I will admit I was not the biggest fan of The Plot when it initially came out. But I was intrigued enough to read the sequel. At some parts of the book I felt like this book was fantastic (especially with all the twists and turns) but others I felt like I was reading The Plot again. Overall, I enjoyed this sequel much more than the original. Fun story with lots of twists to keep you on your toys!

I received a free advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Big thanks to NetGalley for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Sequel is the follow up novel to The Plot which was released in 2021. While I did enjoy the first novel this sequel just didn't do it for me. The story line and obviously the plot of the first book was intriguing however the point of view was from Bonner and there was a lot of extra rambling and unnecessary information that was given throughout the story. In this sequel, we are reading from Anna's POV but her voice seems exactly the same. At 40% through the book we finally find out what the thriller element is...this is if you can make it through the first half of the repetitive rambling to get you there. Anna is an unlikable character if you read the first book abd she continues to be horrible in this sequel. Unfortunately after reading over half of this book I just was not interested and felt my time would be better spent reading something that I actually enjoyed. This is not to say that the author is bad...you can tell by the writingstyle they are extremely talented, this story just was not for me.

The sequel to the plot was another very similar story of plagerism that is possible is so many ways within the world of literature. Will she fully be discovered and how are parts of the story coming to her when she thought everything was covered. Lots of ideas with how publishing and creative ownership/rights can work.

The Plot was a book that I have not been able to stop thinking about since I read it two years ago. The twists and turns in that book were incredible and I had no idea where it was going. The ending really threw me for a loop!

When I found out The Sequel was coming out I was so excited. And it did not disappoint! It picked up right where The Plot left off and kept me guessing the entire time. The Sequel truly lets you into the world of Anna and allows you to see just how far she will go to keep her identity a secret. This book was wonderful and I would definitely recommend it. I also believe there is enough of the back story within this story that it could work for readers as a standalone.

Thank you for this advanced copy!

Did Not Finish--40 percent

All, do not read this review if you have not read the first book in the series, "The Plot."

I have tried to finish this book for weeks now. Sorry, not sorry, I just threw in the white flag of DNFs everywhere. I think the biggest issue is, there is no need for this sequel. I think the first book stood alone, but instead we have a sequel following an unlikable character who is also boring as hell. I just cannot read a book about writing a book again. It just is too tedious for words. And the character of Anna just needed to slink off somewhere in the night instead of being resurrected in this.

I finally got to the 40 percent mark and just could not go on anymore. The biggest reasons were:

1. Anna is not a compelling character. What made the first book so good in my opinion is that you are blind sided by the reveals about her. This one is not interesting, because readers already know what she's capable of. And I think turning her into a best-selling author just made me roll my eyes. It felt very cliche and also the opposite of what the character was in the first book. She wanted to keep her real story from being revealed. Why would she then decide to go out there and become a celebrity (when she hates people by the way) and feed that part that didn't seem to be a part of her make-up. I was just over it after a while.

2. Other characters are not developed at all. Everyone felt like a badly written caricature and I just got really bored. What made "The Plot" so good was that you followed Jacob who we quickly find out is a morally gray character. You in turn feel sorry for him, also despise him, and then that ending. Woof. There is no character that is engrossing enough for me to care about while reading this book (see point #1 above). There's just Anna and others. And honestly that is what this book should have ben called.

3. The flow was awful. It just made me start to grind my teeth after a while because reading about Anna and her writing, reading about how she felt about her "fans", publicists, former bosses, and her secret being revealed had me going, oh my God who cares like a thousand times. This is just tedious and a lot should have been cut to just keep readers engaged.

4. After a while it just got boring to watch/read about how Anna was getting away with things.

5. I think that Korelitz needed another character to follow or something to grab you. I think "The Plot" worked so well because we got to see different timelines and then you are shifting between Jacob and others. Reading about just Anna and her point of view didn't really work.

In Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot, Jacob Finch Bonner, a failed author turned teacher, encounters a man named Evan Parker in his MFA program. Parker, new to writing, shares an idea with Bonner that he felt would make a perfect novel. When Bonner hears that Parker passed away from a drug overdose before he got published, he decides to take the idea for himself. Crib, the novel based upon that idea, becomes a bestseller.

