I was given a copy of The Plot by the publisher by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. When Jake steals an idea for a book from a student who died it seems at first his career is back. When he begins getting messages saying they know the idea is not his own. A well written story but slow going.

I really enjoyed "The Plot." It was fresh, nicely written, good characters and plenty of twists and turns to keep me entertained. Whilst I wouldn't say "The Crib," the book inside the book, was the best novel ever written, it served as a good mean to drive the book forward. Giving it a 4 out of 5. Thank you Netgalley for the copy.

I was provided with a copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Wow this story really carried me along the premise was so good and writing amazing! The characters became very real for me and i was invested looking forward to seeing what was going to happen next. Around half way i did start to get an idea of who the antagonist might be but the ending just blew me away! Such an exciting read

A young writer dies before completing his novel and his teacher ( a failed novelist) helps himself to the plot . The book is a bestseller but someone out there knows it isn’t his….

I loved the undoing and after reading this I can easily see this being adapted for the screen too .
I’ll admit I started off thinking what is the actual plot here (!) as it all seemed a bit slow with not much happening but at the same time there was a sort of feeling of suspense about it which made me want to read on . So yes , it’s a slow burner but don’t give up . I did guess who the villain was but also didn’t fully piece it all together .so it wasn’t the great plot I was hoping for but it was still an enjoyable read .

Jake is an author, but having had one success, he has stalled and is reluctantly coaching other would-be writers at college to make a living. Then he meets a student who has a phenomenal plot for a book, but who is arrogant and unlikely ever to be able to write it.

The repercussions of that meeting will change Jake's life forever, in ways he could never have imagined.

Its an exciting thrilling read, as the plot swerves and sways. Some of the twists you'll see coming, some you won't, but either way the story will grip you until it is played out. I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Faber & Faber Ltd for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this novel early. I had a absolute riot and I loved my reading experience! So much fun! I won't give the plot away but I will recommend that everyone reads it!

The Plot is an entertaining psychological thriller exploring the world of aspiring authors and the publishing industry.
The first part of the book is set on a Vermont college campus, as published author Jacob Finch Bonner teaches a short course for aspiring writers. It's not a job he's passionate about - having experienced fleeting success and recognition after the publication of his first book several years ago, he's struggled to live up to his promise and has to take on teaching jobs to support himself financially. Among the predictably uninspiring cohort of wannabe writers Jacob is assigned is one standout, a rather obnoxious young man called Evan Parker. Evan confidently asserts that his has a unique plot idea that cannot fail but launch him into the publishing stratosphere - but he won't share it with the group. Over the course of their private meetings, Jacob gains access to the opening pages of Evan's manuscript and gradually draws out of him the great plot twist, and he's stunned: Evan is right - his plot is a virtually guaranteed bestseller.
Returning to his dispirited life, searching but failing to find inspiration for another novel, Jacob waits for Evan's novel to hit the shelves, but it never does. It transpires that the young author died tragically shortly after the conclusion of the writing course, and never got a chance to finish his book. Readers will guess what happens next - Jacob develops the plot idea himself, quickly finds a publisher and the book becomes a runaway bestseller.
All is rosy for Jacob for a while - he has the life he's always aspired to - but then the creepy emails start arriving: "You are a thief.".
Jacob becomes quite paranoid, terrified that he'll be publicly exposed - but for what? It's not as if he plagiarised Evan's work, and there's no property in ideas, is there? As Jacob digs deeper into the story of Evan's life and death, he comes to the shocking realisation that Evan's imaginative plot premise may actually be based on real life events. And someone out there is furious that Jacob has appropriated their personal tragedy for his own gain - can Jacob hunt down the truth and identify his online stalker before his career is blown out of the water, or worse?
The Plot takes a meta-fiction format, with excerpts from both Evan's manuscript and Jacob's published novel woven into the main narrative. Jean Hanff Korelitz cleverly drip-feeds details to readers as the story unfolds. While the plot twist alluded to throughout is surprising and unusual, I didn't find it quite as earth-shatteringly original as it had been portrayed. Perhaps this is the author playing games with her audience - there are so many layers of reality and perspective here, it's hard to be sure.
As a qualified lawyer and aspiring fiction writer myself, what I enjoyed the most about The Plot was the exploration of intellectual property concepts against a narrative background. Where is the line between taking artistic inspiration, which all authors do, and plagiarism / stealing? Who owns a true story, and to what extent can it be legitimately incorporated into a work of fiction? Is it okay for an author to enjoy professional acclaim and huge profits off the back of someone else's trauma? I had sympathy with both "sides" of these conundra, as played out by the story and characters of The Plot. While Jacob wasn't a particularly likeable character in many respects, my own feeling was that he had the letter of the law on his side, if perhaps not the spirit. Jacob's battle of conscience over Evan and constant self-justification reinforced this impression.
The Plot is a thought-provoking and entertaining read, which I'd recommend highly to any reader who enjoys twisty thrillers, especially those with a literary setting.
My thanks to the author, Jean Hanff Korelitz, publisher Faber & Faber Ltd., NetGalley and NetGalleyUK, for the opportunity to read and review this intriguing title.

