There are plenty of reasons why I shouldn’t have liked The Plot. It has several of the things I’ve complained about with thrillers, yet I really enjoyed this one. I think it takes a very special writer to pull off everything that happens in this clever novel and Jean Hanff Korelitz seems to be just that!
I cannot go into significant detail about all of my typical thriller gripes without spoiling things, but I can vaguely touch upon a few:
Generally, a slow start in something I expect to thrill turns me off. While this works perfectly well in other genres, I want a propulsive narrative when I pick up a book like this. Korelitz spent a lot of time developing her main character, Jacob Finch Bonner, an author “has been,” so to speak. She digs into his disillusionment with the publishing industry and his dissatisfaction with the path his life has taken. Having read the synopsis, I knew Jake was going to eventually steal the plot created by a deceased student he once worked with, but it took quite some time to get there, and even longer to hit the thrilling threat: An internet troll knows what he’s done and this person intends to expose him.
Despite the pacing, I still found this really intriguing and Korelitz’s writing style, mixed with nuggets of snark, made it easy to keep turning the page.
Now, this is a book in a book, which was unappealing to me when I last read a thriller that tried this. In The Plot, readers get to see pages of the story that has granted Jake his rise to fame. My previous experience with this format led to boredom, but this one didn’t pull me out of the story at all. While I didn’t see anything especially fascinating within Jake’s supposed masterpiece, each glimpse was brief and kept me wondering where this would all go. What made that story so special? I needed to know!
I did figure out a certain aspect early enough, but I wasn’t disappointed with the reveal. I had to think through what Korelitz was presenting to me and that is far more satisfying than knowing exactly what is going on due to a lack of obscurity. Plus, there were still many unanswered questions, even within what I did know, and it was fun to watch it all unravel.
Even with the engagement of a villain monologue, I was not perturbed, despite typically hating this. The way Korelitz stitched that into the story fit well and I didn’t find it was unrealistic or corny.
There were a couple things that didn’t work for me, though. I wasn’t forced to sit through them for long, as their impact came as the story concluded.
There is a certain type of ending that I don’t like. While this one was extraordinarily mapped out and unquestionably entertaining, I hoped something would surface that would make me feel better about it all and that never came. I can definitely see how many other readers would find it incredibly enjoyable, though!
Additionally, I had a minor issue with the epilogue - something I’m dying to discuss with others - and the fact that I have to wait for my husband to read this before I can plainly express my thoughts has been torture! I’m looking forward to hearing his perspective and digging into more of this with our book club.
In short, I think Jean Hanff Korelitz is a very talented storyteller. Crafting all of my typical dislikes into something I loved is pretty impressive! I’m excited to dig into her backlist for further entertainment.
I am immensely grateful to Celadon Books for my review copy. All opinions are my own.
I cannot go into significant detail about all of my typical thriller gripes without spoiling things, but I can vaguely touch upon a few:
Generally, a slow start in something I expect to thrill turns me off. While this works perfectly well in other genres, I want a propulsive narrative when I pick up a book like this. Korelitz spent a lot of time developing her main character, Jacob Finch Bonner, an author “has been,” so to speak. She digs into his disillusionment with the publishing industry and his dissatisfaction with the path his life has taken. Having read the synopsis, I knew Jake was going to eventually steal the plot created by a deceased student he once worked with, but it took quite some time to get there, and even longer to hit the thrilling threat: An internet troll knows what he’s done and this person intends to expose him.
Despite the pacing, I still found this really intriguing and Korelitz’s writing style, mixed with nuggets of snark, made it easy to keep turning the page.
Now, this is a book in a book, which was unappealing to me when I last read a thriller that tried this. In The Plot, readers get to see pages of the story that has granted Jake his rise to fame. My previous experience with this format led to boredom, but this one didn’t pull me out of the story at all. While I didn’t see anything especially fascinating within Jake’s supposed masterpiece, each glimpse was brief and kept me wondering where this would all go. What made that story so special? I needed to know!
I did figure out a certain aspect early enough, but I wasn’t disappointed with the reveal. I had to think through what Korelitz was presenting to me and that is far more satisfying than knowing exactly what is going on due to a lack of obscurity. Plus, there were still many unanswered questions, even within what I did know, and it was fun to watch it all unravel.
Even with the engagement of a villain monologue, I was not perturbed, despite typically hating this. The way Korelitz stitched that into the story fit well and I didn’t find it was unrealistic or corny.
There were a couple things that didn’t work for me, though. I wasn’t forced to sit through them for long, as their impact came as the story concluded.
There is a certain type of ending that I don’t like. While this one was extraordinarily mapped out and unquestionably entertaining, I hoped something would surface that would make me feel better about it all and that never came. I can definitely see how many other readers would find it incredibly enjoyable, though!
Additionally, I had a minor issue with the epilogue - something I’m dying to discuss with others - and the fact that I have to wait for my husband to read this before I can plainly express my thoughts has been torture! I’m looking forward to hearing his perspective and digging into more of this with our book club.
In short, I think Jean Hanff Korelitz is a very talented storyteller. Crafting all of my typical dislikes into something I loved is pretty impressive! I’m excited to dig into her backlist for further entertainment.
I am immensely grateful to Celadon Books for my review copy. All opinions are my own.