I would like to thank NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for allowing me to listen to an ARC of this audiobook.

I was a HUGE fan of Korelitz' first book, The Plot, and when I found out there was a 2nd book, I was so excited and couldn't get my hands on it fast enough! The first book was considered "insanely readable" which is absolutely true, so if you haven't read that one, I would recommend reading it first. It will definitely help with understanding the main characters and plot points.

The Sequel gets off and running with Jacob Finch Bonner's widow Anna post "Crib" success. She is moving through the 'grief' process and has recently become a literary success herself. But then the ghosts from her past come back to haunt her once again as she receives a suspicious note about her late brother and a manuscript that gives her "Crib"-deja vu. Much to her dismay, someone has connected the skeletons in her closet to the dead people she left behind and it's up to her to put it all to rest again. And she is determined not to let anyone destroy the new perfect life she's built in the wake of her husband's death.


This book was SO GOOD (allllmost as good as The Plot) with lots of good twist and turns, and a relatively likeable anti-heroine. The author did a great job of telling Anna's story and making her more human to the reader. The Sequel was incredibly well executed and well-written and filled in a lot of the holes and questions I had from the first book.

This book exceeded my expectations and if you loved the first one, you definitely need to pick this one up too! I have been working a lot, so I was bouncing between the eBook and audiobook formats, which is good because it's basically unputdownable. I couldn't read it fast enough and devoured it all in one day!

The audiobook version was great because the narrator did a fabulous job. Listening to her was like being sucked directly into the book yourself. Additionally, the pacing was good, and the suspense and tension was built up well along the way. The narrator also did a great job of bringing the characters to life, and making a rather unlikeable person (Anna) seem human and almost relatable. I actually ended up doing the majority of my 'reading' through the audiobook, because it was much more engaging than the eBook. However, the story itself is so good I would recommend it in either form.

I highly recommend this one to all my thriller-lovers and will be reading and/or listening to it in my October book club!

Usually the sequel to a book doesn't live up to it's predecessor. For The Sequel, this is not the case. In fact, I think I liked it a bit better than The Plot. Anna Williams Bonner, widow to the late, great Jacob Finch Bonner, is making a name for herself after her husband's "untimely" demise. There will be no more claims of plagiarism either, just a steady stream of royalty checks for her late husbands work as well as some checks of her own for her up and coming novel, "The Afterword."

But then, excerpts from a novel she didn't even know existed any longer begin to emerge, and it could upend her life as she knows it. Who is doing this, and what do they know?

I enjoyed this book so much. The pacing was perfect. I also loved the characters in this book, and the fact that I couldn't guess what was going to happen next. It took me a minute to get into the first book in this series, but not so for this book which may make it the rare case where I like the sequel more than the original book. The narrator for the audiobook was great as well, and I definitely liked them more than the narrator of the first novel. I hope if there's a third book that the same narrator for the second one is the person who continues Anna's voice.

I would definitely recommend this book to all, it is so good. I would recommend reading The Plot first. Very entertaining and full of characters that stick around after the story is over.

I really enjoyed this sequel more than the first book! I loved the suspense and the twists that the story took! The main character was ruthless! I’d highly recommend the audiobook!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is Book #2 in the series!
Book #1 is ‘The Plot’. Please be sure to read this one first!!

🛑🛑🛑 If you have not read book #1 or book #2, and you don’t want to know anything…please stop here! 🛑🛑🛑

So, Anna is back. And now she’s the (grieving) widow…with a new book of her own. Well, sit down and buckle up, because you are in for quite the ride… 🎢

If you remember from book #1, Jake had been getting some threats…in regard to his best-selling book. Well, now these threats are directed at Anna…

And so, we are along for the ride as she tries to get to the bottom of what’s going on…and eliminate threats along the way…

And, poor Anna has been through so much already! 🫣😫

You’re in for quite the treat as she navigates through…town after town…through all of her book signings and all. 😮 And, she goes back to her past…and his…and so much more!

And maybe, just maybe, she’ll get what she deserves??
You’ll have to read to find out!
Have I piqued your interest yet??

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
****This one releases on 10/1/24, so look for it in a few days!! ****

#TheSequel by #JeanHanffKorelitz and narrated beautifully by the one and only #JuliaWhelan.

😮 Psycho main character
😮 Psycho ancillary characters
😮 Crazy twists
😮 What did I just read???? 😮😮😮😮

Feel free to like, follow and friend me on: Goodreads,
Insta @ #BookReviews_with_emsr and/or
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Thanks so much for reading! And if you ‘liked’ my review, please share with your friends, and click ‘LIKE’ below… And, let me know YOUR thoughts if you read it!! 📚⭐️

If anyone has read Jean Haniff Korelitz's first book in this series, The Plot, this book is a must read. It continues the story of what happens with Jake, Evan, and Anna. The Sequel really delivered and kept me interested the whole time. I just couldn't wait until I could put the all whole story together of everything that happens. It definitely makes me want to read The Plot again and this book right after again. It has so many twists and turns that you don't know what happens next. I hope to read more books by this author!

