Not all sequels are created equal. This one is certainly equal to its predecessor 'The Plot' and even enhances the earlier story by adding additional layers whilst singularly telling the fate of Anna Williams-Bonner.

I hadn’t realised that this was a literal sequel until after I started reading it.
So I did bear that in mind whilst reading it. I found this well written, well executed and the characters defined, flawed and relatable.
I feel I could’ve gotten more out of it if I’d read book one first, (which I will do after reading this), but overall, it was a good sold book.

THE SEQUEL is an anxiously suspenseful sequel to THE PLOT which I thoroughly enjoyed as well. Anna is a fullsome and intriguing protagonist and has such a deliciously acerbic voice that I couldn’t stop turning the page. It was so good to get things from her perspective after THE PLOT and to see how things would progress for her after that book's ending. There's such a neat discussion of publishing in general that reminded me of Yellowface, as well as the question of meritocracy in such an industry that Anna's perspective attacks. Can't wait for the next one from the author.

I had not read the author's first book and I think this probably helped with my enjoyment overall.

Anna is a widow. Her husband was a celebrated writer and now she has her own best seller 'Afterword'. While on a book tour she begins to receive excerpts of another book, one that she knows should not exist.

I really enjoyed this book, but it did require a big suspension of belief. Once I'd decided to just take the more fantastical plot elements at face value, I found this zipped along at a rip-roaring pace. I can't say I liked any of the characters completely, but I did feel some sympathy towards them.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

I loved The Plot and this was just as good. Sardonic, beautifully written and a wonderful send up of the publishing industry as a whole. It followed on perfectly from the first book and grabbed my interest from the opening line.

Without having read The Plot I found this hard to get in to - I had several attempts. The style didn't grab me either although I can see I'm in the minority here. Faber publish great fiction generally so probably just not for me. DNF

#TheSequel #NetGalley
Awesome.
Anna Williams-Bonner has taken care of business. That is to say, she’s taken care of her husband, bestselling novelist Jacob Finch Bonner, and laid to rest those anonymous accusations of plagiarism that so tormented him. Now she is living the contented life of a literary widow, enjoying her husband’s royalty checks in perpetuity, but for the second time in her life, a work of fiction intercedes, and this time it’s her own debut novel, The Afterword. After all, how hard can it really be to write a universally lauded bestseller? But when Anna publishes her book and indulges in her own literary acclaim, she begins to receive excerpts of a novel she never expected to see again, a novel that should no longer exist. That it does means something has gone very wrong, and someone out there knows far too much: about her late brother, her late husband, and just possibly... Anna, herself. What does this person want and what are they prepared to do? She has come too far, and worked too hard, to lose what she values most: the sole and uncontested right to her own story. And she is, by any standard, a master storyteller.
I loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for giving me an advance copy.

A fantastic sequel to The Plot, Korelitz has produced another instantly readable thriller with a bizarre plot that she manages to make both engaging and believable. The chapter headings are a treat - each one referring to a sequel or the second book in the series - and the narrative is particuarly satisfying.

This is the second book in the series. This just didnt seem to hold my attention. I found it to be repetitive at times.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC. I really enjoyed the first book in this series so was interested to see where this one would go.

This was basically the plot of the first book but with Anna at the helm. I don’t need characters to be likeable to enjoy a book but they just at least be interesting while being unlikeable or morally grey. Anna was just straight up selfish and boring. Parts of her story were really upsetting and I did feel for her at some points, however, her motivation for a lot of her actions comes from a very self-centered place.

The plot itself was full of holes and very repetitive. It was basically 304 pages of inner monologue and Anna trying to justify her actions. I had to suspend my disbelief way too much for it to be enjoyable. Also the ending wasn’t satisfying in any capacity. I think to be honest you can read “The Plot” and be done with it. This was released on 24th October.

