Anna is twenty-four and wants to be an opera singer. She was shocked when she was accepted to the London conservatory she applied for on a scholarship as she never expected it would happen. She moves to London much to her parents' dismay but they aren't able to help her with money. She must scrimp and save and take side jobs when they appear. Then she meets Max.

Max is in his mid-thirties, rich and successful and everything Anna had dreamed of. He is an investment banker and has a huge apartment on the seventeenth floor of a glass skyscraper. Max is in the process of getting a divorce and the two agree to keep it casual, keep it light.

But soon Anna finds that is impossible to do. She finds herself skipping classes and rehearsals if Max has a free evening. She listens as he questions if this is the life she really wants, one of constant competition and auditions, one that pays little unless you are at the very top of the profession. She even lets Max give her money when he sees how she is struggling to even eat some weeks. Anna finds that her dreams seem to be shifting from the career she has always held first to being whatever Max wants her to be. Which dream will win

This is Crimp's debut novel and she takes much from her own life. After getting a degree from Cambridge in English, she spent several years trying to be an opera singer, although it was clear to her from the start that she was ill-suited for it. She describes the atmosphere of a conservatory clearly, the comradery, the competition, the constant anxiety and fear of failure and the joy when something goes well and it seems that one might yet reach their dreams. She also captures the experience of a young girl dating a man who is soon overpowering. She explores how slowly one starts to accommodate the man's schedule, his desires, his need to remain free even if one is head over heels in love with him. Accepting someone else's thoughts about one's dreams is a formula for failure but the balancing act between one's dreams and one's desire for love is a tricky one, one that many women wake up in middle age to regret which end of the balance they have ended up with. I listened to this novel and the narrator with her English accent transports the reader to the London Anna is trying to conquer. The reader will emphasize with Anna but may not like Max. This book is recommended for readers of literary and women's fiction.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The writing is beautiful and the story is captivating. I was so interested by the lines that I had to order a physical copy as well to annotate a long while listening. I was happily lost in the story. I enjoyed both the reader and the writing.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dull. writing.

This was an extremely lengthy book. I found myself nodding off. I didn't find the story special. The narrator is one of those where you will either love it or hate it. I didn't like it unfortunately. I have just read so many books like this (many better) so I couldn't enjoy it.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* not really my cup of tea but it was still a overall pretty good read. i would not reread it but it wasn't a waste of time.

I wanted to love this book especially since I absolutely adored bittersweet so much. This one just fell flat for me, I was left a little unimpressed and needing more from this book. It had a lot of potential but just wasn’t my favorite unfortunately.

Imogen Crimp captured so much of what it can feel like to be a woman in your 20s in A VERY NICE GIRL.

Anna, the protagonist, is an aspiring opera singer struggling to make ends meet between class, rehearsals, and auditions. She encounters Max one evening and she can tell that he sort of sucks -- but she's also somewhat intrigued, or at the very least, interested in his attention. Tale as old as time; still, Crimp kept me turning the pages with her writing, especially the parts on Anna's aspirations, opera training, and career-related decisions.

The lack of quotation marks used to indicate dialogue made me grateful for the audio version. I believe this is the first book I've listened to narrated by Olivia Forrest; I liked her voice and delivery and felt both were suitable to this book.

👩🏻ᗷOOK ᖇEᐯIEᗯ👩🏻

⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Very Nice Girl by Imogen Crimp

I really wanted to like this book and I had high hopes but I couldn’t. I felt like the story was dragging on most chapters and some left me confused at the little information given. The story wasn’t eventful or exciting. I felt like the story needed to focus more on Anna rather than her toxic relationship with Max. I was very disappointed in the end.

Filled with sex, ambition, love and jealousy this story shows how someone can lose themselves while being in a toxic relationship while trying to find what they truly want in life.
Anna a 24 year old, Opera singer living and studying in London is trying to survive by singing at a local bar and going to auditions. She meets Max with whom she has a no strings attached relationship with and who is very toxic all together for her. She had isolated herself from friends and family while being with him. Max always liked to have control of her sexually and emotionally, he is controlling as well as manipulative towards her.

Will Anna let him go to find her true self? Or will she stay around and let Max persuade her into being who she’s not?

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillanaudio for the ARC.

A Very Nice Girl is the tale of Anna, a talented young opera singer who is barely able to afford the prestigious conservatory that will provide the opportunities she needs to launch her career.

Anna possesses all of the insecurities and limited perspective of youth and finds herself in a relationship with an older man she is unable to accurately read, leaving her unable to interpret his words, signs, or distress over his own disappointments. Her lack of confidence in her ability to facilitate her own relationship and career goals lead to a sort of implosion with both career and relationship consequences. She is an unreliable narrator and at times it's difficult to tell what's really happening vs. her affected interpretation of events. The discomfort of the reminders of the times in my 20's when I completely misread a situation was real. I'm looking forward to reading more by Imogen Crimp.

The audio narration was perfect and I will definitely add Olivia Forrest to my list of favored narrators.

4 deep, meta-cognitive, introspective, dark stars~

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and Henry Holt and Company for providing an audiobook copy for review!

I've had this one on my TBR for literally the LONGEST - I was so stoked to have been able to have access to an audiobook copy of this book!

So getting right into it, I love the cover - simple yet effective - like a silhouette in its most pure form.

The book itself was very dark, complex, traumatic, introspective... It was a lot. Main character Anna is trying to get by, singing jazz in a bar whilst attempting to make rent. Along comes Max, who is very much an older man in comparison. What develops between them soon becomes destructive and volatile, and thus ensues the confusion and coming-of-age tale.

It's very introspective in regards to the what, why, and how things go in the struggle of figuring out who we are and what we want out of life.

Overall, I gave this a solid 4-stars as it really drew me in, it was complex and interesting, and refreshing and different.

