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A review by bookwormjimmy
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
When Jake once again makes it big with his best seller book that's about to become a movie, he realizes he's finally made it. Sure, his first few books did okay, but not nearly enough to get him attention in an ever growing market. Even his years spent as a writing teacher and giving lukewarm feedback to his students feels like just a blip. But when he receives an email accusing him of being a thief, his whole world begins to spiral.
This is about as much of a literary thriller that you can get. It's also a two-fer, meaning two plots for the price of one. And how the plot of Jake's novel unfurls and reveals itself also gives the reader the revelation that they need for the actual book. This can be a detriment in itself if the reveal is spoiled much too early in a story, but by that point I already had strong inklings as to what was actually happening here. Thus, it was less of a whodunnit but a why and can-you-really-get-away-with-it?
It's a book about books and writing, and it may be easy to criticize it for its simplifying of the writing industry, but I don't think you really need to take it too seriously. The characters quickly evolve into extreme versions of themselves that I think it loses some of its groundedness, but in this case I was okay with that.
A fun read with an interesting plot!
This is about as much of a literary thriller that you can get. It's also a two-fer, meaning two plots for the price of one. And how the plot of Jake's novel unfurls and reveals itself also gives the reader the revelation that they need for the actual book. This can be a detriment in itself if the reveal is spoiled much too early in a story, but by that point I already had strong inklings as to what was actually happening here. Thus, it was less of a whodunnit but a why and can-you-really-get-away-with-it?
It's a book about books and writing, and it may be easy to criticize it for its simplifying of the writing industry, but I don't think you really need to take it too seriously. The characters quickly evolve into extreme versions of themselves that I think it loses some of its groundedness, but in this case I was okay with that.
A fun read with an interesting plot!