“The Grand Scheme of Things” centers on Eddie, a Black playwright struggling to land an agent for her dystopian play exploring immigration, belonging, and concepts of worth. She hatches a plan with a white acquaintance, Hugo, to submit her play under his name. What begins as an experiment to expose (unconscious) bias in the theater industry quickly spirals into a chaotic mess neither of them anticipated.

I requested an ARC of this book after seeing comparisons to “Yellowface” and was curious to see Jay’s perspective on similar themes—plus I was intrigued by the London theater setting. While I appreciated the book’s observations about entrenched racism in the U.K., I found myself puzzled by a few of the plotting choices.

The book’s strength lies in Eddie’s authentic voice and commentary on identity and diversity. Eddie’s frustrations as a Black immigrant seeking recognition as an artist felt genuine. Her meditations on her name and the significance names can hold for immigrants were particularly poignant.

However, I struggled with the pacing once the initial plan was set in motion. The book felt strongest in its opening when establishing the characters’ motivations, but less compelling as the consequences mounted.

The friendship between Eddie and Hugo didn’t quite resonate with me. Their partnership seemed driven more by narrative necessity than genuine connection, which made their eventual conflicts feel contrived rather than organic.

Jay's debut has a point of view--she comments on systemic inequities with humor and pathos. Her satirical instincts are sharp and I would certainly read another novel by her.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the advanced review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Grand Scheme of Things by Warona Jay tells the story of Eddie who is sure that her ethnic name is behind her lack of success as a playright in London. Enter Hugo a white man and let the complications ensue.

I enjoyed the premise of this book and appreciate receiving an advance copy from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review. The Grand Scheme of Things is available now.

I chose this book because the premise sounded interesting and I like books centered around theatre and the performing arts. This book was a lot more literary than I was expecting which I appreciated. If you think about it, the plot is a little wild but the characters were nuanced and I think the book covered a lot of hard issues in a thoughtful manner.

This book had an interesting concept and started off strong, but ended up being a skim read for me. I think it was the writing style. It wasn't bad. I just had a hard time with it. That said, the characters were interesting and realistically flawed. I feel like it would work well in a serious-minded book club or maybe a college classroom.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

I am late to review this book because my feelings were conflicted. To be completely honest, I think I might have liked this story more if I had read it before I read Jodi Piccoult's story, <I>By Any Other Name</I> (The first book I've read by her) In Piccoult's dual timeline book, there is a very similar storyline to the one here, which proved to be distracting as I couldn't immediately pinpoint my source of deja vu.

I chose this book from NetGalley, so I guess it's on me that I willingly selected a book with a plot line I didn't love the first time I read it. In my defense, the book was pitched as "wildly entertaining", a claim I might dispute. Yes, this is a fascinating peek into the theater world, and I 100% agree that women are not given the same opportunity as men, but I lost the plot with the initial author switcheroo. I understand that people want to believe a certain narrative, but I had a hard time believing how this particular one went down. I kept reading because 1. I'm not a quitter! and 2. Jay is a terrific writer and I found her characters interesting, just not completely believable. I would definitely read another book by her, so don't be dissuaded by my issues. I am curious, though, about what other people think of the credibility of the plot. Maybe I've just read too many Cyrano-themed books?

As a theatre person, I don't know what I went into this expecting. But I didn't really connect to the story unfortunately.

Meet Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo—aka Eddie. A brilliant educated fresh playwright dreaming of London’s theatre scene. But after endless rejections, she suspects the problem isn’t her talent—it’s her name.

Then comes Hugo: white, privileged, and stuck in a law education he isn’t sure about. A chance café encounter sparks a risky plan—Eddie’s play under Hugo’s name. The publishing and theatre world bites, hard. Their aim? To expose systemic racism and clout-chasing in the arts.

But things spiral when an up-and-coming Iranian female director is brought in to direct the play. Suddenly, revealing the truth could destroy her career too—making her collateral damage in a scheme she had no part in. Eddie’s guilt deepens as the lines blur between justice and harm and Hugo falls in love.

