It didn't take much reading to know that this was going to be a book that I'd enjoy a lot. It's set in an IKEA-like company with a lot of silly corporate behavior that hits pretty close to home for me. I liked how the authors toed the line between reality and absurdity for the corporate setting, the perfect recipe for humor!

Ava, the main character, is a no-nonsense, talented engineer whose world revolves around her job and her passion project of creating a very specific sort box. Her new boss is the exact sort of guy she'd hate and/or make fun of, a bro's bro who is more about image than substance and is used to having everything go his way. It should be a recipe for disaster, but they end up oddly drawn to each other.

With that setup, I was expecting a standard rom-com where the two main characters hate each other at first but end up falling in love anyway. That is not how this book went, but I found myself pleasantly surprised by the originality. Definitely recommended!

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review. This book was a page-Turner for sure. It was different than anything I've read and had so many interesting touches and surprises. I'm a bit conflicted about the ending but won't elsb and risk spoiling it.

Thank you to the author, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Central to this story is a product engineer at an Ikea-like furniture company, who comes across as reserved, laser-focussed on her work - and is revealed to be grieving the terrible loss (in a car accident) of her fiancé. She has little patience with societal norms and expectations, and seems to find her routines and immersion in work the best way to cope with the hand that life has dealt her. Enter the new marketing director of the firm, Mat, who is the stereotype of every young, entitled white man you've ever met. I loved hating this guy, who is a cliché of empty self-help phrases and can't take an iota of critical feedback without crumbling. That these two begin an office romance is so unlikely that it's clear there's something else going on, and sure enough things go awry fairly quickly. While I enjoyed the way the authors played Emperor's New Clothes with corporate culture, and with the self-help industry, I found this slow going.

Despite the fact that I figured out the novel's twist at 41% of the way through, I still enjoyed reading The Very Nice Box and trying to uncover some of its other mysteries. The book, by Eve Gleichman and Laura Blackett, follows Ava, a design engineer at an IKEA-like company called STADA. She's working on something called The Very Nice Box, she lives alone with her dog, and her life is fairly regimented and dull.

But then Ava gets a new boss, one who takes an eager interest in her. What starts off as Mat giving Ava car rides home (after Ava's car is vandalized), turns into a blossoming romance. But is Mat who he says he is?

As the book slowly reveals Ava's past, you come to understand more about why Ava acts the way she does, and it's nice to see her come out of her shell as she spends more and more time with Mat. However, the more you get to know about Mat, the more you realize something is off. Just what is the Good Guys program? How did Mat get the job at STADA? And do his past actions warrant his present ones?

I can see book clubs discussing the book's topics of grief, friendship, guilt, and male entitlement. If you read this book, which you should, tell me which of the STADA product names you liked best!

The Very Nice Box is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and will be available July 6, 2021. I received a free e-ARC in exchange for this review.

What a wonderful surprise this is! Ava's been living a small life since a horrible accident. She works as an engineer at STADA designing boxes, she lives in a studio apartment, has the most incredibly limited wardrobe, is devoted to her dog Brutus, and avoids, with the exception of Jaime, human content. Then Mat turns up to be the new head of marketing and turns her world upside down. A bouncy vibrant man who buys into all the ads in the subway and belongs to a mysterious group called the good guys, he slowly charms his way into Ava's life. But then...I'd love for others to read this the way I did, with no foreknowledge of what's going to happen because it's so carefully crafted. I laughed at the pretensions of STADA (and Brooklyn), felt deeply for Ava throughout, was concerned for her as things get (no spoiler) creepy, and cheered as she stands up for herself. She's a wonderful character but is everyone else. Judith- what a hoot! And then there's the ending, which is just perfect. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I loved this novel and can't recommend it more highly.

