Loved it! A good read for domestic thriller fans / bookish people and writers
Book Review: The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (@celadonbooks — out now! Today is its pub date! 🎉)
Summary: Jacob was a promising author, having written a good first book that propelled him into the literary world. After a series of failed attempts to follow this success up, he takes up a teaching position at a third-rate Masters of Fine Arts writing program, which he doesn’t really care for. In comes Evan, an arrogant student who declares his impending success because he has devised an amazing idea for a book. He shares (((the plot))) with Jacob and.... it is amazing. Time passes and Jacob realizes that the book never was published, and he decides to take advantage by submitting it as his own. He becomes a celebrated author as a result, but then is faced with someone who knows he has stolen the idea....
Spoiler Free Review ⤵️
This book is classified as a literary thriller essentially. I genuinely thought it was a great read, although a bit of a slow burner which at first made me wonder just how much of a thriller it was going to be. I was pleased to find that it was an excellently written set of twists, and I will admit I didn’t see the reveal coming.
This book piles in a lot about the publishing/writing world, but it also touches on elements of daily life that everyone faces: professional stagnation (or success), ethics, personal failures/choices, etc. The MC is faced with a moral dilemma — does he take the idea so he can get out of his slump? The idea is unknown supposedly outside of himself and his deceased student. So, only he will know that it was the intellectual property (so to speak) of someone else... so the choice is made, but it turns out someone knows, and the life he builds is under siege.
Bottom line: I’d suggest this first and foremost to bookish nerds and writers. A book about a book? Perfect, how meta. I think that group would get the most enjoyment out of this one, followed by fans of thrillers/suspenseful reads that aren’t necessarily overly violent or full of gore. Domestic thrillers, essentially.
Thank you to @celadonbooks @bookishfirst and the author for an ARC of The Plot which I won via a sweepstakes. ❤️
Summary: Jacob was a promising author, having written a good first book that propelled him into the literary world. After a series of failed attempts to follow this success up, he takes up a teaching position at a third-rate Masters of Fine Arts writing program, which he doesn’t really care for. In comes Evan, an arrogant student who declares his impending success because he has devised an amazing idea for a book. He shares (((the plot))) with Jacob and.... it is amazing. Time passes and Jacob realizes that the book never was published, and he decides to take advantage by submitting it as his own. He becomes a celebrated author as a result, but then is faced with someone who knows he has stolen the idea....
Spoiler Free Review ⤵️
This book is classified as a literary thriller essentially. I genuinely thought it was a great read, although a bit of a slow burner which at first made me wonder just how much of a thriller it was going to be. I was pleased to find that it was an excellently written set of twists, and I will admit I didn’t see the reveal coming.
This book piles in a lot about the publishing/writing world, but it also touches on elements of daily life that everyone faces: professional stagnation (or success), ethics, personal failures/choices, etc. The MC is faced with a moral dilemma — does he take the idea so he can get out of his slump? The idea is unknown supposedly outside of himself and his deceased student. So, only he will know that it was the intellectual property (so to speak) of someone else... so the choice is made, but it turns out someone knows, and the life he builds is under siege.
Bottom line: I’d suggest this first and foremost to bookish nerds and writers. A book about a book? Perfect, how meta. I think that group would get the most enjoyment out of this one, followed by fans of thrillers/suspenseful reads that aren’t necessarily overly violent or full of gore. Domestic thrillers, essentially.
Thank you to @celadonbooks @bookishfirst and the author for an ARC of The Plot which I won via a sweepstakes. ❤️