Reviews with content warning for Addiction - The Plot

Jake's character is fleshed-out and feels realistic; his development is extreme but logical
It is well-paced and I can tell Korelitz planned each scene carefully to build toward the twist
I loved the meta aspect -- a plot within a plot within a plot, the trials of being an author/writer, the multiple meanings of plot, etc.

Cons:

The reveal felt trope-y and a bit contrived
Anna's character and motivations don't feel believable to me

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jaynovara's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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bandysbooks's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is an interesting enough plot, but the ending is a bit predictable. I figured out who the bad guy was about halfway through the book.

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bella_cavicchi's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Gosh, I love a thriller -- and bonus points to this one for the meta factor. None of it was particularly surprising, but Korelitz's writing is so captivating that I didn't really care. And for those that have read it too,

the ending had me think of "Only Murders in the Building"

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mlthomas234's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this book. The main character Jake is not particularly likable but he is understandable. I also liked the “story within the story” device and how we watched the plot unfold. A pretty solid thriller. I’m not giving it five stars for two reasons: for one, the first act is extremely slow. What the book summary shows as the premise (man steals plot, gets weird message) takes up the first THIRD of the book. This really didn’t feel necessary and ultimately I don’t think that long build up was consequential to the story. Secondly, the twist was fairly predictable— very shortly after that 30% mark. I don’t think a plot twist being predictable makes it a bad book— just didn’t blow me away.

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beyourbestshelf's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious 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

4.5

A very, very clever tale of a writer who appropriates a story that's not his to tell, and is guilt-ridden and then haunted when he starts getting messages that it's a stolen plot. The characters are consistently appalling narcissistic, selfish, whiny. The plot is, as one would expect, fabulous.

I'm always lousy at figuring out mysteries and am consistently gobsmacked when I get to the end. This had a very satisfying ending. Perhaps others might see it coming but I was sucked into the story and so was appropriately floored at the twists and turns.

A small part of the story takes place in Seattle, and it's always fun to see one's home through another's eyes.
And it's a book about books and writers and how books are written. Finally, there's a charming cat named
Whidbey. What's not to love?

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sbkennedy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was insanely addictive with an absolutely incredible plot. Once I was around 40% through the book I couldn’t put it down. Despite not really caring about any of the characters in the book, I needed to know what was going to happen next. My only complaint is at a certain point I was pretty confident I knew where the story was going, and I think it dragged on a little too long to get to the ending.

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