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This is the story of Anna who is an opera singing student and her relationships esp with Max- a much older banker. I read this and at times became worried it would become a bit 50 shades but actually the gaslighting and manipulation were much more apparent. I thought the book was very clever in showing how manipulation of fairly intelligent people works. Well written and horribly relatable! Would recommend

A VERY NICE GIRL is an enormously enjoyable read. I see from the blurb that the author is described as a major 'new' talent. That Imogen Crimp is talented is beyond dispute - but the 'new' part surprised me in that this is such an accomplished piece of work. I would have assumed that whoever wrote this had several titles under their belt.

There are so many things to love about A VERY NICE GIRL it feels almost disingenuous trying to point them out when what I really want to say is make sure you get your hands on a copy and see for yourself. You’ll be engulfed and delighted as perfect sentences roll out one after the other, for pages and chapters and sections.

The storyline (young woman comes to make it in London and falls for older man - is he all he seems or not?) feels sparkling and new in Ms Crimp's hands. In part, this is down to the eviscerating honesty, surprising wisdom, and endless wit on display here. The characterisation is breathtaking. I kept trying to work out what was making this tick along beautifully and at one point it occurred to me that a lot of the conflict in play is simply down to the fact that everyone is acting their age. This might sound like a simple point but the nature of ages-stages in life underpins the entire piece and it struck me that Ms Crimp quite simply nails it.

Something else that is exquisitely handled is the setting – a conservatoire of music – where the central character, Anna is studying. Anna is a soprano who spends her days in the world or opera and (some) of her nights crooning out jazz. Not knowing anything about what it feels like to be a singer – let alone an opera singer – I was completely enthralled with Anna’s inner world and her observations on what it takes to fulfil her art.

I fully expect that A VERY NICE GIRL will be on all the best prize lists this year. You just watch.

With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me see an advance copy of this novel.

This book wasn’t quite what I expected from
the description, it’s a more nuanced portrait of a difficult and slightly one-sided relationship with an older man than is implied. I really enjoyed it and, not knowing much about opera, I really learned a lot too - it wears its learning fairly lightly but it’s no shock to discover the author had originally trained as an opera singer, the detail feels like it could only have come from personal experience. A fairly easy read that nonetheless have me a lot to think about. Recommended and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Imogen Crimp is an astounding new talent, and I can't wait to read whatever she writes next. I loved this peek behind the curtain of the road to becoming a profressional opera singer, taken alongside all the other trials and tribulations of one's twenties. Anna is character you're internally screaming at to get her act together, to not throw it all away, all whilst remembering your own similar wobbly moments. Its a devastating, sharp read, shot through with moments of humour and wit that I won't soon forget.

Wow - this was a totally intoxicating read. I was completely pulled into the life of Anna, an aspiring opera singer who struggles to balance her future career with her relationship with Max, an older, wealthier man.

This is the kind of book I had to carefully schedule time to read because I knew when I started, I wouldn't want to stop. It's Conversations With Friends meets Exciting Times, yet also so much more. My favourite read of the month by far and maybe my favourite of the year.

Honestly, this was quite a difficult read for me. Max's character left me feeling stifled, and sometimes hit a little too close to home.

Although a hard read for me personally, the story itself is well told. I think it's great to read stories that talk about toxic relationships, and it was done very well.

I was genuinely screaming at the end of the book from frustration at Anna!!!

I really appreciated the note at the end of the book explaining the typeface used throughout the book, although personally it's still not for mem it made it difficult to read some times. But when it comes to the way the dialogue is written I quite liked it!! Kind of reminded me of the way Sally Rooney writes.

I loved the way the author described the scenes in the operas. As someone who is very unknowledgable about it, it was nice to still be able to fit in and get a grasp for the parts that were being spoken about.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review!

This book was clever and suspenseful from the first page. A real delight. It’s quite rare to have something like this – so clean, well-crafted, but also moving – that I didn’t want it to end.

Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book.

This book is beautifully written: exploring real and complex characters, different types of relationships, a certain time in life when you're young and have no money, London from that perspective, the parallels between struggling for money against a more opulent lifestyle where you don't think about money as such, and the world of opera singing.

I really enjoyed this book, I found it difficult and heartbreaking at points, but very real. I could relate to the main character and the situations they were in, despite not living in London, or being a opera singing student.

This book was brilliantly written!
Anna is a young woman who makes a move to London to peruse her ambition of becoming an opera singer. But this story demonstrates the not so glamorous life of struggling to make ends meet in order to go after what you love. Anna then meets Max, a wealthy businessman who turns her world upside down and slowly starts to make her doubt everything she knows she is. Exploring themes such as toxic relationships, gaslighting and depression. Imogen Crimp’s writing is fresh and powerful and this debut novel was simply stunning!

This was a clever read. I was fully invested in the characters and thought there was a lovely darkness to it which continued throughout.

This book is well written and once I got used to the style, I enjoyed the story. However, I struggled a a bit with the character of Anna and became increasingly frustrated by her as I got to the middle of the book. I think this is a book that will resonate strongly with some readers but it didn't so much with me.

When Anna was accepted into the most lucrative Conservatory in London, she imagined her days being full of culture and wonder, under the tuiton of a singer she's idolized since she was a child. But it's not quite as she'd hoped. She's living in a cramped rented room in someone elses house, struggling to make her voice heard in a sea of talent and singing in a Jazz Bar most nights to just about make ends meet.

But in that bar, she meets Max, a financier fourteen years her senior who knows nothing about Opera but she finds herself drawn to him. Her life is suddenly a harsh juxtaposition from skipping lunches to lavish meals in Max's luxurious flat. Trying to balance her passion for singing, and her passion for this intruiging man is proving more difficult than she'd imagined though - but passion is never simple.

A Very Nice Girl is an electric exploration into desire, dreams, and power - brutally honestly and dryly witty. Delving into the uncomfortable realities of life and how often glamour and success always has a darker side hiding somewhere below the surface.

Anna was exceptionally written - I felt her fire and her determination, her fears and insecurities deep in my soul and whilst I questioned a lot of her choices she was a voice that I definitely understood. Her vibrant collection of friends and classmates were wonderful supporting characters, still managing to stand out with their own unique and strong personalities. All of the relationships Anna navigates through are complex and distinct - from her strained family dynamics to her bluntly real best friend. Max and Anna were endlessly intruiging - their relationship laying somewhere between love and hate, obsession and disregard and while bordering toxic, definitely intoxicating.

This was, on the surface, a story about daily life and technically should have been boring, but the storytelling elevated it to so much more and explored every aspect of that life in a curious and inquisitive light and made the most mundane parts of this story something to think about.

If this is Imogen Crimps debut, I definitely can't wait to see what comes next for her.

Anna is a twenty-four year old who sings in a bar and attend London conservatory as an opera singer. One night she meets Max, a city banker and much older than her. She starts seeing him much to the disapproval of her overbearing best friend, Laurie.
This book has so many layers and explores many themes from toxic relationships, to gaslighting, and depression and it will stay with you long after you've finished it. The opera and the art makes for a great motif throughout the book where authenticity and performance blurs on stage and in life, Anna often performing to become the version Max or Laurie wants to see until she has no idea who she is anymore.
Imogen Crimp comes across as a fresh new voice in the literary genre, with her sharp although quiet observations. I think comparison with Sally Rooney are inevitable (which is not a bad thing in my opinion).

