The Very Nice Box

De: Eve Gleichman, Laura Blackett

Narrado por: Rebecca Lowman

The Very Nice Box has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

It was good

I like books that are realistic. This one is definitely not a run of the mill rom com that I thought it was. It got cringy at the end. It is very well written, the story flows nicely. The narrator does a good job. Again, just.. if you are looking for a feel good book, this is not that book.

Thought-provoking but way too long

Author is grinding an ax at several issues--corporate greed, self-help programs, ways companies try to build loyalty, grief.... If she had concentrated on one or two, perhaps keeping the focus on the workplace, the story would have been tighter and more powerful.

Drama at upscale IKEA

Intriguing plot with many wonderful imaginative images surrounding an upscale scan furniture design company. The underlying plot is a good vehicle to showcase a place and people who could certainly be real and to highlight a good sense of ironic humor.

Spoof/love story/creepy thriller/comedy/Really fun

Girl meets boy while working at a hilariously spoofed IKEA clone. Is boy really a creepy stalker? A really menacing turn in the story here almost made me quit, as I do not like to be scared. Then a whiplash turn to comedy, then a happy ending. It's a really fun book by a couple of really fresh authors.

a fun, quirky story

This is a very clever story which pokes fun at the Gen Xer workforce lifestyle trend. For example, authors Laura Blackett and Eve Gleichman uses a digital psychotherapy app service, similar to the new and trendy Woebot app (google it!) and spoofs the app in this story, “The Very Nice Box”. These authors have created one of the funniest workplace stories. This story is about a furniture company creating functional household items with fun, New-Agey names like: the tranquil clock; the studious backpack; the peaceful headphones; the cozy nesting tables. And the storage metaphors…..too funny! These beauties are peppered throughout the story, making me smile or guffaw. The New-Agey doesn’t end there. There are spirit staffers, a Wellness Kitchen, Positivity Mandates, and self-care directives.

So, it’s a silly, quirky story with an eccentric main character. Ava Simon is a highly regarded design engineer. She’s known for her designs of storage boxes. Ava is diligent, hardworking, and laser focused. She is charged with designing the Very Nice Box. And it’s a box…not a bin. Ava is struggling with anxiety and depression after enduring a fatal car accident, killing her parents and her girlfriend. She lives under a cloud of grief.

Soon after the story begins, Ava gets a new boss who is much younger than her. His name is Mathew Putnam and he is the antithesis of Ava. He’s loud and gregarious. From the start, he decides he’s going to get Ava out of her shell.

It flies into a silly rom-com story of Ava and Mat’s work ethics colliding. Hidden in the comedy are themes such as overcoming trauma, heart versus intellect, form vs function, corporate environmental greed, and friendship and trust.

A major plot twist makes this into a thriller. All in all, it’s a gloriously fun story.

I listened to the audio narrated by Rebecca Lowman. She is outstanding.