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.

The perfect beach read fully of zippy one liners and clever dialogue. This novel deserves the enormous praise it is receiving.

The idea of this story sounded really intriguing, but I felt it was just an alright read in the end. I found most of Jake’s actions unbelievable and predicted the twist really early in the book.

The underlying story was good and I liked the set-up at the college. I felt it made you sympathise with Jake as Evan seemed quite a tool. However, I soon lost my sympathy when his reactions seemed a bit odd. That said, I thought the very last bit of the book was done well.

Unfortunately I think a bit too much detail was provided early on, as it meant I knew what the twist was going to be which removed some of the enjoyment of the story. Additionally, I never felt the pace ramp up and felt there were a lot of words when less would do.

Overall, this was just a so-so read for me, I’m disappointed as the premise looked promising and it has got good reviews.

Thank you to @JeanHanffKoreli and @FaberBooks for this advanced copy of The Plot in return for an honest review. The Plot was published on 5th August 2021 and you can get a copy here.

Description 🔖

Jake is a failed novelist. He’s teaching a creative writing class but his heart most definitely isn’t in it. Evan Parker is one of his students and is extremely arrogant. He is certain that he has the plot to a very successful novel, however he dies before he is able to write it.

Jake decides to inherit the plot, writes the novel and enjoys all of the success that it brings. However someone knows that the plot wasn’t thought of by him. If he doesn’t figure out who that someone is, then he could end up losing more than just his career.

General Thoughts 🤔

It was the cover that originally caught my attention with this book. I don’t particularly know why, but it just looked dramatic and different. When I started reading, the book ended up being something that I really wasn’t expecting. I knew that the entire story couldn’t be about “stealing” someone else’s plot, but I didn’t anticipate the huge plot twist that was about to smack me in the face.

I thought a lot about how writers pull together a plot after reading this book. Surely nearly every plot has some influence from others and it has to be near to impossible to come up with something that has literally never been done before. Granted, Jake took this plot from Evan, however he wrote it himself. He didn’t use Evan’s manuscript and re-work it. So I don’t know quite where I stand on the morality of what Jake did. I found it a really interesting thinking point though.

Characters 👬👭👫

Jake kind of annoyed me a little through the book. I wanted him to just own what had happened as in my opinion I think he deserved the success regardless. But instead I thought he was a little weak and decided to hide away from the problem rather than confront it. I understand that his career was at risk, but I think he could have got in front of it and handled the situation better.

I am really cautious to talk about any of the other characters in the book as I would hate to give any spoilers. I have strong feelings about one of them in particular though. I plan on scouring some other reviews once I’ve written this to I can see if other readers felt the same as me.

Writing Style ✍️

I haven’t read any other books from this author and I’m kicking myself now as I really enjoyed the writing. It wasn’t overtly dramatic but rather an understated, bubbling under the surface kind of tension.

The mix of sections from the novel and present time chapters was fantastic and the timing of the story unfolding was perfect. Every section of the novel I read gave me a clue about what was going on in Jake’s story and kept me flicking through the pages at pace.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖️

I don’t know why this book took me by such surprise, but it did. I don’t think I’ve read a book with a storyline quite like this and I thought it was fascinating. It’s by sheer coincidence that the last two books I’ve read have been about writers and both have been quite different. The Plot was my favourite of the two and I’d really like to discover more about this author. Now all I need is to find someone with a really great plot so I can write a novel.

Thank you for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of this book. Unfortunately, despite many attempts I couldn't get into the book. This is due to the slow pace but mostly due to the writers style and constant use of parenthesis. It jarred my reading experienced and I got frustrated and DNF. It's a brilliant concept for a novel and stunning cover design. I wish the book and the author every success.

I do love a book about books, or more specifically in this case, about writing and writers. The premise of this really grabbed me and it reminded me a little of A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne.

We start with Jake at a teaching post, two published novels behind him, the first moderately successful, the second barely making a mark. He is unmotivated to write any more and makes his money giving advice and teaching to prospective writers. It is in this most recent teaching post that he comes across an arrogant young man who clams to have a fail-safe plot which will make him famous; a plot that he somewhat reluctantly shares with Jake

Having found out later that the young man has died, and the novel has not surfaced, Jake takes the story and crafts a novel around it, which, as anticipated, becomes a huge success.

Jake struggles with the ethical dilemma of what he has done throughout the book, especially as he eventually starts to uncover the origins of the plot itself. It causes the reader to do the same…..what would you REALLY do in that situation?

We jump forward to Jake after the publication of the book, where he is successful and living a much more comfortable life, at least on the surface. Underneath it all though, he still struggles with what he did, and lives his life waiting for it to unravel and come back to bite him. Unsurprisingly, this does eventually happen, with increasingly menacing anonymous correspondence arriving, first through email, then social media posts, then through his letter box and directly to his publisher. The events in Jake’s current life are also interspersed with excerpts from the novel.

