As a student, I crave easy-to-read, exciting books because so much of what I read for school is slow and complicated. When “The Plot” was my assigned reading for a class, I didn’t expect the wild ride the novel took me on.
The plot of “The Plot” is hilariously meta and nods to itself constantly. The story follows a writer who writes a bestselling thriller novel which causes his life to become a thriller. This is extra meta since “The Plot” is on the New York Times Besteller’s list too.
The book, written by Jean Hanff Korelitz, is quick-paced, funny and easy to read. I read it for a creative writing class and, since it centers on a writer, that was very interesting. But, even if you’re not a writer, this book is great if you love thrillers.
Narrator Jake makes you both love and hate him. You get to hear his deep, terrible, “pity-me” thoughts, but also see him be a nice person, which makes him very realistic and cool to read.
The only place this book lost me was in the middle, where it felt like the investigation Jake is conducting goes too well. When the stakes were supposed to feel suspenseful, they didn’t feel like it.
The stakes do get raised for the ending. While it doesn’t feel realistic at all and relies on cheesy-thriller tropes, the novel feels self-aware about it. I could predict the ending, but with only a few pages left, which was rewarding and made me think the author meant for that to happen.
The plot of “The Plot,” while not revolutionary, is a really fun, mindless read that you can enjoy and totally forget about once you're done. This novel reminded me how fun thrillers are, and I suspect I will find myself reading more, especially by Korelitz.
