plot of book review

How to Write a Book Review: The Complete Guide

by Sue Weems | 23 comments

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If you've ever loved (or hated) a book, you may have been tempted to review it. Here's a complete guide to how to write a book review, so you can share your literary adventures with other readers more often! 

You finally reach the last page of a book that kept you up all night and close it with the afterglow of satisfaction and a tinge of regret that it’s over. If you enjoyed the book enough to stay up reading it way past your bedtime, consider writing a review. It is one of the best gifts you can give an author.

Regardless of how much you know about how to write a book review, the author will appreciate hearing how their words touched you.

But as you face the five shaded stars and empty box, a blank mind strikes. What do I say? I mean, is this a book really deserving of five stars? How did it compare to Dostoevsky or Angelou or Dickens?

Maybe there’s an easier way to write a book review.

Want to learn how to write a book from start to finish? Check out How to Write a Book: The Complete Guide .

The Fallacy of Book Reviews

Once you’ve decided to give a review, you are faced with the task of deciding how many stars to give a book.

When I first started writing book reviews, I made the mistake of trying to compare a book to ALL BOOKS OF ALL TIME. (Sorry for the all caps, but that’s how it felt, like a James Earl Jones voice was asking me where to put this book in the queue of all books.)

Other readers find themselves comparing new titles to their favorite books. It's a natural comparison. But is it fair?

This is honestly why I didn’t give reviews of books for a long time. How can I compare a modern romance or historical fiction war novel with Dostoevsky? I can’t, and I shouldn’t.

I realized my mistake one day as I was watching (of all things) a dog show. In the final round, they trotted out dogs of all shapes, colors, and sizes. I thought, “How can a Yorkshire Terrier compete with a Basset Hound?” As if he'd read my mind, the announcer explained that each is judged by the standards for its breed.

This was my “Aha!” moment. I have to take a book on its own terms. The question is not, “How does this book compare to all books I’ve read?” but “How well did this book deliver what it promised for the intended audience?”

A review is going to reflect my personal experience with the book, but I can help potential readers by taking a minute to consider what the author intended. Let me explain what I mean. 

How to Write a Book Review: Consider a Book’s Promise

A book makes a promise with its cover, blurb, and first pages. It begins to set expectations the minute a reader views the thumbnail or cover. Those things indicate the genre, tone, and likely the major themes.

If a book cover includes a lip-locked couple in flowing linen on a beach, and I open to the first page to read about a pimpled vampire in a trench coat speaking like Mr. Knightly about his plan for revenge on the entire human race, there’s been a breach of contract before I even get to page two. These are the books we put down immediately (unless a mixed-message beachy cover combined with an Austen vampire story is your thing).

But what if the cover, blurb, and first pages are cohesive and perk our interest enough to keep reading? Then we have to think about what the book has promised us, which revolves around one key idea: What is the core story question and how well is it resolved?

Sometimes genre expectations help us answer this question: a romance will end with a couple who finds their way, a murder mystery ends with a solved case, a thriller’s protagonist beats the clock and saves the country or planet.

The stories we love most do those expected things in a fresh or surprising way with characters we root for from the first page. Even (and especially!) when a book doesn’t fit neatly in a genre category, we need to consider what the book promises on those first pages and decide how well it succeeds on the terms it sets for itself.

When I Don’t Know What to Write

About a month ago, I realized I was overthinking how to write a book review. Here at the Write Practice we have a longstanding tradition of giving critiques using the Oreo method : point out something that was a strength, then something we wondered about or that confused us, followed by another positive.

We can use this same structure to write a simple review when we finish books. Consider this book review format: 

[Book Title] by [book author] is about ___[plot summary in a sentence—no spoilers!]___. I chose this book based on ________. I really enjoyed ________. I wondered how ___________. Anyone who likes ____ will love this book.

Following this basic template can help you write an honest review about most any book, and it will give the author or publisher good information about what worked (and possibly what didn’t). You might write about the characters, the conflict, the setting, or anything else that captured you and kept you reading.

As an added bonus, you will be a stronger reader when you are able to express why you enjoyed parts of a book (just like when you critique!). After you complete a few, you’ll find it gets easier, and you won’t need the template anymore.

What if I Didn’t Like It?

Like professional book reviewers, you will have to make the call about when to leave a negative review. If I can’t give a book at least three stars, I usually don’t review it. Why? If I don’t like a book after a couple chapters, I put it down. I don’t review anything that I haven’t read the entire book.

Also, it may be that I’m not the target audience. The book might be well-written and well-reviewed with a great cover, and it just doesn’t capture me. Or maybe it's a book that just isn't hitting me right now for reasons that have nothing to do with the book and everything to do with my own reading life and needs. Every book is not meant for every reader.

If a book kept me reading all the way to the end and I didn’t like the ending? I would probably still review it, since there had to be enough good things going on to keep me reading to the end. I might mention in my review that the ending was less satisfying than I hoped, but I would still end with a positive.

How to Write a Book Review: Your Turn

As writers, we know how difficult it is to put down the words day after day. We are typically voracious readers. Let’s send some love back out to our fellow writers this week and review the most recent title we enjoyed.

What was the last book you read or reviewed? Do you ever find it hard to review a book? Share in the comments .

Now it's your turn. Think of the last book you read. Then, take fifteen minutes to write a review of it based on the template above. When you're done, share your review in the Pro Practice Workshop . For bonus points, post it on the book's page on Amazon and Goodreads, too!

Don't forget to leave feedback for your fellow writers! What new reads will you discover in the comments?

Sue Weems is a writer, teacher, and traveler with an advanced degree in (mostly fictional) revenge. When she’s not rationalizing her love for parentheses (and dramatic asides), she follows a sailor around the globe with their four children, two dogs, and an impossibly tall stack of books to read. You can read more of her writing tips on her website .

23 Comments

The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin is about a girl that shows no emotion befriending a ice dragon.

I chose this book based on the cover that had a little girl riding a ice dragon, and wondered what is about.

I really enjoyed the interaction the little girl had with the dragon.

I wondered how how the girl’s bond with the dragon.

Anyone who likes a coming of age story set in a fantasy will love this book.

Thanks for sharing your practice, Azure!

You’re welcome.

A interesting, at times perplexing, subject! And one on my mind lately,as I’ve agreed to do a few. I do enjoy giving reviews and am delighted when I can say, “This was a great book!” Or even, “I enjoyed this book.” It gets perplexing when I agree to review a book — and simply don’t like it. Then what to say? I hate to disappoint the writer but I’ve promised to give my honest opinion.

I’ve found some books mediocre and yet I see a dozen other reviewers saying “A great story!” Tastes do vary. But when there are obvious flaws I tend to skip all the best-friend-and-cousin reviewers and find the first person who says, “This writer has a problem with…” Usually there’ll be a number of reviewers who spot the same problems I do.

I like upbeat main characters, but not aggressive, belligerent, and/or self-centered ones. I like to meet in a story the kind of people I’d like to meet in real life— not people I’d avoid if possible. I recently read a book where the main character came across as insipid and the story only mildly interesting. Other reviewers said it was great and I know for this specific audience — readers who want a certain slant to a story — it was quite suitable. So I tried to cut the book some slack. Everyone has their limit as to how much blood and gore, smooching and snuggling, they are willing to read about.

Once I agreed to review a book and would have tossed it after the first chapter — for several reasons. A lot of “writer inserting facts for reader’s benefit”; teach/preach paragraphs; excess of description; attitudes of MCs. Once it’s live on seller’s sites like Amazon, what can you say? The one thing good it had going for it was the story line or theme. With a pro editor’s help it could have been a great story.

As for a review, one book I read lately was “A Clue for the Puzzle Lady” by Parnell Hall. It’s one of those “Stayed up half the night to finish it” books; I think anyone who likes a compelling cozy mystery would probably like it. Downside: I didn’t care for the “Puzzle Lady.” She’s a lush, hangs out at the bar getting sloshed. The upside: her sensible niece has a starring role —trying to keep her aunt on the straight-and-narrow and the mystery keeps you guessing until the end.

Christine, Thanks for sharing your insight! It sounds like you are approached often to review new books. It does make it tricky if it’s a request, especially outside your own preferences. Thanks for chiming in about your process, as I’m sure others will appreciate the perspective too. I’ll have to take a look at the Puzzle Lady– I do enjoy cozy mysteries. Sue

Here’s another cozy mystery book review in case you’re interested. I’m not approached by writers that often, but there are the Story Cartel, Book Bub and Goodreads, all sites where authors ask for review volunteers.

Reel Estate Ripoff by Renee Pawlish

The detective Reed Ferguson is a fan of Humphry Bogart, movie memorabilia of that era, and fancies himself a bit of a Sam Slade. Though not your super-sleuth, rather inept at times, he’s a likeable character. Told in first person, the story has a Philip Marlowe tone to it, but much tamer. Dialogue and story line are well done, the story well plotted and believable. I’d gladly read more stories about this particular gumshoe.

If you like cozy mystery books, I’ll send you a list later, Sue. Love them too and I’ve met many authors who write in this genre. Back on topic– you inspire me again to add some reviews to my Blog. I have been reading and writing many middle grade mysteries for a project! My latest favorite: “The World’s Greatest Detective” by Caroline Carson (who I hope to meet tomorrow in Arlington, VA!) My 12 year old grandson borrowed it and finished it before I could. “It’s the best mystery I ever read, Grandma! You’ ll never guess the ending with unpredictable twists!” What better review could we read. The target audience and I both highly recommend this 2017 mystery.

Adding it to my stack, Beth. Thanks!

Not wanting to sound life an idiot, but willing to risk it here among friends: What exactly is a cozy mystery?

Glad you asked! It’s a subgenre of mystery. The best examples of cozy mysteries are those by Agatha Christie. They usually avoid profanity, excessive gore/ violence, and sex. They focus more on the puzzle, sleuth, and their smaller world. Hope that helps!

Thanks, Sue.

Wonderful article. The first I have read by you. It especially gets those of us who don’t feel we have the formula down for review writing to be introduced to a form we can build upon with experience. You’ve kept it simple but you have given us the main ingredients needed for a good review. I printed this one off to look at the next few times I write reviews. Thank you.

Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for reading and commenting!

I haven’t gone into all this. It’s a matter of time, Joe. I gad about all over the place, not knowing where I am or where I’m going. Within weeks, I’ll be 87. I’ve books of my own that I’d like to see reviewed. Even sorting them out, however, even finding where any of them are, would be a time burden. You see the fix?

Hi Dave, You aren’t alone in feeling the press of time for getting your stories out into the world. May I gently offer this: start with finding and sorting one. If you can’t find it, write it anew. You’ve probably grown in time and perspective since you wrote the first draft, which will make for a stronger story. Good luck. I’m cheering you on!

This is an article for me, because I am happy to receive a rating. I haven’t sold many books. But, at least some thinks that it was worth the time to read. That was refreshing. And, I think I wrote two reviews, so far. It was on Amazon.com. Thank you.

You’re welcome!

Hi, Sue. Thanks for the helpful advice. I did a review on Amazon for the first of a 7-part thriller titled ‘Mosh Pit (The Rose Garden Incident)’ by Michael Hiebert. [Here it is.]

“5.0 out of 5 stars Advance copy review. By A fellow author on September 18, 2016 Format: Kindle Edition I Recommend This Book Strongly

I enjoyed reading this first part of the thriller. The author’s opening chapter/prologue was fast paced, and set me in the middle of the inciting incident along with two of the main characters. After that thrilling opening, I felt the ensuing chapters moved at a more leisurely pace, and was about to grade them as less praiseworthy when I watched a lecture by Brandon Sanderson on YouTube about building three dimensional characters and realised Michael Hiebert had done exactly that by introducing the reader to the minutiae of other characters who had parts to play in the development of the story. So, instead of cardboard cutouts of bland stock characters, the author shows us real people with real concerns that the reader can relate to.and actually care about. I look forward to reading the rest of this intriguing thriller, and highly recommend it to all lovers of well-written, and well-crafted thrillers.”

I also reviewed Part 2 of the series, but that review is too long to post here.

Footnote: The author, Michael Hiebert, was so pleased with my reviews, he recently asked me to beta-read a short story collection he plans to publish in November.

Great review, John! I like how you shared a bit of your process as a reader too, in recognizing what the writer was doing with their characterization. Thanks!

Thank you, Sue.

Five out of five stars When I picked up a copy of “The Girl with All the Gifts,” by M R Carey, at the used book store, I somehow had it in my head that it was a YA dystopian novel along the lines of “Divergent” or “The Hunger Games.” While I would definitely say that I was not right about that, I wouldn’t say that I was completely wrong. I was, however, completely unprepared for a zombie novel–which is a good thing, cause I wouldn’t have read it, and I’m glad I did. Think “The Walking Dead” meets (why do I want to say ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night”?) “Peter Pan.” I really enjoyed seeing things from, the main character, Melanie’s point of view. Her limited knowledge of her own situation was intriguing, to say the least (and probably why I thought of “The Curious Incident”). I was a bit disappointed when the POV changed to another character’s, but, as the novel progressed, I found myself sympathizing with nearly all the characters–with one exception, and I’ll leave that for you to ponder when you read it. I wondered how much of the science was real, but not enough for me to research it myself. Although, based on other reviews, I guess most of the science about the fungus is real. I also wondered about the fate of the remaining ‘lost boys’ of the cities. If you liked…. well, I don’t know. I’m not typically a fan of things zombie, so I don’t have a comparison, but the book was somewhat similar to “Divergent” and “The Hunger Games” in that the main character goes through a hellluva time and comes out the other side with a plan for her future.

“Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom is a true story about how one man found meaning in life when his doctors gave him a death sentence. Morrie was a college professor who passed on his new found wisdom in the last year of his life to a favorite student, the author, who chronicled his professor’s perspectives on death and dying.

I chose this book because of its philosophical topic, and because it is so well written that the words just jump off the page.

Knowing we are all mortal beings, I especially liked the insights, the tidbits of wisdom imparted by the dying man. Death is a subject that few, if any of us, ever talk about seriously with friends and family. The subject of death is verboten. We deny its existence. And, if we are religious, we pretend we will not really die, but we deceive ourselves and think we will live on in some afterlife existence for all eternity. But the professor, Morrie, learns some valuable life lessons from his impending death, and Mitch Albom was gracious enough to capture them in this short but eminently readable book.

I really liked the book because it is timeless. This true story will impart serious life lessons for all future generations, and will help us gain perspectives on our lives and the relationships with those we love the most.

R. Allan Worrell

Sue, I’ve been meaning to come back since this was first posted to tell you thanks for a great article. I seldom review books for alllllll the reasons you listed. This is a perfect tool and I’ll surely use it. Cathy

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Home » Writing » How to Write a Good Book Review

Tips for Writing a Good Book Review 

Now that you’ve prepped what you want to say, how you want to say it, and who you want to say it to, it’s time to start writing. Below we’ve gathered our favorite tips to help you write a good book review. Wait… make that a GREAT book review.

1. Include general information

Make sure to include all the relevant book information for your audience , including the title, author, genre, and publisher in your review. While not necessary, it is also helpful to include the number of pages, list price, and ISBN number.

2. Provide a brief plot summary

After the hook, you can then move on to the brief plot summary. This summary shouldn’t be too long, but it can be a paragraph that explains the basic plot so that the reader better understands if it’s a topic of interest. One pitfall to avoid is to give away spoilers in the plot summary. Don’t give away any plot twists, and err on the side of caution if you feel that the information is too much. For example, tell the reader that the plot has unexpected twists rather than explain any surprises in the summary.

3. Focus on the book, not the author

Keep in mind that your main job as a reviewer is to share your opinion on the book, not to critique the author. Keep the focus on the story. Avoid referencing pitfalls in any of the author’s past books or what you about them as a writer. You can provide a brief introduction to the story mentioning the author and past books, but don’t spend too much time focused on the author. The review should focus on the content of the book and its characters.

4. Be clear and specific

It is not enough to just say that you did or didn’t like the book. Let your readers know why. Make your thoughts clear as early as possible and explain the reasons why you liked or disliked specific storyline components and characters. Be specific about what you loved about the writing, what drew you to the characters, or what left you feeling lukewarm about the plot. You don’t need to explain every aspect of the book, but the reader should walk away with a sense that they understand the basic plot and determine from the review if they want to read the book for themselves.

5. Remain subjective

Not all book reviews have to be glowing, but they should be subjective. Rather than just saying you didn’t like something, support it by letting your readers know why. We all gravitate towards different things, so what may not appeal to you may appeal to someone else. If you remain subjective, then you can explain to the reader the basic story and let them decide for themselves. The review can include your likes and dislikes, but they should focus on what you felt the story did well and what parts of the story you didn’t like. However, the main focus of the review should be to explain the story so that readers can determine if they want to read the book further.

6. Avoid spoilers

We know it can be tempting, but do your best not to let any spoilers slip in your book review. Have you ever been excited to see the latest blockbuster hit (or watch the season cliffhanger to your favorite TV show) and then someone spoils the end before you even have time to watch? That is exactly what you don’t want to do to your reader. As you explain the book in your summary, ask yourself if what you are explaining ruins any surprises or twists. As you write the review, keep it vague. For example, explain that there is a major plot twist but don’t go into the specifics.

