Thank you for providing me with an ARC of this book. I enjoyed the first 70% of this book and felt like it was going to be a good book. The last 30% definitely raised the book in my esteem. And although I guessed most of the "twists" and had just finished reading Who Is Maude Dixon, I found the way this story unfolded to be very satisfying! Sure to be a hit summer read!

The Plot was an interesting blend of twists and turns, ultimately not delivering on the hype. As the story progressed, albeit VERY SLOWLY, I found my self wanting and needing to skip ahead to the ending. The middle of the book was a bit of a drag and the payout with the ending was a bit predictable. I think I enjoyed the author's other book (You Should Have Known) a bit better, and maybe more because I really liked The Undoing series the book became on HBO. Sadly this selection did not work for me.

This is the perfect summer beach thriller/mystery. It is not the easiest book to talk about, because the risk of revealing a plot twist is too great! Great characters, fast-paced plot, and even a "book within a book," which at first I wasn't sure I'd like, but it ended up being as engaging as the main story.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of The Plot. The premise isn’t new, people have always been taking things they think they can get away with. Jake is no different. Jake is a published author. One NYT best seller and one not so best seller. He ends up at a liberal arts college helping aspiring novelists on their way. He ends up getting a look at THE BOOK. The one that will be a best seller, an Oprah book pick, a movie, in everyone’s lips. Later on, Jake gets THE BOOK. The Plot has you rooting for Jake because he’s likable, and and Everyman. Jake is personable and you will want this book to be a movie

Jacob Bonner - a one-time novel writer teaches creative writing at Ripley College in Vermont. W anting to be a writer above else, he is unhappy with his lot in life. Yet, his students are even worse at writing than he is. He is unhappy to be teaching them in a MFA course.

Despondent thinking about a new year of teaching, Jacob attends a mandatory cook-out for teachers and new Literary students. An obnoxious new student is there. Jacob just knows that he will be in one of his classes. And he is correct.

Still obnoxious in Jacob's classroom, that student (Evan Parker) says that no "person on the planet" can mess up a plot like the one in the novel he is working on. Jacob comes across Evan's reading sample to grade it and realizes Evan has smooth writing but no plot in his sample.

Who is Evan Parker and does he have a REAL story?

A delightful story of a down-in-luck professor/writer and a new student.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

Many thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for a wonderful read!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded intriguing to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have
decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

Would’ve given 5 stars, but the slower first third almost turned me off the book, so 4 stars for the remaining 2/3’s! Slower paced in the initial part of the book, which almost caused me to stop, but so glad I didn’t because it picked up and sucked me in like quicksand! A bit intense. Riveting, and unputdownable acted the initial part! Characters flawlessly done! Lots of fun twisty turns, chilling chills, thrilling thrills, and gasp worthy shocks! Highly recommend, but prepare for the slower beginning, as after that it’s AMAZING!

Will buzz around and use top Amazon reviewer number!

I just started getting into reading thrillers. I usually love them so much and am so surprised by the plot twists and the ending or I hate the book and I am let down by the ending. The Plot was one of those books that I was not expecting the ending at all, like at all. I think the story was so original and well done. There isn’t much I can say about this book without giving anything away. Just read it without knowing anything, you will not regret it!

I liked this book it was long but I would purchase it and rate it a 4/5. Thank you so much to the publisher for letting me read it!

I loved the opening and the first third of this novel. I found the author's plight sympathetic and engaging, and his appropriation of the "stolen" plot forgivable. But the entrance of the female "love interest" turned everything utterly predictable. This is why I don't usually love the thriller/mystery/detective genre. By halfway through the book, I could see what was coming. I would have rather the subplot been the entire plot, as it was more interesting!

The Plot is well-written, with interesting characters and an intriguing premise that leans more to the literary side. Definitely a slow burn and I did figure out what was happening early on, but I kept reading to find out if I was right, and the read was still enjoyable. Great to curl up with around the pool or on a long plane ride.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

In the publishing world, authors are only as good as their last novel and depend on this for their notoriety and success. Jacob Finch Bonner has written two books with his last book as being unmemorable. In order to supplement his income, he mentors master's in creative writing seminars to help writers develop and progress their talent. During one of his seminars, he meets a writer and is immediately floored by the level of talent and the originality of the author's premise for the writing that they are working on. Through the years, Jacob thinks about this author and one day discovers that the book was never written. All of the book is written by Jacob, however someone knows the truth of where the concept of the book came from and Jacob wants to know who it is. I liked that this book tied in the original writing and what is happening to Jacob at the same time. The mystery elements and the concept of the book intermesh to form the book. There were times where I struggled to follow where the correlation was, however this did not take from the writing. I wish the ending would have not been a little more drawn out because the point that he finds out who is behind it just blindsides the reader out of nowhere. I will definitely be recommending this book to others and found it to be a solid read. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

The Plot started slowly but once it gained speed, it was a compulsive read. A once published author becomes a writing professor at a second rate writing program. One of his students reluctantly shares the plot of a sure-fire bestseller — and then dies. The professor “borrows” the plot, but apparently someone recognizes it. Wonderful storytelling with mixed story lines and well thought out characters.