The Plot is an entertaining psychological thriller exploring the world of aspiring authors and the publishing industry.
The first part of the book is set on a Vermont college campus, as published author Jacob Finch Bonner teaches a short course for aspiring writers. It's not a job he's passionate about - having experienced fleeting success and recognition after the publication of his first book several years ago, he's struggled to live up to his promise and has to take on teaching jobs to support himself financially. Among the predictably uninspiring cohort of wannabe writers Jacob is assigned is one standout, a rather obnoxious young man called Evan Parker. Evan confidently asserts that his has a unique plot idea that cannot fail but launch him into the publishing stratosphere - but he won't share it with the group. Over the course of their private meetings, Jacob gains access to the opening pages of Evan's manuscript and gradually draws out of him the great plot twist, and he's stunned: Evan is right - his plot is a virtually guaranteed bestseller.
Returning to his dispirited life, searching but failing to find inspiration for another novel, Jacob waits for Evan's novel to hit the shelves, but it never does. It transpires that the young author died tragically shortly after the conclusion of the writing course, and never got a chance to finish his book. Readers will guess what happens next - Jacob develops the plot idea himself, quickly finds a publisher and the book becomes a runaway bestseller.
All is rosy for Jacob for a while - he has the life he's always aspired to - but then the creepy emails start arriving: "You are a thief.".
Jacob becomes quite paranoid, terrified that he'll be publicly exposed - but for what? It's not as if he plagiarised Evan's work, and there's no property in ideas, is there? As Jacob digs deeper into the story of Evan's life and death, he comes to the shocking realisation that Evan's imaginative plot premise may actually be based on real life events. And someone out there is furious that Jacob has appropriated their personal tragedy for his own gain - can Jacob hunt down the truth and identify his online stalker before his career is blown out of the water, or worse?
The Plot takes a meta-fiction format, with excerpts from both Evan's manuscript and Jacob's published novel woven into the main narrative. Jean Hanff Korelitz cleverly drip-feeds details to readers as the story unfolds. While the plot twist alluded to throughout is surprising and unusual, I didn't find it quite as earth-shatteringly original as it had been portrayed. Perhaps this is the author playing games with her audience - there are so many layers of reality and perspective here, it's hard to be sure.
As a qualified lawyer and aspiring fiction writer myself, what I enjoyed the most about The Plot was the exploration of intellectual property concepts against a narrative background. Where is the line between taking artistic inspiration, which all authors do, and plagiarism / stealing? Who owns a true story, and to what extent can it be legitimately incorporated into a work of fiction? Is it okay for an author to enjoy professional acclaim and huge profits off the back of someone else's trauma? I had sympathy with both "sides" of these conundra, as played out by the story and characters of The Plot. While Jacob wasn't a particularly likeable character in many respects, my own feeling was that he had the letter of the law on his side, if perhaps not the spirit. Jacob's battle of conscience over Evan and constant self-justification reinforced this impression.
The Plot is a thought-provoking and entertaining read, which I'd recommend highly to any reader who enjoys twisty thrillers, especially those with a literary setting.
My thanks to the author, Jean Hanff Korelitz, publisher Faber & Faber Ltd. and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this intriguing title.