This book wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but I enjoyed it. Once I got about 20% in I could not put it down and stayed up too late to finish it. The main character Ava is really well done. She is a very ordered and logical person and I loved getting to see her grow and heal emotionally throughout this story. Ava is a bi-woman whose past with her ex-girlfriend Andie is a driving force through the story. But the story begins with Ava meeting and instantly hating her new boss Mat. But after some vandals sabotage her car she accepts his offer of driving her to and from work and she warms up to him. This story is more silly at times than I was expecting but also dealt with deeper issues. I saw some twists coming, but there were definitely some surprises for me too. I loved Ava’s work friend Jamie and his ability to stick with her and support her even when she was shutting him out.

DRC provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: queer protagonist, queer Latine secondary character, Black secondary character, Black tertiary characters, Latine tertiary character, queer non-binary tertiary characters.

Content Warning: panic attacks, death, grief, homophobia, ableism, toxic relationship, emotional manipulation.

The Very Nice Box by Eve Gleichman and Laura Blackett is a contemporary novel about finding happiness and love in one’s life again after a tragic event.

Following some terrible circumstances Ava’s life is completely overturned and she starts living her life monotonously. Everything changes though because of a new hire in the company where she works as an engineer.

I did not hate this book, but I certainly cannot say I liked either. What most irked me was the authors’ choice to write “he or she” repeatedly and I know it may be considered a small thing, one that people could pass over, but I am not one of those people and that choice of words did not sit well with me. I also disliked the constant use of the names of company’s products, how Ava behaves towards her friend and the slowness and, frankly, predictability of the plot.

Anyway, I enjoyed the crux of novel and I can say that reading this novel felt like experiencing the literary version of a Black Mirror episode (minus the technological element), just not one of the good ones.

All in all, I reckon this is a classic case of “it is not you, it is me” and another reader can and will enjoy this book.

As far as thrillers go, this one erred on the side of predictable, but that didn't make it any less compelling to read or make the ending any less satisfying. Ava made for a great character study - she was pretty unlikeable at the beginning, but as the novel progresses, I became more and more confused about how I felt about her - and I count that as a good thing. Definitely recommended for both IKEA devotees and anyone who has ever rolled their eyes at start-up culture.

I was looking forward to reading this book partly because of its title, and I was so pleased to find it was a Very Nice Book. I loved the characters of Ava and Mat and the madness of the Stada work environment with all the Good Guys and personality coloured clothing. I was wondering whether it would be obvious two writers had written the story but there was definitely a coherent narrative with plenty of humour intertwined with dealing with grief. Loved it, hope there will be another one by these authors soon
Thank you to netgalley and Houghton mifflin for an advance copy of this book

Ava lives her life in a very regimented, efficient way. In part this is a survival mechanism she employees after a devastating accident leads to the loss of people she loves.

Suddenly her black and white world is splashed with color from Mat, her new manager. He shakes up things at work and in her personal life.

Just as it things seem perfect Ava begins to truly get to know Mat.

I've decided that I just don't enjoy books like this. Weird and forced "Quirky" characters are exhausting to me. I've read enough books and seen enough movies to understand the "Manic Pixie' theme.

This is just...not it for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

I had the feeling as I read this novel of believing something important or funny or delightful was going on just behind a veil. I couldn’t quite make it out. Its intentions remained hidden from me. Interestingly (or not) the two novels that the jacket copy compares this novel with were also difficult for me to understand and left me feeling similarly not-included in the joke, if there is a joke. Which is all a very wordy way of saying this book is not for me, but it might be right for you.

Totally unexpected enjoyment. I did not know what I was getting into, but I was hooked. Ava Simon works for Stada, located in Brooklyn. It’s like Ikea but with better advertising and more sustainable products. Ava is one of their best project engineers and her masterpiece is the Very Nice Box. She has thrown all her time, energy and creativity into her job and this obsessive creation, so she does not have to focus on herself and a tragedy that killed her parents and her girlfriend. Ava is going through the motions of life, but she is not enjoying it.

Then Mat Putnam appears. He is charismatic, energetic, handsome, funny, and her new boss. When he takes an unexpected romantic interest in Ava, her life is opened up to new possibilities. But is Mat truly as great as he seems? Soon the authors are taking the Ava into uncharted emotional territory.