7. Be transparent

Always share if you received an incentive to review the book, got an advance copy, or have any connection to the author. Your readers will appreciate your honesty. Plus, it helps you avoid the negative impact on your credibility if they find out later. Getting paid for a review is a perfectly reasonable excuse to read a book, but it does allow readers to determine if you’re being unbiased. By specifying if you have any relationship with the author, the reader can better trust your opinion, even if they feel you’re being more biased.

8. Keep it short

While book reviews can be any length, it is always best to keep it short and succinct. Pull in your reader with a strong first sentence that sets the tone of the review and end with your recommendation. Remember, most people start to scan when something gets too long. A book review is a short summary, so writing a novel-length review loses reader interests. Keeping it short will ensure that your readers will dive into your likes and dislikes and use your reviews to determine if they have an interest in the books.

9. Proofread before posting

The quickest way to lose credibility is to post a review filled with typos. Make sure to give your final book review a thorough read before posting it and double check the spelling of any character names or places that you mention. Even better, ask someone else to read it over. It is always good to have a fresh pair of eyes proof to catch any typos. If you don’t have a family or friend who will help with proofreader, you can join a writing community where members offer test reads and proofreading. Make sure that you don’t post the review publicly, because search engines will index it and the review will no longer be unique content.

Also, keep in mind that you will want to write different book reviews for different sites. Don’t just copy and paste the same review. Google search engines scan for duplicate content and if flagged, your review won’t appear.

10. Add a hook

The hook is one or two sentences that grab the reader and convince them to keep going. It should be interesting, but it should also stick with the topic without misleading readers. The hook could be a simple statement that explains the main character of the book, or it could ask a question that resonates with the reader. Don’t make the hook too sensational to avoid sounding like a sales pitch. It should simply provide an introduction that grabs reader interests.

11. Explain what you liked about the book

Writing your own book review is a way to explain what you liked about it, and what you liked could be of interest to another reader. This section allows you to personalize the review. You can explain what you liked about the characters, who was your favorite character, what part of the book was your favorite, and if the book invoked any personal feelings (e.g., you laughed or cried).

12. Explain what you disliked about the book

You likely have something that you disliked about the book, and this section explains what you wish would have been different about the storyline or the characters. Just like the other sections, make sure that you do not reveal too much and give away important plot lines that could be considered spoilers for the rest of the story.

13. Include brief quotes as examples

Brief quotes provide readers with better insight into characters. Using quotes from characters will help the reader follow the plot summary and determine if the characters are people they can relate to. Avoid using excessively long quotes. Since the reader hasn’t read the book, a long quote could ruin plot twists or overpower the review.

14. Reference similar books

A great way to introduce readers to a specific book is to compare your book review with other books. For example, you can explain to the reader that they will like the current book you’re reviewing if they like another similar book. Alternatively, you can also compare characters between books to provide better insight into the story’s characters and the dynamic between individual characters.

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How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide

WHAT IS A BOOK REVIEW?

Traditionally, book reviews are evaluations of a recently published book in any genre. Usually, around the 500 to 700-word mark, they briefly describe a text’s main elements while appraising the work’s strengths and weaknesses. Published book reviews can appear in newspapers, magazines, and academic journals. They provide the reader with an overview of the book itself and indicate whether or not the reviewer would recommend the book to the reader.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A BOOK REVIEW?

There was a time when book reviews were a regular appearance in every quality newspaper and many periodicals. They were essential elements in whether or not a book would sell well. A review from a heavyweight critic could often be the deciding factor in whether a book became a bestseller or a damp squib. In the last few decades, however, the book review’s influence has waned considerably, with many potential book buyers preferring to consult customer reviews on Amazon, or sites like Goodreads, before buying. As a result, book review’s appearance in newspapers, journals, and digital media has become less frequent.

WHY BOTHER TEACHING STUDENTS TO WRITE BOOK REVIEWS AT ALL?

Even in the heyday of the book review’s influence, few students who learned the craft of writing a book review became literary critics! The real value of crafting a well-written book review for a student does not lie in their ability to impact book sales. Understanding how to produce a well-written book review helps students to:

●     Engage critically with a text

●     Critically evaluate a text

●     Respond personally to a range of different writing genres

●     Improve their own reading, writing, and thinking skills.

Not to Be Confused with a Book Report!

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BOOK REVIEW AND A BOOK REPORT?

While the terms are often used interchangeably, there are clear differences in both the purpose and the format of the two genres. Generally speaking, book reports aim to give a more detailed outline of what occurs in a book. A book report on a work of fiction will tend to give a comprehensive account of the characters, major plot lines, and themes in the book. Book reports are usually written around the K-12 age range, while book reviews tend not to be undertaken by those at the younger end of this age range due to the need for the higher-level critical skills required in writing them. At their highest expression, book reviews are written at the college level and by professional critics.

Learn how to write a book review step by step with our complete guide for students and teachers by familiarizing yourself with the structure and features.

BOOK REVIEW STRUCTURE

ANALYZE Evaluate the book with a critical mind.

THOROUGHNESS The whole is greater than the sum of all its parts. Review the book as a WHOLE.

COMPARE Where appropriate compare to similar texts and genres.

THUMBS UP OR DOWN? You are going to have to inevitably recommend or reject this book to potential readers.

BE CONSISTENT Take a stance and stick with it throughout your review.

FEATURES OF A BOOK REVIEW

PAST TENSE You are writing about a book you have already read.

EMOTIVE LANGUAGE Whatever your stance or opinion be passionate about it. Your audience will thank you for it.

VOICE Both active and passive voice are used in recounts.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF TEXTS

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This collection of  21 INDEPENDENT TASKS  and  GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS  takes students beyond the hype, special effects and trailers to look at visual literacy from several perspectives offering DEEP LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES by watching a  SERIES, DOCUMENTARY, FILM, and even  VIDEO GAMES.

ELEMENTS OF A BOOK REVIEW

As with any of the writing genres we teach our students, a book review can be helpfully explained in terms of criteria. While there is much to the ‘art’ of writing, there is also, thankfully, a lot of the nuts and bolts that can be listed too. Have students consider the following elements before writing:

●     Title: Often, the title of the book review will correspond to the title of the text itself, but there may also be some examination of the title’s relevance. How does it fit into the purpose of the work as a whole? Does it convey a message or reveal larger themes explored within the work?

●     Author: Within the book review, there may be some discussion of who the author is and what they have written before, especially if it relates to the current work being reviewed. There may be some mention of the author’s style and what they are best known for. If the author has received any awards or prizes, this may also be mentioned within the body of the review.

●     Genre: A book review will identify the genre that the book belongs to, whether fiction or nonfiction, poetry, romance, science-fiction, history etc. The genre will likely tie in, too with who the intended audience for the book is and what the overall purpose of the work is.

●     Book Jacket / Cover: Often, a book’s cover will contain artwork that is worthy of comment. It may contain interesting details related to the text that contribute to, or detract from, the work as a whole.

●     Structure: The book’s structure will often be heavily informed by its genre. Have students examine how the book is organized before writing their review. Does it contain a preface from a guest editor, for example? Is it written in sections or chapters? Does it have a table of contents, index, glossary etc.? While all these details may not make it into the review itself, looking at how the book is structured may reveal some interesting aspects.

●     Publisher and Price: A book review will usually contain details of who publishes the book and its cost. A review will often provide details of where the book is available too.

BOOK REVIEW KEY ELEMENTS

As students read and engage with the work they will review, they will develop a sense of the shape their review will take. This will begin with the summary. Encourage students to take notes during the reading of the work that will help them in writing the summary that will form an essential part of their review. Aspects of the book they may wish to take notes on in a work of fiction may include:

●     Characters: Who are the main characters? What are their motivations? Are they convincingly drawn? Or are they empathetic characters?

●     Themes: What are the main themes of the work? Are there recurring motifs in the work? Is the exploration of the themes deep or surface only?

●     Style: What are the key aspects of the writer’s style? How does it fit into the wider literary world?

●     Plot: What is the story’s main catalyst? What happens in the rising action? What are the story’s subplots? 

A book review will generally begin with a short summary of the work itself. However, it is important not to give too much away, remind students – no spoilers, please! For nonfiction works, this may be a summary of the main arguments of the work, again, without giving too much detail away. In a work of fiction, a book review will often summarise up to the rising action of the piece without going beyond to reveal too much!

The summary should also provide some orientation for the reader. Given the nature of the purpose of a review, it is important that students’ consider their intended audience in the writing of their review. Readers will most likely not have read the book in question and will require some orientation. This is often achieved through introductions to the main characters, themes, primary arguments etc. This will help the reader to gauge whether or not the book is of interest to them.

Once your student has summarized the work, it is time to ‘review’ in earnest. At this point, the student should begin to detail their own opinion of the book. To do this well they should:

i. Make It Personal

Often when teaching essay writing we will talk to our students about the importance of climbing up and down the ladder of abstraction. Just as it is helpful to explore large, more abstract concepts in an essay by bringing it down to Earth, in a book review, it is important that students can relate the characters, themes, ideas etc to their own lives.

Book reviews are meant to be subjective. They are opinion pieces, and opinions grow out of our experiences of life. Encourage students to link the work they are writing about to their own personal life within the body of the review. By making this personal connection to the work, students contextualize their opinions for the readers and help them to understand whether the book will be of interest to them or not in the process.

ii. Make It Universal

Just as it is important to climb down the ladder of abstraction to show how the work relates to individual life, it is important to climb upwards on the ladder too. Students should endeavor to show how the ideas explored in the book relate to the wider world. The may be in the form of the universality of the underlying themes in a work of fiction or, for example, the international implications for arguments expressed in a work of nonfiction.

iii. Support Opinions with Evidence

A book review is a subjective piece of writing by its very nature. However, just because it is subjective does not mean that opinions do not need to be justified. Make sure students understand how to back up their opinions with various forms of evidence, for example, quotations, statistics, and the use of primary and secondary sources.

EDIT AND REVISE YOUR BOOK REVIEW

As with any writing genre, encourage students to polish things up with review and revision at the end. Encourage them to proofread and check for accurate spelling throughout, with particular attention to the author’s name, character names, publisher etc. 

It is good practice too for students to double-check their use of evidence. Are statements supported? Are the statistics used correctly? Are the quotations from the text accurate? Mistakes such as these uncorrected can do great damage to the value of a book review as they can undermine the reader’s confidence in the writer’s judgement.

The discipline of writing book reviews offers students opportunities to develop their writing skills and exercise their critical faculties. Book reviews can be valuable standalone activities or serve as a part of a series of activities engaging with a central text. They can also serve as an effective springboard into later discussion work based on the ideas and issues explored in a particular book. Though the book review does not hold the sway it once did in the mind’s of the reading public, it still serves as an effective teaching tool in our classrooms today.

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

BOOK REVIEW GRAPHIC ORGANIZER (TEMPLATE)

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Book and Movie review writing examples (Student Writing Samples)

Below are a collection of student writing samples of book reviews.  Click on the image to enlarge and explore them in greater detail.  Please take a moment to both read the movie or book review in detail but also the teacher and student guides which highlight some of the key elements of writing a text review

Please understand these student writing samples are not intended to be perfect examples for each age or grade level but a piece of writing for students and teachers to explore together to critically analyze to improve student writing skills and deepen their understanding of book review writing.

We would recommend reading the example either a year above and below, as well as the grade you are currently working with to gain a broader appreciation of this text type .

BOOK REVIEW VIDEO TUTORIALS

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Blog – Posted on Wednesday, Apr 03

How to write a book review in 3 steps.

If the idea of reading for free — or even getting paid to read — sounds like a dream come true, remember that it isn’t a pipe dream. There are many places aspiring book reviewers can read books for free, such as Reedsy Discovery — a new platform for reviewing indie books. Of course, if you’re giving serious thought to becoming a book reviewer, your first step should be learning how to write a book review. To that end, this post covers all the basics of literary criticism. Let’s get started!

The three main steps of writing a book review are simple:

• Provide a summary: What is story about? Who are the main characters and what is the main conflict? 
• Present your evaluation: What did you think of the book? What elements worked well, and which ones didn’t? 
• Give your recommendation: Would you recommend this book to others? If so, what kinds of readers will enjoy it?

You can also download our free book review templates and use it as a guide! Otherwise, let’s take a closer look at each element.

Pro-tip : But wait! How are you sure if you should become a book reviewer in the first place? If you're on the fence, or curious about your match with a book reviewing career, take our quick quiz:

Should you become a book reviewer?

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How to write a review of a book

Step 1. provide a summary.

Have you ever watched a movie only to realize that all the good bits were already in the trailer? Well, you don’t want the review to do that. What you do want the summary to do is reveal the genre, theme, main conflict, and main characters in the story — without giving away spoilers or revealing how the story ends.

A good rule of thumb is not to mention anything that happens beyond the midpoint. Set the stage and give readers a sense of the book without explaining how the central issue is resolved.

Emily W. Thompson's review of The Crossing :

In [Michael] Doane’s debut novel, a young man embarks on a journey of self-discovery with surprising results.

An unnamed protagonist (The Narrator) is dealing with heartbreak. His love, determined to see the world, sets out for Portland, Oregon. But he’s a small-town boy who hasn’t traveled much. So, the Narrator mourns her loss and hides from life, throwing himself into rehabbing an old motorcycle. Until one day, he takes a leap; he packs his bike and a few belongings and heads out to find the Girl. Read more...

Here are a few more reviews with well-written summaries for you to check out. The summary tend to be the longest part of the book review, so we won’t turn this post into a novel itself by pasting them all here: Le Cirque Navire reviewed by Anna Brill, The Heart of Stone reviewed by Kevin R. Dickinson, Fitting Out: The Friendship Experiment reviewed by Lianna Albrizio.

Non-fiction summary tip: The primary goal of a non-fiction summary is to provide context: what problems or issues has the book spotted, and how does it go about addressing them? Be sure to mention the authors of the title and what experience or expertise they bring to the title. Check Stefan Kløvning’s review of Creativity Cycling for an example of a summary that establishes the framework of the book within the context of its field.

Step 2. Present your evaluation

While you should absolutely weave your own personal take of a book into the review, your evaluation shouldn’t only be based on your subjective opinion. Along with presenting how you reacted to the story and how it affected you, you should also try to objectively critique the stronger and weaker elements of the story, and provide examples from the text to back up your points.

To help you write your evaluation, you should record your reactions and thoughts as you work your way through a novel you’re planning on reviewing. Here are some aspects of the book to keep in mind as you do.

Your evaluation might focus heartily on the book’s prose:

Donald Barker's review of Mercenary : 

Such are the bones of the story. But, of course, it is the manner in which Mr Gaughran puts the bones back together and fills them with life that makes “Mercenary” such a great read. The author’s style seems plain; it seems straightforward and even simple. But an attempt at imitation or emulation quickly proves that simple it is not. He employs short, punchy sentences that generate excellent dialogue dripping with irony, deadpan humour and wit. This, mixed with good descriptive prose, draws the characters – and what characters they are – along with the tumultuous events in which they participated amidst the stinking, steaming heat of the South American jungle, out from the past to the present; alive, scheming, drinking, womanising and fighting, onto the written page.

You can give readers a sense of the book by drawing comparisons to other well-known titles or authors:

Laura Hartman's review of The Mystery of Ruby's Mistletoe :

Reading Ms. Donovan’s book is reminiscent to one of my favorite authors, Dame Agatha Christie. Setting up the suspects in a snowbound house, asking them to meet in the drawing room and the cleverly satisfying conclusion was extremely gratifying. I can picture Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot nodding at Ms. Donovan saying “Well done!”

Not everyone’s tastes are the same, and you can always acknowledge this by calling out specific story elements in your evaluation: 

Kevin R. Dickinson's review of The Heart of Stone :

Whether you enjoy Galley’s worldbuilding will depend heavily on preference. Galley delivers information piecemeal, letting the characters, not the author, navigate the reader through Hartlund. A notable example is the magic system, an enigmatic force that lacks the ridge structures of, say, a Brandon Sanderson novel. While the world’s magical workings are explained, you only learn what the characters know and many mysteries remain by the end. Similar choices throughout make the world feel expansive and authentic.

Non-fiction evaluation tip: A book’s topic is only as compelling as its supporting arguments. Your evaluation of a nonfiction book should address that: how clearly and effectively are the points communicated? Turn back to Stefan’s critique for an example of a non-fiction critique that covers key takeaways and readability, without giving away any “big reveals.”

Step 3. Give your recommendation 

At the end of the day, your critique needs to answer this question: is this a book you would (or wouldn’t) recommend to other readers? You might wrap up by comparing it to other books in the same genre, or authors with similar styles, such as: “Fans of so-and-so will enjoy this book.” 

Let’s take a look at a few more tips:

You don’t need to write, “I recommend this book” — you can make it clear by highlighting your favorable opinion:

Following in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and William Least Heat-Moon, Doane offers a coming of age story about a man finding himself on the backroads of America. Doane’s a gifted writer with fluid prose and insightful observations, using The Narrator’s personal interactions to illuminate the diversity of the United States.