After the untimely death of her very successful author husband (as detailed in The Plot), Anna decides to write a book of her own. The book becomes an unexpectedly large success but, while on a tour promoting the book, she receives an ominous message that refers to her secret past. Many twists and turns follow, as is expected.

If you liked The Plot, I think you will like this book. I thought the writing was entertaining and I definitely liked Anna a lot more than I liked Jake. But I did feel that this book was longer than it needed to be (I definitely skimmed whole sections) and it did feel like a retread of the first book, which is (I think) maybe the point?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book.

Jean Hanff Korelitz’s 2021 novel The Plot was a take down of the writing and publishing profession. In it, failed writer Jake Finch Bonner steals the plot outline of one of his writing students who has died and uses it to create his own best seller. Only someone knows that he stole the story and as he becomes more famous his life starts to spiral out of control. What better way to continue to send up the publishing industry than by writing a sequel to The Plot called… The Sequel in which the sins that drove the first novel continue to haunt the present. Given this is a sequel there may be spoilers in this review for The Plot
The Sequel opens following Jake’s suicide. His wife, Anna Williams-Bonner has taken up publicity duty for his book Crib and while doing so is encouraged to write a book of her own. So she does, basing it on her experiences in dealing with suicide. And Anna’s book The Afterword, also becomes a best seller. But Anna knows all too well the secrets that sit beneath Jake’s success and when she starts getting pages of the original manuscript, she realises that she needs to take action.
It is no surprise that the small college that Jake taught writing at is called Ripley College. Because Anna, much more so than Jake, is very much a character in the vein on Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley. In that she has never balked at doing whatever it takes to retain what she thinks is rightfully hers.
As with The Plot, the thriller element is not really the draw here. Korelitz has a lot of fun once again skewering the publishing industry. From book tours, to signing queues, to vanity projects, to sequels themselves (every chapter of the book if named using the name of a sequel – some of which readers will recognise but just in case there is a full list at the end). That said, in many ways, The Sequel works better than The Plot, in its character arc. This is probably because while Jake had a conscience and was driven partly by guilt, Anna has no such regulator so is more fun (in a dark way) to spend to time with.

The Sequel
By Jean Hanff Korelitz

It has been so long since I read "The Plot" I could barely remember the characters, never mind the twists and turns. Since then I have read and loved "The Latecomer" and watched and enjoyed the TV adaptation of "You Should Have Known" which was titled " The Undoing". While "The Plot" didn't stick with me, I still wanted to read "The Sequel" because of something I have come to admire about this author, voice. If I find the voice interesting I will almost always enjoy the reading experience.

This is a difficult book to review without spoilers, and extra difficult without spoiling the previous book, so all I will say is that I didn't lose out for not remembering the ins and outs of the first in the series. The author works all that into the sequel. It doesn't matter anyway because you know to expect another set of devious twists.

Better than The Plot. Slightly ludicrous but the voice and the writing get it over the line for me.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review purposes

A thoroughly enjoyable sequel to The Plot, this was one I read in just a couple of sittings. Highly enjoyable, well written and a whip smart plot, Korelitz is one of my go-to authors. For book lovers, what could be better than a clever satirical thriller about a blockbuster novel, written by a heretofore unknown author, who just happens to be the widow of recently deceased author, Jacob Finch Bonner. I’d highly recommend this read and look forward to #3 in the series.
Many thanks to @netgalley and @faberbooks for the advance copy in return for my honest review. 4 stars

I am a bit of a latecomer to Jean Hanff Korelitz’s books, having only read The Plot and The Latecomer in the past year. Both I found to be engrossing stories so was keen to request The Sequel when I saw it in Netgalley.

The Sequel follows on from The Plot (and this is a case if you must read The Plot first!) and widow Anna’s flourishing literary career. However, the harassment that followed her husband in the first book continues and sees her retracing her past to find the person threatening her carefully plotted life.

