I received a complimentary ALC of THE PLOT by Jean Hanff Korelitz thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley.

THE PLOT follows struggling author Jacob Finch Bonner. After the release of a reasonably well received novel, he has struggled to follow it up. In the meantime he is teaching in an MFA program dealing with the next generation of writers who think they’ve got the story that will turn the publishing world upside down. When meeting one on one with an arrogant student, it turns out that he may not be wrong. From the moment Jake hears Evan’s truly unique plot idea he can’t get it out of his head.

Years later, Jake is feeling even less secure in his writing career, spending more time running a writing retreat than actually writing. He’s never seen his former student’s novel come out, so he does a bit of internet stalking. It turns out his student died not long after Jake met him which likely means he never even wrote the book. Jake convinced himself it’s a story that needs to be told and soon he is topping the best sellers lists. Problem is someone knows that the story idea wasn’t his and they are out to tell the world.

A book within a book, a writer protagonist and a twisty dark read all rolled up in one? This is my kind of book! The question of ownership over a plot idea was an interesting one. Jake is accused of plagiarizing the book, even though he did write every word himself. Jake walks himself through some mental maneuvering to convince himself that it is his obligation as an author to put this story out there, but his desperate need to keep the idea’s true origin a secret clearly shows that he knows he wasn’t entirely in the right.

I really enjoyed how the author wove bits of Jake’s book in with the plot of the THE PLOT, as Jake looks into his student’s past and the original source materials he drew from. While I did see part of the the major plot twist coming, I didn’t expect everything the author did along the way and I found it an incredibly gripping read. The audiobook was well done as well and the narrator did a good job delivering the story!

Overall, this is one to watch out for!

Jacob Finch Bonner has one aspiration: become a famous author with a bestseller. He is working as a mentor for a writing program after his first published work never really took off. When one of his students shares his idea for one of the most fascinating plots Bonner has ever heard, he never forgets it. When he finds out that the student has died, he figures he might as well borrow his book idea. Fast forward a bit and Bonner is a famous author with his book topping all of the charts. However, he has started receiving hate mail. Someone knows he’s a fraud and Jacob becomes terrified of being exposed.

So this novel has a really slow start. I almost found myself thinking why do I care about all this? But hang in there. It picks up in the second half and I binged it! I loved the writing style, it was almost methodical in its approach in character and story building. The author also blends in portions of Jacob’s book called Crib, so you have a plot within a plot (how inception like). It kept the story even more interesting as I loved the Crib excerpts. I figured out the ‘who’ early on but I was still so involved in finding out if Jacob got caught that I didn’t care (and that is a sign of some good writing)!

I absolutely LOVED The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. The initial set up of the book was a slow burn. As a struggling author, Jacob Finch Bonner hears a plot that is incredible - a story that must be told, that everyone would want to read, that would be on every bestseller list. From there, I highly recommend that you go in blind and let this story unfold because the slow burn becomes an intriguing and fascinating mystery. I can confidently say that by the halfway point of The Plot I did not want to stop listening as I was deeply engrossed in this dark, twisted, thriller. I was surprised and engaged and I loved the way this plot came together.

The audiobook was 10 hours and 43 minutes. I thought the narration by Kirby Heyborne was well-done and well-paced. His voice was a good match for the character. I enjoyed listening to this and I would definitely recommend the audio (or print!) for anyone looking for a twisty read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. This did not affect the contents of my voluntary review, and all opinions are honest and my own.