Despite his flaws, it’s a pleasure to accompany The Narrator on his physical and emotional journey. The unexpected ending is a fitting denouement to an epic and memorable road trip.

Add more punch to your rating by mentioning what kind of audience will or won’t enjoy the book:

Charleigh Aleyna Reid's review of The King of FU :

I would recommend this book to anyone who grew up in the 90’s and would like to reminisce about the time, someone who is interested to see what it was like to be a 90’s kid, or perhaps anyone who is looking for a unique, funny story about someone’s life.

Unless you found the title absolutely abhorrent, a good way to balance out a less favorable book review it to share what you did like about the book — before ultimately stating why you wouldn’t recommend the novel:

Nicola O's review of Secrets of the Sea Lord :

Overall, there are plenty of enjoyable elements in this story and fans of Atlantis and mer mythology should give it a try. Despite this, it does not rise above a three-star rating, and while I had some difficulty pinning down why this is, I concluded that it comes from a surprisingly unsophisticated vocabulary. There are a couple of graphic sex scenes, which is absolutely fine in a paranormal romance, but if they were removed, I could easily imagine this as an appealing story for middle-schoolers.

Non-fiction recommendation tip: As with fiction book reviews, share why you did or didn’t enjoy the title. However, in one of the starkest divergences from fiction book reviews it’s more important than ever that you mention your expectations coming into the non-fiction book. For instance, if you’re a cow farmer who’s reading a book on the benefits of becoming a vegetarian, you’re coming in with a large and inherent bias that the book will struggle to alter. So your recommendation should cover your thoughts about the book, while clearly taking account your perspective before you started reading. Let’s look once more at Stefan’s review for an example of a rating that includes an explanation of the reviewer’s own bias.

Bonus tips for writing a book review

Let’s wrap up with a few final tips for writing a compelling review.

• Remember, this isn’t a book report. If someone wants the summary of a book, they can read the synopsis. People turn to book reviews for a fellow reader’s take on the book. And for that reason...
• Have an opinion. Even if your opinion is totally middle-of-the-line — you didn’t hate the book but you didn’t love it either — state that clearly, and explain why.
• Make your stance clear from the outset. Don’t save your opinion just for the evaluation/recommendation. Weave your thoughts about the book into your summary as well, so that readers have an idea of your opinion from the outset.
• Back up your points. Instead of just saying, “the prose was evocative” — show readers by providing an actual passage that displays this. Same goes for negative points — don’t simply tell readers you found a character unbelievable, reference a certain (non-spoiler) scene that backs this up.
• Provide the details. Don’t forget to weave the book’s information into the review: is this a debut author? Is this one installment of a series? What types of books has the author written before? What is their background? How many pages does the book have? Who published the book? What is the book’s price?
• Follow guidelines. Is the review you’re writing for Goodreads? For The New York Times ? The content and tone of your review will vary a good deal from publication to publication.
• Learn from others. One of the best ways to learn how to write a great review is to read other reviews! To help you out with that, we’ve published a post all about book review examples .

Writing book reviews can be a rewarding experience! As a book-lover yourself, it’s a great opportunity to help guide readers to their next favorite title. If you’re just getting started as a reviewer and could use a couple more tips and nudges in the right direction, check out our comprehensive blog post on how to become a book reviewer . And if you want to find out which review community is the right fit for you, we recommend taking this quick quiz:

Which review community should you join?

Find out which review community is best for your style. Takes 30 seconds!

Finally, if you feel you've nailed the basics of how to write a book review, we recommend you check out Reedsy Discovery , where you can review books for free and are guaranteed people will read them. To register as a book reviewer, simply go here !

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Jean Hanff Korelitz: ‘I wanted to be a literary novelist. But I realised that I liked plot’

The author of the book behind TV smash The Undoing talks about her new novel The Plot, a thriller about plagiarism – and how she fell for Hugh Grant

I n January 2020, the American novelist Jean Hanff Korelitz was “all in all, not in a great place”, despite the runaway success of the HBO series The Undoing , based on her novel You Should Have Known . She was extremely anxious about a new virus in China that she was reading about (she reads a lot of books on epidemiology). “I was pretty much the only person I knew at that point who was really freaking out,” she says cheerfully from her bedroom in upstate New York, her dog Sherlock snoozing serenely beside her. “And I was really freaking out. It felt like we were in the opening chapters of Stephen King’s The Stand .” She was also furious about the first impeachment of President Trump, the outcome of which seemed all too clear. “I think if I had been scared without being angry, or I had been angry without being scared, it wouldn’t have been so combustible, but I was both.”

More personally, she was exhausted by wrestling with the second draft of a novel that was refusing to come together. She was so nervous about a meeting with her editor, who had already turned the book down once, that she forced her husband, the Pulitzer prize-winning Irish poet Paul Muldoon , to come with her. He waited in a nearby coffee shop while she went off to her publishers in a state of “total meltdown”. Her editor still didn’t think the book was ready, but suddenly an idea “just popped” into Korelitz’s head, and she began outlining a story that she barely knew herself. “I’d gone into that meeting unable to sell one novel and apparently I had left with a two-book deal, which I’ve never had before.”

Events then “conspired in a horrible way to create this set of unique circumstances in which not only did I not have anything else to do, but I did not want to be engaged in the world”. She stopped watching the news or reading the papers. As the pandemic struck she wrote each day, starting in bed and continuing until five or six, when her husband would bring her a drink. “I made no sourdough bread. I baked no banana bread. I didn’t take up macramé.” Apart from Zoom ballet classes three times a week, she did nothing else for four months. “When you are in the grip of something, it’s harder not to do it than to do it,” she says. “It’s never happened before and I don’t expect it to happen again.”

The result is The Plot , which comes emblazoned with superlatives from King. Our novelist-protagonist Jacob Finch Bonner (he pinched the Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird ) was once a New York Times New & Noteworthy author, but is now confined “to the special purgatory for formerly promising writers, from which so few ever emerged”. When we meet him he is teaching a third-rate creative writing course at Ripley University. One of his students, a first-class “asshole” called Evan Parker, claims to have a storyline that cannot fail, and when he hears it Jake can’t help but agree. A few years later, even further down on his uppers, he discovers that Parker has died. “Was Jake really supposed to throw a plot like that into some other writer’s grave?” As the epigraph, taken from TS Eliot, has it: “Good writers borrow, great writers steal.” Jake’s novel Crib (geddit) duly becomes a sensation, but it’s not long before he receives an email from someone calling themselves “TalentedTom” – one of many nods to Patricia Highsmith – saying simply: “You are a thief.”

The Plot raises questions about appropriation and who has the right to tell someone else’s story, an increasingly fraught issue in publishing. “To plagiarise language is to be boiled in oil as far as I’m concerned,” Korelitz says. “But there’s a murkier thing when it comes to the story. It is really hard to figure out where the lines are. Imagination is such a mushy business.”

With her long, silvery hair, the 60-year-old author of seven novels resembles Susan Sontag in her prime. Raised in “an extremely progressive environment” by Jewish parents (both of whom are still alive; they celebrated her father’s 95th birthday last week), Korelitz describes herself as “a lifelong atheist, but deeply tortured by ethical guilt and moral compulsion”. Much of her fiction turns on murky moral dilemmas such as that faced by Jake. “That’s what I zero in on all the time,” she says. “They make great plots. When we know we are supposed to do one thing, but we do something else instead, unless you are a Ripley, that’s a problem for most of us.”

The Plot gives a new dimension to the term literary thriller. As well as being elegantly written (Korelitz started out as a poet), this is a novel in which namechecks of writers, from James Patterson to Jonathan Franzen, far outnumber bloodied corpses, and in which an unfamiliarity with Marilynne Robinson can prove fatal. Not to mention references to King himself, who has not only written about plagiarism but been accused of it. Korelitz’s friend Joyce Carol Oates was accused by the same person, who claimed authors photographed their desk from a zeppelin, she recalls. “It’s absurd, but this was a filed case.” The novel is also very funny. Korelitz is merciless on creative writing programmes; she is not an MFA graduate, although she did spend a couple of years “reading books and writing poetry” at Cambridge University in the early 80s, so “I’m not pure”. Book nerds will love it, as will fans of Gillian Flynn and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History .

“Oh pur-lease! From your mouth to God’s ears,” she exclaims. Whenever she worried she was overdoing Jake’s stratospheric success (Oprah, Spielberg, the whole shebang), she would think:“I’m just throwing my fantasies at this”, and then: “ Gone Girl ! Gone Girl did all of this.” Korelitz may now have a whole new readership who, as she says, had never heard of her until Nicole Kidman walked on to their screens wearing those coats in The Undoing , but, as she reminds me, The Plot is her seventh book. “Novels number one through six have been: ‘This is great, this is great, this is great, nobody is buying it, the end.’”

“We are all Jake!” she says of his all-too-recognisable wilderness years. She recalls a book tour when she flew to Seattle to find only three people at the event. “It is deeply humiliating, but it is normal. For every David Sedaris or Gillian Flynn there’s a million people like me, some of whom have been publishing for years.”

Her first two novels were “rejected everywhere”. She was pregnant and remembers telling her then agent that she had failed because she was never going to have time to write a novel now. “She said, ‘Maybe, but I have clients who suddenly got very organised when they had children.’ And I thought, ‘Yeah, that won’t be me.’ But it was me. I got very organised. Every time I had a babysitter so I could write, I wrote. I didn’t sit around.” She also made what she calls the “cynical” decision to write the sort of book that would get published. She had “a teeny idea” for a legal thriller, which became her 1996 book A Jury of Her Peers , “and boom, people wanted to publish it”. But she was torn: “I wanted to be a literary novelist. But I had realised that I liked plot.”

Although The Undoing turned her novel into a thriller, she finds it odd being labelled a mystery writer. “I never read them. I don’t care who did it. I care about why.” Along with making the perfect New York couple, the Sachs, wealthier, the TV show adds much more to the original than expensive coats, and Korelitz feels uneasy being credited with storylines she didn’t write. But she had no qualms about trusting writer David E Kelley with her novel (he also adapted Liane Moriarty’s novel Big Little Lies for TV). “It’s like giving your thing to Picasso and saying, ‘Do whatever you want with it.’” She’d already been through the process when her fourth novel, Admission , about the ordeal of trying to get into elite American universities, was made into a film starring Tina Fey in 2013. “I feel like it is part of that great flow of ideas, of stories,” she says. “I’ve loved too many adaptations that were different from the books or the source material to be snooty and obnoxious about it when it happens to me.”

Like the couple in You Should Have Known , Korelitz’s mother was a therapist and her father was a doctor. She credits her “love of psychopaths” to her mum, with whom she would “dissect” clients’ stories over the dinner table: “She had a vested interest in indoctrinating my sister and me with this information because she wanted us not to fall prey to the devastating charm of these people.” Although she stresses that the apparently saintly paediatric oncologist in her novel (played so convincingly by Hugh Grant) is in no way based on her father, she wanted to harness something of the “doctor as God” culture that prevailed in 1950s medicine when he trained. “If you were a psychopath and you were a doctor, you wouldn’t want to be a dermatologist or an orthopaedic surgeon, you would go straight to the white-hot core of human emotion, and that is terminally ill children.”

Although born and bred in New York, Korelitz is “a major anglophile”, and took the first opportunity to study at Cambridge. She met Muldoon on an Arvon poetry course, on which he was teaching, at Lumb Bank in Yorkshire, the former home of Ted Hughes. It was “almost ridiculously meaningful”, given the importance to her of Sylvia Plath – the subject of her unpublished first novel – whose grave is in nearby Heptonstall. “Lest that sound too romantic,” she recalls first meeting Muldoon at the Poetry Society in London the previous autumn, of which he has “zero memory”. (She tells a good story of a similar first encounter with Grant around this time: a friend asked if she wanted to be in a movie. “I said, ‘Sure’ and put on my nicest dress”, and so she found herself as an extra in his first film Privileged . “He was so magnetic you couldn’t take your eyes off him.”)

Unlike in many writer-couples, Muldoon isn’t her first reader. “Paul doesn’t naturally gravitate towards fiction,” she says diplomatically. “I think by now he has read everything I’ve written, but I’m not sure.” She laughs. “We both love language. It expresses in different ways. But we recognise one another as fellow addicts of this wonderful thing.”

She has now finally delivered the appropriately named The Latecomer , that difficult novel from which she took a break to write The Plot , and is again anxiously awaiting the response from her editor. It’s the story of “a very odd family” with triplets, who have a baby using a leftover embryo 20 years later. No murders here, “only crimes of the heart”.

Last autumn, before that fateful meeting with her publisher, all she “wanted in the world was a vaccine and a new president”, she says. “I wasn’t even asking for a bestselling book.” She may well get that too.

• The Undoing

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How to Write a Book Review: A Comprehensive Tutorial With Examples

You don’t need to be a literary expert to craft captivating book reviews. With one in every three readers selecting books based on insightful reviews, your opinions can guide fellow bibliophiles toward their next literary adventure.

Learning how to write a book review will not only help you excel at your assigned tasks, but you’ll also contribute valuable insights to the book-loving community and turn your passion into a professional pursuit.

In this comprehensive guide,  PaperPerk  will walk you through a few simple steps to master the art of writing book reviews so you can confidently embark on this rewarding journey.

What is a Book Review?

A book review is a critical evaluation of a book, offering insights into its content, quality, and impact. It helps readers make informed decisions about whether to read the book.

Writing a book review as an assignment benefits students in multiple ways. Firstly, it teaches them how to write a book review by developing their analytical skills as they evaluate the content, themes, and writing style .

Secondly, it enhances their ability to express opinions and provide constructive criticism. Additionally, book review assignments expose students to various publications and genres, broadening their knowledge.

Furthermore, these tasks foster essential skills for academic success, like critical thinking and the ability to synthesize information. By now, we’re sure you want to learn how to write a book review, so let’s look at the book review template first.

Table of Contents

Book Review Template

How to write a book review- a step by step guide.

Check out these 5 straightforward steps for composing the best book review.

Step 1: Planning Your Book Review – The Art of Getting Started

You’ve decided to take the plunge and share your thoughts on a book that has captivated (or perhaps disappointed) you. Before you start book reviewing, let’s take a step back and plan your approach. Since knowing how to write a book review that’s both informative and engaging is an art in itself.

Choosing Your Literature

First things first, pick the book you want to review. This might seem like a no-brainer, but selecting a book that genuinely interests you will make the review process more enjoyable and your insights more authentic.

Crafting the Master Plan

Next, create an  outline  that covers all the essential points you want to discuss in your review. This will serve as the roadmap for your writing journey.

The Devil is in the Details

As you read, note any information that stands out, whether it overwhelms, underwhelms, or simply intrigues you. Pay attention to:

• The characters and their development
• The plot and its intricacies
• Any themes, symbols, or motifs you find noteworthy

Remember to reserve a body paragraph for each point you want to discuss.

The Key Questions to Ponder

When planning your book review, consider the following questions:

• What’s the plot (if any)? Understanding the driving force behind the book will help you craft a more effective review.
• Is the plot interesting? Did the book hold your attention and keep you turning the pages?
• Are the writing techniques effective? Does the author’s style captivate you, making you want to read (or reread) the text?
• Are the characters or the information believable? Do the characters/plot/information feel real, and can you relate to them?
• Would you recommend the book to anyone? Consider if the book is worthy of being recommended, whether to impress someone or to support a point in a literature class.
• What could improve? Always keep an eye out for areas that could be improved. Providing constructive criticism can enhance the quality of literature.

Step 2 – Crafting the Perfect Introduction to Write a Book Review

In this second step of “how to write a book review,” we’re focusing on the art of creating a powerful opening that will hook your audience and set the stage for your analysis.

Identify Your Book and Author

Begin by mentioning the book you’ve chosen, including its  title  and the author’s name. This informs your readers and establishes the subject of your review.

Ponder the Title

Next, discuss the mental images or emotions the book’s title evokes in your mind . This helps your readers understand your initial feelings and expectations before diving into the book.

Judge the Book by Its Cover (Just a Little)

Take a moment to talk about the book’s cover. Did it intrigue you? Did it hint at what to expect from the story or the author’s writing style? Sharing your thoughts on the cover can offer a unique perspective on how the book presents itself to potential readers.

Present Your Thesis

Now it’s time to introduce your thesis. This statement should be a concise and insightful summary of your opinion of the book. For example:

“Normal People” by Sally Rooney is a captivating portrayal of the complexities of human relationships, exploring themes of love, class, and self-discovery with exceptional depth and authenticity.

Ensure that your thesis is relevant to the points or quotes you plan to discuss throughout your review.

Incorporating these elements into your introduction will create a strong foundation for your book review. Your readers will be eager to learn more about your thoughts and insights on the book, setting the stage for a compelling and thought-provoking analysis.

How to Write a Book Review: Step 3 – Building Brilliant Body Paragraphs

You’ve planned your review and written an attention-grabbing introduction. Now it’s time for the main event: crafting the body paragraphs of your book review. In this step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the art of constructing engaging and insightful body paragraphs that will keep your readers hooked.

Summarize Without Spoilers

Begin by summarizing a specific section of the book, not revealing any major plot twists or spoilers. Your goal is to give your readers a taste of the story without ruining surprises.

