Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

20 reviews

imds's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Classism, Death, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide and Abortion

minimicropup's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Main POV 👍:

• An author feeling like a one-hit wonder. They had a best seller, but can't figure out how to follow-up in a meaningful way. They come across as self-pitying, desperate, pathetic, hopeful, entitled, ignorant, and vain, with a touch of covert narcissism. 
• THE plot. The plot that was stolen. We get to read it in bits over the course of the story and it's pretty good. Semi-predictable but good. 

Atmosphere 😐: Accusatory, impassioned, pretentious 
We follow our MC over time from being a teacher at a small college in small town Vermont to fame in Manhattan, NY.

Cred Rating 😕: Suspend that belief
Without being OTT, this story is so OTT. THE plot isn't ground breaking, but admittedly new (I think) and quite interesting as a lit fic/thriller. As far as the plot outside of THE plot, it's a bit watered down with lots of OTT moments.

Growls and Howls 🐺:

• Long-con villain monolog. Lots of scheming, plotting, rearranging an entire life to get 'revenge' that can only be successful if multiple coincidental/convenient events occur...broke the story for me. Somehow the villain monolog worked though, because it didn't rely on someone just listening intently instead of trying to escape.
• Confusing ending requiring re-reading. The plot and THE plot eventually come together in a way where minor elements are changed (thank villain monolog for the heads-up) and ultimately I wish we had just read THE plot?

Reading Journey 🙂: Tour of a local college. Some interesting bits, potential, sparks of talent, but also a lot of polite nodding b/c not planning on applying.

Mood Reading Match-Up:

• Meta reads (book within a book and plot within a plot)
• Red herrings and amateur sleuthing
• Family secrets investigation
• Brief touches of OTT lit fic
• Unlikeable characters
• Stolen artistic IP

Vibes: 😒🤔😣

Content Heads-Up: Drug use (unintentional), Blackmail

Format: Hardcover

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Murder, Pregnancy, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Vomit, Abortion, and Suicide

Drug use refers to

fatal overdose and description of experience from overmedication

. Fire involves

death from being trapped in fire

. Adult minor relationship is

15 yr old with man in his 30s/40s (w/15 yr old thinking she’s consenting)

. Abortion refers to a character wanting one and being denied it for religious reasons.

krystalframe's review

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Abortion

isabelfaith's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion and Emotional abuse

sibertooth's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Welp. I just stayed up till the middle of the night to finish this, which isn't something I generally do these days.

What's so fun about this book is that it starts out as a bog-standard MFA Dramedy – you know, with the stalled next novel and the awful student stories and all that – and then turns into a thriller while, to all appearances, keeping the MFA Dramedy scope and stakes. It is genuinely tense and gripping to read about this guy worrying that he's bargained away his self-respect and is about to lose his career.

It gets more conventional later on, and I guessed both big twists (the one in the main story and the one in the within-a-story) somewhat in advance, but that's an expected part of the thriller-reading experience, right?

Tone-wise (as opposed to plot-wise), the ending did seem to come out of left field, and that soured things a tiny bit for me. But this is still a heck of a ride.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Vomit, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, and Suicide

Minor: Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Pregnancy

ben_jammin's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

This book followed the philosophy of one of it's more unlikeable characters: that novels are supposed to be purely plot-driven. I didn't really care what happened to Jake himself, I just wanted the "plot" to be revealed.

The twist at the end was interesting, but all the call-backs were a bit heavy-handed. At some points, I found myself wishing I could read Jake's book rather that The Plot, but I think the ending brought me back around on this desire.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Child death

keijiwolf's review against another edition

dark mysterious

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Vomit

Moderate: Abortion, Pregnancy, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Fire/Fire injury

mh2's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Abortion

hazelgirl21's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Addiction

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Abortion, Suicide, and Adult/minor relationship

literarylion's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Pros:

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abortion and Vomit