This is the story of an assistant to the wealthy von Bizmarks who is also an artist. Anna wants to change the world with her art (while working part time as an assistant); she also has to arrange everything for the big Opera Ball. Her boyfriend wants to change the world through his apps. Kissy von Bizmark (Bambi) and Peter von Bizmark are the rich people, but they did feel like very dry characters. V interesting premise and I was expecting a witty, light read. However, I wasn't able to get acquainted with the characters or keep interest in the plot.
Rating : 2.5

I thoroughly enjoyed Perfectly Impossible! It was an interesting read. I loved the main character and the situations she encountered throughout the book. I also think the cover is attractive and fun. I'm already planning on buying a copy to send to my best bookish friend.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Perfectly Impossible

This light and sometimes heartwarming book felt like a throw-back to the sixties, when escapist reading often delved into the lives of the uber rich and the problems that they create just by being. I didn’t care for them then and didn’t love this book now. I’d rather read about accessible people, not modern-day fairy tales.

Yet if you take away the glitz and glam, you are left with Anna, an undiscovered artist who pays her way by working for The Rich and Famous and Vacuous KissyVon Bismark (only her husband calls her Bambi.). Anna is a personal assistant extraordinaire, who can and does solve problems from the tiniest to the unimaginable. She’s so good, in fact, that she’s unbelievable. I wanted to believe in her, and if I suspend my disbelief enough to accept the over the top things she does for her boss, I can, but the world I know and the one created just doesn’t let me go that far. Maybe I’m too much of a pragmatist for this one.

If you like tales of the rich and the world they inhabit, you will enjoy this one. It is an easy read, and well written.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read it.

Perfectly Impossible was a fun read. It was actually my first “walking around” book of the year-- you know, the one you carry around with you because you don’t want to stop reading. Anna lives two lives -- personal assistant to a wealthy and demanding woman and her family by day and artist by night.

She struggles to balance the two as well as her place in the household -- somewhere between the homeowners and servants.

Her life is further complicated by her attempts to do something meaningful by rounding up support to prevent a public school for the gifted from closing and trying to maintain her floundering relationship with her boyfriend.

The author throws a lot of balls in the air and manages to juggle them effectively in this light and entertaining novel.

I received this Advanced Reader Copy of Perfectly Impossible from Little A and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#PerfectlyImpossible #NetGalley

This was a fun and quick read! It was a great way to escape from the day to day monotony of Covid lockdown and enter a world of riches and parties. Anna and Kissy were an interesting set of characters that I enjoyed reading about. At times it was hard to follow what the book was really about, but it found its footing and was an overall enjoyable read.
*I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was shocked this was a debut novel! I thought it was really well written, with just the right amount of wit. It was a really fun read!

I downloaded this awhile back and read it after a few weeks, but life and quarantine got in my way and I neglected to post my review of this book.

I was a little hesitant going in to it because it was described as a "debut book" but I was pleasantly surprised. I always love reading a book about NYC and the wealthy and this books hit both of those marks perfectly. I loved the Anna character, she is laugh out loud funny and quirky and I could picture her and her antics in my head as I was reading.

I don't know if this book was based on any people in particular but I suspect it is at least a composite of people in real life that we hear about from the paparazzi and love/maybe not hearing about.

I don't think there was a lot of depth in most of the other characters but maybe that was intentional as that is my idea of people like that that I recognize in real life.

This was a quick, enjoyable read and I look forward to more books by the author. She's off to a good start.
3.5 stars rounded to 4 stars

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. On one hand it was pleasant to read, mindless fun, as seeing what goes on in the lives of the super rich and out of touch usually is. But it also felt very "been there, read that" and it all felt a little too sincere to be considered satire. A good beach read, but since this is being published in November, it misses the boat a bit there, too. An overall average, if forgettable, read.

This book was a fun, fresh and heartwarming book! I enjoyed it very much and found it to be quite engaging!

I'm not sure who this book is for. Anna, an artist and a personal assistant to a super-rich woman, manages her job as a PA while trying to get established as an artist, Ultimately, she uses her PA position to get her paintings sold and the attention of a major agent. It's kind of a Cinderella story, I suppose--even the servants go to the ball. Readers get a view of the lives of the top 1% of the 1%, but those lives aren't terribly interesting--it's a job being rich: your time is spent accumulating more wealth, managing the wealth, managing the optics of life and philanthropy, and so on. The characters were all kind of boring and I didn't care, ultimately, if they succeeded or didn't in the plot line, which is: after many mishaps, successes, and complications, everyone wins. At the beginning of the book, Anna's husband is introduced as a socially aware guy who is working to get food waste reduced and recycled for the hungry, but he sells out in the first chapter or two and we never once get any criticism of the incredibly wasteful ways the super-rich characters spend their money. The author chooses instead to make the message "See? they're just like the rest of us!" It doesn't work for me.