This book was okay. I was hoping it was 5 stars for me like it was for so many other readers. I took me a long time to get into the story just like is frequently mentioned in reviews. I put it down and picked it back up many times waiting for it to get better. The over use of brackets, especially at the beginning, was very distracting.
There were not any likeable characters through the book, which didn't help in keeping me interested. And there were too many parts that I questioned... like how do you plagiarize a plot? We never heard if there were enough details of the plot given to Jake for it to be close enough to be called plagiarism.
Overall the whole story was entertaining and interesting enough for me to give it 3 stars. If the first half was not as I listed above I may have given 4 stars but it was not going to be a 5 for me.
I do suggest that everyone who is interested read this book and see how they like it. It could be a 5 for you!

Thanks to Celadon Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Well written and great plot! Well done. The characters were quite engaging and the story was not the usual ex friend/spouse/lover affair that we see trod out. This is not just a book, but a book about a book and you have both well done stories here.
Better than I expected. Clever and fun. Highly recommended!

A perfect title for this book. It has so many meanings relevant to this story --from the story line itself, and to plot as in to scheme, or there's the plot some folks obtain as their final resting place. Well, listen, you had to expect devious, right? This is the woman who penned You Should Have Known, which appeared on HBO as The Undoing. The medical profession got a bit of black eye in that one; this time it's the writerly life that gets poked in the ... well, lots of places. So sit down and read this sucker and indulge in a little pre-casting for the TV version -- or maybe big screen. Even if you dig up this plot before its time, as I did, you will want to send flowers.

When I first read the brief synopsis of this book, I thought, wait, didn't I just read this? It sounded so much like David Bell's upcoming "Kill All Your Darlings," but other than the similarity of an unsuccessful author stealing work from one of his students, it was actually quite different. I liked both, although in the case of Bell's book, it made more sense that the protagonist was afraid of being exposed since he actually appropriated an entire manuscript and had it published as his own after the real author had disappeared. In contrast, in "The Plot," Jake, the main character and struggling author, just takes a plot idea that his now dead former student told him about and actually writes the book himself. So although it’s understandable that he freaks out once someone starts communicating with him and telling him they know he stole the plot, it seems he could have just come clean and said that he was honoring, and yet protecting the privacy of, his late student by writing the book with the fantastic plot shared with him by someone who hadn’t lived long enough to write it. After all, plots are reused all the time. Another somewhat implausible point was that the plot was sold to us as so amazing that it would be a surefire hit, no matter how poorly it was written. Does anyone remember when in the year 2000 we were told that something so fantastic was about to be introduced, something that would change life as we knew it—and then it turned out to be the Segway? I felt the idea of the plot was similarly overhyped; it was good, but not really that extraordinary. I did enjoy, though, that excerpts from the book Jake wrote were interspersed—having two books in one was a nice bonus.

Like many other readers, I figured out the big reveal very early in the book, although this didn’t really detract from my enjoyment. Generally, I thought the writing was very good, and I particularly liked the author’s thought-provoking musings about writing. What did drive me a little crazy, though, was that in the early chapters parentheses were used WAY too often, to the point of distraction. It seemed like an unnecessary crutch. Similarly, in the first excerpts of the novel within the book, italics were used way too often, and I found that equally distracting. Still, all in all I very much liked "The Plot" and will gladly recommend it. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book.

You guys... I finished up his book last week and I have been trying to decide how I want to review it because I have mixed feelings about it. First off, I was drawn to it because I really liked ‘the plot’ (haha) of the story. My initial thoughts when I started reading, was that it was really wordy (ie, lots of words to get the point across) and kind of dragging along to get the story going. Probably about 30% into the book it began to pick up. From there I was into it and really enjoyed the twist and the ending. Overall I would recommend this book and let readers know to power through the first part of the book because the ending was pretty satisfying.

I loved The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. It is very Stephen Kingish. The story, as well as the story inside the story, is very well written. The novel leads the reader on a mysterious quest by leaving small bread crumbs of clues as we stroll along. We are caught up in the adventure. Our protagonist is an unaccomplished and insecure man. He struggles to justify what he believes he wants with what he has to do to get it. As a writer, he defends the written word, even if the idea for the written word comes from a very disturbing place. Does an author owns his words even if the plot comes from someone else’s idea? Does an author have the right to tell someone else’s story? When our author finally gets a conscious and decides he should make things right, it may be too late. A really good and enjoyable novel. A good summer mystery for the beach that will keep you guessing.

Couldn’t read this fast enough! I’ve enjoyed books by this author before but this raised the bar. She’s amazing and I can’t wait for her next book. Will recommend this book to everyone.