Name: The Very Nice Box
ISBN: 9780358540113

Eve Gleichman

Laura Blackett

For fans of Elinor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Severance: an offbeat, wryly funny debut novel that follows an eccentric product engineer who works for a hip furniture company where sweeping corporate change lands her under the purview of a startlingly charismatic boss who seems determined to get close to her at all costs . . .

The Very Nice Box

One of those books I read completely for the cover. Kind of fun, kind of quirky, kind of predictable, still not too bad. I did enjoy Matt's character, but I think he could've used a bit more undercover guile and turpitude. I mean sure he's rotten enough as is, but sometimes I felt like it was too obvious. I could smell in SHRNK a million miles away. Ava is not as predictable and felt more organic from my point of view, other than her bleedingly loyal, despite clear reasons not to be, character. 

BC Hark

Jay Harris

I knew I was going to love this book in the first few pages, and it only got better from there. A quirky workplace satire that grows into something more like a thriller.

Mary Baldwin

This ARC was kindly sent to me by the team at Verve books and will be released in the UK in July 2022.

This is a smart book, and crafted beautifully by the authors. On reading some other advance feedback I was a little hesitant at the mention of 'rom-com' - that's really not my style. But intrigue overcame me at descriptions of Ava and her world - how does a regimented and disciplined engineer navigate the fluffiness of corporate nonsense?

For me this was a read in three parts, the first half (ish) of the book was utterly page turning, we meet Ava and her quirks; and we get to know a little about how those quirks have manifested in her life in response to grief. The way that quirky language and her thought processes trickle into the narrative is joyful.

In that first half, alongside Ava, we're introduced to the (often cringe-worthy) corporate-ness of STADA; where Ava is well and truly absorbed in her career as a gifted product engineer. The way her personality aligns with the STADA brand but diverts from the corporate bullish*t and hierarchy is very often hilarious.

The breezy and witty introduction of Mat into that culture causes Ava to question her romantic perspectives - and I thoroughly enjoyed watching that unfold. I was completely bought into the characters, each one we meet being portrayed with intricate and subtle details.

There was a mid way 'hump' for me, once the focus shifted from Ava's day to day and more into her history; replayed through memories, I felt taken out of the world I'd been propelled into and definitely hit a few points where I was frustrated with that.

Fortunately though, that didn't last, and the latter half of the story met with the triumph of the first - I was not anticipating the elements of thrill that were to come, and that change of pace worked so well.

The authors did a great job handling subjects like gender, identity and sexuality - the use of language around those topics was so natural and subtle that for me, it helped to normalise them as part of the world we live in.

Ava was hands down one of the best characters I have read in a long time, and were in not for the mid point drag, I'd have very little to offer in the way of criticism.


Leia Douglas

megan

I received an advanced reader's copy of this book courtesy of BookishFirst and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All opinions are my own. Spoiler-free review.
This book took me by surprise! The writing duo of Gleichman and Blackett is incredible, and together they crafted a wonderful and compelling novel. This story combines elements of rom-com with bits and pieces of a thriller to produce a truly unique and unforgettable book. I found the main character Ava to be an absolute joy to read, and I really sympathized with her trials and tribulations. It was also really neat to read a novel where the main character was autistic coded, but no one in the story ever mocked her because of it. I loved the amount of queer representation in this story. While more and more stories feature queer characters these days, this novel has many complex and nuanced LGBTQ+ characters. It's clear that they're not simply thrown in there for the representation points. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great read.

The Very Nice Box

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