The Plot by Jane Hanff Korelitz

Brief Summary: Jake Bonner was once on track for publishing success as an author but now he’s teaching college English classes. One of his students, Evan Parker shares his idea of a plot for a best-selling novel and Jake doesn’t forget it. When Evan dies without publishing his book, Jake decides the story must be told and publishes it himself. But when Jake is taunted from beyond the grave; he’s forced to figure out who’s story really is it to tell. This is my first read by this author.

Highlights: this is a really interesting take on what would you do if you had a great story in your hands unpublished by the author. My sense of ethics kept nagging at me that he should have been more forthcoming and made me nervous for him about crediting his source. This is an easy read that will interest aspiring writers and remind them to credit their sources.

Explanation of Rating: 4/5-definitely did not see the big twist coming but wasn’t totally consumed by this one

Thank you to Net Galley and Celadon Books for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review

In the past week, I have finished The Plot and watched The Undoing, a TV adaptation on You Should Have Known all by Jean Hanff Korelitz. All fantastic! I will now be on the lookout for other titles by her to add to my TBR very soon. The Plot was structured so uniquely and I absolutely devoured it in a few days. I love books about books, but they often don't deliver in the way I hope. This book delivered and more. I really don't want to say much, other than pick it up!!

Wow! How did I miss this one?

Jake Bonner is just a guy trying to make it in the publishing world. He hears a story and makes it come to life in a novel - writing every word of the novel. Except is his story to tell? The story is worth telling, isn't it? His writing career has stalled. He takes editing and teaching jobs to stay connected, until he hears the fate of now of his former MFA students. Now what?

Kept me glued to the page!

I received this book a year ago and never got around to reading it. A friend recommended it recently and I remembered that I had it in my library. This book was amazing...I was surprised by the twist! I plan to pitch this book to my book club as a future read. I'm looking forward to reading other books by this author.

I really had a hard time getting through this book. As a matter of fact, it took me a year to finally finish it. The beginning was such a slow, boring start that I had to put the book aside and pick it back up later. Many attempts later, I have finally finished and boy was I underwhelmed! The story finally picked up about halfway through but come on, the reader shouldn’t have to wait so long for some interesting plot points and action. The characters were uninteresting. One thing I did enjoy was the addition of the actual book in question scattered among the other chapters. I figured out the twist halfway through the book.

This was an amazing thriller, and kept me guessing the whole time. Amazing twists, not sure if this is adaptable, but potentially a very interesting series.

This book was really good! Great pacing and development. Great twist ending and I love how they wrapped up the story. Highly recommend this one!

For a book about an extraordinary plot with an unimaginable twist, I found The Plot to be just ok and ridiculously predictable. I was super bored for the first half, almost DNFed, and it did pick up but I literally predicted every single twist. I don’t want to give spoilers but the connections were easy to make very early on. Maybe if the author hadn’t spent the first half of the book overhyping it to an absurd extent, I would have enjoyed it more. Also the protagonist was obnoxious which isn’t always a dealbreaker but when the pace and plot aren’t anything to write home about, it’s just another nail in the flop coffin for me. 2.5 stars, rounded up because I liked it enough to finish it, but only just.

This was a tough start for me - any time the beginning of a book is kind of slow it's hard for me to convince myself to continue on and get through it but I'm really thankful I did! Really good twisty read!

What a crazy ride! Enjoyable from the start, but so multilayered that I lost the plot...pun intended! Such fun misdirection and by the time I finally realized what was going on, I was flabbergasted! I loved and hated the characters, and they were so well-written they came to life. Great read!

Overall I enjoyed this one. It was a bit hard to get into but it was worth it in the end. I liked that there was a book within a book. I did find it predictable but it didn't bother me. I still enjoyed the ending. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys suspenseful books.

