A review by heresthepencil
A Very Nice Girl by Imogen Crimp
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
it’s a hard book to judge. on one hand, there are things i very much wish have happened (if this was a story unfolding in real life), on the other hand, there are literary devices employed here that i find interesting & well executed.
i do wish anna had more figurative meat on her bones, but i also appreciate how the author's chosen to portray her. that we never really see her on her own, always in reaction to someone else. even when she’s describing her childhood, when she’s with a teacher focused solely on her growth - she puts on a persona she assumes people want to see. it makes perfect sense for this kind of story. (and it makes the title strikingly accurate. anna will make anything to appeal to people, of course she's very nice.)
i do wish max got what he deserved, but at the same time he's a great depiction of a manipulative toxic misogynistic piece of shit. it’s interesting to see the way he drains anna's energy, the way he knows exactly what to say and how to act to make her feel small and worthless, and depended on him. everything anna does, max turns into a child’s play. if she feels vulnerable, she’s easier to manipulate, it's easier to get out of her (body) what he wants at any given moment. and the most interesting part of this whole show, is that the book leaves it up to us, as readers, to decide: does he do all those things deliberately or is he just an asshole?
(the way the book makes his actions and motivations a literal topic of conversation between anna and her friend might have been more smooth and natural, but still.)
so yes, everyone is slightly one-dimensional and the main character is sort of a blank page, and the story itself is as old as the world, but the devil's in the details, and those are gorgeous.
tw: dubious consent
i do wish anna had more figurative meat on her bones, but i also appreciate how the author's chosen to portray her. that we never really see her on her own, always in reaction to someone else. even when she’s describing her childhood, when she’s with a teacher focused solely on her growth - she puts on a persona she assumes people want to see. it makes perfect sense for this kind of story. (and it makes the title strikingly accurate. anna will make anything to appeal to people, of course she's very nice.)
i do wish max got what he deserved, but at the same time he's a great depiction of a manipulative toxic misogynistic piece of shit. it’s interesting to see the way he drains anna's energy, the way he knows exactly what to say and how to act to make her feel small and worthless, and depended on him. everything anna does, max turns into a child’s play. if she feels vulnerable, she’s easier to manipulate, it's easier to get out of her (body) what he wants at any given moment. and the most interesting part of this whole show, is that the book leaves it up to us, as readers, to decide: does he do all those things deliberately or is he just an asshole?
(the way the book makes his actions and motivations a literal topic of conversation between anna and her friend might have been more smooth and natural, but still.)
so yes, everyone is slightly one-dimensional and the main character is sort of a blank page, and the story itself is as old as the world, but the devil's in the details, and those are gorgeous.
tw: dubious consent
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Gaslighting
Minor: Suicide attempt