Such a well-written and immersive story! This isn't one I'll forget and I look forward to reading more from the author.
I listened to the audiobook and I enjoyed the narration and storytelling. It's a great way to experience the book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

A Very Nice Girl by Imogen Crimp grabbed my attention immediately. Young woman meets older man, older man behaves like a total douche bag, and then young woman misses all of the warning signs. I found the first half of the novel quite gritty, intense, exciting, and even kind of sexy in a weird and twisted way. I felt like a perverted little fly on the wall, as I witnessed their complicated love affair unfold. The second half focused mostly on the young woman’s singing career, and the antics of her less than desirable friends. Quite frankly, I was bored. I just didn’t care about the majority of the characters, and it moved way too slowly for my liking. My mind definitely wandered for the last chunk of the novel. I just wanted more of Anna, Max, and their toxic relationship. This debut had so much potential, but simply could not hold my interest all the way through.

This is painful to read. Not that the narrator isn’t great or the writing bad, just having been an insecure 20 something woman who let people treat me as less than I deserved this story is a little too real.

It’s frustrating and understandable all at once.

On the surface, this is just another young woman in an unhealthy relationship, messing up her life because of it. And yet, I found this unlikable character very likable and this story somehow completely new. I'm impressed and surprised by the depth of Anna.

This was an odd book. The storyline has been done over and over again. A young singer falls in love with a much older, handsome, and of course, rich man. No surprises in this one. Another problem with this book was with the milquetoast protagonist that lacked soul.

First, this reads like a Sally Rooney-wannabe novel, and I pretty much only tolerate her books, so this wasn’t really going to be for me from the start.

I really have no problem with unlikeable characters or difficult subject matter, but I do have a problem reading books about abusive relationships that don’t seem to acknowledge those relationships as abusive. I became increasingly frustrated over the course of this book feeling like Anna was never recognizing that Max was both physically and emotionally abusing her and isolating her. I was glad to know she finally seemed to see some of this near the end of the novel, but didn’t know how the ending was supposed to make me feel about her growth (not that I even think a character has to exhibit growth in a novel) or self-awareness.

Otherwise, I found a lot of the characters (specifically the landlords who Anna leased a room from for a while) to feel really weird a false, the book to be overly long, and Max’s lack of support of Anna’s opera career to be utterly infuriating.

So, really, it’s a no from me.

I have received an early publication of this audiobook for review purposes, courtesy of NetGalley and Macmillan Audio. Thank you so much!

First of all, I feel the PR team did great job because I saw this book everywhere - Somewhere it was said that "for a fan of Sally Rooney." Also for fan of Luster. I have DNFed two Rooney books and didn't particular care for Luster. Further, I didn't care for the title or the cover, and I have never heard of the author. I finally gave in though because this book was everywhere and I wad curious about a story about a singer. So I decided to request an ARC.

The story is about Anna, a 24 year old singer studying to be a professional opera singer. She is financially strapped and works evenings at a jazz bar, where she meets Max, an older businessman working in finance. This set-up interested me, and the story is well told showing struggles and frustrations Anna faces in her relationships with Max, her best friend Laurie, and career.

My issue, though, is that Anna comes across cold - her passion for Max, or Laurie, or career, or her family, and the worst of all music - feel distant somehow, as though she doesn't appreciate any of it but want to be appreciated. Maybe this is the beauty of the book describing struggles of twenty-somethings. I didn't have to read a book to know this though, and while I didn't dislike the book, it didn't leave a good feeling reading it and it is highly unlikely that I pick it up again. Essentially, this book is not for me.

Also, I didn't think this book had anything to do with Luster either... It sort of reminded me of Bell Jar, for a distant, cold, yearning for creativity. But then.... I would just read Bell Jar if that is the case.

Would I pick up another book from this author? If the subject interests me, most certainly. While I didn't particularly care for this story, I thought it was very well written and curious what she would create next.

Thank you Macmillan and NetGalley again for an opportunity to review this book.

I didn't get very far into this before setting it aside -- it just wasn't interesting enough to hold my attention.

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Sadly this book was not for me. It follows Anna, a woman struggling to make it as an opera singer while singing in a jazz bar. Though she is definitely talented the struggle is all consuming. When she meets a powerful man she is caught up in a new world where excess is everywhere but comes at a price.

For me the language was just too crude. While not uncomfortable hearing it peppered in I found the excessive use too much. At the same time the desperation of the story was all consuming. I love a story that highlights struggle but there just wasn’t enough success to make it enjoyable for me.

The narrator did a great job with the different characters, especially the landlady’s quirks. Her delivery provided some much needed humor for me.

I think the right audience, however, might enjoy this story. I wish Imogen Crimp much success. Thankyou Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and chance to review

A Very Nice Girl is the story of Anna and Max. Anna is a "starving artist" trying to make her way as an opera singer. She lands a job as a singer at a jazz club and one night meets Max, a London banker who is very established and more well off. The book examines class, power dynamics, abuse, and the arts.

I loved the audiobook narration by Olivia Forrest - I think she did an amazing job of bringing the characters to life and moving the story forward. Overall, the writing felt very simple to me, in an intentional way, like a reflection of real life and Olivia's performance made it feel special. I don't think that I would have enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed listening to it.

Overall, this is a nuanced story that explores a lot of important and relatable themes. I think a lot of readers will enjoy this immensely.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC - A Very Nice Girl is out now!

A poignant tale of a young woman chasing her dream of being an opera singer while working part time to make ends meet. Her world goes topsy-turvy when she encounters a middle-aged man who seemingly seems totally disinterested in her. Will she be able to handle this added note in her daily repertoire? All in all, this was a very nice story about a very nice girl. I enjoyed the characters and the story line. Imogen Crimp created a believable drama.