I love the premise here, but I wish parts of it had been more original (unsuccessful writer protagonist). However, the writing was great and the pace picks up to a really engaging plot and exciting twists.

I found this a bit slow to get started and I almost DNF but overall I did enjoy the story and the twist at the end I did not see coming at all.

The plot of this book is good. A writer steals an idea for a novel when the original author dies, and he gets messages from someone saying they know what he has done. There is tension and a lot of fun in this book. I did however struggle at first with the long paragraph styles and style of writing but leave that aside and get onboard for the fun ride. There are a few plot holes in the plot ironically but it's all good clean fun.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Interesting thriller-almost a book within a book. Unfortunately I guessed the truth quite early on which took some of the gloss off the story.

The Plot was one of those books where you were meant to work out who was giving the anti-hero a bad time. Jake is an arrogant one-hit-wonder novelist who still thinks himself better than the rest. Ge begrudgingly teaches a creative writing class at a middling college. Something great falls into his lap when a nasty piece of work called Evan enrols in his class. Evan is the only person less deserving in the story. Somehow, Evan has an idea for a book with a killer plot. An idea so good it cannot fail, and Evan reluctantly tells his idea to Jake.
Some time later, Jake is even more washed up and feeling sorry for himself when he discovers that Evan has prematurely died without writing his blockbuster. Now we come to the part where Jake screws up. Had he written the book with the amazing plot, and attributed the idea to Evan, he would have become rich and gotten away clean. Instead, Jake writes the book because he oeesit to the world of fiction and because the universe owes him. Pretty soon, he starts getting messages calling him a thief and a liar. At the same time someone amazing comes into his life. Us, the readers, are screaming at Jake: It's her, It's her!. Jake, being dumb as a box of frogs, doesn't see it. It's such fun.

Jacob Finch Bonner had success with his first novel but has very little success since. Now teaching a creative writing course one of his students tells him of his plot that will be an instant best seller; Jacob agrees with this but thinks very little of it until a few years later when the novel hasn't been written and the student appears to have died only a few months after the course finished. With a plot like that just going to waste Jacob can't help himself but to use it and his novel does indeed become a best seller; the problem? someone knows it doesn't belong to him and they won't rest until everyone knows.

the story of Jacob stealing the story from Evan Parker and achieving world wide success and fame for it is quite the tale in it's own right but once the threatening emails and letters turn up accusing Jacob of being a thief this added a layer of a thriller to the novel. It was full of twists and surprises to keep me guessing and I absolutely loved it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review

Really enjoyed The Plot: sharp, droll, nasty, a lot of fun @JeanHanffKoreli @FaberBooks

Really enjoyed The Plot: sharp, droll, nasty, a lot of fun @JeanHanffKoreli @FaberBooks

Like other readers, this book took me a while to get into. I think possibly it was the long paragraph style that I struggled with. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters and I did guess early on how the book would unfold.

Having said all that you’d think I didn’t enjoy it but actually by the second half of the book I was zipping through it. I had to know if my prediction was correct!