Wonderful debut novel love the characters the lifestyles.Was drawn in from first pages a book that kept me reading late into the night.Will be recommending,

Thank you to the publisher and NeGalley for the opportunity to read and review this cute book. This is a much needed read for something lighthearted, sweet, and entertaining. It definitely distracted from what's going on in the world. This is the first book I've read by this author and enjoyed it. Looking forward to reading what else she puts out, and will recommend to others.

I feel like I have read this story line before in series like Gossip Girl and in other books in this same chick lit genre. I enjoyed it, sure, but it was nothing new to me. I would recommend this book, but probably others first.

I will read any book about lifestyles of the rich and the famous, and I enjoyed this zany romp with the Von Bizmark family and their Park Avenue. At the center of this book is highly capable, yet somewhat unmoored Anna - who is their assistant. At the center of this book is Anna's self-exploration, which is set against the backdrop of raising money for the Opera Ball.

It's a bit of a slow to start book, and it's deliciously indulgent. I'll be looking forward to reading more from Elizabeth Topp,

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

I rarely give out 5 stars, but this book was an absolute joy to read. This debut novel is about a highly educated assistant to a mega-rich wife and philanthropist in NYC. She is also an artist and a top notch professional juggler. This book is reminiscent of The Devil Wears Prada in all the right ways. It is funny, lively, and unexpected. I completely enjoying reading about the mishaps of Anna and the crazy life of the ultrarich. The use of upstairs/downstairs characters was fun and engaging. I would highly recommend this book (which has unfortunately had it's pub date moved to Nov, so keep this one on your TBR list.)

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy.

This is a satire of the lives of the ultra-rich in New York high society. The story centers around the lives of Anna, their PA, and the Von Bizmarks. The novel circles around the huge opera gala and fundraiser.

Yes, it does provide a satiric look at the 1%, but I didn’t find it very engrossing. I really couldn’t like any of the characters.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

This book is perfect for fans of The Devil Wears Prada. The world of assistants is intriguing and Topp's characters are vibrant and realstic. I personally found Anna's quarter life crisis to be a little dramatic, but I think it's a story that will appeal to a lot of people (and even more liberal arts majors). This is truly a feel good book. At times, it was absorb and felt far to over the top to be relatable, but the characters had something to offer and were funny and engaging while they did so.

Perfectly Impossible by Elizabeth Topp a witty four-star read. This has something about it, there is a glitz and spark to this story, but there is also a little dullness that takes the shine off. Anna is a hilarious character, she made the story, her what ifs and crisis is just funny, in a self-depreciative manner that just shouldn’t be funny but is so funny I snorted tea out of my nostrils. Do keep reading if like me you struggle a few chapters in as I promise it does get better, its almost like the first couple of chapters are great then we have a dip and then it picks up again and becomes a great read. This is witty and charming and overall, well done.

Thank you NetGalley and Little A for this arc.

I read this a couple of weeks ago, early in the COVID-19 "shutdown". It must have been what I needed at the time, as I found it engaging and amusing. Truly mindless entertainment. I found the main characters, Anna and Kizzy both to be likeable in spite of their complete self absorption and self-serving actions. The absurdity of their indulgences was so OTT that I found myself laughing out loud in several times. The story itself was kind of pointless and so very contrived that I found myself comparing it to the TV soap opera of the early 1980s Dynasty, but New York "snootier." A HOOT.

I thought this was a great marshmallow read... Fun, but pointless. 2.5 stars rounded up.

Perfectly Impossible is a delightful debut novel from Elizabeth Topp!

Meet Anna, the personal assistant to one of the wealthy of Park Avenue, Kitty Von Bizmark. Her job keeps her on her toes, as she attempts to meet all of Kitty's needs before she asks, keep anything unexpected from occurring and do it all with perfection. Anna is able to do all of this, with grace and charm. However, things get extra interesting when the Von Bizmarks are to be honored at the Opening Night Gala for this years opera season. What does this really mean? The Von Bizmark's are on the line to either give or raise millions of dollars to keep the Opera House in business. For Anna, this means managing a luncheon to raise money, followed by the Gala itself. It means working on every detail, putting out all the fires and keeping Kitty assured that everything will indeed be just perfect. Add the zany behavior of the rich and famous, the over the top cast of characters, and challenges in Anna's love life, and Anna's life begins to spiral into craziness of its own. The book is an attention grabber from the word go and is laugh out loud funny.

If you are a fan of authors like Sophie Kinsella and Emily Griffin, you will love every minute of this fun, funny and wacky read.