The Sequel, Koreltiz’s cleverly named follow-up to The Plot, is a thrilling mystery. Apologies for the spoilers, but, in the previous book, Bonner dies. The new book follows Anna, his wife, and the dramatic changes that occur in her life after his passing. She writes a book herself and things get intense. I would love to write more about each book, but, honestly, I’m afraid to say too much. Just do yourself a favor and read them both, okay?

I think you should read The Plot before you read this to really understand the nuance and brilliance of this novel. Anna is a novelist’s widow, and is now writing a book herself. Except her husband’s book, a bestseller, was based on her own true life, one that she has tried to keep hidden.
Her husband actually plagiarized his novel and stole it from Anna’s brother. The Sequel is a fun book, but The Plot was fantastic.

Thank you to #CeladonBooks and #NetGalley for a digital ARC of #TheSequel. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

The Sequel picks up where The Plot left off. Anna Williams-Bonner is the widow of acclaimed writer Jacob Finch Bonner. Since his unexpected death, she's been managing his literary legacy and working on her own book. When her book publishes and starts to get attention, the ghosts of her past come back to torment her. And Anna will do whatever she has to to keep control of her narrative.

I actually liked The Sequel more than The Plot. The Plot dragged in places and I saw the twist coming. But The Sequel kept me guessing until the very end.

This was fantastic. I really enjoyed reading it and didn’t want to put it down. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

The author of the very excellent THE PLOT returns with a not-so-excellent sequel, THE SEQUEL. Anna is the most unlikeable, uncaring, heartless, cruel, and nasty protagonist I have ever met. It took me awhile to remember plot points from the first book, which is definitely a must-read before tackling this book. Here, widow Anna is now a best-selling author herself, but when she is threatened, she turns deadly in so many ways. I really disliked the ending, surprised at how the author chose to close Anna's story. Unless she is planning a third book about Anna. If she writes another sequel, I will not be reading it. I loved THE PLOT, but THE SEQUEL is not a worthy follow-up. Thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing an ARC.

In this captivating sequel to The Plot, Anna Williams Bonner is enjoying the spotlight as a famous literary widow and now a best-selling author in her own right. Life couldn’t be better…until she gets a very unwelcome blast from the past. Turns out a certain pesky manuscript still exists, and someone is sending pages not just to her, but to her in-laws and editor. In order to keep her darkest secrets under wraps, she sets out to find out who’s stalking her and destroy the manuscript once and for all. And her mission quickly turns deadly.

While this sequel didn’t blow my mind the way the first book did, it was absolutely a great time. The twists were seemingly endless, and being inside Anna’s vaguely sociopathic mind was a lot of fun. What I didn’t expect was the way this book humanized Anna. By shedding light on previously unrevealed parts of her past, this book makes a very villainous character feel, if not relatable, at least somewhat sympathetic.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who read and enjoyed The Plot. It keeps the story of the first book going in a very fun and fresh way.

This book was an absolute delight. I enjoyed every moment of it. The strong voice carries through, the meta humor hits hard, and the twists remained absolute perfection. No notes.

It's been three winners in a row from Hanff Korelitz between The Latecomer, The Plot, and now The Sequel. Looking forward to her next one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon for the ARC.

A sequel to the very meta The Plot, The Sequel is a fun ride that takes off after the end of the first novel. This time, we follow Anna, Jake's wife, in the aftermath of his, ahem, death where she is both publishing her own book and trying to track down someone who knows . . . . what Jake did. Which also means they might know what SHE did. A very engaging follow up to what was a favorite of mine a couple years ago.

I enjoyed the chapter heads, all nods to famous book sequels. The meta-narrative was still there, though a bit more buried. And while Anna was a tough character so "like," as some have noted, I still found myself empathizing with her early life experiences and ultimately rooting for her. The novel doesn't work in the same ways as The Plot (which I do suggest reading first), but it's still a strong and fun follow up.

Maybe we'll even see a third in this series!

I love books and I love thrillers, so I especially love thrillers about books! <i>The Sequel</i> is a continuation of <i>The Plot</i> which I really enjoyed and definitely recommend reading first.