I usually read thriller suspense novels and having a book within a book gives the genre a different spin on the usual who done it style! I think other suspense fans would enjoy this read too.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher #FaberBooks for a copy of the #ThePlot in exchange for an honest review

Jake Finch Bonner used to be a successful novelist but now he’s teaching an MFA in Creative Writing and struggling to figure out his next book. Evan Parker is a student who is pretty sure that an MFA can’t possibly teach him anything because his novel idea is destined for success. Unfortunately, Jake agrees that he may well be on to something. A few years later, Evan’s novel still hasn’t emerged and it turns out that he died shortly after the course. Still fumbling around for a good idea, Jake sees an opportunity. It would be a horrific shame if the world never got to read Evan’s brilliant idea, so Jake takes it upon himself to write the book that his ex-student never did and of course, it’s the huge success they knew it would be. But someone knows that this idea wasn’t Jake’s and they’re coming for him. The Plot is a very clever, well-written novel with several complex characters who are fun to juggle. Once it gets into its stride, it’s incredibly tense and I certainly didn’t see the final twist coming. A unique, creative thriller with a very interesting premise.

3.5 stars!
Initially I didn’t enjoy the book and I had almost dnf’ed it but I looked up some reviews and a reviewer said it picks up around 37%. I made myself read the book somehow and I am so glad I read it. This book has a different trope and it’s my first time reading such story. I had somehow guessed the person emailing Jake and later was confirmed before it was revealed. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and the writing is quite addictive as I couldn’t put the book down after getting over the slow start. Thankyou Netgalley and Faber and Faber for the arc.

(MILD SPOILERS)
This was OK.
It's about a writer stuggling to find an idea for his next big book and stealing the plot off one of his, now dead, students.
This isn't a new idea, and neither has the book within a book never been done before, but it is executed very well in the sense that it's an easy read. Nowhere did the story become confusing, and for that the skills of the writer has to be acknowledged.
Having said that, I think the major twist is easy to foretell, though I don't think that took away the enjoyment of the story as much as a reader might think.
It's a weird book as to how it made me feel. As a failed writer I cringed a little when I recognised myself in the early part of the book as a 'wannabe'. I too believed, for a time, that I could write a book. (Actually, I believed I could write for an embarrassingly long time, but that's not a story for here.) But I can't help thinking this book wouldn't have held up better if that twist hadn't been so predictable, and the bad guy (or lass) hadn't been that bad. Makes the good guy appear a little dim, to be honest. I mean, he's supposed to be an intelligent and intuitive guy. And I also think when the baddie plays a long game they may change, grow fond of their victim, and when the final act arrives, show remorse - even if just a little. This story had the potential to end with tears. which would have been more believable, perhaps. Also, and I know this is a pet hate, the bad guy (or lass) explaining everything at the end. We know what happened, we even saw it coming, we don't need to be told as well. This wrapping up of stories (summarising?) that we've only just read can be irritating, sorry.
Now I feel everything I've written reads overly harsh, because I did enjoy this read. Like I said, it's a fairly complex structure written in a way that makes writing such books look incredibly easy. Little irony in there, :). And the writing style and language is one that would make me look out for other work by this author.
So yes, if the blurb appeals, I'd say pick this book up and give it a go.
A solid three.
Thank you Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the review copy.

I really enjoyed this book - and it's one of those where you get the sense that the author had a whale of a time writing it, too.

The story centres around Jacob, writer who never quite lived up to his 'promising young writer' hopes and now teaches creative writing. One of his students tells Jacob he has thought of a plot that will make him a bestselling author. Although Jacob initially dismissed this as arrogance (the student is a gloriously written douchebag), when the student shares the plot with him, Jacob is dumbfounded – it's brilliant.

Years later, Jacob finds out that the student has died without ever writing the novel. And so he takes it for himself. And, because the plot is Just So Damn Good, the novel becomes a runaway best-seller and Jacob is the most sought-after writer in the world.

He's terrified that someone is going to find him out. And then, of course, someone does.

It's just such a fun idea, and I especially like that the author had the guts to frame it so boldly (you do actually find out what this 'best ever plot in the world' is) and then pull it off. As Jacob rushes to figure out who knows his secret and how he can keep it from going public, the reader is invited along for the ride. It's all just a little bit meta, a little bit self-indulgently self-referential, and although the main character is a bit of a dick at times, you find yourself rooting for him because it's honestly all such good fun. It's also well written and wickedly funny.