Five Suspenseful Stars
The Plot
by: Jean Hanff Korelitz
The Plot kept me spellbound while listening late into Saturday night and then again early on Sunday morning to finish. Jean Hanff Korelitz masterfully crafted this psychological thriller, with double literary twists, as a plot within a plot, and a novel within a novel. Jacob Bonner's briefly prominent writing career has faded as he teaches in the MFA Creative Writing Symposium at Ripley College in Vermont. Bonner's lack of zeal and motivation for teaching prose at low ranked Ripley are so expertly described by Korelitz that I could feel his angst to be at this sad point in his career. His mood worsens as aggravatingly arrogant student Evan Parker appears in the symposium. Through one on one sessions, Parker discloses to his teacher, Bonner, the intriguing plot for a novel he wants to write. Teacher and student both feel, although reluctantly for Bonner, that this plot has the potential to become a brilliant novel for Parker.
In later years, Jacob Bonner wants to find out if Evan Parker ever wrote his novel. This natural curiosity led Bonner to discover that Parker is dead. A shocking series of events slowly unfold as Bonner writes the novel instead of Parker. The blockbuster new novel, Crib, is the plot within a plot, as excerpts from it are revealed in The Plot. Hidden family secrets emerge. Ethical questions arise about the literary process of book writing as Bonner is accused of plot stealing for Crib by a mysterious source. It is a pulsating journey to the conclusion of both stories.
Throughout the book, settings moved to include New York and Seattle. I was fascinated that surprise events occurred in my home state of Georgia. Whether in Bonner's office at Ripley College, or later deep in the forests of Rabun Gap, Georgia, Korelitz 's vivid, detailed descriptions of characters and place led to my total immersion and investment into this novel. Narrator Kirby Heyborne's voice flowed smoothly to perfectly capture the essence of the suspenseful twists and turns of The Plot. Heyborne's narration smoothly blended with Korelitz's expert writing in a way that I fully visualized and was captivated by each moment of this outstanding novel.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Celadon Books for my ARC of this audiobook, and I gladly share my honest review.
Publication date: May 11, 2021
#NetGalley #ThePlot

Oh my word, if you're ready to give up on this book in the beginning, I feel you completely, I was there. However, if you can be patient, and wait it out, I promise you it DOES pick up. Not sure though if the ending was a bit rushed in hindsight. I'd have to think about that a bit longer.

I really enjoyed this audio book. Kirby, the narrator, has a most pleasant voice.

I would be surprised if this isn't made into a movie or a tv series, it lends itself well to this medium and it is one EVERYONE seems to be talking about before it has even hit the shelves.

Overall, I thought it was entertaining. But it really should have been called " The Plot Twist".

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story is about writer and teacher Jacob Finch Bonner. After publishing a decently successful book, he has found himself in a writing rut. That is, until inspiration comes in the form of an arrogant student. Jake's student Evan is convinced he has a plot that's a guaranteed success and, upon hearing it, Jake has to agree. As time passes and he waits to see the book make headlines, which it never does, Jake finds out that Evan has died without bringing it into existence. Jake decides that the story needs to be told and that he's the one to do it.

Now as Jake rides the wave of what should have been Evan's success, he starts receiving some startling messages calling him a thief. As Jake tries to unearth the identity of the person harassing him, he realizes that there was so much more to the life of his student than he could have imagined, and it's about to change his life too.

This was my first NetGalley audiobook and it ended up being a good one. A book plot about a book plot... it was an interesting idea and I ended up really enjoying its execution!

The first half of the book was a lot of setting the stage and it moved a bit slow for my liking, however the second half really picked up as the mystery morphed into more of a thriller. I will confess that even me, a consumer of minimal thrillers, predicted what was going to happen about 75% of the way into the book. Figuring it out still sparked my curiosity of how it was going to play out though.

This book sparks the question, what is or is not OK for writers to steal? Overall, this is a great mystery/thriller that starts off a slow burn, while kicking into a thriller power by the end of the book!

I wanted to like this book more than I did. As a writer myself, I liked the inside look at the life of a writer and MFA programs.

The Plot is a slow burn and takes its time to set up the story and get into the twists. As a result, it felt a little too long and the ending a little rushed after the twist. However, I do think this storyline and novel would make a great movie or tv series.

I did guess the ending early on in the novel, and I'm not sure how Jacob missed it. Maybe that was a part of his character? I'm not sure. The Plot was an interesting book to listen to as I worked or did chores around the house. I wish the twist had been more challenging to guess, and we could spend more time with the ending.

I was excited to read the book based off the blurb. This book is a very slow burn story and took me a long time to get invested. Halfway through the novel I was able to connect the dots and figured out the twist of the story which was kind of a let down. There is a story within the story and that was really good! I probably would have liked reading a book based off that plot line instead.