Support Your Viewpoint with Quotes

Next, choose three quotes from the book that support your viewpoint or opinion. These quotes should be relevant to the section you’re summarizing and help illustrate your thoughts on the book.

Analyze the Quotes

Write a summary of each quote in your own words, explaining how it made you feel or what it led you to think about the book or the author’s writing. This analysis should provide insight into your perspective and demonstrate your understanding of the text.

Structure Your Body Paragraphs

Dedicate one body paragraph to each quote, ensuring your writing is well-connected, coherent, and easy to understand.

For example:

• In  Jane Eyre , Charlotte Brontë writes, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.” This powerful statement highlights Jane’s fierce independence and refusal to be trapped by societal expectations.
• In  Normal People , Sally Rooney explores the complexities of love and friendship when she writes, “It was culture as class performance, literature fetishized for its ability to take educated people on false emotional journeys.” This quote reveals the author’s astute observations on the role of culture and class in shaping personal relationships.
• In  Wuthering Heights , Emily Brontë captures the tumultuous nature of love with the quote, “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” This poignant line emphasizes the deep, unbreakable bond between the story’s central characters.

By following these guidelines, you’ll create body paragraphs that are both captivating and insightful, enhancing your book review and providing your readers with a deeper understanding of the literary work. 

How to Write a Book Review: Step 4 – Crafting a Captivating Conclusion

You’ve navigated through planning, introductions, and body paragraphs with finesse. Now it’s time to wrap up your book review with a  conclusion that leaves a lasting impression . In this final step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the art of writing a memorable and persuasive conclusion.

Summarize Your Analysis

Begin by summarizing the key points you’ve presented in the body paragraphs. This helps to remind your readers of the insights and arguments you’ve shared throughout your review.

Offer Your Final Conclusion

Next, provide a conclusion that reflects your overall feelings about the book. This is your chance to leave a lasting impression and persuade your readers to consider your perspective.

Address the Book’s Appeal

Now, answer the question: Is this book worth reading? Be clear about who would enjoy the book and who might not. Discuss the taste preferences and circumstances that make the book more appealing to some readers than others.

For example:  The Alchemist is a book that can enchant a young teen, but those who are already well-versed in classic literature might find it less engaging.

Be Subtle and Balanced

Avoid simply stating whether you “liked” or “disliked” the book. Instead, use nuanced language to convey your message. Highlight the pros and cons of reading the type of literature you’ve reviewed, offering a balanced perspective.

Bringing It All Together

By following these guidelines, you’ll craft a conclusion that leaves your readers with a clear understanding of your thoughts and opinions on the book. Your review will be a valuable resource for those considering whether to pick up the book, and your witty and insightful analysis will make your review a pleasure to read. So conquer the world of book reviews, one captivating conclusion at a time!

How to Write a Book Review: Step 5 – Rating the Book (Optional)

You’ve masterfully crafted your book review, from the introduction to the conclusion. But wait, there’s one more step you might consider before calling it a day: rating the book. In this optional step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the benefits and methods of assigning a rating to the book you’ve reviewed.

Why Rate the Book?

Sometimes, when writing a professional book review, it may not be appropriate to state whether you liked or disliked the book. In such cases, assigning a rating can be an effective way to get your message across without explicitly sharing your personal opinion.

How to Rate the Book

There are various rating systems you can use to evaluate the book, such as:

• A star rating (e.g., 1 to 5 stars)
• A numerical score (e.g., 1 to 10)
• A letter grade (e.g., A+ to F)

Choose a rating system that best suits your style and the format of your review. Be consistent in your rating criteria, considering writing quality, character development, plot, and overall enjoyment.

Tips for Rating the Book

Here are some tips for rating the book effectively:

• Be honest: Your rating should reflect your true feelings about the book. Don’t inflate or deflate your rating based on external factors, such as the book’s popularity or the author’s reputation.
• Be fair:Consider the book’s merits and shortcomings when rating. Even if you didn’t enjoy the book, recognize its strengths and acknowledge them in your rating.
• Be clear: Explain the rationale behind your rating so your readers understand the factors that influenced your evaluation.

Wrapping Up

By including a rating in your book review, you provide your readers with an additional insight into your thoughts on the book. While this step is optional, it can be a valuable tool for conveying your message subtly yet effectively. So, rate those books confidently, adding a touch of wit and wisdom to your book reviews.

Additional Tips on How to Write a Book Review: A Guide

In this segment, we’ll explore additional tips on how to write a book review. Get ready to captivate your readers and make your review a memorable one!

Hook ’em with an Intriguing Introduction

Keep your introduction precise and to the point. Readers have the attention span of a goldfish these days, so don’t let them swim away in boredom. Start with a bang and keep them hooked!

Embrace the World of Fiction

When learning how to write a book review, remember that reviewing fiction is often more engaging and effective. If your professor hasn’t assigned you a specific book, dive into the realm of fiction and select a novel that piques your interest.

Opinionated with Gusto

Don’t shy away from adding your own opinion to your review. A good book review always features the writer’s viewpoint and constructive criticism. After all, your readers want to know what  you  think!

Express Your Love (or Lack Thereof)

If you adored the book, let your readers know! Use phrases like “I’ll definitely return to this book again” to convey your enthusiasm. Conversely, be honest but respectful even if the book wasn’t your cup of tea.

Templates and Examples and Expert Help: Your Trusty Sidekicks

Feeling lost? You can always get help from formats, book review examples or online  college paper writing service  platforms. These trusty sidekicks will help you navigate the world of book reviews with ease. 

Be a Champion for New Writers and Literature

Remember to uplift new writers and pieces of literature. If you want to suggest improvements, do so kindly and constructively. There’s no need to be mean about anyone’s books – we’re all in this literary adventure together!

Criticize with Clarity, Not Cruelty

When adding criticism to your review, be clear but not mean. Remember, there’s a fine line between constructive criticism and cruelty. Tread lightly and keep your reader’s feelings in mind.

Avoid the Comparison Trap

Resist the urge to compare one writer’s book with another. Every book holds its worth, and comparing them will only confuse your reader. Stick to discussing the book at hand, and let it shine in its own light.

Top 7 Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Writing a book review can be a delightful and rewarding experience, especially when you balance analysis, wit, and personal insights. However, some common mistakes can kill the brilliance of your review. 

In this section of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the top 7 blunders writers commit and how to steer clear of them, with a dash of  modernist literature  examples and tips for students writing book reviews as assignments.

Succumbing to the Lure of Plot Summaries

Mistake: Diving headfirst into a plot summary instead of dissecting the book’s themes, characters, and writing style.

Example: “The Bell Jar chronicles the life of a young woman who experiences a mental breakdown.”

How to Avoid: Delve into the book’s deeper aspects, such as its portrayal of mental health, societal expectations, and the author’s distinctive narrative voice. Offer thoughtful insights and reflections, making your review a treasure trove of analysis.

Unleashing the Spoiler Kraken

Mistake: Spilling major plot twists or the ending without providing a spoiler warning, effectively ruining the reading experience for potential readers.

Example: “In Metamorphosis, the protagonist’s transformation into a monstrous insect leads to…”

How to Avoid: Tread carefully when discussing significant plot developments, and consider using spoiler warnings. Focus on the impact of these plot points on the overall narrative, character growth, or thematic resonance.

Riding the Personal Bias Express

Mistake: Allowing personal bias to hijack the review without providing sufficient evidence or reasoning to support opinions.

Example: “I detest books about existential crises, so The Sun Also Rises was a snoozefest.”

How to Avoid: While personal opinions are valid, it’s crucial to back them up with specific examples from the book. Discuss aspects like writing style, character development, or pacing to support your evaluation and provide a more balanced perspective.

Wielding the Vague Language Saber

Mistake: Resorting to generic, vague language that fails to capture the nuances of the book and can come across as clichéd.

Example: “This book was mind-blowing. It’s a must-read for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Use precise and descriptive language to express your thoughts. Employ specific examples and quotations to highlight memorable scenes, the author’s unique writing style, or the impact of the book’s themes on readers.

Ignoring the Contextualization Compass

Mistake: Neglecting to provide context about the author, genre, or cultural relevance of the book, leaving readers without a proper frame of reference.

Example: “This book is dull and unoriginal.”

How to Avoid: Offer readers a broader understanding by discussing the author’s background, the genre conventions the book adheres to or subverts, and any societal or historical contexts that inform the narrative. This helps readers appreciate the book’s uniqueness and relevance.

Overindulging in Personal Preferences

Mistake: Letting personal preferences overshadow an objective assessment of the book’s merits.

Example: “I don’t like stream-of-consciousness writing, so this book is automatically bad.”

How to Avoid: Acknowledge personal preferences but strive to evaluate the book objectively. Focus on the book’s strengths and weaknesses, considering how well it achieves its goals within its genre or intended audience.

Forgetting the Target Audience Telescope

Mistake: Failing to mention the book’s target audience or who might enjoy it, leading to confusion for potential readers.

Example: “This book is great for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Contemplate the book’s intended audience, genre, and themes. Mention who might particularly enjoy the book based on these factors, whether it’s fans of a specific genre, readers interested in character-driven stories, or those seeking thought-provoking narratives.

By dodging these common pitfalls, writers can craft insightful, balanced, and engaging book reviews that help readers make informed decisions about their reading choices.

These tips are particularly beneficial for students writing book reviews as assignments, as they ensure a well-rounded and thoughtful analysis.!

Many students requested us to cover how to write a book review. This thorough guide is sure to help you. At Paperperk, professionals are dedicated to helping students find their balance. We understand the importance of good grades, so we offer the finest writing service , ensuring students stay ahead of the curve. So seek expert help because only Paperperk is your perfect solution!

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Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

IndieBound Bestseller

by Jean Hanff Korelitz ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 11, 2021

Gripping and thoroughly unsettling: This one will be flying off the shelves.

A washed-up novelist finds bestselling success with a story purloined from an arrogant student. What could possibly go wrong?

Pretty much everything in Korelitz’s satisfyingly twisty thriller. But at first, when Jacob Finch Bonner learns about the sudden death of Evan Parker, the jerk who'd swaggered into his office at a 10th-rate low-residency MFA program and shared the outrageous plot premise that was going to make him rich and famous, it seems as though taking the idea and making it his own is perfectly safe. Three years later, the resulting novel, Crib , has sold 2 million copies in nine months, and Jake has met wonderful Anna Williams, the program director of a radio show he visits while on tour in Seattle. But then he gets an email from [email protected] proclaiming, “You are a thief,” and his new life threatens to unravel. Korelitz teasingly alternates the story of Jake’s desperate quest to find out who this anonymous accuser is and how he knows about Evan’s idea with chapters from Crib —just enough to stoke curiosity about what exactly this fabulous plot device is. Alert readers will guess some of the twists in advance as Jake follows the trail to Evan’s family home in Vermont and slowly realizes Evan didn’t invent this shocking story but lifted it from the real life of someone who is very, very angry about it; Korelitz plays fair and plants clues throughout. But only the shrewdest will anticipate the jaw-dropping final revelation. (Hint: Think about those Talented Mr. Ripley references.) Korelitz, who demonstrated in Admission (2009) and You Should Have Known (2014) that she knows how to blend suspense with complex character studies, falls a little short on the character end here; Jake is a sympathetic but slightly bland protagonist, and Anna has the only other fully developed personality. No one will care as the story hurtles toward the creepy climax, in the best tradition of Patricia Highsmith and other chroniclers of the human psyche’s darkest depths.

Pub Date: May 11, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-250-79076-7

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Celadon Books

Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021

LITERARY FICTION | THRILLER | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL & DOMESTIC THRILLER | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | GENERAL FICTION

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More by Jean Hanff Korelitz

BOOK REVIEW

by Jean Hanff Korelitz

More About This Book

SEEN & HEARD

BOOK TO SCREEN

by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006).

A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.

Pub Date: June 16, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine

Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020

GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | SCIENCE FICTION

More by Max Brooks

by Max Brooks

YOU'D LOOK BETTER AS A GHOST

by Joanna Wallace ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2024

Squeamish readers will find this isn’t their cup of tea.

Dexter meets Killing Eve in Wallace’s dark comic thriller debut.

While accepting condolences following her father’s funeral, 30-something narrator Claire receives an email saying that one of her paintings is a finalist for a prize. But her joy is short-circuited the next morning when she learns in a second apologetic note that the initial email had been sent to the wrong Claire. The sender, Lucas Kane, is “terribly, terribly sorry” for his mistake. Claire, torn between her anger and suicidal thoughts, has doubts about his sincerity and stalks him to a London pub, where his fate is sealed: “I stare at Lucas Kane in real life, and within moments I know. He doesn’t look sorry.” She dispatches and buries Lucas in her back garden, but this crime does not go unnoticed. Proud of her meticulous standards as a serial killer, Claire wonders if her grief for her father is making her reckless as she seeks to identify the blackmailer among the members of her weekly bereavement support group. The female serial killer as antihero is a growing subgenre (see Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer , 2018), and Wallace’s sociopathic protagonist is a mordantly amusing addition; the tool she uses to interact with ordinary people while hiding her homicidal nature is especially sardonic: “Whenever I’m unsure of how I’m expected to respond, I use a cliché. Even if I’m not sure what it means, even if I use it incorrectly, no one ever seems to mind.” The well-written storyline tackles some tough subjects—dementia, elder abuse, and parental cruelty—but the convoluted plot starts to drag at the halfway point. Given the lack of empathy in Claire’s narration, most of the characters come across as not very likable, and the reader tires of her sneering contempt.

Pub Date: April 16, 2024

ISBN: 9780143136170

Publisher: Penguin

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024

GENERAL & DOMESTIC THRILLER | THRILLER | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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Reviews of The Plot by Jean Korelitz

Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio

by Jean Korelitz

Critics' Opinion:

Readers' Opinion:

• New England, USA
• N.H. Vt. Maine
• Contemporary

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About this Book

Book summary.

Hailed as "breathtakingly suspenseful," Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Plot is a propulsive read 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?

CHAPTER ONE Anybody Can Be a Writer

Jacob Finch Bonner, the once promising author of the "New & Noteworthy" (The New York Times Book Review ) novel The Invention of Wonder, let himself into the office he'd been assigned on the second floor of Richard Peng Hall, set his beat-up leather satchel on the barren desk, and looked around in something akin to despair. The office, his fourth home in Richard Peng Hall in as many years, was no great improvement on the earlier three, but at least it overlooked a vaguely collegiate walkway under trees from the window behind the desk, rather than the parking lot of years two and three or the dumpster of year one (when, ironically, he'd been much closer to the height of his literary fame, such as it was, and might conceivably have hoped for something nicer). The only thing in the room that signaled anything of an actual literary nature, that signaled anything of any warmth at all, was the beat-up satchel Jake used to transport his laptop and, ...

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Media Reviews

Reader reviews, bookbrowse review.

Jean Hanff Korelitz's inimitable and imaginative story-within-a-story sinks its claws in early and doesn't let go until its unforgettable finish. She explores the insular world of her own craft — writers and their ideas — via a chilling twist perhaps as clever as the one Evan Parker shares with Jacob Finch Bonner at an MFA program one fateful day. A truly unique plot in its own right, the novel is a joy in part for its insider look at the writer's solitary craft juxtaposed against the hype and marketing of the publishing world... continued

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From the author of Looker comes this "compulsive and unforgettable novel" (Mona Awad) of razor-sharp suspense about two local librarians whose lives become dangerously intertwined.

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A provocative, razor-sharp, and timely debut novel about a beloved English professor facing a slew of accusations against her professor husband by former students - a situation that becomes more complicated when she herself develops an obsession of her own...

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The Plot: A Novel (The Book Series, 1) Hardcover – May 11, 2021

Purchase options and add-ons, additional details.

** NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! ** The Tonight Show Summer Reads Winner ** A New York Times Notable Book of 2021 ** "Insanely readable." ―Stephen King Hailed as "breathtakingly suspenseful," Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot is a propulsive read 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?

• Book 1 of 2 The Book
• Print length 336 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Celadon Books
• Publication date May 11, 2021
• Dimensions 6.6 x 1.16 x 9.72 inches
• ISBN-10 125079076X
• ISBN-13 978-1250790767
• See all details

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From the Publisher

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

At the risk of sounding too meta, how did you come up with the plot of The Plot ?

JEAN HANFF KORELITZ: Like most writers I’m fascinated by plagiarism and the murkiness around creative appropriation: chefs stealing recipes from other chefs, comedians helping themselves to other comedians’ jokes, academic theft, and above all creative writers appropriating work by others. I’m hardly the first novelist to write about this — there’s an entire sub-genre of Stephen King work on this theme — and it’s not the first time I’ve touched on it in my own work, but it’s the first time I’ve placed it front and center in a book. I think it makes sense to write about the things that fascinate us.

While writing this book, you must have put yourself in the shoes of the main character. Do you think you’d ever steal a genius idea for a book if you knew it would never be used?