3.5 rounded up.

I was so excited to read this book because I absolutely loved The Plot. It’s one of my favorite books. The sequel just felt like run on from the previous book without anything really exciting happening. I did not like the narrators voice of the main character so that could also contribute to my rating. There were a lot of characters in this book which was hard to keep up with. I’d recommend reading it, not audiobook.

The Sequel is the sequel to The Plot and it was very entertaining. I listened to the audio book and narrator Julia Whelan again knocked it out of the park. I also feel a little ick when I find a character that is pretty much a horrible person and total psychopath / sociopath somewhat likable and entertaining, but that is exactly what happened here. You definitely want to read The Plot first to get the most out of the experience but this is one you don't want to miss. Many times I take issue when a #2 contains so much of the same info as book 1 - but in this case it just works. It is part of the experience.

I’m not going to give much about the book, but you definitely need to have read THE PLOT before diving into this one.

The book is written in three parts and it focuses on Anna Williams-Bonner who has written her own fictional novel, THE AFTERWORD.

This is a thriller and it’s super twisty. It brings back content and characters from THE PLOT. The way the characters comeback and their roles in this story is my favorite part of the book.

3.5 stars, rounded up.
I liked this one more than the first book! (The Plot)
The Sequel flowed better for me and was more twisty and intriguing.

Although you can probably read The Sequel without reading The Plot as the details are laid out enough for you to understand, I think you will get a lot more enjoyment and be more invested if you read that one first. And beware, if you want to read The Sequel, The Plot will be spoiled just by reading the synopsis for the book. So if you still need to and want to read that one, I'd avoid reading anything about The Sequel.

The basics of the book are: following her husband's suicide, Anna Williams-Bonner writes her own novel, The Afterword. While in the middle of her book tour, she begins to receive mysterious messages, including pages from her brother's book that her late husband stole. Anna thought she got rid of all of the copies. Where are they coming from? Who is digging up Anna's past?

Although Anna doesn't have many redeeming qualities in the world's view, she is surprisingly easy to root for and I spent my entire experience with this book rooting for her to succeed, no matter what she had to do for that success.

I listened to this book mainly as an audiobook with the stellar Julia Whelan as the narrator. She breathes life into Anna's character and I think her narration is what made me root for Anna even more.

This book is an intriguing mystery wrapped in a thriller wrapped in suspense. I highly recommend this two book series.

I was granted an AUDIOBOOK ARC of Jean Hanff Korelitz's latest novel, <u>The Sequel</u>, ably narrated by the extremely talented Julia Whelan. Whelan did an excellent job with this rambling, introspective, downright "wordy" novel. There was so much internal dialogue happening at any given time that the action in the story often felt like it was happening in slow motion.

But apart from Korelitz's tendency to over explain or belabour her prose, this was a gripping story: I had to find out whether Anna aka Diane Parker, was literally going to get away with murder.

I was by turns mesmerized by the many plot twists and turns, and then exhausted by the author's verbosity. Did I really want to know each and every thought that passed through Anna's psychopathic mind? Apparently, I was going to hear them whether I wanted to or not.

I will grant that the author did an excellent job of describing the entire publishing and book promotion process - but, hello!, this is a murder/thriller, not a "How To" manual!

Loved the sections focusing on the poor Wannabe's who thought they could beat the slush pile odds and get their books published. A writer's life and the tedious chore of promoting their book after publication was well documented. - this section of the novel almost made me forget that there was a mystery still to be solved, I have to admit that I had a hard time believing that Evan Parker was even capable of writing a grocery list, much less an 18 chapter tell-all novel. I also have to admit that I did feel some compassion for young Diane Parker. Did Diane Parker's parents' neglect and childhood traumas create the psychopath Anna Williams-Bonner, or was she born this way - as her brother's novel suggested?

Luckily, the final few chapters made up for the slow grind of the first two-thirds of the story. There was so much action going on at this point that I ended up cancelling on my gym workout so that I could listen to the last hour of this audiobook. It had suddenly caught fire and I just <i>had</i> to know how it would end!

I'm rating this a 3.75 out of 5, rounded up to a 4 because, despite the occasional brain freeze that I endured during the many, many wordy passages, I felt compelled to keep listening - who on earth was behind the accusatory emails, claiming plagiarism of Evan Parker's original manuscript?!!

My thanks to the author, narrator, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for gifting me an ALC of Jean Hanff Korelitz’s fantastic new book, The Sequel, audio narrated by the amazing Julia Whelan. In exchange for the review copy, I am providing my unbiased opinion.