Jacob Finch Bonner is a struggling author who hasn’t written or published anything in years. As he’s teaching an MFA program at a local community college, an especially arrogant students shares his unique idea for a novel that will be an automatic best seller. Fast forward a few years, Jacob is on deadline with no ideas when he remembers that student. He looks him up only to find out he died a few years back. Jacob decides to use that student’s idea for his next novel, and as suspected, the book is a huge hit. But then Jacob starts receiving threatening letters from an anonymous person who seems to know that the idea was not his.

This story had such a unique plot and was very different from any other suspense novel I’ve read. I was very surprised by all of the twists in this one. I was so engaged in the story and even when I wasn’t reading, I was talking about it or thinking about it. Look out for this one because you will be seeing it a lot!

I went back and forth between physical book and audiobook on this one, and both were phenomenal. I was glad to have this one in both formats because I did not want to put it down! The audiobook had great sound quality, was still clear when I would spend it up (I listened to this one at 2.3x speed), and the narrator was fantastic.

Thank you to Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio for the copies of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The narrater did a great job reading, he had a very soothing voice that was nice to listen to. found it to be a slow burn literary mystery. I did learn a lot about the publishing world and the writing was well executed. I did think this book was going to be more suspenseful then it was.

Jacob Finch Bonner was a struggling author,  he had a great first book, but the books to follow didn't do so well. Bonner is now teaching a writing program. One of his students is bragging about a Plot he's written that he thinks will be a bestseller, and he doesn't need Bonner's help,  although when Bonner reads it he disagrees. Years later Bonner thinks back on that student and wonders how they are doing only to discover the student died. Bonner then decides he could use his deceased students Plot to become a successful author again.  Things are beginning to look up in Bonner's life when he receives a threatening message that he stole the story,  but who could possibly know?

Two thrillers for the price of one - Jacob Finch Bonner’s stollen story itself and the events that unfold once his novel is released into the world. I loved how the plot of the author’s book unravelled alongside his own in alternating chapters. It is definitely a slower start while the anticipation of learning the plot twist inside his story builds, but that revelation is only the first of many as events in real life spiral out of control. A very enjoyable double thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley for my advance copy. The Plot available May 11, 2021.

The Plot
By Jean Hanff Korelitz

Like so many others, I almost gave up on this book because it started out so slowly. But I am truly glad that I continued reading. The plot within The Plot kept building. Jacob Finch Bonner is a writer whose first novel was hugely successful but whose next book was mediocre. He began second guessing himself and his ability to write when an arrogant student in a writing class he is teaching drops an unbelievable story in his lap. A few years later, Jacob realizes that the student’s book has never been published. When he learns that the student has died, he decides that the story must be told and that he has an obligation to the story to tell it. But, should the story be told? Of course,the new book is a huge success. One reader, however, believes the story shouldn’t have been told and anonymously starts accusing Jacob of plagiarism. As Jacob becomes obsessed with learning the truth about his accuser, the story intensifies with more twists and turns leading to a surprise ending.

This was a very good read. Thank you to Net Galley and Macmillan for an advanced copy of this book.

Could not get on with the voice reading this one which I was gutted about because the story sounded amazing! The problem with the voice is that it sounded like a robot and had no emotion in it whatsoever :(

I wanted to like this one, but I found it to be extremely difficult to get into. The whole first part about the writing retreat was so dry. I know it was just setting up for the rest of the book, but it just didn't grab me. I've seen so many people raving about this one, but it just didn't do it for me.

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz was an extremely clever book. Jean Hanff Korelitz was a new author for me but based on this book I would definitely read other books by her. I listened to the audiobook that was well narrated by Kirby Heyborne.