I wouldn’t, but only because I’m squeamish by nature and I’d be terrified about that degree of exposure and disapproval. But like most artists, I also understand that stories run underneath the ground of our collective experience, and we all dip into them, whether we’re aware of it or not. The real question is: At what point does a collective story become the individual property of a person or an artist? A contender for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama was The Inheritance by Matthew Lopez, which openly adapts Forster’s Howards End to contemporary New York City. This is a normal, even laudatory practice, which artists fully understand. But to help yourself to the specific plot of a recently deceased author who never completed his book? I don’t know where the line is, exactly, but I’m pretty sure that’s over it.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com review.

Selected as an Indie Next pick for May A most anticipated book (AARP, Business Insider, Bustle, CrimeReads, Entertainment Weekly, LitHub, the New York Times, Oprah Daily, Parade, PopSugar, Wall Street Journal Magazine, and more!) " The Plot is one of the best novels I’ve ever read about writers and writing. It’s also insanely readable and the suspense quotient is through the roof. It's remarkable." ―Stephen King "My favorite book of 2021? This one is easy. 'The Plot' by Jean Hanff Korelitz...[G]ood Lord is this a fantastic book. In addition to being an absolutely perfectly told mystery story, it also happens to be an especially deft satire of the literary scene." ―Malcolm Gladwell, "My Favorite Things of 2021" " The Plot is so well-crafted and compelling it’s nearly impossible to put down. Clever and chilling, this page-turner grabs you from the first chapter and doesn’t let you go until its startling, breath-taking conclusion." ― Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, New York Times bestselling authors of The Wife Between Us "From its first pages, Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot ensnares you in a rich tangle of literary vanities, treachery and fraud. Psychologically acute and breathtakingly suspenseful, you’ll find yourself rushing towards a finale both astonishing and utterly earned." ―Megan Abbott, Bestselling author of Give Me Your Hand "The plot of ‘The Plot’ ― the best thriller of the year (so far) ― is too good to give away" ― Washington Post " So clever, so taut, so dazzling, I read it in about five hours flat." ―Lisa Jewell, AARP's "11 Top Authors Pick the Best Books of the Year" “Korelitz’s own plot is fiendishly clever, and here's the ultimate twist: that any novel about a writer’s life (lonely, anxious drudgery) could be this wildly suspenseful and entertaining.” ― People , Book of the Week “As a longtime fan of Korelitz’s novels (including “You Should Have Known,” which was made into HBO’s “The Undoing”), I will say that I think The Plot is her gutsiest, most consequential book yet. It keeps you guessing and wondering, and also keeps you thinking: about ambition, fame and the nature of intellectual property (the analog kind).” ― The New York Times Book Review “'The Plot' is wickedly funny and chillingly grim...it deserves to garner all the brass rings." ― The Wall Street Journal "Gripping and thoroughly unsettling: This one will be flying off the shelves." ― Kirkus Reviews “Deep character development, an impressively thick tapestry of intertwining story lines, and a candid glimpse into the publishing business make this a page-turner of the highest order. Korelitz deserves acclaim for her own perfect plot.” ―Publishers Weekly (STARRED Review) "Readers may find themselves batting away sleep and setting an alarm for early the next day to continue Jean Hanff Korelitz’s propulsive literary thriller, The Plot. Korelitz is an audacious writer who delivers on her promises. Her next big-screen adaptation surely awaits." ― Bookpage "Korelitz...effortlessly deconstructs the campus novel and, much like Michael Chabon in Wonder Boys (1995), acerbically mocks the publishing industry. Fearless Korelitz presents a wry and unusual joyride of a thriller full of gasp-inducing twists as it explores copyright, ownership, and the questionable morals of writers." ― Booklist “Stay tuned to this devilishly compelling tale of ambition run amok.” ―Oprah Daily “This staggeringly good literary thriller is about a staggeringly good literary thriller written by a failed novelist who has stolen the book's plot from a deceased student.” ―Shelf Awareness "The author behind suspense novel You Should Have Known turned-HBO-series The Undoing outdoes herself in this literary-centric thrill ride." ―Newsweek “Korelitz pulls off a true page-turner with, yes, a killer plot.” ―AARP Magazine

About the Author

Product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Celadon Books (May 11, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 125079076X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250790767
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.6 x 1.16 x 9.72 inches
• #2,300 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
• #3,719 in Psychological Thrillers (Books)
• #8,811 in Suspense Thrillers

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About the author

Jean hanff korelitz.

Jean Hanff Korelitz is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels THE PLOT (The 2021 Tonight Show Summer Reads pick), YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN (adapted for HBO as "The Undoing" by David E. Kelley, and starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant and Donald Sutherland), ADMISSION (adapted as the 2013 film starring Tina Fey), THE DEVIL AND WEBSTER, THE WHITE ROSE, THE SABBATHDAY RIVER and A JURY OF HER PEERS. A new novel, THE LATECOMER, will be published on May 31st, 2022. Her company BOOKTHEWRITER hosts "Pop-Up Book Groups" in person in NYC and online, where small groups of readers can discuss new books with their authors. www.bookthewriter.com

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37 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-4

Part 2, Chapters 5-7

Part 3, Chapters 8-14

Part 3, Chapters 15-24

Part 4, Chapter 25-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz, published by Macmillan Publishers under the Celadon Books imprint in 2021, falls into the genres of thriller, crime, and mystery. Lauded by Stephen King, the novel was a New York Times Bestseller and appeared on lists such as Oprah Magazine’s 55 Most Anticipated Books of 2021 and The Washington Post’s 20 Books to Read This Summer.

Plot Summary

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Jake Bonner teaches at Ripley College in Vermont. Jake attended a reputable MFA program, saw some success with his first novel, and less success with subsequent publications. An obnoxious student, Evan Parker, annoys Jake and another professor at a cookout and Jake’s workshop. Evan’s rudeness extends to other students.

Evan tells Jake an idea he has for a story based on the life of Evan’s sister Dianna; Jake categorizes it as compelling and original. After the term, Dianna kills her brother (making it look like a drug overdose) after finding his novel draft.

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Ripley fires its faculty, and then rehires them for completely online, lower-paying positions. Jake seeks out additional online editing work. Two years later, he is making ends meet working at an upstate New York writer’s colony and living in a converted hotel. Jake feels disgraced because he has to organize lunches for successful writers. At this low point, he learns of Evan’s death, and decides to use Evan’s unpublished plot.

Three years later, Jake’s new novel Crib (based on Evan’s idea) is a wild success, with a huge book tour and movie deal. Jake meets the programming manager for a radio station in Seattle. Unbeknownst to Jake, the manager is actually Dianna, now going by the name Anna Williams, who arranged their meeting because she wants revenge for Jake stealing her life story. Jake’s attraction to her blinds him, and they go on a date before he leaves Seattle.

Jake gets a string of accusatory emails from someone called Talented Tom—actually Anna under a pseudonym . Jake ignores the messages and struggles to write his next book. Meanwhile, Anna moves in with Jake in New York City. Talented Tom goes public, and a Facebook post by Tom goes viral. Jake’s publisher brushes it off, saying all successful authors face online harassment. Talented Tom ignores a lawyer’s warning, continuing the barrage of online accusations of plagiarism.

Jake investigates Evan, initially assuming Talented Tom is another writer. Jake at first ignores the fact that Evan’s sister killed both her parents and brother. Anna is worried about Jake discovering her identity. Jake proposes, Anna accepts, and they are married at City Hall. She cooks for him all the time, foreshadowing how she will kill him: with drugged soup.

Jake visits Evan’s hometown in Vermont. There, he learns that Evan’s supposedly dead sister was universally disliked and that her daughter, Evan’s niece Rose Parker, left town. Jake tracks down the niece in Georgia. In Georgia, Jake learns that Rose supposedly lost her mother in a campground fire. Jake visits the campground, where Rose and Dianna posed as sisters. Jake realizes where Evan’s plot came from: A mother killing her daughter and taking her place.

When Jake returns to New York, Anna cooks him drugged soup. As he dies, Anna fills in all the missing details about how she killed her parents, Evan, and Rose. She then informs Jake that his death will look like a suicide provoked by the harassment of Talented Tom. Anna writes a suicide note for Jake, and skips town.

The epilogue is an interview with Anna. She claims to be distraught over Jake’s suicide and that he inspired her to become a writer herself.

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The Best Reviewed Short Story Collections of 2021

Featuring haruki murakami, brandon taylor, elizabeth mccracken, kevin barry, lily king, and more.

Well, friends, another grim and grueling plague year is drawing to a close, and that can mean only one thing: it’s time to put on our Book Marks stats hats and tabulate the best reviewed books of the past twelve months.

Yes, using reviews drawn from more than 150 publications, over the next two weeks we’ll be revealing the most critically-acclaimed books of 2021, in the categories of (deep breath): Memoir and Biography ; Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror ; Short Story Collections; Essay Collections; Poetry; Mystery and Crime; Graphic Literature; Literature in Translation; General Fiction; and General Nonfiction.

Today’s installment: Short Story Collections .

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”

1. Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So (Ecco)

22 Rave • 5 Positive • 1 Mixed

“The presence of the author is so vivid in Afterparties , Anthony Veasna So’s collection of stories, he seems to be at your elbow as you read … The personality that animates Afterparties is unmistakably youthful, and the stories themselves are mainly built around conditions of youth—vexed and tender relationships with parents, awkward romances, nebulous worries about the future. But from his vantage on the evanescent bridge to maturity, So is puzzling out some big questions, ones that might be exigent from different vantages at any age. The stories are great fun to read—brimming over with life and energy and comic insight and deep feeling.”

–Deborah Eisenberg ( New York Review of Books )

2. Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor (Riverhead)

19 Rave • 7 Positive • 2 Mixed Read an interview with Brandon Taylor here

“Taylor plays the Lionel-Charles-Sophie storyline for all its awkwardness and resentment, but it can feel like a note held too long to suspend commitment, which is the resolution we’re trained to expect … The violence is neither glamorous nor gratuitous; it is senseless without being pointless. In contrast, Taylor presents such earnest moments of vulnerability in Anne of Cleves that my breath hitched … Some writers have the gift of perfect pitch when writing dialogue; Taylor’s gift is perfect tempo. In a band of writers, he’d be the drummer who sticks to a steady moderato. He neither rushes a story to its high notes nor drags the pace so that we can admire his voice. And as a plotter, he doesn’t rely on gasp-inducing reveals … Taylor’s superpower is compressing a lifetime of backstory into a paragraph – sometimes just a sentence … I’ve come to expect, in fiction, the story of the Sad Gay Youth who is rejected by his often religious family and thereafter becomes self-destructive or reckless. And while Taylor refracts versions of this story throughout the collection, he does so without overly romanticising it … He is a writer of enormous subtlety and of composure beyond his years.”

–Ian Williams ( The Guardian )

3. First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami (Knopf)

13 Rave • 17 Positive • 7 Mixed • 5 Pan

“… a blazing and brilliant return to form … a taut and tight, suspenseful and spellbinding, witty and wonderful group of eight stories … there isn’t a weak one in the bunch. The stories echo with Murakami’s preoccupations. Nostalgia and longing for the charged, evocative moments of young adulthood. Memory’s power and fragility; how identity forms from random decisions, ‘minor incidents,’ and chance encounters; the at once intransigent and fragile nature of the ‘self.’ Guilt, shame, and regret for mistakes made and people damaged by foolish or heartless choices. The power and potency of young love and the residual weight of fleeting erotic entanglements. Music’s power to make indelible impressions, elicit buried memories, connect otherwise very different people, and capture what words cannot. The themes become a kind of meter against which all the stories make their particular, chiming rhythms … The reading experience is unsettled by a pervasive blurring of the lines between fantasy and reality, dream and waking … Most of the narrators foreground the act of telling and ruminate on the intention behind and effects of disclosing secrets, putting inchoate impulses, fears, or yearnings into clear, logical prose … This mesmerizing collection would make a superb introduction to Murakami for anyone who hasn’t yet fallen under his spell; his legion of devoted fans will gobble it up and beg for more.”

–Pricilla Gilman ( The Boston Globe )

4. That Old Country Music by Kevin Barry (Doubleday)

13 Rave • 10 Positive •1 Mixed

“There’s not a bad story in the bunch, and it’s as accomplished a book as Barry has ever written … Barry does an excellent job probing the psyche of his diffident protagonist, and ends the story with an unexpected moment of sweetness that’s anything but cloying—realism doesn’t need to be miserablism, he seems to hint; sometimes things actually do work out … Barry has a rare gift for crafting characters the reader cares about despite their flaws; in just 13 pages, he manages to make Hannah and Setanta come to life through sharp dialogue and keen observations … Barry proves to be a master of writing about both love and cruelty … Barry brilliantly evokes both the good and bad sides of love, and does so with stunningly gorgeous writing … There’s not an aspect of writing that Barry doesn’t excel at. His dialogue rings true, and he’s amazingly gifted at scene-setting—he evokes both the landscape of western Ireland and the landscape of the human heart beautifully. His greatest accomplishment, perhaps, is his understanding of the ways our collective psyche works; he seems to have an innate sense of why people behave the way we do, and exactly what we’re capable of, both good and bad.”

–Michael Schaub ( NPR )

5. Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz (Grove)

17 Rave • 1 Positive Listen to an interview with Dantiel W. Moniz here

“Mortality is the undercurrent in Dantiel W. Moniz’s electrifying debut story collection, Milk Blood Heat , but where there’s death there is the whir of life, too. A lot of collections consist of some duds, yet every single page in this book is a shimmering seashell that contains the sound of multiple oceans. Reading one of Moniz’s stories is like holding your breath underwater while letting the salt sting your fresh wounds. It’s exhilarating and shocking and even healing. The power in these stories rests in their veracity, vitality and vulnerability.”

–Michelle Filgate ( The Washington Post )

6. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez (Hogarth)

15 Rave 2 Positive Read a story from The Dangers of Smoking in Bed here

“There’s something thrilling about other people’s suffering—at least within this collection’s 12 stories of death, sex and the occult. Horrors are relayed in a stylish deadpan … Enriquez’s plots deteriorate with satisfying celerity … Largely it’s insatiable women, raggedy slum dwellers and dead children—those who are ordinarily powerless—who wield unholy power in this collection, and they seem uninterested in being reasonable. And Enriquez is particularly adept at capturing the single-minded intensity of teenage girls … If some of these stories end vaguely, the best ones close on the verge of some transgressive climax … To Enriquez, there’s pleasure in the perverse.”

–Chelsea Leu ( The New York Times Book Review )

7. The Souvenir Museum by Elizabeth McCracken (Ecco)

13 Rave • 2 Positive • 1 Mixed Read Elizabeth McCracken on savoring the mystery of stories here

“Elizabeth McCracken’s The Souvenir Museum begins with one of the funniest short stories I’ve read in a long time … I had to stop reading ‘The Irish Wedding’ several times to explain to my husband why I was laughing so hard. I kept thinking: I wish I were reading a whole book about these people … they’re all beguiling … This tale, like much of McCracken’s work, captures the mixed bag that characterizes most people’s lives … McCracken’s writing is never dull. She ends this fantastic collection with a second English wedding and its aftermath, nearly 20 years after the first, delivering happiness tempered by sobering circumstances—and a satisfying symmetry.”

–Heller McAlpin ( NPR )

8. Wild Swims by Dorthe Nors (Graywolf)

13 Rave • 1 Positive Read an excerpt from Wild Swims here

“How slippery the work of the Danish writer Dorthe Nors is, how it sideswipes and gleams … The stories are vivid the way a flash of immobilizing pain is vivid … Perhaps because they’re so very short and because they mostly sketch slight interior shifts in her characters, Nors’s stories all feel a little bashful, a little tender. Surely this is intentional … Most of her stories are too short to linger deeply in time or consciousness; the characters spin back into their silence almost as soon as they emerge on the page. Nors is a master at portraying female rage, but here there is also no violent explosion outward, instead a sort of inner collapse; her characters assiduously resist confronting their fury until it rises up against them and attacks their bodies … The sense of simultaneous, furious upwelling into text and retraction into shame or reticence gives the stories a powerful undercurrent, as if they were constantly wrestling with themselves. Inherently self-contradicting, they wobble interestingly on their axes, pulled between outraged individualism and the restrictive Janteloven.”

–Lauren Groff ( The New York Review of Books )

9. Walking on Cowrie Shells by Nana Nkweti (Graywolf)

12 Rave • 1 Mixed Read an interview with Nana Nkweti here

“The pure energy of the words strikes first, the thrumming, soaring, frenetic pace of Nana Nkweti’s expression … None of these stories end with a miraculous healing. Even where revelations occur, they never erase scars. Nkweti uses genre tropes to subvert our expectations. She employs the zombie story, the fairy tale, and the confessional in order to invert conventions … The levity of Nkweti’s writing can make even passing descriptions a delight … Occasionally the writing veers into the overwrought … But the sheer speed of Nkweti’s expression allows for correction in midair, and her keen descriptive eye provides more pleasures than missteps … Her inventiveness dazzles.”

