to come up for sale in one month. Desperate to escape the cramped apartment she shares with her husband Ian – and in turn, get their marriage, plan to have a baby, and whole life back on track – Margo becomes obsesses with buying the house before it’s publicly listed and the masses descend.
 
A little stalking? Harmless. A bit of trespassing? Necessary. As Margo infiltrates the homeowners’ lives, her tactics grow increasingly nhinged – but just when she thinks she’s won them over, she hits a snag in her plan. Undeterred, margo will prive again and again that there’s no boundary she won’t cross to seize the dream life she’s been chasing.
 
Review: With “Best Offer Wins” Marisa Kashino delivers a debut that is as timely as it is terrifying. While many thrillers rely on classic motifs such as jealousy and revenge, Kashino opts for a much more modern monster: the unattainable housing market. The result is a razor-sharp, unhinged page-turned that makes you reflect on the question: how far would you go for you dream home?
 
Margo Miyake is the kind of character you initially want to hug, but soon find yourself wanting to avoid at all costs. She is 37, successful in PR, but deeply unhappy because she just can’t seem to buy a home in Washington, D.C. After eleven failed bids, she’s at her wit’s end. When she gets a tip about a house that isn’t yet on the market, she becomes obsessed with the current owners. What starts as innocent online stalking spirals into a feverish nightmare of blackmail and violence.
 
Kashino, herself a former real estate reporter, knows exactly what she’s writing about. The strength of this book lies in its sharp social observations.  The way she describes the pretensions of the upper middle class is satirical gold.
 
In addition, Margo’s psychological decline is masterfully portrayed. As a reader, you’re drawn into her logic. But Margo is also highly unlikeable. This could be a reason for people to dislike the book. I just couldn’t put this book down because of how crazy this woman was, probably especially because I hated her.
 
The book begins as written social commentary, but it transforms in the second half into a blood-curdling thriller with a finale so bizarre that you never see it coming.
 
The transition from “desperate house hunter” to “full-blown sociopath” happens rather quickly toward the end of the book. While the escalation is entertaining, it requires a considerable dose of suspension of disbelief from the reader. Some plot twist, though very entertaining, feel a bit less credible than others.
 
“Best Offer Wins” is a really good thriller, and gave me exactly what I needed and I was missing in thriller lately. A must-read for thriller fans who want to get out of a reading slump, you will not be able to put this one down.
 
Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Review - Hamnet

Director: Chloé Zhao
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 125 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Joe Alwyn, Emily Watson, Jacobi Jupe, Noah Jupe
 
Description: In late 16^th-century England, Agnes (Jessie Buckley), a healer sensitive to the world around her, builds a home with William (Paul Mescal), a local tudor and aspiring playwright. As their lives fracture, they are tested by distance, silence, and grief.
 
Review: The film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel “Hamnet” by Oscar winner Chloé Zhao is a rare example of an adaptation that not only understands the soul of the source material but also amplifies it. It is a visually stunning and emotionally devastating portrait of grief, love, and the transcendent power of art.

Although Paul Mescal portrays a fragile yet powerful William Shakespeare (never named until the very end), this is unmistakably Jessie Buckley’s film. As Agnes, she is the emotional anchor; a woman with a powerful connection to nature. Zhao wisely chooses not to show the rise of the famous playwright in London, but to focus on the raw reality of family life in Stratford. The chemistry between Buckley and Mescal is palpable and makes the impending tragedy all the more painful.

The cinematography by Łukasz Żal is nothing short of sublime. He captures the English countryside in 1596 with a sensory richness that immediately transport the viewer into the mud and sunlight of the Elizabethan era. The scenes in which the plague slowly creeps into the household are portrayed with a suffocating tension. Max Richters’s music enhances the melancholic atmosphere.

The absolute highlight is the finale, in which the film shows an indescribably personal loss – the death of eleven-year-old Hamnet – is transformed into the universal masterpiece Hamlet. Zhao succeeds in giving familiar monologues from the play a new, deeply moving meaning that will bring even the most stoic viewers to tears.

“Hamnet” is a tearjerker of the highest order, but its more than that. It’s a story of loss and the aftermath of this, how people grief differently. The narrative structure of the middle section is somewhat uneven, but the emotional impact of the final scene more than makes up for it. I have only just read the book (which I gave a 5-star rating) and it always makes me happy to see a director succeeding into translating it to film. Beautiful film and a well-deserved Academy Award for Jessie Buckley.

Rating: 4,5/ 5