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There was a lot going on! A book within a book, lots of secrets and quite interesting story line, but the story was unrealistic and at times cringe-worthy. Everything felt forced.

This had a lot of things going on… maybe too many things

This was my lunch read at work for the last few months. I only get to read for about 15-20 minutes. This book is one of those books within a book novels and is unashamedly influenced by the novel Rebecca. In fact that‘s a big plot point. I didn‘t really like the main character and it really wasn‘t that much of a thriller. It was okay as a lunch read but I wouldn‘t recommend it to friends. So-so at best

Olivia is a struggling novelist when her agent calls with an offer: fly to Malibu to ghostwrite a book for a billionaire, Ash. While the premise, riffing on du Maurier's Rebecca, could have been fun, Olivia is really annoying, ignoring all the flashing red supercreep warning signs because Ash was People's Sexiest Man Alive. This is mentioned, no lie, a dozen times. Her obliviousness made this a tough read, although it picked up a bit at the end.

Disappointing. Good setup that became too convoluted and then completely fizzled out.

This was pretty slow for a thriller, lots of repetitive scenes and waiting for anything to just happen. The ending was okay, but not worth the wait.

I thought this book was awful. Rather than building tension, it‘s just repetitive and hanging on a plot point that isn‘t at all believable. Plus there‘s at least one giant plot hole and it‘s completely predictable. I‘m so glad I didn‘t buy this but got it from the library.

What a wonderful twisty, turny story. As the author says in her acknowledgments, it is very meta. How she kept that plot together with all the authors and their retellings weaving in and out blew my mind.

There were some good twists in this book and an overall enjoyable read. #aardvark pick
Book 71 read this year. I‘d like to get to 80 but that may be a bit too hopeful.

“The books called to me, and instead, I turned them so I could see their spines. I‘d long believed that a person‘s books can tell you everything there is to know about them.”

- The Fiction Writer

#aardvarkbookclub #gothicfiction

From the USA Today-bestselling author of Beautiful Little Fools, Jillian Cantor‘s The Fiction Writer follows a writer hired by a handsome billionaire to write about his family history with Daphne du Maurier and finds herself drawn into a tangled web of obsession, marital secrets, and stolen manuscripts.

#aardvarkbookclub #gothicfiction #mystery

“The old adage to each other, write drunk, edit sober. Though the truth was, we‘d often edited over beers too.”

- The Fiction Writer

#aardvarkbookclub #gothicfiction #booksaboutbooks

I can‘t remember where I heard about this book so that it ended up on my TBR ( I need to get better at labeling that).
It‘s Daphne du Maurier‘s Rebecca inside Rebecca inside Rebecca. A Matryoshka doll. 🪆

“ I wasn‘t a thief, but I was a liar. Most fiction writers were.”
- The Fiction Writer

#aardvarkbookclub #gothicfiction #thefictionwriter

DECEMBER PICKS ARE LIVE!! *Happy dance* ???? This month we have 5 brand new picks: an "eat the rich" dark comedy, bookish gothic fiction, dystopian sci-fi, small-town crime thriller and a feminist historical regency romance!

#aardvarkbookclub #bookbox #booksubscription #thefictionwriter #whatwaitsinthewoods #theotherhalf #yoursforthetaking #actlikealadythinklikealord

I normally love Jillian Cantor‘s books, but I was disappointed in “The Fiction Writer.” I thought it was confusing, the plot dragged on, and the characters were mostly unlikable. (I didn‘t like Olivia at all. Ash gave me the creeps, but I adored Noah.)

Does Charley really think Olivia will be able to write this book for billionaire and sexiest-man-alive Henry Asherwood about a secret about his late grandmother and Daphne du Maurier?

Very clever story line, but THE FICTION WRITER was confusing and a bit on the slow burn side, but I couldn't stop reading because I needed to find out what really was going on and who the unidentified narrator was.

https://tinyurl.com/2zfad27c

@HarperCollins

Could have been a bit better…just my opinion

https://reecaspieces.com/2023/11/27/the-fiction-writer-by-jillian-cantor-harlequ...