–Lee Thomas ( Los Angeles Review of Books )

10. My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson (Henry Holt)

9 Rave • 4 Positive 1 Mixed Read Jocelyn Nicole Johnson on how writing “vengeful fiction” can make you a better person, here

“Jocelyn Nicole Johnson uses history to spectacular effect in her debut fiction collection … What makes My Monticello particularly resonant is that it does not stray far from life as we know it today. In the near future conjured by Johnson, there are the heat waves and wildfires that bring climate change into view. There is fallout from a fraught election. There is the vile replacement theory rhetoric of the right wing. But the lives of Johnson’s richly drawn characters—their personal stories—are always in focus. And, because of it, the storytelling is propulsive, as we follow these refugees along a harrowing journey, with danger ever at their heels. My Monticello is, quite simply, an extraordinary debut from a gifted writer with an unflinching view of history and what may come of it.”

–Anissa Gray ( The Washington Post )

Our System:

RAVE = 5 points • POSITIVE = 3 points • MIXED = 1 point • PAN = -5 points

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Quick Recap & Summary By Chapter

The Full Book Recap and Chapter-by-Chapter Summary for The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz are below.

Quick(-ish) Recap

The one-paragraph version: Jake writes a bestselling book based on a plot told to him by his MFA student, Evan Parker, who ends up dying soon after. When Jake starts getting anonymous messages calling him a "thief", he begins to investigate and learns that the story was true and based on Evan's family. In the story, a mother (Evan's sister) and daughter (Evan's niece) dislike each other. The mother ends up killing the daughter and taking her place. Jake figures out that the anonymous messages are likely from Evan's sister who murdered her own daughter (plus her parents and Evan). He goes home to tell his wife, but it turns out his wife is Evan's sister, who married him on purpose to take back her story. She murders Jake and inherits his books and estate.

In Part I , the book introduces Jacob "Jake" Finch Bonner , a once-promising writer who now teaches for a third-rate MFA program. As the school year begins, a new student, Evan Parker , comes into his class arrogantly and obnoxiously claiming that he has a work in progress with an amazing plot that's sure to become a great novel. Jake is skeptical when he reads an excerpt -- which describes a daughter and her mother living in an old house. But when Evan describes the plot, Jake realizes that this book will be everything Evan claims it will be.

Part II jumps forward two and a half years. Jake is now working three jobs after the MFA program he teaches at went online-only and reduced his salary. One day, Jake looks online to see what happened with Evan's book and learns that Evan died soon after their workshop class ended, meaning Evan likely never had time to complete his novel.

In Part III , Jake has now published Crib , a major bestseller soon to be adapted into a movie by Steven Spielberg, written based off of Evan's plot. He meets and marries a woman named Anna . However, Jake starts getting anonymous messages from someone going by "Talented Tom" calling him a "thief" and saying they know what Jake stole the novel. The situation escalates until his publisher's legal team has to get involved.

Meanwhile, excerpts from Crib are interspersed throughout the chapters, revealing more of its story. It jumps back in time to a young Samantha (the mother character) getting pregnant by her mother's boss at 15. She's forced by her religious parents to keep the baby. At 16, she has the child, Maria (the daughter character).

When the Talented Tom rumors start to gain traction in the media, Jake realizes it needs to be dealt with. He goes to the town in Vermont where Evan is from to research about his family. Jake learns that Evan's parents and sister are dead, but the sister ( Dianna ) had a child ( Rose ) who is alive. Jake believes Talented Tom is likely that surviving child.

As the excerpts from Crib continue, Maria grows up and Samantha's parents die of natural causes. Maria has to fend for herself for most of her childhood. She ends up smart and eager to leave town like her mother. However, their relationship is distant and full of mutual resentment. When Samantha learns from Maria's teacher that Maria is graduating early and attending college on scholarship, Samantha is upset that Maria didn't bother to tell her.

In Vermont, when Jake sees Evan's house, he realizes that Evan's story is not fictional at all, but rather the true story of his sister and niece. When Anna gets a letter from Tom about the accusations, Jake reluctantly tells her the truth about the situation.

Meanwhile in the story, the night Maria is about to leave, she finally tells Samantha about her departure only because she wants to borrow the car. Samantha is angry and the two get into an argument, with Maria bitterly deriding the notion that Samantha ever cared about her. Without thinking, Samantha grabs her, resulting in Maria's head slamming into a bedpost. Samantha then packs up Maria's things and buries her outside a remote cabin in another state.

In Part IV , Jake heads to Athens, Georgia where he'd heard Rose had last been. He confirms with the school registrar's office that she was a student at UGA for one year. The cleaning lady where Rose had lived says her mother had died in a fire on camping grounds nearby. A newspaper article confirms this, except it describes Dianna as her sister and says that Rose was 26.

In the final excerpts from Crib, Samantha goes to college in place of Maria. One day, Maria's former girlfriend shows up, but Samantha kills her, too.

In Athens, Jake pieces together that Dianna had driven Rose to college, where they stayed on a campgrounds. Dianna killed Rose in a fire and told the locals that the victim was her (Dianna). Dianna in turn claimed to be her 26-year-old sister (because she knew she couldn't pass for 16). From there, Dianna left to take Rose's place in college.

When Jake gets home, Anna gives him soup that turns out to be spiked with drugs. As Jake gets sleepy and groggy, Anna admits that she is Dianna (as well as Talented Tom). She killed her parents out of bitterness about them forcing her to keep the baby. Then, after she killed Rose in the fire (and told everyone else it was her own death), she took over Maria's life at UGA. One day Evan comes looking Rose and sees that Dianna is alive. Instead of doing anything about it, he realizes what has happened and he goes home and starts writing this story. Dianna follows him home and kills him, too.

After telling Jake this story, Anna leaves him for dead.

In the Epilogue , Jake is now deceased. Anna tells everyone it was a suicide as a result of being harassed over false accusations regarding the Talented Tom rumors. As his widow, Anna inherits his books and the proceeds from the story she feels he stole from her.

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Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Epilogue

Jacob “Jake” Finch Bonner is an author who previously wrote a novel, The Invention of Wonder , that made it onto the New York Times Book Review “New & Noteworthy” book list. Jake has always wanted to be a respected writer, though perhaps he’s was a bit more enthralled by the trappings of being a writer (the book signings, the fans, etc.) than the writing itself. By now, his literary star has dimmed. His second book, a collection of stories was quietly published by a university press. Most people believe he still hasn’t finished a next novel. Instead, the truth is he wrote two additional novels, but they received a pile of rejections.

He currently teaches at Ripley College where he’s a professor for the Master of Fine Arts Program in Fiction, Poetry, and Personal Non-Fiction (Memoir) program, which is housed in Richard Peng Hall . When he started teaching, he liked the idea of becoming a “great teacher”, but now he views his students bitterly, thinking them all less talented than they believe.

Today, Jake attends a faculty meeting followed by a welcome cookout to kick off the new school year. Alice Logan , a new professor of poetry, approaches him to complement his novel. She also mentions that they attended the same MFA program.

Jake thinks about how that MFA program was more prestigious than the one he currently teaches at. Before that, he had worked at a (sub-par) literary agency, reading stuff from the slush pile. He’d once managed to identify one book with real potential, but his bosses ignored it. Instead, it later got published by someone else and later optioned to be adapted into a movie starring Sandra Bullock. Jacob thinks about how he had “always known a good plot when he saw one”. He left that job to do his MFA and drafted The Invention of Wonder at that time.

As he chats with Alice, they are interrupted by a blond student who Jake notices has clearly already become an alpha-male among his peers.

The blond student turns out to be Evan Parker , who shows up in Jake’s 9-student seminar class (1-st year prose fiction workshop). In class, Evan says that he’s planning on writing as “Parker Evan”. He also obnoxiously announces that he has a work that’s making very good progress and that he’s sure it’s got a great plot (so good that even a lousy writer couldn’t mess it up). He insists that he doesn’t need anyone’s help, that he’s not sure good writing can be taught and that he’s mostly in the program to get a degree and possibly help him find an agent.

When Jake takes a look at Evan’s writing sample, Jake sees that Evan is actually a very good, natural writer. Still, Jake feels sure that based on this sample that the plot for Evan’s book couldn’t possible be as amazing as he had made it out to be. The sample describes a mother, Diandra , and a daughter, Ruby , in an old house that seem to loathe one another, without hinting at what the plot of the story is really about.

In the sample, Diandra is upstairs doing her work as a psychic (by the name of Sister Dee Dee ) on psychic hotline. Meanwhile, Ruby is is a determined 15-year-old student, who is in the 11th grade, having skipped kindergarten. They live in an old house that once belonged to Ruby’s grandparents. Ruby attends an “unambitious rural school”, so she also takes classes at the local community college. Ruby has been largely taking care of herself since she was young, and she is desperate to leave this place and go to college. In addition to school, Ruby works two part time jobs. Ruby contributes half of her pay to help around the house, but saves the rest.

After reading it for the third time, Jake meets with Evan to discuss. Evan is more interested in discussing how to get an agent than how to improve his writing. When Evan brags about how the book likely to be widely read and turned into a movie, Jake reminds him that those things aren’t the only indicators of success, and he gently reminds Evan that his book may not be all that he hopes.

Finally, Evan stops him by tells him the plot of his story, and Jake realizes that Evan was right and that everyone will read this book. Jake feels despondent knowing Evan’s story is so much better than the book that he’s working on.

Two and a half years later, Jake is now working at the Adlon Center for the Creative Arts in Sharon Springs, New York as a Program Coordinator. The Adlon Center is essentially a hotel that serves as a $1,000-dollar-a-week artists’ colony. Currently, there are six guests, all aspiring writers, staying there.

In 2013, Ripley College MFA program became online-only, and Jake had to continue with a severely reduced salary. He started doing additional freelance editing work. However, even with that income combined, he could no longer afford to live in New York. Instead, Jake got his current job, which he does in addition to the editing and work for Ripley.

Today, a guest from California is angry about the food an accommodations. As the man complains, Jake is reminded of Evan Parker. He thinks about how Evan’s book doesn’t appear to have been published yet, but he’s certain it will be immensely successful when it does happen. Comparatively, Jake then thinks about how he (himself) has now become a failed writer.

That night, Jake searches online for Evan Parker and any trace of him or his book. He wonders why it hasn’t been published yet. Finally, he comes across some information: an obituary. It states that Evan Parker had died unexpectedly a few months after the Ripley workshop class ended. Jake realizes that Evan likely never had a chance to finish his book.

Three years later, Jake’s second novel Crib has now sold over two million copies and spent nine months at the #1 spot on the New York Times Bestseller list. Instead of Evan’s Diandra and Ruby, Crib’s main characters are Samantha and Maria , but it’s the same story.

Today, he’s at the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium of the Seattle Symphony for a book reading. He’s been traveling frequently to various events with Otis , the liason Macmillan (his publisher) sent with him, since the book came out. During the Q&A, someone asks him how he got the idea, and he wonders if somewhere out there someone knows the truth about where he’d stolen the plot from.

The next morning, Jake heads to the Sunrise Seattle studio for an interview on the morning radio with host Randy Johnson . The producer, an attractive 35-year-old woman named Anna Williams , greets him at the studio. During the interview, he and Randy briefly talk about the plot of the book, how Steven Spielberg is planning on directing the movie adaptation of Crib , etc. When it ends, Randy says that the interview was Anna’s idea. Afterwards, Anna asks Jake to coffee, and he says yes.

They end up at a chain coffee shop called Storyville , which overlooks the Public Market sign. Anna talks about how she grew up in Northern Idaho. As a child, she had a bad situation at home and ended up being informally adopted by one of her teachers, Miss Royce . Anna admits she’s a fan of his and that she was at the reading last night as well.

Afterwards, Jake checks his messages sees an alarming one, sent from someone at [email protected] via his website contact form earlier that morning. It reads: “You are a thief.”

Excerpt from pages 3-4 of Crib

At 15, Samantha (the equivalent of Diandra) finds out she’s pregnant (with the child later to become Maria/Ruby).

Samantha’s mother works as a housekeeper at the College Inn, nearby. Samantha’s father works on the maintenance staff at Hamilton College. Her father’s position guarantees Samantha admission and financial aid at the college, but now she realizes that the pregnancy means she will have no future.

As his events wrap up, Jake eventually returns to New York. Since meeting Anna, they’ve had nearly daily contact. But he soon receives another message from [email protected] that reads: “You are a thief. We both know it.” Jake doesn’t wonder what these messages are about. He knows that “Talented Tom” is a reference to the character Tom Ripley from Patricia Highsmith’s most famous novel and a thinly veiled reference to Ripley College where he’d met Evan Parker.

The next message he receives a while later reads: “I know you stole your ‘novel’ and I know who you stole it from.” Then, towards the end of October, he gets a fourth message: “What will Oprah say when she finds out about you? At least James Frey had the decency to steal from himself.”

Finally, a few days after that a fifth saying: “I’m on Twitter now. Thought you’d like to know. @TalentedTom”. Jake logs on to Twitter to see an account with no followers, no tweets and no profile picture that simply says “Writer” in the description. With Talented Tom preparing to ramp up his efforts, Jake realizes he needs to figure out who he’s dealing with.

First, Jake goes about trying to confirm that Evan Parker is, in fact, dead. Online there’s a memorial and the many messages from people seem to confirm that impression. One message is from someone named Martin Purcell who knew Evan from the MFA program. As Jake researches, he also discovers an unofficial alumni page for the Ripley MFA students and a message about a bar Evan owned called Parker Tavern in Rutland. According to the internet, it’s under new management following the owner’s death. It appears as though Evan overdosed from drugs.

Jake reaches out to Martin, asking to talk, and Martin calls him immediately, thrilled to be contacted by a famous author. Jake asks Martin about Evan under the guise of having just recently learned about Evan’s death. Martin doesn’t have much information, and he doesn’t know any of the particulars about the book Evan had been working on. Martin mentions that Evan’s parents and sister are dead and that he has a niece, but Jake already knew all that from the obituary.

Excerpt from pages 23-25 of Crib

Samantha refuses to tell her parents who the father of the baby is. In actuality, the baby’s father is Daniel Weybridge , who is Samantha’s mother’s boss and the proprietor of the College Inn. Daniel was married and three kids. Daniel had been after Samantha for at least a year, dropping flattering complements. When she finally followed him into one of the hotel rooms, he had lied to Samantha, claiming he’d had a vasectomy.

Jake’s agent, Matilda Salter , inquires over the phone about him submitting a draft of his next book. Matilda is a bit of a pushy agent, which is exactly why he wanted her in the first place to represent Crib . He reassures her that he’s working on the next book.

Afterwards, Anna texts Jake and suggests that she visit him in New York, and Jake eagerly agrees. Soon, they decide on her coming to stay for a week at the end of the month.

Anna arrives towards the end of November, and they barely leave the apartment for the next few days. The days after that, Anna starts to explore the city while he works during the day, meeting up with her in the late afternoon. They talk about Anna possibly moving to New York.

One night, over dinner, Jake asks Anna about her childhood. She describes how her mother had committed suicide by driving into a lake when she and her sister were young. Her mother’s sister then became responsible for the two of them, but she was someone who was barely able to care for herself, much less two young children. Anna’s sister had soon stopped going to school.

Anna’s teacher, Miss Royce, ended up offering to let Anna stay with her instead. Anna had asked her sister to come, too, but her sister refused. Then one day, Anna’s sister and aunt left town, and Anna has no idea where they went or what became of them. As for Anna, she ended up going to college at the University of Washington. Then, she spent almost a decade on on Whidbey Island working for a small radio station before eventually ending up in Seattle.

Excerpt from pages 36-38 of Crib

Samantha wants to get an abortion. However, her parents are Christians, and she knows that they will be against the idea. They also have veto power because Samantha is still a minor.

She also considers adoption, but her parents are against that too. They believe God meant for it to be this way, and that Samantha needs to live with the consequences of her decision.

Samantha ends up dropping out of school after being put on bed rest during month 4 due to high blood pressure. She spends the next five months in bed.

In mid-December, the user @TalentedTom starts tweeting, saying that “@JacobFinchBonner is a not the author of #Crib” and similar tweets.

Meanwhile, Anna goes back to Seattle for a while, but soon returns. Jake takes her to meet his family in Long Island over Hanukkah. Anna’s Seattle apartment has now been sublet, and in New York, she finds a new job as a producer on a Sirius show covering the tech industry.

Jake and Anna are happy, and Anna goes with him to book events when she can. They get a cat and name it Whidbey . They go to see Hamilton . Anna is more open to strangers than he is, and Jake finds that soon more people are welcomed into his life. They meet monthly with Jake’s parents, who quickly come to love Anna. Jake’s dad encourages him to propose.

However, all the while, @TalentedTom continues tweeting away his accusations. Jake worries about whether he’ll lose Anna if the truth ever comes out. Jake worries about if and when someone will finally ask him about @TalentedTom.

In February, @TalentedTom has now created a Facebook profile under the name Tom Talent . The first post reads: “Blindsided by that big twist in Crib? Here’s another one: Jacob Finch Bonner stole his novel from another writer.” It ends up being this post that finally catches people’s attention. Someone tweets asking if anyone knows what this rumor is about, and eventually Jake is called into a meeting with his editor Wendy , Matlida and the rest of the team.

Matilda mentions the accusations, though she’s dismissive of them. She says it’s normal for popular authors to have these accusations levied at them, though she still wants to pull in the legal department to ensure they’re all on the same page.

