Not sure if this is in the plot area, but what about an idea I have of writing a book in a book? It's about a person (Jane Average) who has a compelling message to tell and decides to write a book (can be a prologue thing). Then in an Epilogue she is reflecting about the why, what and how (kind of "after thoughts"). Both Prologue and Epilogue are short (few pages). What do you guys think about this? Too complicated or a nice twist?
It works - I can't remember them off the top of my head but I have read similar stories. Done right I find it intriguing.
It really isn't a particularly uncommon device...Swift used it, Nabokov used it (twice), Ian McEwan used it, and those are just the ones on my bookcase. The structure alone isn't enough to make a story interesting, but if it's used well can extend the thematic concerns beyond the text in an interesting way, or distort how the text is read. So the answer to your question really depends on what the book actually is.
