Audiobook Review: The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz

 

The Sequel (The Book Series #2) by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Publication Date: October 1st 2024 by Macmillan Audio

Pages: 304

Audio Book Length: 10hrs 1min

Narrator: Julia Whelan

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm |  Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

You MUST read The Plot before reading The Sequel! I’ve tried to be as vague as I can while still showing how much I loved both stories. I wish I could just say: Read it, read both! I even went back and re-read quite a bit of The Plot before starting The Sequel to refresh my mind with the details. Such a good twisty plot, and bonus, you can read this one right after!

 

Loved this one even more than the first one! I wasn’t a big fan of Anna in The Plot, but then we didn’t get her side of things. Here, I could feel for her and understand her motivations as her story is revealed and getting her POV, and I was outraged in her behalf!  I liked being in Anna’s head more than Jake’s. Not sure how that reflects on my character, haha, but I liked that she didn’t wallow in her situation, just evaluated and proceeded accordingly.

 

The Sequel was thrilling! Anna gets herself into a few dangerous situations confronting the threats coming at her and I was on the edge of my seat, rooting for her every step of the way!

 

The talented Julia Whelan narrates, and her performance of Anna is perfection! Timing, emotion and all the different voices were spot on! Highly recommend the audio version!

5 Stars

Book Description:

After the “insanely readable” (Stephen King) and “perfectly told” (Malcolm Gladwell) New York Times bestseller The Plot comes Jean Hanff Korelitz’s equally captivating new novel: The Sequel.

Anna Williams-Bonner has taken care of business—that is to say, she’s taken care of her husband, bestselling novelist Jacob Finch Bonner, and laid to rest those anonymous accusations of plagiarism that so tormented him. Now she is living the contented life of a literary widow, enjoying her husband’s royalty checks in perpetuity, but for the second time in her life, a work of fiction intercedes, and this time it’s her own debut novel, The Afterword. After all, how hard can it really be to write a universally lauded bestseller?

But when Anna publishes her book and indulges in her own literary acclaim, she begins to receive excerpts of a novel she never expected to see again, a novel that should no longer exist. Something has gone wrong, and someone out there knows far too much: about her late brother, her late husband, and just possibly... about Anna herself. What does this person want, and what are they prepared to do? She has come too far, and worked too hard, to lose what she values most: the sole and uncontested right to her own story—and she is, by any standard, a master storyteller.

Audio Review: The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

 

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Publication Date: May 11th 2021 by Macmillan Audio

Pages: 364

Audio Book Length: 10 hrs 43 min

Narrators: Kirby Heyborne

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Jacob Finch Bonner is struggling to write his second novel after his first book was a modest success, however, things aren’t going as well as he thought. His success and experience make him the perfect candidate to teach at Ripley’s a writer’s workshop/retreat. This is where he encounters Evan Parker, a loud, arrogant guy who claims he has the perfect plot. A plot no writer could mess up, a guaranteed success, and Even claims he doesn’t need any sort of teaching to help him along. When Jacob hears the plot he’s stunned, because Jacob thinks Evan is right. This plot will catapult this asshole into fame, giving Evan everything Jacob has ever dreamed of as a writer: Critical acclaim, book tours, a spot on Oprah’s Book Club Couch.

Years later when Jacob’s prospects keep dwindling as his new books are rejected over and over he’s reduced to taking odd editing jobs and the random writer’s workshop. His situation is depressing but things are about to change when Jacob discovers that not long after Ripley’s Evan died without ever writing “The Book”. Here is a once in a lifetime plot that begs to be told and who better than Jacob? Jacob writes the story and it’s exactly as predicted: fame, accolades, movie deal, and here’s when the other shoe drops. Jacob gets an email calling him a thief. 

Jacob was a bit self-absorbed and pretentious, but I couldn’t help but root for this guy! His life was going downhill, and I have a soft spot for the underdog! I didn’t even feel bad when he sort of lifted the idea (although, apparently you can’t copyright a plot) off of Evan, because who wants a jerk to win and come out ahead? Evan is dead and didn’t leave anyone who cared about him behind, so who’s sending the threatening emails? Jacob must go back and investigate Evan and his background to find out.

The Plot was captivating even when things are pretty calm at the beginning!  I had my suspicions, but even so when things started to come together I had that “aha!” moment where I was shocked! Love being taken by surprise!

I’m familiar with Kirby Heyborne as a narrator and have enjoyed his performances in the past. I loved him as the quiet, flawed Jacob Finch Bonner! I listened at my normal 1.5x normal speed.

4 Stars

Book description:

Jean Hanff Korelitz’s 'THE PLOT' is a psychologically suspenseful novel about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it.

Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written—let alone published—anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot.

Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that - a story that absolutely needs to be told.

In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.

As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing” of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?