At the meeting, Matilda asks Jake point-blank whether there’s any truth or basis to the accusations. Jake flat-out says no. Matilda asks him about draft and notes, and Jake confirms he can produce them. The group also discusses how @TalentTom claims Jake stole the “story”, but their in-house attorney Alessandro F. Guarise confirms that you “can’t copyright a plot”. Still, Jake lies and assures them that he’d never come across this story before writing it himself.

Next, they discuss whether to ignore it or do something about it, like trying to get it taken down or trying to get him to stop by accusing him of defamation or something. They also discuss various avenues to file suit against the guy. Overall, Matilda reassures Jake that they’ll deal with it.

Excerpt from pages 43-44 of Crib

Samantha gives birth to Maria.

Alessandro soon issue a note, warning TalentedTom to cease and desist his postings, threatening to sue. For a few days things are quiet, but soon TalentedTom sends a message everyone — from Jake’s publisher, to his social media channels, to reporters, etc. — reciting the same message about Jake not being “rightful owner of the story he wrote”.

Jake is asked to comment by parties looking to follow up on the story. Still, within the publishing industry, Jake gets a lot of messages of support as well, reassuring him that it’ll all pass eventually.

Excerpt from pages 71-73 of Crib

Two years later, Samantha’s father has a medical episode and dies. While it makes the family less secure, Samantha is at least able to inherit his car to drive.

As time passes, Maria enters kindergarten and is a bit of a “surly child’, a picky eater who prefers looking at books to playing with the other kids. By now, Samantha’s former classmates have graduated. Samantha’s anger over her life fades into a kind of “low-grade disappointment”.

A few weeks later, Jake’s team at Macmillan meets again to discuss, generally agreeing there’s not much else to do be done and to hopefully let it pass. They encourage Jake to focus on getting his new novel done.

Amazingly, Jake is soon able to do just that. While it clearly did not have the potential to do as well as Crib, it was an acceptable follow-up, and Matilda and Wendy were happy with it.

By now, Anna has been living in New York for six months. They go out to dinner to celebrate, but Anna notes that something has been wrong with Jake and asks if she can help somehow. As she continues to pry, Jake tries to change the topic. Instead, he talks about how he appreciates her. As she talks, he realizes what’s really bothering her.

Finally, Jake proposes. She happily accepts, and soon they are both drunk and happy.

Jake and Anna soon get a ring and get married at City Hall, with a handful of friends and family in attendance. A week later, Matilda takes them out to celebrate, and she and Anna hit it off. When the topic of TalentedTom almost comes up, Jake manages to head it off. Anna changes her name to Anna Williams-Bonner, and they end up going on a short honeymoon to New Orleans.

Then, one night, Jake sees a letter addressed to him at their house that is from Talented Tom. He’s immediately panicked and opens it to find a warning saying: “You know what you did. I know what you did. Are you ready for everyone to know what you did? I hope so, because I’m getting ready to tell the world. Have fun with your career after that.”

With that, Jake knows something needs to be done, and he suspects the answer is connected to Ripley somehow. Jake finally reaches out to Martin, again, who had previously asked Jake to look over some of his work. Jake says he’s going to be in Vermont and offers to meet up in person to discuss, and Martin eagerly accepts.

Excerpt from page 98 of Crib

Around the time when Maria is ten, Samantha’s mother develops a lump in her breast which she ignores until it is too late. After two rounds of chemo, her mother decides not to continue. She passes away four months later.

Samantha moves into her parents’ room while Maria is moved into Samantha’s childhood bedroom. Maria becomes increasingly independent as she grows up, figuring out how to get herself fed and what’s needed around the house by the time she’s nine. When Maria is 11, the school offers to let her skip a grade, but Samantha declines.

Jake heads for Vermont and meets up with Martin Purcell at a the Birdseye Diner, near the inn Jake is staying at. As they talk, Jake brings up Evan, trying to get information. Martin re-iterates that Evan had never cared much for the community at MFA program and didn’t seem to share his work with others. Eventually, Martin mentions that Evan hated his diseased sister, though he doesn’t know why.

Next, Jake heads to the Parker Tavern. He ends up talking to a woman named Sally, who says the bar belongs to her brother-in-law. She mentions that she grew up with the previous over (Evan). She tells him that Evan was a few years older than her and had dated her sister, along with a bunch of other people in town. She adds that he just might be her nephew’s father.

Sally says that Evan knew everyone around here. When Jake brings up Evan writing a novel, Sally laughs, saying that Evan could never write a novel and that he probably never even read a book.

Soon, the bartender, Jerry Hastings , joins in on their conversation. Jerry talks about how Evan had been a drug addict. His parents had a huge house but died of a carbon monoxide leak when they were in high school. Evan’s sister had been a “piece of work”, but died a few years ago in a fire.

Before Jake leaves, Sally mentions that Evan’s sister had a kid that’s still alive, but the girl left home, location unknown, the minute she could.

Excerpt from pages 146-147 of Crib

Maria grows up to be much like her mother — smart, determined to leave and physically similar. However, Maria was a lesbian which seemed to ensure she wouldn’t end up like her mother. She’s also less willing to please others than her mother and seems to have a fairly detached attitude about friendships and people in general. At 13, Maria teaches herself to drive and drives herself to pick up her learner’s permit.

The next day, Jake goes looking for the Parker house based on what he’d been told, despite not having the exact address. When he finds it, he sees it’s a stunning, three-story house with a marble base.

Soon, a woman of the house, Betty , pulls up next to him. When Jake says he knew the former owner, Evan, Betty offers to let him take a look inside. Inside, Betty introduces him to her partner, Sylvia , who is star struck by Jake being a famous author. Upon request, Jake tells them about meeting Oprah and the forthcoming movie adaptation.

They tell him how the house was pretty run down before they got their hands on it. They also point out the bedroom where Evan died. As they gossip about the Parker family, they talk about how Evan had financial problems.

A week after his death, his niece put the house up for sale without cleaning any stuff out. When Betty and Sylvia moved in, they asked her to take the stuff away (via the attorney William Gaylord, Esquire ), but she never responded. Instead, they threw everything out.

As he walks around the house, he sees the pineapples design in one part the house, just like in Evan’s original story. With that, Jake understands that Evan’s story was about the people he knew. Evan had stolen his sister and niece’s story, and then it had been stolen again by Jake. The niece was likely understandably angry that this story had been taken from her and told to the public.

Excerpt from pages 178-180 of Crib

Maria starts dating a girl named Gab , and Samantha is accepting of their relationship. Samantha also recognizes that her daughter is continuing to drift away from her and will be gone soon.

When Maria is a junior, Samantha is asked to sign some papers to allow Maria to graduate early to attend Ohio State on scholarship. Samantha is surprised to learn all of this from Maria’s teacher instead of from Maria herself. She realizes that Maria will be gone even sooner than she’d realized, likely by August. A part of her had hoped that she and Maria would have changed course and become closer at some point, but Samantha now sees it’s not going to happen.

When summer rolls around, Maria has still not said anything about leaving, though Samantha notices that Maria seems to be packing up her stuff.

Thinking through what he’d learned, Jake heads to the Rutland Free Library to learn more about Evan Parker, his niece and his family.

The Parker family first arrived in the area in the 1850’s. Soon the family patriarch owned a marble quarry and built their family mansion, the one now owned by Betty and Sylvia. Evan’s parents were Nathaniel Parker and Jane Thatcher Parker . Evan’s sister was Dianna Parker and died three years before Evan. Her daughter’s name was Rose Parker .

Jake tries to find a photo of either woman online or in the yearbooks, but comes up empty. The only photo he finds is blurry one of Rose as a 10th grader in a team photo.

Next, Jake heads to Rose’s attorney William Gaylord’s offices in Rutland. At the office, Jake says he’s interested in real estate in the area. When the two men meet, William recognizes Jake’s name, saying his wife read his book. As they talk, Jake gently steers the conversation over to the topic of the Parker mansion, expressing regret that it had already been sold. William mentions that the seller was based in Georgia, attending college there.

Jake is driving when Anna calls about a letter she received from “Tom” with accusations about him. The letter says that Evan Parker is the real author of Crib, and Anna ended up going online to find out the extent of the rumors that had been circulating.

Anna is upset that he didn’t tell her about any of it. When Jake arrives at home, Anna demands to know the truth, and Jake tells her. He says that Evan was his student, who told him the plot of his book. Evan died, and Jake wrote his book based on that plot.

Jake also admits that he went to Vermont to track down information about Evan. He says that he thinks the story he thought was fictional appears to have been about Evan’s own sister and niece. As he talks, Anna’s anger fades, and she reminds him that she’s on his side.

Excerpt from pages 212-213 of Crib

After weeks of not speaking, Maria finally announces one night that she’s moving out for college and asks to borrow her mother’s car. She says she’ll return it after she drops off her stuff and then take the bus back. Samantha demands to know why Maria has never said anything about any of it. As the two begin to argue, Maria says that Samantha has never cared to be a good parent.

Finally, not thinking about what she’s doing, Samantha grabs Maria and flings her against the wall, with Maria’s head slamming again the bedpost with a loud crack. Samantha feels oddly calm, thinking about everything she’d given up for Maria and the lack of love she’d received in return.

Then, Samantha packs up Maria’s things, plus some of her own, and heads West. She finds a remote cabin and pays cash to rent it for a week. She buries her daughter outside, and then she leaves.

The next day, Jake tells Anna that he needs to go to Georgia, though she disapproves of him continuing to pursue this cloak-and-dagger stuff. Jack had identified someone named Rose Parker that was the right age and had lived in Athens, Georgia, a city that also housed a big university. He’d also managed to get the name of address of Rose’s attorney, also in Georgia.

When he lands in Atlanta, he finds out his new book has now gone into production. He soon heads for the UGA campus in Athens.

At the UGA registrar’s office, he’s able to confirm that Rose Parker had enrolled in Fall 2012 and had an off-campus address. However, she was no enrolled as of Fall 2013.

Next, Jake goes to see Rose’s lawyer in Georgia, Arthur Pickens , who immediately recognizes his name and tells him that he can’t tell him anything due to attorney-client privilege. Jake has thoroughly researched this attorney and threatens to expose things like Arthur’s DUI, a cheating incident involving Arthur’s college frat and a scandal involving a barely-legal teen, but the attorney insists that Jake leave.

Still, Jake tells Arthur to let Rose know that he’s learned some things about her and has questions about Evan’s untimely death that he’s willing to take to the police if she doesn’t stop harassing him.

After that, Jake goes to the address he found for Rose, an apartment complex called Athena Gardens . He brings up Rose Parker (claiming that she’s his cousin’s daughter), but the woman there doesn’t recognize her name. The cleaner, however, remembers Rose clearly. She says she was very mature for her age. Rose’s mother died in a fire when they were sleeping in a tent in Georgia on the way down from Vermont to Georgia. The cleaner mentions an age difference between her and the other students, but doesn’t specify to what extent.

Finally, Jake shows the cleaner the photo he has of Rose, but the cleaner insists it wasn’t her.

Excerpt from pages 245-246 of Crib

Samantha returned a few times over the next year, telling people how great Maria was doing at Ohio State. Meanwhile, Gab had been trying to contact Maria, but to no avail.

When Gab sees that Samantha is back, she asks about Maria, and Samantha says that Maria is seeing someone else now. Soon. Samantha sells the house and leaves.

When Jake talks to Anna next, he tells her he can’t come back yet, and she’s upset. However, he insists that there’s more to uncover here in Georgia. Afterwards, he tracks down a news story about Dianna’s death. It says that the fire occurred on the Foxfire Campground . It also names Dianna Parker, 32, as the victim, and it names Rose Parker as her 26-year-old sister.

Anna suggests that perhaps it’s just a mistake or typo that Rose was described as being 26 (instead of 16) or that it says she’s her sister. However, Jake thinks there’s more to it.

Jake makes his way to the Foxfire Campground and asks about the fire that had taken place there. The guy there, Mike , remembers it clearly and offers to drive him out to the spot. Mike explains that the two women had a propane heater with them, which is likely what started the fire. Mike notes that the campgrounds are fairly spread out and that there’s no cell reception out here to call for help.

Afterwards, Jake offers to buy dinner for Mike and Roy , the coroner, in order to talk. They meet at the Clayton Café. Roy explains that by the time by arrived, the tent had burned down and the body was completely charred. Jake asks whether a DNA test was done on the body, but Roy says there was someone there to make an identification and DNA tests aren’t done in those circumstances.

According to the woman who survived, she went out to go to the bathroom at night and she thinks she may have knocked over the heater on the way out. Roy tells him that the scene and his interactions were all consistent with what he would’ve expected based on the circumstances that were described. The people around there arranged for the body to be buried in the area.

Finally, as Roy asks about Jake’s interest in the case, Jake shows him the photo of Rose Parker, who Roy says he hasn’t seen before. Jake says that Rose Parker is the one who died. She was 16. Dianna wasn’t her sister, but her mother. Rose never made it to college, but rather is buried here.

When Jake tells them this, Roy laughs, recognizing that plot from Jake’s book. Roy thinks Jake read the book and convinced himself that’s what happened here. Dismissing Jake’s comments, Roy and Mike leave.

After Jake leaves the restaurant, he heads for the cemetery where the body is buried. He sees the plot marked as Dianna Parker, 1980-2012. He takes a photograph and sends it to his wife, noting that it’s actually Rose Parker’s grave.

Jake thinks about how his next book could be a meta-narrative about this experience, even if it means coming clean about having stolen th4 plot of his book from Evan Parker.

Excerpt from page 280 of Crib

Samantha ends up as a student at OSU, living off-campus. One day Gab shows up looking for Maria. Gab says that she has cut ties with everyone at home, packed stuff up and is heading out West. The last thing she wants to do is to get “closure” from Maria.

Samantha tells Gab that Maria is on campus, but offers to buy a pizza for the three of them for when Maria gets back. Then, later in the kitchen she crushes up peanuts to place under the pepperoni slices, knowing that Gab is allergic.

Back at home, Jake is happy to see Anna. He drinks her homemade soup while he tells her what he’s discovered. As he drinks the soup, he starts to feel sleepy and his mind feels groggy.

When Anna mentions that her mother had taught her how to make the soup, Jake is confused. He asks her how that’s possible if her mother died when she was so young. Anna finally starts laughing, pointing out that she stole her whole backstory from the plot of Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson.

By now, Jake is struggling to think at all.

Anna gives him some pills. He doesn’t want to take them, but feels unable to resist. Then, she finally admits that she is Dianna, Evan’s sister. She bitterly recounts how Evan had been sleeping around with everyone and getting girls pregnant, but when it happened to her, her parents felt the need to punish her by forcing her to keep the baby.

After Evan leaves, Anna/Dianna kills her parents, by purposely putting dead batteries into the carbon monoxide alarm. After that, it was just her and the baby. Anna/Dianna thought they could be happy together, but the baby never showed her any affection. Finally, one day out of the blue, her daughter says she’s leaving. Anna/Dianna offers to take her, but then kills her, taking over her identity.

At some point Evan goes to Georgia, looking for Rose since he wants to sell the house (at this point Evan believes that his sister Dianna is dead and that Rose survived) due to his own financial troubles. But he comes back to see that Dianna is alive.

Instead of doing anything about it, he leaves and moves back into the house. Dianna then sees that he has signed up for a writing program. Dianna eventually returns home and sees that he’s written 200 pages of this story about her. She takes her stuff, finds his drugs, drugs Evan and Evan dies. She then sells the house and moves to Seattle until one day she hears about Evan’s book.

Anna’s plan then becomes to marry him, kill him and essentially get back her story, for legal purposes anyway (as his widow). She also imagines that his next book will do well, so she will have the proceeds for that as well.

After explaining all of this, Anna leaves Jake to die.

The epilogue picks up after Jake has died. Anna attends an event in his place. She talks about his “suicide” and how he’d been depressed after having to defend himself against baseless accusations of plagiarism.

Anna then tells the audience that she’s planning on staying in New York and that Macmillan is republishing Jake’s first two novels in his honor.

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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?

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Book Reviews

'the familiar' is a romance, coming-of-age tale, and a story about fighting for more.

Gabino Iglesias

Leigh Bardugo's The Familiar is an entertaining slice of speculative fiction wrapped in historical fiction and delivered with heavy doses of magic and wit.

At once a love story, a coming-of-age tale full of secrets and tension, and a narrative about wanting more and doing anything to get it, The Familiar is a solid entry into Bardugo's already impressive oeuvre.

Luzia Cotado is a scullion with callused hands who sleeps on a grimy floor and constantly dreams of a better life where she has more money, complete freedom, and love. Luiza works for a couple who are struggling to maintain their social status, so she doesn't make much and owns almost nothing. To help her get through her days and take care of menial tasks, Luzia uses a bit of magic, which she keeps secret from everyone.

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Luzia learned how to perform little miracles from her aunt, a strange woman and the lover of a very powerful man. When Luzia's mistress discovers her servant can perform "milagritos," she sees it as the perfect opportunity to improve her social status and forces Luzia to work her magic for their dinner guests. But what begins as entertainment soon turns into something much more serious when Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain's king, enters the scene and sees Luzia's magic as an opportunity for himself.

