A Very Nice Girl

Who is more likely to wreck you:

... you, or someone you care about? For Anna that dichotomy is blurred into a continuum-- and it isn't always clear where on that continuum she falls. She meets a man, and she changes. The addiction to his presence is overwhelming, and as a reader you are never quite sure how much he manipulates or how much she loses herself of her own volition.

I loved and I hated this book: I loved the portrayal of a high-level music student, the ups and downs, the caricatures. They were relatable and loveable, and as a somewhat familiar setting, provided good grounding for me. I loved that Anna could crumble and then reassemble through hard work applied to a new understanding of her dreams and talents. I hated the end. Oh reader, the end was a terrible disappointment to me. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say I don't think any amount of character development can justify what I view as a terrible decision on the last page. You'll have to get there yourself, and maybe you'll want to argue with me, who knows?

A Very Nice Girl is a good read for fans of The Archer by Swami Shruti, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, and Shopgirl (2005).