Unfortunately it’s taken me a while to read this and I don’t think it’s for me. I’ve seen so many people enjoy it but unpopular opinion I don’t rate it.
I read the blurb and thought what an exciting and fun premise. I was utterly intrigued right from the short blurb.

I'm a love a good book with a twists, turns and this was good but flopped at times for me. It occasionally dragged out for me, like it went on and on, kept going off and I didn’t really get thriller feel from it. I just wanted it to get to the action and keep my interest instead I struggled to want to pick it up.

A needed an easy read due to not feeling great and having read some heavy books. I could have appreciated the cleverness I kept hearing about if it weren’t the fact I kept getting bored.

The only reason I’ve given it 3* is because I enjoyed the last 30% of the book it was fast and really intrigued me, but getting there was tricky and I nearly DNF.

I don’t think I’ll be reading the sequel “The Sequel”

Really enjoyed this book, Well written looking forward to reading more from the author in the future.

Hard to rate this one so erring on the side of generosity. The plot was very predictable but I did find it an engaging page-turner.

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

What an engaging concept and wonderfully crafted prose! I thoroughly enjoyed how it skillfully transported readers into the captivating realm of writers and the publishing industry, exploring essential elements like reviewers, book tours, interviews, and the devoted fan base. This riveting tale weaves murder, deception, lies, and family dynamics, delving into the ethical dilemma of drawing inspiration from other writers' plots, a practice embraced by even the most esteemed authors. My only minor critique would be that the identity of the individual threatening Jake might have been somewhat evident, yet overall, I wholeheartedly endorse this book and encourage others to read it.

I cannot count the number of people I’ve recommended this book to. So clever! So compelling! Absolutely brilliant.

Absolute page turner, this is an excellent story very well crafted and told, with believable (if not always likeable) characters. Wonderful.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one sounded great. Exciting plot. But sadly it just didn’t live up to the description . It was slow paced. Dragged on to much for me. Had so much potential

This book wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible it was a interesting premise but wasn’t executed as well is it could have been

This was a cleverly written thriller and had quite a unique premise. The plot was engaging and interesting and I definitely enjoyed this

What an exciting and fun premise for a book! I found this story to be utterly intruiging just from the short blurb alone.

I'm a sucker for a book with a twist and this 'plot' sure does deliver.

A clever but easy to read kind of thriller that will keep the pages turning well past the candle burning down.

I look forward to more twists and turns from this author.

The Plot is a phenomenal thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out The Plot today.

Typical who dunnit, these sorts of books are always lovable. Unfortunately the pacing wasn't quick enough for me and find myself losing interest.

I was looking for a change in my usual literary fiction/tending towards romance novel and I picked this up out of the DRC TBR as I’ve heard some great things. I’m glad I did, it was perfect for a weekend in the garden and definitely kept me hooked up to the end!

Jake ‘Finch’ Bonner is a writing professor at a fading school, where he resentfully teaches students who want to write novels. Once hailed as something akin to the next great American novelist, he now finds himself struggling with the sink back into nonentity status. Arguably this is worse than not having a novel published, as he knows what it’s like to taste that celebrity and popularity, and he continues to chase it knowing it’s only getting farther away.

In one of his classes he meets an obnoxious, arrogant student who declares that you can’t teach writing and that he has the best plot ever, one which will bring thousands of people out to talk about it, it’ll be a New York Times bestseller on Oprah and with an A list director for the film adaptation. Irritated and interested, Jake is wrestling with the dual roles of teacher and writer, as well as a personal dislike of this unlikeable person. A few years pass and he finds out that this student died not long after their class, and before the most amazing book was published. He spots an opportunity, and the rest of the narrative unfolds from there.

I think the best stories of this kind stem from a moral question. Similar to The School for Good Mothers, as the reader you follow the main character whether or not you agree with them, and explore their motives and justifications alongside. Jake’s reasoning covers all sorts of areas, such as the idea that a good writer would be duty bound to liberate the best story, or that he wrote the book anyway and all he had was the plot.

The clever thing about this is that the best plot ever appears in the book itself, as a kind of ouroboros, meta-textual book in book. This is a bold move, and reminded me of the Tenacious D song about the best song in the world: "Tribute". I actually wanted to read the other book, called ‘Crib’, which is a testament to a good writer in my opinion.

Both book titles - The Plot and Crib, have more than one meaning, and that was an interesting thing to think about as you read through the novel(s).The Plot is the plot of a novel, the plot against Jake as someone knows that he stole the story. Crib is about children, about plagiarising.

One of the fun parts is figuring out the twists and discovering if your theories are right or not, and although some of them were not subtle, I think that wrongfoots you into believing other things - I was definitely surprised by a couple of the reveals.
This is one of the few books I read without mentally recasting it for a film, although I think it would make a great one. It reminded me tonally of something like Gone Girl or Girl on a Train, where what you think is true turns out not to be. In fact, iMDB is currently showing that it’s a mini series in the works where Jake is played by the incredible Mahershala Ali - one to look out for!

Definitely the best book I read last month. Its unfair but I absolutely love books about writers and the book industry and adding a thriller to that was a perfect mix. Its about a writer whose best selling book is actually based on a plot and story his student told him before he died. https://fashionandfrappes.com/everything-i-read-in-may-2022/

This novel is intelligently written, intriguing and utterly compelling.

I loved the characters and was engrossed from page one.

The plot is a highly appraised book among bookstagrammers and I finally made my way through my copy. Apologies for the delay as life gets in the way many times unfortunately.
I found the story intriguing at the beginning but I just lost interest along the way. The characters are not so likeable as I was expecting and the actual plot that everything is based on was quite silly in my opinion. I know that many times we’ve seen worst and those are hits and became bestsellers both in print and on the screen but it didn’t hit the mark for me unfortunately.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy

I had such high expectations for this one I was really looking forward to it but it missed the mark for me...

The plot sounded ace and right up my street. But I found it very predictable & the pacing not quite right.

Profoundly silly and very readable - I wasn't blown away, but this was a cheerfully mean-spirited way to spend an afternoon.

This book has been languishing on my netgalley shelves for far too long so I finally decided to read it and get it knocked off the tbr!

I feel like this book is the making of its own downfall to be honest. Not thrilling enough to be labelled a thriller (in my opinion) and not a strong enough plot (in either of the stories!) To carry a thriller-less thriller.

It's a story about a struggling writer, Jake "Finch" Bonner who hears about this incredible amazing plot one of his students has for a book.

This is where the downfall begins. It's raved about as being a plot unlike any other. A book guaranteed to be a huge success, optioned into a film, and sell millions of copies.

But when we actually hear about the plot (which to be fair the author could have just kept to herself and alluded to) and honestly it wasn't really that mind blowing. I'm pretty sure I've even read similar plots in books before.

The story drags on, Jake is a frustrating main character, it was quite repetitive and the ending was far too easy to guess.