The guilt and anxiety Jake feel really seeped out of the book for me. The great career-ending event that he had been dreading appears to be getting closer and closer, with a certain inevitability that he can’t avoid, and I really felt that along with him.

The “plot” itself was revealed little by little rather than shared at the outset, which made me read on to see exactly what this sure-fire hit of a plot could be. In the end, it was interesting but not exactly something that has never been seen before, which calls back to Jake’s early commentary about stories all having been told before. The build up and hints of the plot’s uniqueness perhaps built up a certain amount of hype that couldn’t be delivered on.

Finally, the plot of the ACTUAL book was perhaps a little predictable. I’m not sure if this would be the same for others, but I could see the identity of the anonymous blackmailer from a mile off. That said, it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book, I enjoyed seeing how it all unfolded and was still engaged enough to read on and discover exactly what had transpired.

My first book by this author o will definitely check out further books though.

This was a great concept a book within in a book. I really enjoyed it and loved all the twists

3.5 / 5

I was a bit disappointed by this in the fact that I guessed the big plot twist early on in the book, something that usually never happens to me. The writing style was great and the general storytelling was highly entertaining. However, in a book like this, knowing what's coming takes a lot of the fun out of the reading experience. Still highly recommended. I got vibes of Happiness (Will Ferguson) and Eight Perfect Murders (Peter Swanson)

A book within a book means one huge twist is coming…
When Jake Bonner, aspiring best selling novelist, chooses to teach a writing course to adults, the course of his life is changed forever. Evan Parker, one of his mentees, tells Jake to plot of his own aspiring novel and it is ….brilliant. Jake knows Evan will have a bestseller on his hands, when the book is written.
Over the years, Jake watches out for Evan’s book. It never arrives, probably as Evan died shortly after sharing his plot with Jake. But with Evan gone, without his book being written, means the world will never hear the plot. Enter Jake, who writes the story and passes off the plot as his own creation to his publisher, readers and the best selling list. Until one da, when he gets a message telling him he is a thief. Someone out there knows what Jake did and they aren’t going to keep quiet….

Slow starter but then builds into a very enjoyable read.
Loved the plot and was a quick read.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to see an arc

I love this, I can't believe this is my first Jean Hanff Korelitz. The characters in The Plot are super interesting and unique, I loved our main character Jacob and seeing his thought process. It was an interesting insight into the life of a writer also. It was good to get actual chapters of the book rather than hearing about it.

Beautifully written and very enjoyable, particularly for those who love the world of books. The book ‘twist’ was great but the finale less surprising. A really good read though

Writing a book within a book was a really interesting concept for a thriller & I absolutely loved it!! After his first novel soars, Jake is left teaching creative writing seminars on the formerly promising writers heap. Where he meets Evan Parker, a student with a great plot for a story, but a bad attitude to writing. years later Jake discovers Evan's death and after finding out the novel never materialised he chooses to final write the story, selling it as his own. The book rockets to success, with film offers on the table, when he is threatened to be exposed by a mysterious email. As the threats increase Jake sets out to find out who is behind the threats and unravels the real life twists and turns as the climax of the novel is also revealed through chapters. I loved the interspersing of the novel sections throughout the book to show how fiction and reality may be more connected that he ever believed! Gripping, page turner with such a unique plot!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book!

(Spolier alert ahead...)

I loved the concept of this one, a writing professor steals a plot from one of his late students. Genius. The only problem is that I guessed the ending very very early on, the second he met Anna I was like hmmm I bet she’s the mum! Other than that it was a really good read and I enjoyed the book within a book aspect and the chapters we got from Crib. I have another book on my tbr from this author and I’m really excited to read it now!

This book was pretty slow in the beginning yet I couldn't stop reading it. Whenever I have put it down I just had to pick it up again. Loved the style of writing and loved twist and turns. Worth reading if you are looking for something unusual.

Synopsis: When a young writer dies before completing his first novel, his teacher, Jake, (himself a failed novelist) helps himself to its plot.

The resulting book is a phenomenal success. But what if somebody out there knows?

Review:
5 STARS
We follow Jake Finch Bonner, a failed writer with a few novels under his belt, in his job as a lecturer of upcoming writers. He meets a student, Evan Parker, who tells him the most compelling and incredible plot he has ever heard.
We fast forward three years and Jake meets someone that reminds him of Evan, making him think of that story and whether it was ever published.
When Jake finds that it hasn't been, he jumps at the chance to tell it, and has predicted, the public love it.

The story develops from there when Jake gets an anonymous message telling him that the story was stolen.

I loved how this was told, we had chapters from Jake's published novel in amongst the chapters which was so cleverly done.

I read most of this in one sitting - it truly was unputdownable. I was shouting at some of Jake's decisions, and gasping as the plot unfolded. It was so good!

This book is a slow burner. I nearly gave up on it at about a fifth of the way through, it I’m so glad I didn’t! The pace picks up and the lengthy, wordy sentences either stop or I no longer noticed them as I was so engrossed in the unfolding story. The second half of the book romps along,to a very satisfying conclusion.