I have a Love Hate Relationship with this Book
The Very Nice Box is a 'Very Nice' read. I enjoyed the twist at the end, but it was predictable and I definitely saw it coming. I thought the characters were very well written. Because they were easily relatable and easy to like. It was fun to watch her evolve and see her self awareness develop. I adored her friend Jamie. I kind of felt like this book was set in the future with all of the inventions that Stada put out, they were interesting and the concepts of the company were at times painfully accurate images of today’s corporate world.
Chapter 1 was all about describing Ava's apartment, like her clothes and habits, even details right down to what silverware that she has, I just didn't care anymore. I get why the reader would need this info, but it should have been placed in Chapter 2. Catch the reader in chapter 1, then lead them in the rest of the chapters. I got so bored in the first chapter that I put the Book down and didn’t come back to finish it for over a week.
I was not interested in the relationship troubles that Mat and Ava were having given that I just didn’t totally get the appeal of Mat’s character... especially for Ava. Plus the main plot twist was so predictable of the book early on, but it didn't take away from the reading experience. It just wasn’t as jaw dropping as it may be for some people! I loved how this book critiqued both corporate culture as well as male entitlement, and this book also had great lgbtq+ representation. There were some amazing depictions of friendships like that between Jaime and Ava. I really liked how all of the characters weren’t without flaws, they were messy like actual humans, just like the rest of us trying to navigate through life and all its emotions as well.
All in all I really enjoyed this book's themes and interpretations, But they were a bit predictable. I would definitely recommend it. I think if you enjoy light hearted romance with a sprinkling of suspense you will enjoy this book. It would be fun to see a sequel follow Ava and Jamie on their next adventures in life. I would totally read that, I just hope that it is not as predictable.
Chapter 1 was all about describing Ava's apartment, like her clothes and habits, even details right down to what silverware that she has, I just didn't care anymore. I get why the reader would need this info, but it should have been placed in Chapter 2. Catch the reader in chapter 1, then lead them in the rest of the chapters. I got so bored in the first chapter that I put the Book down and didn’t come back to finish it for over a week.
I was not interested in the relationship troubles that Mat and Ava were having given that I just didn’t totally get the appeal of Mat’s character... especially for Ava. Plus the main plot twist was so predictable of the book early on, but it didn't take away from the reading experience. It just wasn’t as jaw dropping as it may be for some people! I loved how this book critiqued both corporate culture as well as male entitlement, and this book also had great lgbtq+ representation. There were some amazing depictions of friendships like that between Jaime and Ava. I really liked how all of the characters weren’t without flaws, they were messy like actual humans, just like the rest of us trying to navigate through life and all its emotions as well.
All in all I really enjoyed this book's themes and interpretations, But they were a bit predictable. I would definitely recommend it. I think if you enjoy light hearted romance with a sprinkling of suspense you will enjoy this book. It would be fun to see a sequel follow Ava and Jamie on their next adventures in life. I would totally read that, I just hope that it is not as predictable.