The Sequel, a follow up to Hanff Korelitz’s brilliant novel, The Plot is absolutely DELICIOUS! I devoured this book in one sitting! I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say Jake Finch Bonner’s widow, Anna Williams Bonner, possesses the necessary skills and appetite for stirring the pot. This story is so well crafted and masterfully revealed. I enjoyed every morsel of this layered confection. Jean Hanff Korelitz has easily become an autobuy author for me and narration by Julia Whelan was pure perfection.

If you haven’t read The Plot, I suggest you pick up a copy today so you’ll be up to speed when The Sequel releases October 8. BOTH BOOKS ARE EXCELLENT! The Sequel will easily make my best of the year list.

Anna Williams-Boner is such a messed-up gem of a character. Reading a book through her eyes is truly an entertaining experience, although I found the pacing a bit slow until the last quarter of the book. But truly it is definitely worth the read! I mostly listened to the audio version narrated by Julia Whelan, one of my favorite narrators, and enjoyed her portrayal of the story. Fans of mystery and thrillers, especially well written villains, will enjoy this series.

Maybe it’s because I really enjoyed The Plot and found it so unique and attention grabbing but The Sequel just didn’t do it for me… The story just felt resentment and unnecessary as a whole.

I will say JHK’s writing was superb though and she did craft a very good prose; it was just that the story itself didn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, and MacMillan Audio for the advanced ebook and LRC.

After reading and really enjoying The Plot, I was excited for the chance to read The Sequel early. Well, it far exceeded my expectations! I listened to the audio and found myself completely swept up in the story telling. I enjoyed that it focused on the female MC - there weren’t many other random characters to keep up with. Anyone else who was introduced had a clear role in the story. The female MC was, at the same time, a badass but also like, “what in the world were you thinking right there?!”

The storyline for this one is very clever and it was a solid 4 ⭐️ read for me!

I would suggest this sequel to The Plot is actually part 2 and it’s pretty vital to read The Plot first. Without knowing all the characters, I suspect the reveals may be less thrilling

So, if you haven’t read The Plot, skip this review all togetherr

I was fortunate enough to receive an audiobook and Julia Whelan is wonderful as always. Her voice IS Anna and I enjoyed listening very much

I loved The Plot, so was excited to get back to Anna, a character I very much enjoy. Unlike last time, Anna is the main character and all the action revolves around her. She’s a complex character and I enjoyed spending time with her

After the ‘suicide’ of her husband, Anna flippantly mentions she’s going to write a book too. Whoops!

Not long after, parts of Evan Parker’s original manuscript are mailed to her in-laws, her literary agents and herself - it’s all happening again

This is where I realized that The Sequel was going to be similar to The Plot - this time Anna intends to track the person down and put an end to the ‘truth’ once and for all

I enjoyed the reveals and the action packed conclusion, but I would have loved a big twist to catapult this to a 4⭐️ or above. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a twist and I wasn’t blown away the way I was last time - nevertheless, gripping writing and Anna remains a psychotic badass 3.7⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for access to this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley (thank you!). The premise looked pretty interesting but I realized after that it was an actual sequel so I went ahead and listened to The Plot first.

I kind of feel like I slogged through both of them. I liked the narrator for The Sequel better (fab Julia Whelen) but I think I liked the story of The Plot better.

It kind of just feels like they were the same? Maybe that's what I get for reading them so close together. They were also written in a style I don't read a lot of and there was a LOT of internal monologue and not a lot of actual dialog which I really don't prefer.

Also, this character...what is her motivation? She had a rough childhood and didn't like her parents and so she is totally fine with just murdering people left and right? Something just felt disconnected, she is a total sociopath and I was never quite sure through both books what she is actually wanting out of life? To be left alone? Then why does she keep involving herself with so many people. I don't know, both books were well done enough that I wanted to finish but I just didn't really enjoy my time spent and will probably forget all about both of them in the near future.

The Sequel - Jean Hanff Korelitz
Pub Date - Oct 1, 2024
Media - Audio
Rating - 3/5

Thoughts - I went back and read The Plot first so I could understand the story in its entirety before staring this book. The overall story was good, but the execution was not. I felt like the entire time I was listening to the narrator rant in a personal diary instead of actually telling a series of events. If this book were trimmed down and a decent amount of internal monologue was taken away, it would be a really good story and would be rated higher by me. The narrator was great - I just wasn't feeling the writing.

This book was so good! I liked it even more than the first one. It kept me guessing and I loved to see the evolution. The audiobook narrator was excellent!

I don’t want to say much about the plot of this book, as it would have massive spoilers for the first book in this series, The Plot (which needs to be read first). Both The Plot and The Sequel are satirical books about writing and the publishing world. I would recommend both of these books to readers who enjoy literary suspense, books about books, and unreliable narrators! I thought the narration of The Sequel audiobook was incredible - I didn’t what to stop listening! I would highly recommend listening to the audiobook!!

Do NOT mess with Anna Williams-Bonner. Retribution will be swift and thorough. 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. (This is even more fun than The Plot!)

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audio e-arc.*