The Plot could be described as a psychologically suspenseful novel. It explored the morals of writer’s plagiarism. What would you do if you were given the privilege of listening to a plot for a book from one of your students and were convinced along with your pompous student that it would become a successful, best selling novel? That was the dilemma Jacob Finch Bonner faced. He was teaching a writing course at a small unknown master’s program when this happened. Jacob had written two novels already but he was experiencing writer’s block when he tried to write his third book. He never forgot the plot of the story his disrespectful student told him during office hours so many years ago. Jacob continually watched for the book to be published but it never materialized. As Jacob dug further into his student’s life he discovered that his student had died. At that point, Jacob made the decision to borrow the plot and write the book himself. It was an instant success as he knew it would be. Jacob became a celebrated and well accomplished author. Jacob never stopped looking over his shoulder, though. Would he be accused of stealing someone else’s story?

The plot was a fast paced, page turning book. I could not seem to stop listening to this book. It was suspenseful but a little too predictable. I guessed the ending well before it was presented. The characters were well developed and complex. Jacob may have been too trusting and a little naive but likable. I really enjoyed reading The Plot and would recommend it very highly.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen this advanced audiobook of The Plot through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I think it's safe to say that I've never read anything like The Plot. Jake was a professor in an MFA program when one of his least likable students discloses the plot that is guaranteed to make any author famous. Jake reluctantly agrees but goes about his life. Some years later, when he remembers the plot, he also realizes that his former student, Evan, doesn't seem to have published his work yet. After a quick search, Jake realizes that Evan died shortly after finishing the MFA course and likely never finished his book.

We join Jake as he's touring the world, on bestsellers lists, and all thanks to one very special plot. Jake isn't a bad guy, after all, he doesn't take the actual /story/, just the general plotline. And as everyone knows, plots can't be copyrighted. It all starts going wrong for Jake when he gets that first email. Someone knows. Someone knows the plot isn't his and someone wants to expose him.

So often in books, we are told about these special plots, songs, stories, etc., and we don't get a chance to experience them ourselves. Author, Jean Hanff Korelitz, goes above and beyond writing not just one story by two (possibly 3!), allowing us to experience Evan's story and Jake's story throughout the course of the book and it really pays off. The narrator, Kirby Heyborne, was perfect and kept me engaged the whole way through.

5/5 Stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Celadon Books for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“Everyone has a unique voice and a story nobody can tell. And anybody can be a writer”

The Plot is a pretty interesting, inception like story that follows two plots, the plot of the story by Jacob Finch Bonner, and The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. I don’t really “hate” MCs, but gah, best believe I was wholeheartedly cheering for Talented Tom! Evan Parker/Parker Evan was pretty bleh too, so I was happy to see justice served on that end.

You know if there’s a book that involves Athens, I’m there! I was surprised to see it pop up in The Plot. I mean, we went all the way to Rabun Gap, so it nice to see that. The reader of the book did a wonderful job on accents (the slurring in the bar was top notch) and definitely felt like southern accents were probably the most realistic I’ve heard in quite some time.

I feel like there were two big twists in this book. I saw them both coming, but still enjoyed it nonetheless. I called my husband and told him about 40% in that something was off and I was right. This was a book I would have recommended for him, and still am going to make him listen on audio. I felt like the ending was a bit rushed, but it did wrap it up in a nice bow, which is what I was hoping for.

I don’t want to give too much away, but I felt it was a good book with good twists. (Predicable doesn’t always mean boring y’all.) If you’re a fan of The Secret Window or The Talented Mr. Ripley, this one is for you! Thank you @celadon and @macmillanaudio for the gifted copies! The Plot is out May 11th.

5 fabulous stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Jake is a writer and published author, a one hit wonder of sorts, but maybe more half a hit. He is struggling to come up with a best seller to really make it as an author. While teaching, he meets Evan, a cocky student who exudes confidence and thinks he is a brilliant writer. Evan also has a brilliant idea for a story which he shares with Jake. A real game changer. Years alter and the story still isn't published. Jake finds out the reason, Evan died before he could tell his history

Jake sees this as an opportunity to truly make it as an author and turns Evan's idea into his own boom. Except Jake isn't the only one who knew about Evan's story.

There is so much to love about this book. The writing was superb. You really get into Jake's head and get to know him, all the good and bad. The story is fantastic. I loved the idea of a book within a book, such a unique way to tell the story.

Thank you Celadon Books, MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for both the digital and audio ARC

It took me a few pages to get into the writing style of this book, but once I got settled in, I really enjoyed this plot within a plot book!

