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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The biggest spoiler: yes, you'll be right when you figure it all out halfway through.
When Gone Girl came out, I was reading it as part of an omnibus e-book – displaying as 3000 pages, or so. I couldn't understand why people raved about it so much. It was just so painfully predictable, heading towards the only ending possible. Only… since it was an omnibus AND an e-book, I didn't know there would be more. The book, frustratingly, arrived at the conclusion I had predicted. Then it went on. And on. I held on to my sofa, feeling as if I were riding a broken rollercoaster, with absolutely no clue until the actual very last page where we were heading.
The Plot is what Gone Girl would have been if it lacked that second half.
I figured it out around 40%. I kept reading (it definitely reads fast and easy) hoping/waiting to be surprised, shocked, wrong. I was, infuriatingly, correct. To really hammer it home, at the end the killer does that Big James Bond Villain Speech with every single detail in case you haven't figured something out. During the speech the killer also deletes photos from the victim's phone and types in a suicide note, as Korelitz ignores the existence of fingerprints, location tracking, people the victim talked to, and generally the possibility that the police might want to look into the death of someone so rich and famous.
One of the reasons the ending is so easily predictable is that the book seems to have three characters in it – the author, the asshole (that's the depth of character development), the killer. Nobody else makes more than a passing appearance just so that we could possibly (PLEASE! GIVE ME SOMEONE!) suspect them. This still isn't the worst part. The fact that the book spends the first 15-20% setting itself up also isn't the worst part. That multi-million-selling-Oprah-Spielberg-best-ever-titular-plot, Crib is. Because it just isn't very interesting. That Big Twist making everyone gasp (a stewardess on a plane comments that so many people audibly gasp while reading that she immediately knows what book it is)? It's not all that gasp-inducing, unless your gaspularity level is permanently set to low-medium or you need to take breaks from cosy mysteries because of how violent and fast-paced they are.
Excerpts from Crib are interspersed with the actual plot – which is really enjoyable, as the plot of The Plot and The Plot Of Plots (sorry) build onepredictable story. Also, once the book finishes its painstaking setup, it flows very well – it's definitely engaging. What really kept me reading, though, was hope that I was wrong. That there was an equivalent of the second half of Gone Girl coming. Nope. It leads exactly where you think it leads. The book doesn't even try to seem surprising. Maybe this was Korelitz's point – the big plot twist being the lack of one. Maybe it's some sort of social commentary about how people these days don't want to be challenged and simplicity sells best. But if you want to read a good book based on very similar idea (confession: I picked The Plot because I couldn't stop wondering whether Korelitz lifted the plot of The Plot from someone else!) give Terry Tyler's Best Seller a chance instead.
When Gone Girl came out, I was reading it as part of an omnibus e-book – displaying as 3000 pages, or so. I couldn't understand why people raved about it so much. It was just so painfully predictable, heading towards the only ending possible. Only… since it was an omnibus AND an e-book, I didn't know there would be more. The book, frustratingly, arrived at the conclusion I had predicted. Then it went on. And on. I held on to my sofa, feeling as if I were riding a broken rollercoaster, with absolutely no clue until the actual very last page where we were heading.
The Plot is what Gone Girl would have been if it lacked that second half.
I figured it out around 40%. I kept reading (it definitely reads fast and easy) hoping/waiting to be surprised, shocked, wrong. I was, infuriatingly, correct. To really hammer it home, at the end the killer does that Big James Bond Villain Speech with every single detail in case you haven't figured something out. During the speech the killer also deletes photos from the victim's phone and types in a suicide note, as Korelitz ignores the existence of fingerprints, location tracking, people the victim talked to, and generally the possibility that the police might want to look into the death of someone so rich and famous.
One of the reasons the ending is so easily predictable is that the book seems to have three characters in it – the author, the asshole (that's the depth of character development), the killer. Nobody else makes more than a passing appearance just so that we could possibly (PLEASE! GIVE ME SOMEONE!) suspect them. This still isn't the worst part. The fact that the book spends the first 15-20% setting itself up also isn't the worst part. That multi-million-selling-Oprah-Spielberg-best-ever-titular-plot, Crib is. Because it just isn't very interesting. That Big Twist making everyone gasp (a stewardess on a plane comments that so many people audibly gasp while reading that she immediately knows what book it is)? It's not all that gasp-inducing, unless your gaspularity level is permanently set to low-medium or you need to take breaks from cosy mysteries because of how violent and fast-paced they are.
Excerpts from Crib are interspersed with the actual plot – which is really enjoyable, as the plot of The Plot and The Plot Of Plots (sorry) build one
If I hadn't guessed some of "the plot" from the beginning then this may have been a 5 star. Great writing, and one of the twists really did get me, just like the readers of Crib.
There's no copyright on plots, but nicking a good one can still have consequences... Jacob Finch Bonner is about to be massively inconvenienced.
This is a slow paced thriller that didn't quite manage to build enough claustrophobic dread and tension to make it worth my while.
Also the premise relies on "The Plot" in question being truly original and mind blowing, and when it was revealed what this truly stupendous plot that no one else could possibly have thought of was, it was disappointing.
(Short of writing a new Agatha Christie novel, the "twist" was never going to be satisfying after all that foreshadowing.)
I picked up The Plot after it was billed to me as a "meta mystery" (my cup of tea entirely.) We certainly get a story within a story, some commentary on the stealing of ideas and who gets to tell what stories, and a reasonable central mystery.
The investigative part of the book was linear and improbable, relying almost entirely on coincidence and chance. And yet, I was content to come along for the ride.
The ending was not unpredictable (to use a double negative), but there was one thing about it that I didn't expect. I won't spoil it, but when I put the book down, my response was "gahhh".
Not a bad read, but... unsatisfying in a couple of ways.
Will I read The Sequel? I'm not sure. DO NOT read the blurb for The Sequel before reading The Plot. It will spoil it. You have been warned!
This is a slow paced thriller that didn't quite manage to build enough claustrophobic dread and tension to make it worth my while.
Also the premise relies on "The Plot" in question being truly original and mind blowing, and when it was revealed what this truly stupendous plot that no one else could possibly have thought of was, it was disappointing.
(Short of writing a new Agatha Christie novel, the "twist" was never going to be satisfying after all that foreshadowing.)
I picked up The Plot after it was billed to me as a "meta mystery" (my cup of tea entirely.) We certainly get a story within a story, some commentary on the stealing of ideas and who gets to tell what stories, and a reasonable central mystery.
The investigative part of the book was linear and improbable, relying almost entirely on coincidence and chance. And yet, I was content to come along for the ride.
The ending was not unpredictable (to use a double negative), but there was one thing about it that I didn't expect. I won't spoil it, but when I put the book down, my response was "gahhh".
Not a bad read, but... unsatisfying in a couple of ways.
Will I read The Sequel? I'm not sure. DO NOT read the blurb for The Sequel before reading The Plot. It will spoil it. You have been warned!
Stayed up late to finish this one. I guessed the twist at the end and it was satisfying to confirm my suspicions.
This was pretty good and I read it quickly. I guessed the final twist very early on. The structure was clever.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A propulsively fun read, IMO, and then I was tickled to listen to the accompanying Pop Culture Women podcast interview with Korelitz.