This book reminded me of some of the best aspects of Hendrix’s “Horrorstor,” Ferris’s “Then We Came to the End” with a touch of Moreno-Garcia’s ”Mexican Gothic.” In other words, a winning combination with unique twists and touches all its own. Very entertaining first book, keep up the good work. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this title.

I enjoyed this book, although it was a bit different from what I expected.
It is amusing and a great send-up of some of today’s work cultures. I loved the Ikea parody.

In the description of the book, Mat is noted to be a classic example of male entitlement. However, I didn’t see him that way….I thought he went beyond that and was a very disturbed individual. The pace of the book was uneven….fast paced at times, at other times, slow. The ending was a bit over the top. Overall, though, an entertaining read.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Quirky novel about a brilliant woman who struggles with interpersonal relationships in general and especially after suffering a tragic loss. She meets a man who is not at all what he appears. There are surprising twists in this novel.

The Very Nice Box is compellingly readable and kept me turning the pages, and the glimpse into workplace life at STADA made for an interesting backdrop. It's unfortunate that the official summary for this book states outright that "Mat isn't who he claims to be" because having that in the back of one's mind almost sets the reader up for a letdown. Ultimately, the "shocking twist" was pretty good, but knowing that there was one coming hypes it up a bit much if you're a regular reader of thrillers and suspense. If I could give half-stars, this would be a three-point-five.

I just finished reading The Very Nice Box and I demand a sequel! Great, unusual characters, a delightful take on Ikea and a plot twist that I did not see coming. I enjoyed it all.

Well written, engaging, and an interesting and original read. I found myself falling for the lovely Ava Simon right away. The similarities between herself and I, were, at times uncanny. I ended up spending the majority of my day off engrossed in her life, and her very nice box.

All in, this was amusing, charming, and at times, quite thrilling. It was also thought-provoking, and excellently well-thought-out. I can usually tell within the first 10-20 pages whether I’m going to like a novel or not, but I’ll always give it at least a quarter to decide. The Very Nice Box didn’t disappoint, this one got my seal of approval right from the get go.

The only downside I have to share is that I found the book too long for romantic fiction, at almost 400 pages. Since it was so long, I found myself getting a bit lost and distracted at certain points. So I feel as though it could have been edited down.

Aside from that though, it was very nice!

Ava is a meticulous engineer who designs useful storage boxes for a hip furniture company that’s undergoing sweeping corporate change. Her passion project is to build the “Very Nice Box.” When a new employee arrives, her carefully arranged schedule is disrupted. I enjoyed the authors’ sense of humor about Ava’s work environment and the credible tension between the engineering and marketing departments. The novel was fun to read with a twist at the end. I would have given it 5 stars except I thought Ava was too passive in a critical scene near the end.

This warm and quirky novel does not fit into a very nice box (FORGIVE ME), but is better for it. Ava is a sympathetic and endearing main character and STADA is the absurd corporate culture we have all heard about, if not experienced for ourselves. The workplace elements were consistently funny, and I applaud the authors on the huge variety of wonderfully consistent product names they created for the fictional Scandinavian home store. The friendships and relationships throughout the story felt uplifting and realistic to me. I keep wanting to go back to the term "warm," even though Ava - and the realm of Scandinavian furniture - initially is anything but. Still, that was the feeling I had toward the many characters who were just showing up as they were, imperfect and human. (Even Judith.) The world in this book is not quite ours, but it is built skillfully, and I feel like I know it well. As some other readers have noted, there is a bit of suspension of disbelief required, but somehow it seemed to fit with the story for me. Life is messy and sad and complicated and surprising, and just as we purchase endless organizational products to try to order it, sometimes we need fiction to set it all straight in our minds.

An aside: as a graduate of Kenyon College, I was tickled when Gambier popped up!! (To say that housing in Gambier is "limited" is being generous! Ha!)

Many thanks to #NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.