At first, I was baffled by Eddie’s choice to give up her voice—but that discomfort is part of the brilliance. Her longing, her vulnerability, her raw humanity make her unforgettable. Hugo is the nepo baby of our times—charming, unsure, and at times only half-aware of his own privilege.

Warona Jay writes with razor-sharp insight, humor, and depth. This debut explores race, class, gender, and ambition with courage and nuance. Told in dual POV, it’s a tangled, timely story full of messy truths and sharp turns.

If you loved Yelloface or Queenie, this one’s for you. The Grand Scheme of Things is bold, biting, and beautifully written. Warona Jay is one to watch.

A sharp and thought provoking exploration of identity, ambition, and the complexities of friendship. The plot spirals into a tangled web of lies and unintended consequences. I loved the witty writing and the rich characters.
Many thanks to Atria and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A timely and relevant novel. I especially liked Naledi‘a voice and wouldn’t have minded if it was all told from her POV instead.

The publisher compared The Grand Scheme of Things to Yellowface and it definitely falls in the bucket with Yellowface…and I would add Victim by Andrew Boryga as well. Our main character is Eddie, which is short for a MUCH longer name from her Batswana heritage. Her theater script has been getting rejected by lots of white theater agents and she thinks it could be because of her non-white sounding name. She meets a white guy named Hugo who is trying to escape his prescribed career path of law to become an actor. They decide to submit Eddie’s script to agents using Hugo’s name and wait until the play is a huge success before exposing their scheme to the theater world. Similar to Victim, this is a “don’t hate the player, hate the game” story. The main characters are doing some outrageous and messed up stuff to expose a flawed system. Eddie and Hugo couldn't be from more different backgrounds (as well as Eddie being Black and Hugo being white) and I really enjoyed their unlikely friendship that started when they met in a coffee shop. A solid, but not perfect debut and I do look forward to more from this author.

The Grand Scheme of Things has a really interesting premise and I was really interested to read this. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t work for me and I decided to dnf. Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this.

The Grand Scheme of Things was an excellent read. The writing was propulsive and the character development was rich. I would read more from this author.

(3.5 rounded up to 4)

I loved the premise of this book but it was hard to keep track of whose pov I was in, and I felt like Hugo’s story overpowered Eddies.

DNF@ 29%

I liked the.way that this book is written. But it's not even 30o pages and it still feels so long. It's repetitive and boring.

I felt that the book delivered what it was meaning to, which was shed light on privilege and racism in the theather world.

I sometimes felt annoyed by the attitudes displayed by Hugo and Eddie, but it was overall a great read that gave you something to think about.

This being the author's debut novel already has me looking forward to what she will come up with in the future.

I loved the unique premise of this book and the plot seemed to be there but got lost in the drama between the characters. The format and writing style of this book were not for me. I had a difficult time keeping track of whose perspective I was reading since it was written like a letter to the other, with lots of "you" and "she" instead of names. I couldn't keep track of who the narrator was, or who they were referring to. If this was not written in first person POV, I may have had an easier time reading this. It might be easier if I had read this in one sitting instead of multiple because I would have been able to keep track of whose narration I Was reading. I did not finish this - I put in a solid effort and got to 54% before deciding I would not continue.

Thank you Simon Books for the e-ARC!

The Grand Scheme of Things follows Naledi (Eddie) and Hugo as they devise a plan to get Naledi's play into the spotlight. Naledi is a black immigrant to England, and Hugo is a white man, so they conduct an experiment to see if Naledi's play will gain more success if the writer's name is a white male's name. Newsflash: it does. So much so that Naledi and Hugo ride out this lie for as long as they can, even though Hugo feels guilty that he's getting recognition for this play instead of Naledi. (But does he really feel guilty, though?)
This story is written in a very interesting way, and I actually enjoyed the writing style. We had POVs from Naledi/Eddie and Hugo. It sounded like they were speaking to each other, since there was this second person narration going on. I thought it made the story more personal and allowed me to get more of a sense of these characters' emotions and backstory.
The most interesting thing about this story, though, is that it is truly up to the reader to decide if Naledi and Hugo's scheming was morally just. Should Naledi have used Hugo to garner success? Should Hugo have turned down Naledi's idea to use his name? Should Naledi have fought harder to get an agency to accept her play with her name? It really makes you think about the grand scheme of things.
These characters are not meant to be super likeable - they're meant to be real. If you're a fan of literary fiction and are interested in reading more of a case study about race and morality, you'll enjoy this book!