The king is desperate to improve his military prowess, and Pérez thinks Luzia's powers might be the thing that puts him, once again, in the king's good graces. There will be a competition, and if Luzia wins, everyone around her might gain something. But winning won't be easy, and Luzia fears her newfound fame will get her and her Jewish blood in the Inquisition's crosshairs. Surrounded by people with secret agendas, learning to use her magic, caught in a new romance with a mysterious undead man, and an unknown pawn in a plethora of self-serving machinations, Luzia will soon need more than a bit of magic to survive.

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The Familiar drags readers into a world of servitude, magic, power struggles, and intrigue. There isn't a single character in this story that doesn't have a secret agenda or something to win—or lose!—that's directly tied to Luzia. The desires of some clash with those of others, and those battles slowly make the narrative more complex while simultaneously increasing the tension and the sense of doom. Despite the many elements at play and the bafflingly large cast of characters she juggles here, Bardugo delivers every twist and turn with clarity, plenty of humor, and charming wittiness, the latter of which fills the novel with superb, snappy dialogue that shows Luzia lacks everything except a quick intelligence and a sharp tongue. Also, while many of the plot elements here like the magic battle, someone being trapped by a curse, and an impossible love are far from new, Bardugo mixes them well together and manages to make them feel fresh.

Known mostly for her Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, and the King of Scars duology—all of which are part of her Grishaverse universe—Bardugo delivers an entertaining standalone here with a strong female protagonist that's very easy to root for. Through Luzia, we get a critique of religion, a look into the lives of those who have no option but to serve to survive, and a romance that's as full of passion and sensuality as well as lies and treachery. Lastly, the magic system Bardugo created, which is Jewish magic based on phrases sung or spoken in mixed languages, is interesting and allows the author to talk about otherness without straying from the core of her narrative.

While Bardugo accomplishes a lot in this novel, the crowning jewel of The Familiar is Luzia, a memorable character whose most personal aspirations possess an outstanding universality. We watch her suffer, emerge from her cocoon, fall in love, and then receive her ultimatum: "Your life, your aunt's life, your lover's future all hang in the balance. So do your best or I will be forced to do my worst." Through every single one of those steps, we want her to triumph and to learn to hone her powers, and that connection keeps the pages turning.

At times the endless descriptions of clothing and the increasing number of characters and subplots—some with a satisfying arc and some that just fizzle out—seem a bit excessive and threaten the pacing of the story. But Bardugo is always in control and her masterful use of tension — and that, along with her talent for great dialogue, more than overpower the novel's small shortcomings.

The Familiar is full of "milagritos" and pain, of betrayal and resentment, of fear and desire. However, the novel's most powerful element is hope; Luzia is all about it, and her feelings are so powerful they're contagious. That connections makes this a book that's hard to put down.

Gabino Iglesias is an author, book reviewer and professor living in Austin, Texas. Find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @Gabino_Iglesias .

How our treatment of animals has changed — and hasn’t — in 150 years

‘our kindred creatures’ takes readers through the history of the animal rights movement.

It was a “revolution in kindness,” we read in “ Our Kindred Creatures: How Americans Came to Feel the Way They Do About Animals .” That’s how Bill Wasik, the editorial director of the New York Times Magazine, and his wife, the veterinarian Monica Murphy, describe the animal welfare movement, launched in 1866 after the Civil War when Henry Bergh, an American diplomat, founded the ASPCA, the first animal protection organization in the United States.

This well-researched book is an enlightening if somewhat rambling survey of how our treatment of animals has changed over the past century and a half. It is also, frustratingly, a testament to how much has stayed the same.

The story Wasik and Murphy tell begins on the streets of New York, where workhorses forced to haul overloaded carts were routinely whipped by their owners, and dog and cock fights were staged for gambling and entertainment. Such public displays of cruelty offended the new urban elite, who were increasingly taking dogs and cats into their homes as pets. Those who had fought slavery now found other objects for their liberating zeal. The crusade for animal welfare, the authors tell us, was a small part of a larger ethical awakening that swept the nation after its fratricidal bloodbath. Within a year of the founding of the ASPCA, New York state had enacted an anti-cruelty law, and the organization was given the jurisdiction to enforce it. By 1871, Wasik and Murphy write, eight of the nation’s 10 largest cities had their own SPCAs, all of them granted legal powers by their respective states.

No one surpassed Bergh in sheer zeal and theatricality. Daily, the rail-thin son of a German shipping magnate took to the streets of Manhattan to command coach drivers to stop beating their horses, and to haul abusive butchers off to court. The Daily Herald compared Bergh to the inquisitor Torquemada, and cartoonists lampooned the sallow-faced activist with a drooping mustache as a sanctimonious sniveler. By contrast, the New-York Tribune (owned by the vegetarian and reformer Horace Greeley) editorialized that Bergh’s crusade deserved “the approval of all right thinking people.”

The authors dedicate an entertaining chapter to Bergh’s clash with circus magnate P.T. Barnum, who displayed a menagerie of exotic creatures in his American Museum, a five-story emporium in downtown Manhattan, which included hippos and electric eels, assorted snakes, and “the Learned Seals, ‘Ned’ and ‘Fanny.’”

While “Bergh had not ranked animal exhibitions highly, if at all, in his tallies of the worst offenders,” we read, he did draw a line at Barnum’s feeding boa constrictors live rabbits, a display of nature’s innate cruelty that he feared would erode the moral character of the young people who witnessed it. When Barnum went into the circus business after his museum burned down in 1865, Bergh focused on circuses’ mistreatment of animals, objecting to the use of sharpened bullhooks to train elephants. The Barnum and Bailey Circus, he declared, “should not be patronized by respectable and humane citizens.”

Instead of resisting Bergh and his irksome crusade, Barnum shrewdly forged an unlikely friendship with his nemesis and eventually joined the board of his local SPCA chapter in Bridgeport, Conn. Whether this marked a sincere late-life conversion or a publicity stunt is hard to say. But Barnum’s public embrace of Bergh and animal rights helped to sway opinion at a critical moment.

Meanwhile, bison were being slaughtered to the edge of extinction on the Great Plains; passenger pigeons, whose massive flocks once darkened American skies, were wiped out in a matter of decades by hunters, as were Carolina parakeets and other birds decimated for feathers to adorn women’s hats. The Audubon Society was established in 1886 to help safeguard imperiled species.

Fashion could be cruel to animals, but so too could science. The authors introduce Caroline Earle White, a Philadelphia Quaker converted to Catholicism. White channeled her religious belief in the sanctity of life to the founding of the American Anti-Vivisection Society, an organization that opposed the testing of animals in laboratories.

The medical establishment of the day fought back. Animal experimentation had produced remarkable benefits, including several lifesaving vaccines developed by the French microbiologist Louis Pasteur in the 1870s and ’80s. However, in less-able hands, the authors point out, millions of animal lives had been needlessly wasted — and continue to be wasted — “to no good end.”

Like so many of the debates initiated by animal activists in the late 19th century, this controversy continues today. Medical experiments, now regulated, are still performed on countless creatures. But a still greater source of mass suffering is the treatment of livestock. Rudyard Kipling, who visited Chicago in 1889, described scenes in the packinghouses where pigs, “still kicking,” were dropped into boiling vats and cattle “were slain at the rate of five a minute.”

The Illinois Humane Society, we read, was co-opted by the burgeoning meat industry. (Beef baron Philip D. Armour was a major contributor and a member of the society’s board of directors.) And while Upton Sinclair’s muckraking novel “The Jungle” brought public attention to the abuses of the meatpacking industry, the Federal Meat Inspection Act, passed soon after it was published, would regulate sanitary conditions in plants but not animal suffering.

Serious efforts to improve the treatment of livestock would have to wait for the animal rights movement spurred by the writings of the Australian moral philosopher Peter Singer during the 1970s and beyond. But the authors remind us that progress has been slow. Sows are still imprisoned in metal gestation crates; chickens are raised so tightly packed together that they can barely turn around. America has more cows and pigs than cats and dogs, we read, but their welfare garners far less attention. And, while we remain focused on charismatic species like polar bears and whales, thousands of others teeter on the edge of extinction.

Yet Wasik and Murphy are finally optimistic that the “circle of our care” is slowly expanding. The question is whether this gradual blossoming of compassion will come fast enough in an era of climate change to save our kindred creatures — and ourselves.

Richard Schiffman is an environmental journalist.

Our Kindred Creatures

How Americans Came to Feel the Way They Do About Animals

By Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy

Knopf. 450 pp. $35

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‘Dead Boy Detectives’ cleverly brings Neil Gaiman’s comic book sleuths to life

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In the funny, terrifying, colorful, oddly lovely, lovably odd “ Dead Boy Detectives ,” premiering Thursday on Netflix, deceased putative teenagers Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri) investigate what’s troubling troubled ghosts.

Created by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner for DC Comics, the eponymous team was born on the pages of “The Sandman” in 1991 and made an appearance, played by much younger actors, in the third season of “ Doom Patrol ,” the best of all superhero series. But the present show, developed by Steve Yockey, is located within “The Sandman Universe,” at least to the extent that Kirby Howell-Baptiste, who played Death in the Netflix “Sandman” adaptation , makes a brief appearance here.

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Edwin, who died in 1916, is formal, reserved, repressed and orderly. Charles, who passed away in the 1980s, is comparatively a wild boy; he wears a “ska” button in his lapel and a “rude boys” patch on his shoulder, and says “brills” and “innit” and “oi!” and such. They are teenagers not in person but only in persona; the actors are well into their 20s, which allows, psychologically, for more sophisticated plotlines. (It’s sort of a sexy show, in a chaste way, driven by longing and jealousy.) Although they are friendly ghosts and walk the Earth by choice, they are not without trauma, of which Edwin has an extra measure, having spent seven decades in Hell because of a clerical error.

Over the decades since they became pals, the pair have established themselves as well-regarded sleuths for the troubled dead of London — they rent an office, with office furniture and files like any living private eyes — avoiding Death whenever she comes to town; they have no desire to pass on into the afterlife or to give up their profession. They take payment — ghost economics are sketchy, but some have money. (Though a misanthropic ghost lighthouse keeper, bedeviled by other ghosts — “If I wanted to be around people, I’d haunt a Denny’s” — offers salt water taffy and “a cursed magic 8 ball.”)

As they go along they will collect collaborators, progressing from a Hardy Boys model to a Scooby gang. (We get a “Scooby Doo” clip, to make a point, and pay tribute.) First is psychic Crystal (Kassius Nelson), from whom they exorcise her ex, a demon named David (David Iacono), and who can see dead people. Following a lead, they travel together to Port Townsend, Wash., which is to say Vancouver, B.C., for the tax breaks and production advantages. Here they’ll meet chipper, chirpy Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), whose near-death supernatural encounter allows her also to see the deceased. She has “watched hundreds of hours of detective anime and cartoons” and so feels qualified to join the gang. Crystal and Niko rent rooms above cynical tattooed butcher Jenny (Briana Cuoco), who will eventually join in.

Pressure comes from several directions. There are the particular challenges of the episodic adventures, alongside and feeding into long arcs that pit them against Esther (Jenn Lyon), a glamorous witch and their primary nemesis; the Cat King (Lukas Gage), who has trapped Edwin, who interests him strangely, under magical house arrest in Port Townsend; and the Night Nurse (Ruth Connell), an afterlife middle manager — once again, the realm of Death is portrayed as a bureaucracy, ruled by “permits and approvals” — who is out to corral the boys, whose continued presence on Earth offends her sense of order.

Supernatural physics follow whatever rules the writers make up. The ghosts of “Dead Boy Detectives” are not bound to any location; they travel by mirrors; they can physically interact with the world of things and the living, though they lack smell and taste, which makes eating unpleasant; they can put on visible human disguises when necessary. Various other mythological agents, recipes and gewgaws are crafted as desired. Talking cats, insulting sprites, a sea beast, a mushroom monster, a former walrus named Mick (Michael Beach), who runs the local (real) magic shop. You go with the paranormal flow.

We’ve seen other series in which mortal or immortal agents help unquiet souls to complete unfinished business and move on into the light or whatever — “ Ghost Whisperer ,” “ Deadbeat ,” “ Dead Like Me ,” my beloved “ Ghost Girls ,” last year’s excellent “School Spirits,” in which a high school student sets out to solve her own murder. And, of course, putting young people into supernatural situations, which lends itself especially well to humor, is as common as candy on Halloween.

But if there’s nothing groundbreaking here, it’s all uncommonly well done — cleverly written, smartly cast, sensitively played, marvelously realized. It’s disturbing at times, yet sweet at others, and comic as often as not. There is animation. You can occasionally anticipate a twisted turn, because it’s a twist long years of genre exercises have taught you to expect. But a series can feel fresh without being original. And there are surprises enough.

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‘The Jinx Part Two’ Review: Filmmaking a Murderer

A new installment of HBO’s landmark true-crime documentary continues the strange, sad story of Robert Durst, in which the show is a major player.

By Mike Hale

Nine years after we first heard Robert Durst mutter “Killed them all, of course,” “The Jinx” is back, with a new, six-episode Part Two that premiered Sunday on HBO. And why not?

Maybe it feels unseemly, or like old news, with Durst having died in prison in 2022 after the original series helped convict him of murder. But a lot happened in the meantime. You can imagine that the filmmaker Andrew Jarecki, who directed both parts, felt a responsibility to a story he has now lived with for 20 years. And since “The Jinx” has effectively erased the line between itself and the case it chronicles, you could hope that he felt a responsibility to examine his own role in the prosecution and conviction of Durst , the wealthy and eccentric New York real estate heir.

That examination does not come in the four episodes HBO provided for review, but Jarecki acknowledges the show’s continuing influence in a wry, “Can you believe that happened?” fashion.

It is noted, once again, that in 2013 “Jinx” producers shared with prosecutors evidence regarding the disappearance and two deaths in which Durst was implicated, kick-starting the investigation that led to his conviction and life sentence in 2021 for the murder of his friend Susan Berman. The impact of the original broadcast on the popular imagination is conveyed when a young law clerk recalls exclaiming “Killed them all of course!” at the mention of Durst’s name, quoting his accidentally recorded words from the original series’s chilling final moments .

This theme reaches an early peak in a scene filmed at a screening of that final episode in March 2015 in Jarecki’s apartment, on the same day the fleeing Durst — who had been watching the show along with the rest of us — was found and arrested in New Orleans. Relatives of Durst’s first wife, Kathleen McCormack, who had disappeared 33 years earlier, listen to his apparent confession with remarkable composure, probably acutely aware of the cameras a few feet away waiting to catch their reactions.

That scene, more subdued than you expect it to be, is characteristic of the effect of “The Jinx Part Two,” which is as fluidly and handsomely made as the original but, in the early going, lacks its strangeness and its surprises. Taking place after Durst’s apprehension, the new episodes are largely a law-enforcement procedural and courtroom drama, rather than a twilight-zone exploration of Durst’s life and consciousness. (Durst sat for 20 hours of interviews for the first series, but declined to speak with Jarecki for Part Two.)

Even more constricting is the self-consciousness nearly every character — prosecutor, defense lawyer, witness, journalist, Jarecki himself — brings to the screen. Everyone has seen “The Jinx”; everyone knows how it contributed to Durst’s downfall; everyone is in on the joke. And the wholesale intrusion of the show into its own narrative, while it can be interesting and sometimes amusing, is not, in these episodes, dramatic or moving.

Jarecki addresses this problem in several ways. One is to play up Durst’s comic potential. The oddity that could be creepy and off-putting in the first series plays here, mainly in jailhouse videos, as more childlike and puckish. Durst models his prison uniform for a visitor, or gingerly demonstrates his workout routine. Everyone, including the prosecutors, calls him Bob; clerks relax by listening to his prison phone calls, giggling as each begins, “This is a prepaid call from …” “Bahhhb.”

Another, more central, tactic is a focus on the Durst demimonde — the collection of aspiring scenesters, hangers-on and enablers who agglomerated around him because of his money (with which he could be generous) and the cachet his money conferred. Proclaiming their loyalty, abetting Durst in his machinations, barely suppressing their internecine jealousies and hatreds, and eventually ratting out one another and Durst himself, they provide most of the new installment’s dramatic and emotional high points.

There are aspects of Part Two that are both familiar, in the wake of the original, and formulaic; easing our progress through them is the mastery Jarecki and his crew exercise over their particular brand of true-crime documentary. The melding of informal narration (often by the former New York Times reporter Charles V. Bagli) and live footage with meticulously staged snippets of dramatic re-creation is seamless. The material may not be as absorbing as that of the original, but the editing still gives it a pace and style that could be called rigorously hypnotic.

With HBO having held back two episodes (in 2015 it held back four), there is the chance that Part Two will supply a surprise of the magnitude of Durst’s seeming confession, though it’s hard to see how. We can assume that the last two episodes will include Durst’s testimony at the Berman trial, and the playing of the “Killed them all” tape for the jury. Perhaps we will see Jarecki’s unsuccessful attempt to talk to Durst outside a Louisiana prison, which he filmed with his phone. Perhaps we will hear Jarecki say something more introspective about the impact of the show. In any case, it seems almost certain that we will be back here in six weeks, talking about “The Jinx.”

Mike Hale is a television critic for The Times. He also writes about online video, film and media. More about Mike Hale