Anna is a recent arrival to London with aspirations of becoming an Opera singer. Studying at the conservatory she is struggling to make ends meet will living uncomfortably in the P's residence when she meets Max, a banker. I have seen comparisons to Sally Rooney's "Normal People" which is true of the writing style but I do feel the characters particularly Anna are more sympathetic and likeable and for myself in my mid 30s, much more relatable. I know myself that I have had, or have friends who have experienced this type of "relationship". Imogen Crimp captures it amazingly and at times I feel like shaking Anna. Initially Laurie is painted in a "shoot the messenger" role but her friendship is vital throughout. So much of takes me back to my early 20s where we dissected every conversation and interaction with our friends and like Anna, often ignoring the red flags and hints from our friends that sometimes we resented them for. It is a story full of complicated emotions surrounding a truly toxic relationship but as it is taken from Anna POV it is hard to be clear what Max is truly like, charming to others and comfortable in all social settings but cold and evasive and so destructive for Anna. I'm still unsure how I feel about the ending but for me I think "A very Nice girl" highlights the importance of female friendship when experiencing an unhealthy unbalanced relationship.

This is an honest review in exchange for an ARC.

Ooft. This book is very close to perfection for me. It’s deep, it feels real, its characters are flawed and relatable and heart-twinging, the writing is stunning and the plot keeps you guessing the entire time. I already miss it now that I’ve finished it.

Anna is used to speaking with many men doing what she does - singing evening jazz at a hotel bar. But Max’s cold enticing conversation hits her differently. The combination of deep curiosity and unexpected addiction is so real and alluring to read. Max is a frustratingly closed book - it keeps you guessing (and worrying) about what he’s hiding - as Anna falls harder and harder in love.

Anna’s other relationships are just as brilliant to peer into. She’s very close with her blunt best friend who she shares a room (and bed) with, she has an exhausting relationship with her parents and her singer friends are competitive more than supportive. It all makes for truly great reading.

Favourite quote:

“…he spread his fingers out on my stomach, round my neck, on the insides of my thighs - his hands on me were erasure, wiping my skin clean, and soon my mind was dark and my body empty, only the parts he was touching lit up.”

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc. A Very Nice Girl will be available from 3rd February 2022.

I enjoyed a lot of this book. The concept was great and the toxic relationship sucked you in, making me almost feel like I was experiencing it myself! However, from about 3/4 into the book it unfortunately felt a bit rushed and underdeveloped for me. I still very much enjoyed the book one the whole but I found the ending very disappointing and it felt a bit lacking compared to the earlier sections of the book.

Still, a very easy read with a lovely writing style and well observed characters.

I tried really hard to enjoy this book but unfortunately I gave up and lost interest just over half way through. Anna, the ‘heroine’, was lacking in character and motivation. Max - the older ‘boyfriend’, came across as so enigmatic that he had little personality and Laurie, the friend, was a weak party girl caricature. I had no idea where the book was going and when it got to the point that I didn’t really care, I decided to leave it as I’d already given it the benefit of the doubt for longer than I normally would. Disappointingly deficient in plot, characters and structure.

I'm not sure there's a way to articulate how this book made me feel. It's the sort of book that you experience rather than read; for the day it took to read it, it really did feel like I was an opera singer in her mid-twenties, entangled in a toxic relationship with a man who might be awful, or might be wonderful, or might be some entirely human combination of the two. I'm rather glad I'm not, all things considered.

Imogen Crimp is one of those writers whose work seems entirely effortless; she can craft a simile unlike anyone I've ever read before, and her observations about people are so incisive and insightful that you wish you'd written them yourself. I was fortunate enough to be able to read extracts from this novel in draft form back in its early days, and it speaks to her talent that there are turns of phrase in here which remain from the earliest versions. They're just that good.

The thing that really sets this book above other novels about toxic relationships is that it's genuinely never clear whether Anna is imagining all the ways in which Max is terrible, if he's just terrible for her rather than in general, or if he really is a complete c-word, as Anna's friend likes to call him. Much of his behaviour, told through the unreliable lens of Anna's narration, seems targeted and insidious, but it's also clear that Anna maps her own thoughts about herself onto his behaviour. She acknowledges this herself. For that reason, you could read this same book over and over again and pick up on all the subtleties and nuances a thousand different ways. There's no villain here, unless there is.