This book answered some questions about the first book and had its own set of mysteries and twists. I do think I enjoyed the first book more, but this was enjoyable!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Expected date of publication: October 1, 2024.

I really really loved The Plot! I loved how the plot unfolded while reading and kept me on the hook the entire time. It was masterfully done! The Sequel not so much.

I was so excited to get this ARC copy from Net Galley, but it was a big miss for me. I struggled to finish. The writing was good, but never connected with Anna and first half of the book really dragged for me. Maybe I just had too high expectations coming in after The Plot. I seem to be in the minority, so give it a try! I would definitely read The Plot for context and more retelling early on would’ve been helpful as a recap.

And WHAT A SEQUEL!

Literally the sequel to THE PLOT, we meet up with Anna Williams-Bonner as she begins to write her own novel. Jacob Finch Bonner, is still a household name and the elephant in every room she enters. But when Anna's book takes off and she begins a literary tour she begins to receive
excerpts from a novel...her brother's novel.

Now Anna has entered into her own cat and mouse game with an unknown assailant that can clearly bring down her entire life. Who is it? One of Jacob's students? Someone Anna knows? She certainly isn't likeable but she is so HER that it's hard not to root for her as she begins the hard work of ferreting out her tormenter. Hanff Korelitz has written an exciting and twisty story while shedding light on the workings of the literary world. If you are a Highsmith fan, a Hitch fan or just an fan of fantastic plots, this is the story for you!
#celadon #jeanhaniffkorelitz #thesequel

I reads the synopsis and was stoked for this. The more I started reading the more I loved it. Thank you so much Netgalley.

I couldn't stop reading The Squel, because I just had to know what was going to happen next. I had the same experience with this book's predecessor, The Plot. While I don't need to like or relate to the characters in the books I read, Anna was a difficult character to spend a book with. However, it was a fun ride and I enjoyed the twists and turns.

Korelitz does it again with this sly and engaging novel about how the sausage is made in the literary world. The meta fictional humor of this sequel to The Plot works on every level--as a straight-forward thriller, as a satire of the literary industrial complex, and as a knowing wink to the secret strivings and longings of artists everywhere.

Thank you to both #NetGalley and Celadon Books for providing me an advance copy of Jean Hanff Korelitz’s latest novel, The Sequel, in exchange for an honest review.

#TheSequel is the follow-up to the enthralling first installment in The Book Series, The Plot. I absolutely adored #ThePlot, but was a bit surprised and concerned to learn that it received a follow-up, much for the same reason as the protagonist proffers to her agent in the novel. Fortunately, for both the actual author and readers, The Sequel is just as compelling as its predecessor. I highly recommend reading this series in order if not for context, then definitely to avoid spoiling some unhinged and well-executed twists in the first novel.

Unlike The Plot, which is more of a slow burn, The Sequel dives headfirst into the action and doesn’t let up until the last page. The pacing is ultimately what makes this second installment successful. There is some rehashing of the original story and a few excerpts from the plagiarized manuscript that serve as a refresher, provide context for readers unfamiliar, and help drive the plot; all of which could have bogged down the story if not for the pace.

The Sequel is divided into two parts and contains chapter titles that reference sequels to other popular fiction works. This is yet another nod to the satirization of the publishing realm, which the reader receives in large doses through Anna’s novel writing experience, describing her late husband and amateur writers’ ‘literary’ perspectives, and the conversations with her agent, publisher, and editor. Though the satire falters quicker than the first novel and devolves into more of an explanation. For instance, the disdain for self-published authors is as palpable as the fear writers must experience when targeted in a smear campaign.

Similar to The Plot, the novel is otherwise nicely and accurately summarized by its book blurb, without giving away any of the points that make this is an enticing fall read. I intend to follow suit by wrapping up this review and offering three predictions for a potential trilogy: her old boss Randy will somehow lead to her downfall, Anna’s sophomore novel subconsciously contains clues to her previous crimes that some #truecrime podcast sleuths will discover, and Matilda and Wendy are already aware of Anna’s extracurricular activities and will try to protect their beloved cash cow.