Hopefully an interesting avenue of discussion:
Can you think of examples of books where you can infer plot detail from the fact that you’re aware how far through the book you are? A simple example might be a seemingly final/climactic scene that can’t possibly be the climax because it’s only (say) halfway through. But that’s fairly mundane: maybe even the reverse, where something seems to be setting up more plot but you’re aware you’re in the final chapter?
I actually can’t think of many examples offhand (at least, in literature) and even ChatGPT is being unhelpful by just providing examples of “there’s a plot twist at the midpoint”, which isn’t quite the same.
I hope it’s at least vaguely clear what I mean!
by neophlegm