Overall I found this to be a gripping thriller and an enjoyable read. At some points in the story I identify with fellow reviewers who felt it slightly repetitive of the first novel but this didn’t detract from me enjoying the story. The only question I’m left with is who was harassing and threatening Jake before his death? I don’t think this was cleared up in this story unless I’ve missed it. The people Anna tracks down at points during this story can’t have been the ones harassing him due to the timeline of the story? Hard to explain without spoilers!

A storyline that is difficult to categorise. A protagonist who carries revenge far and above the original cause to the point of indescribable vengeance against anyone and everyone that may or may not have not only crossed her path but crossed her in a real or imagined slight. A clever and calculated mind focused on the method, means and drive towards annihilation of those who may have done her a perceived injustice whilst failing to accurately pinpoint the person or action before termination. One woman acting without any moral compass yet this author enthralling the reader with a complex convoluted plot line that has no equal compelling the reader to turn each page dumbfounded at the machinations of a dangerously out of control psychopath . A worthy sequel to a previous 5* read. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for ARC.

There will be spoilers in this review if you haven't read The Plot and you need to read The Plot if you want this sequel to make sense.

I'm afraid I'm going against public opinion. For me, this book was just a re-run of the brilliant Plot. Instead of Jake we have his widow, Anna. Anna has written a best seller - because it's clearly easy peasy. Anna is getting notes threatening to expose her husband's plagiarism. Anna is the one who has to go haring around the same places as Jake to find out who is threatening Jake's reputation and therefore her life. But of course Anna has way more to lose because she's the whole reason Crib was written in the first place.

Now, in itself this might be okay. However out of the whole book I think we had the plot of the original novel written by Evan Parker regurgitated (in slightly differing variations) in about 4 or maybe 5 different places by different people. The need for everyone in this seemingly endless novel to explain exactly what they know was clearly some kind of contagious OCD.

By the time I had started skimming through (around two thirds of the way through) I couldn't have cared less what happened to any of the vile characters.

That is how I felt by the end - that we had wandered into fantasy land. Anna barely ate a mouthful of food for about 3 days and yet had the strength to wield a shovel (after digging for hours) to deadly effect, drive up country (1100 miles), and kill again was the most insane denouement.

I don't know whose idea it was to release the same book twice but, for me, it was a waste.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the advance review copy. I'm only sorry I didn't love it as much as The Plot.

the sequel - jean hanff korelitz

when i read the plot a couple of years ago I was blown away - it was an instant 5 star read - with all those twists and turns, it couldn't be anything else.
i wasn't sure that jean hanff korelitz could top it, but the sequel is every bit as twisty and thrilling.
of course, I can't give too much away (seriously, go read the plot and then read this!) but the sequel is every bit as thrilling and surprising. I wasn't sure it was possible to hate a character any more but it turns out you can - especially when she becomes the main one.

I'll be honest, when I first started this, I wasn't sure it was necessary - the plot was perfection after all, but after a few chapters, I was all in. the sequel isn't anything new, we're following some of the same people and what happened in the plot is still taking place but some outstanding questions were answered and the sequel really makes the reading of this duology a much richer experience.

the sequel is out now.
thank you to @netgalley for the early copy.

There's a line in "The Sequel" which explains why authors tend to write sequels for books that can be left standalone... “Sequels can be very enticing when the initial book has done well. Readers want to know what happens to a character they’ve connected with.” And yes, The Plot was good enough... but not sure it warranted a sequel itself... Whilst The Sequel benefits from not being shackled from the "best novel ever written" subplot of the first book, it doesn't feel a necessary exploration of what happens next. Good enough to spend the time, but one you could perfectly live without. 3 out of 5. Thanks Netgalley for the advanced copy.

One of the more interesting mysteries that I have read in that the plot unravels in an unusual way. It begins with the widow of a celebrated writer writing her own first book “Afterword” that describes her grief over the death of her husband and it becomes a best-seller. This means she is doing book tours all around the country. But she starts getting excerpts of another book from an unidentified person that threatens to derail her career at the very least. I really enjoyed this different take on plot.