This book is going to win every single award going, and it should. It's frankly one of the best books I've read in years, and it's going to linger for a while.

Sharp, witty, and oh so honest, let me introduce you to A Very Nice Girl.

A Very Nice Girl by Imogen Crimp plunges us into the life of Anna, a young Opera singer, as she balances her love for singing with the devastating fact that it’s hard to make a living out of the life she wants to have. Living in a house with her best friend Laurie, Anna spends her time evading the judgemental stares of her landlords, going to classes she does and doesn’t like, singing at a hotel bar, and just generally trying to exist.

Then Anna meets Max, a wealthy, older, and slightly closed-off man, and she agrees to go to dinner with him despite the fact that she doesn’t really like him all too much.

A Very Nice Girl is not a love story, but Anna desperately wants it to be. It is painfully honest in how Anna is constantly lying to herself about the life she is leading. The truth is technically subtext, but Crimp masterfully makes it clear for the reader to see. Crimp successfully weaved me into Anna’s life until I absolutely had to know how her story ended; just as how Anna had to, as well. In fact, and I’ll try to avoid spoilers here, it has one of those great book endings. I desperately wanted the story to continue, but, as I scrolled through the empty white pages, I found myself realising that the story had to end where it did.

Crimp’s writing style is fresh and all-consuming. She doesn’t use speech marks, but it’s not confusing. Each character is distinct, their voice their own, and you’re never left wondering who’s saying what in a conversation. And the descriptions that emerge when Anna is singing are mesmerising. I understood her nerves, her frustrations, and her joys instantly. I’ve never been a singer, never seen an opera, but through Anna, Crimp invites us into this world until we feel just as passionately about it as Anna does. In fact, had I known she was an opera singer before starting, I might not have read this book. It’s totally changed my opinions on this form of storytelling and now I desperately want to see one.

Anna herself is such an interesting protagonist. Told in startlingly present first-person, she’s a new sort of unreliable narrator. Anna doesn't hold things back because she wants the reader to have a different opinion of events, but because she herself is blind to what she is suffering. There are moments in this book where you just want to step into the story and shake her, clean the etch-a-sketch of its mess until she can see clearly where her life is headed if she doesn’t stop and re-think. All the side characters are blisteringly real, too. Some may appear stereotypical but that’s just because Anna doesn’t let herself see anyone in 3D. She doesn’t have the energy, frankly, and it’s fascinating to see people emerge as the story goes on. Tara was a particular favourite character of mine, as well as, eventually, Laurie.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book that has consumed me and left my brain thinking in the same way as the protagonist, and this book completely infected me. I can’t wait to read the next thing Imogen Crimp has in store, and I urge you all to read this when you can.

5 out 5 stars.

A coming of age story that tackles navigating a career, and relationships. I enjoyed many things in this book, with some razor-sharp analysis on performance careers, feminism, and toxic relationships.

Anna is a young opera singer studying at a prestigious opera school. She is struggling financially, working as a jazz singer in a hotel bar while living in below standard accommodation. While at work she meets Max, an older man who captures her attention. Throughout the book, Anna is trying to piece together who Max is as a person. He is a man who doesn’t talk about himself and does not share personal details with Anna unless he has to. It’s hard to call what Anna and Max have a relationship. Anna is naïve and Max takes advantage of that. Sections of this book were difficult to read due to Max’s controlling behaviour and how he gaslights and manipulates her into making decisions about her life. We watch as Anna becomes anxious and wrought with self-doubt as the book progresses.

As a musician, the sections of the book that feature her singing are relatable. We all have high hopes when we begin college, and the sudden vulnerability that Anna feels when starting at her conservatoire is familiar for me. As Max’s control over her strengthens, it is hard to read how Anna’s voice becomes a fearful thing for her. Her voice is her instrument, and it was a powerful choice to display his effect in that way.