Jacob Finch Bonner, the author of a moderately successful first book is teaching a writing class at a small college in New England. One of his students shares the plot of book he plans to write. The plot is an obvious best seller, and when Jake doesn’t see the book published, he investigates and finds out that student has died, never publishing the book. Jake uses the student’s plot and writes a book, it is a huge success, but someone knows that the idea wasn’t his.

I liked the organization of the book, one story following Jake with chapters of Jake’s book sprinkled in.
I did have a basic idea of who knew that Jacob used his student’s plot about halfway through, but as the writing was the good and there were some twists I didn’t see coming, this book continued to gain momentum from that point and it was a great read.

I will recommend this book to friends who like suspense novels. I will also be looking at other books by this author.

I received both the audiobook and the physical copy of this book. I started with the physical copy, switched over to the audiobook when I was walking, and then switched back to the physical copy to finish. The audiobook was fine, the narrator was fine, but I really enjoyed reading this particular book more than I enjoyed listening.

As a side note, the NetGalley audio app is not great – I can’t go back unless I go back a whole chapter, and it often just stops at the end of a chapter and I have to go in, start two chapters ahead, and then go back to the previous chapter.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an Audio ARC of of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I truly admired the author's writing abilities and obvious intelligence. I even enjoyed many of the discussions about artistic inspiration and how writers take from and build on other author's ideas and plots. (I cringe every time I hear allegations of plagiarism in either the publishing or music industry. To my mind, hasn't every trope, conflict or life drama been depicted in just about every manner possible by now?)

I actually enjoyed this novel., but......! As I listened to this wordy, overly descriptive audio on the NetGalley Ap, I kept thinking ... hmm, shades of <u>The Goldfinch</u>, by Tartt. I gave up reading <u>The Goldfinch</u> after a while because it just went on and on and on and on and on..... The erudite, "high altitude" writing style in <u>The Plot</u>reminded me strongly of Donna Tartt.

Acquit me! - I love a good discussion about art: the history of, the making of, the talented or eccentric creators of, the feelings and thoughts evoked by, etc. etc. As I audited this book, I often felt like I was back in class, listening to a lecture - but without the opportunity to raise my hand and ask the Prof for clarification or even debate a point.. (I also felt the urge to check for footnotes and reference sources, but, alas, this was an audiobook....)

The narrator was quite decent and I liked his voice, but I was occasionally distracted by his pronunciation of certain words and would loose the thread of the story. (For example: the main character's name: Instead of Jacob Finch Bonner, I occasionally heard Jacob Finch <i>Boner</i> - I kid you not! This is basic phonics, people!) Also, the NetGalley Shelf AP - Yikes! I got so frustrated whenever I tried to rewind the narration for just a few sentences.

Technical issues aside, this was a pretty decent thriller, but half way through., I knew who the killer was, the why of it and even the how of it, and I could even foretell how the story was going to end - <i>and</i> I knew I wasn't going to like that ending.

My take: everything was a tad "over-explained." There really was nothing left to infer or guess - all the work was done for the reader. Dialogue and characterization were good, and the various settings were so well described and detailed, you could probably make your way through the halls of the now defunct Ripley college or the small New England towns where the main and side stories took place. This minute attention to detail and the heavy use of elaborate and multi-syllabic descriptors slowed the action down.

This entire novel can certainly be made into a movie, but it will be a short movie, because nothing much <i>happens</i>... just the slow dripping away of all the characters lives - both fictional and "sub-fictional," and all of those long interior monologues from Jacob.

Of course, I enjoyed the "NOVEL WITHIN A NOVEL THAT MIRRORS THE ACTION IN THE MAIN NOVEL" theme, but this is what made it so very predictable. Maybe <u>The Plot</u> was never meant to be a thriller in the true sense, but if you were hoping for a shocking twist, I don't see how you couldn't see it coming.

I'm rating this one a 3.8 out of 5 because the writing was very good, and I did enjoy the literary discussions, but as a thriller.... well, I'll let you decide, because I do still highly recommend this one!