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

Relebogile Naledi Mpho Moruakgomo, or Eddie, for short is an aspiring playwright who realizes her work is being overlooked because of her name. She befriends Hugo and together they come up with a plan for him to pretend to be the writer of her play. Once the play gets the recognition it deserves, they plan to let the world know it’s actually Eddie’s play, but hit some roadblocks along the way.

Overall, I enjoyed this book even though most of the characters weren’t likable. The writing style was also different than what I’m used to so it took some time to adjust. I give this book 3.5 stars.

While I loved the premise (a Black playwright, believing her rejections are a result of her name, teams up with a charming, white man to highlight the racism running throughout London's theater scene), the book itself was a bit lackluster. When it was good I was hooked...but there were chapters where I easily set the book aside and had to actively force myself to pick it up again.

A really, incredibly phenomenal idea, but I wanting something more than what I got.

“The Grand Scheme of Things”, by Warona Jay, is a fantastic book and an important one. I think it goes without saying that people of color are drastically underrepresented in every branch of media, but it should be said anyway. Clearly it’s been a problem for centuries and even in present day being in the forefront of many situations and altercations, it’s very apparent and true today no matter the medium, whether books, movies, scripts of any kind. Here, it’s a play. Naledi—who goes by the name Eddie as no one can be bothered to pronounce her name correctly—is a burgeoning playwright who simply wants to see her play produced and in action on stage.

The play itself, titled “The Worthy”, is brilliant! It’s about a dystopian society in which its citizens are ranked based on how much they can contribute to society through their job and/or skills. It’s a lot deeper than that, but what remains is she finds no success whatsoever in submitting it to countless production agencies. One day, Naledi gets the idea to submit it under a pseudonym of a male name, presumably white or at least not an immigrant. Almost immediately she’s contacted for an in-person meeting to determine the future of the play! The problem persists when she goes to said meeting; initially because the receptionist doesn’t believe she’s the author and then even the agent who’s meeting her responds icily to her presence despite heaps of warm and positive correspondence leading up to the meeting. Fast forward a day or two and suddenly the company so interested in the play can’t afford to take it on anymore due to budget cuts...right. To summarize, Naledi meets Hugo—wealthy, upper-middle class law student, and most importantly white male. Her idea for the pseudonym goes further and decides to have him publish the play with a new title under not only his name but his identity in an attempt to pull one over on the companies who rejected the play and reveal the systemic racism of the industry. The plan goes a little awry when the play is not only successful, but goes on to win a prestigious award and sees ample success on the stage and beyond.

As I said, a fantastic book, a wonderful story idea, incredibly well-written, and so many amazing things in one. It has the drama, excellent comedic timing, and is overall just a joy to read. I had a lot of fun with this one. It has a message to be told, it has heart, it has so many great characters and interactions between them. I loved how it put society and the industry both on display for the world to see! I wanna see this book go the distance; it deserves widespread success on every front, it deserves to be a movie, and/or a TV series on HBO! The only bit I didn’t enjoy with the book was how some of Naledi’s relationships turn out—it made sense, but still. I would’ve loved to see more happiness for her in that regard. I won’t say much more to avoid spoilers, but everyone really should be reading this.

“The Grand Scheme of Things” is absolutely wonderful in every way. It’s an easy 5 out of 5 stars for me. I loved it. I can’t wait to see what Warona Jay does next, I’ll certainly be on the lookout for her next work.