Thank you to netgalley and celadon books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Does anyone really own a plot? Jake has a story – a story he hears from a student who then dies before he can write it. So, Jake writes it into a bestseller. Then he starts getting threatening messages from someone who seems to know about the plot and where Jake got it. This is a very slow burn to get to the thrilling aspects, and on to the end. The idea of the novel is better than the actual execution, and the literary aspects are stronger than the thriller elements. Maybe it’s me, or maybe it’s the marketing for the book that’s skewed. I was looking for a psychological thriller, and maybe it’s more literary fiction. If a writer writes a story from a plot he heard, whose story is it?

Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read this one as an ebook and also listened to the audiobook. The audio narration was excellent.

When I first started getting into this book, I wasn't immediately drawn in so I was worried I wouldn't like it. This book is definitely a slow burn, rather than a page turner. So if you love a slow build then this book is absolutely for you.

Initially, I wasn't sure I would like it BUT I stuck with it and I'm glad I did because it really picked up. I figured out the ending ahead of time BUT that did not take away from my enjoyment of the book, it was really fun putting the pieces together.

So if you like a good slow burn mystery, then I absolutely recommend you check this one out. I preferred the audiobook. Sometimes it's hard to find a decent audio narrator but this narrator (sorry I'm not sure of his name) was sooooo good.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

What does the word "plot" mean? Is it a grave? Is it a scheme? Is it a story line?
Each definition is meaningful to this book.

What does the word "plagiarism" mean? This book makes the reader really think about what that means to them and as a legal concept.

I really enjoyed The Plot and look forward to other books by this author.

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz is about a professor who takes his dead student’s book idea and passes it off as his own. This makes him become extremely popular and famous because it ends up being a huge hit. Then he starts getting threats that someone knows what he did.
I enjoyed the premise of the book but the execution was not my favorite. It read pretty slow. My personal preference is reading thrillers that are fast paced. I think someone who enjoys literary mysteries would like this book a lot. The author is definitely talented at character development. All in all this book was enjoyable but a little bit slow. Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book was well written and easy to finish in just a few days, but I had a bit of an issue with the plot itself. The stakes didn't feel high enough to me for the main character (Jacob), as I didn't think his indiscretion of stealing the plot was serious enough to be so tortured over it. It might not have been ethical, but he did not plagiarize anything so the blackmail and angst over being revealed felt a bit farfetched. I also was suspicious of Anna immediately and was surprised that a character who seemed as intelligent as Jacob was not. Still a fun read, though!

At first I thought I'd missed something...with each new development I was thinking "is that the twist? was that all it was?" , but thankfully none of that was it, I hadn't gotten there yet. As I was just about there, I figured it out, about 1 sentence before it came out...that was fun! I can't say much without giving away anything so just read it and enjoy it.

I loved the idea and premise of the book. It reminded me a little of Finders Keepers by Stephen King but with a bit more mystery/thriller elements than horror. I unfortunately could not get into the book. I ended up DNF at around 40% as the characters and premise did not keep me invested enough based on my own reading preferences.

I do think the book will do well within its market and based on other reviews it sounds like the plot got much more complex and immersive towards the end.

Thank you Celadon Books and Netgalley for this Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unbelievably great premise for a book! I enjoyed every twist , turn and bump in the road that the author took us on. There were many complex characters with many layers to them. This is a well crafted storyline with a delightful twist ending.

Jake Finch Bonner is a one-hit wonder in the writing world, whose status allows for him to be a teacher of a fiction class in a setting they is less than inspiring, as is his current works in progress. That is until he meets Evan Parker, who has the guaranteed best seller waiting to be told inside his brilliant narsacisstic mind....

Flash forward to the discovery of Evan's untimely death and the fact that thrilling plot has never been told...Jake finds himself inspired and suddenly a best-selling author, even if the inspiration wasn't entirely his own.

However, someone knows that Jake's novel wasn't his to tell...and as Jake begins to dig into the past the story of Evan Parker and his family leads to even more revelations.

Some stories aren't meant to be told.... especially if they aren't your's to tell.