Give Me Everything You've Got: A Novel

by Imogen Crimp

A seductive modern gothic novel following a promising young filmmaker during one sun-bleached July at a famous director’s summer home

In the midst of an unrelenting heatwave, up-and-coming filmmaker Ruby arrives at the summer home of her idol. Ellen, an iconoclastic feminist director known for mentoring other women, has offered Ruby a room of her own while she finishes her screenplay. Hyped as the next big thing, producers are clamoring for a “female story” mined from Ruby’s trauma, and her deadline is fast approaching.

When she arrives in the countryside, Ellen’s house emerges like something out of a dream—grand and imposing, surrounded by sprawling gardens and a shimmering swimming pool. But tension thrums beneath the picture-perfect surface. Ellen’s reputation is under fire after she’s accused of appropriating a story that wasn’t hers to tell. Meanwhile, Ellen’s mercurial twenty-something daughter Lara lounges by the pool under the blistering sun, drawing her mother’s latest houseguest towards her like a moth to a flame.

Trapped between scorched empty fields and waiting for the heat to break, Ruby’s aspirational summer of artistic retreat spirals into an all-consuming affair. Even the house itself begins to feel haunted, and Ruby has the unnerving sensation that she’s not the first promising young woman brought here to fall under its spell.

Hot to the touch, Imogen Crimp’s Give Me Everything You’ve Got is a spellbinding fever dream, exploring the dark corners of ambition, exploitation, and what it takes to be a woman artist.

Genres: Adult, Summer Reads, Horror, Lesbian, Queer

304 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication July 21, 2026

About the author

Imogen Crimp studied English at Cambridge, followed by an MA in contemporary literature at UCL, where she specialized in female modernist writers. After university, she briefly studied singing at a London conservatoire. She was born in 1989 and lives in London.

Reviews

[SJARR ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I’m not sure this one was for me. I’m disassociating, which isn't my favorite feeling.

I think i'm running the risk of coming off as overly sensitive, but I was a little bit uncomfortable for most of this story.
Some of the topics discussed (and the way in which they were discussed), and some of the behavior by an older mentor toward her younger protégé, just, gave this an overall bad vibe for me.
I know that some of this has to be part of the point, but, I just wasn’t able to enjoy it.

I think the writing style is another place where we went a bit wrong.
I didn’t really feel immersed in the story, as much as I felt like I was watching stuff happen from a very far distance.
The synopsis does refer to this book as being like a “fever dream”, and I can certainly see that coming through. So, you might like this if you enjoy reading things like that.

As for the plot, I'm unsure about it.
I read this in full, but I didn’t really understand it.
I was confused, but I was fully expecting the end to have a massive turning point, or some type of revelation, to give me that “AHA!” moment.
It didn’t come though.

I am really not sure if this is just a case of my specific dislike for particular things plaguing my ability to enjoy a book as a whole, and perhaps it lead me to form a decision too quickly and I stuck with it.
Maybe other people would have an easier time grasping the plot, and would be able to like this more than I did.

Thank you to Netgalley, Henry & Holt Company and author Imogen Crimp, for providing me with the eARC of "Give Me Everything You've Got", in exchange for my honest review!
Publication date: July 21, 2026

[Christine Bobby · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be completely honest, there wasn’t anything I enjoyed about reading this book. I didn’t care about any of the characters. I found everything about it to be infuriating and just plain unlikable. Confusing from start to finish. And it just dragged on without any point.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company publishing for the early access.

[Elle Spohrer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this entire book during layovers at PDX and Sea-Tac on my way back to school from winter break, which probably impacted my experience with it in some capacity, though I’m not sure how. In any case, it kept my attention amidst the horrors of air travel in early January.

The best way I can describe Give Me Everything You’ve Got is horror without the horror. The story is filled with tension—Ellen, Lara, the house, her impending script deadline, the heatwave, and her place in the world are all sources of anxiety for Ruby. The tension never breaks, though. It just sort of dissolves incrementally. There’s no big reveal or climax, and there isn’t much resolution at the end. Still, I kind of liked it. The writing style is very dream-like, and the setting is incredibly vivid. In tone and energy, I would describe this book as Saltburn (2023) meets Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).

The strongest part of this novel is the depiction of the toxic relationships Ruby has with Ellen and Lara. Ellen is an influential director who prides herself on making room for other women in the industry, and Ruby, along with many other young female filmmakers, is enamored with her. Ruby wants to be Ellen and wants to be admired by her; she wants to be her lover and wants to be her daughter; she is afraid of her and obsessed with her. In addition, Ruby finds Lara’s cold, aloof demeanor both off-putting and intriguing.

Crimp’s writing, told in first person from Ruby’s perspective, paints a clear picture of who these women are, and the power dynamics between them, through their interactions with each other. All three are deeply flawed in different ways, and could be quite unlikable. While I did enjoy reading about them, I suspect that if I had read this book over several days rather than all at once I would have grown tired of their melodrama.

Unfortunately, this book was very tedious and slow. There was very little character development, and my impression at the end was that most, if not all, of the seemingly high-stakes issues in the story were fabricated in Ruby’s mind. The majority of the narrative is just living in the head of a woman with low self-esteem, and I’m not really sure what that accomplishes.

I was also confused by the broader message. What I got from it was “people want women to tell stories that are autobiographical” which… okay? I guess? I’m not sure how much that’s supposed to resonate with a larger audience of mostly non-filmmakers. There was a little bit about media fetishizing women’s pain, which was more coherent, but is not exactly a fresh topic in feminist discourse. The commentary on class discrepancy I thought was a bit better; it was incorporated into the narrative and made sense, though again, felt a little stale.

One final thing, which I didn’t mind, but I know some readers can’t stand: Crimp doesn’t use quotation marks or standard indentation formatting for dialogue in this book.

All in all, I thought this book was fine. It kept me entertained for about five hours of a nineteen-hour travel day, so I can’t be too harsh, but if I had put it down and then gone to sleep, I’m not sure I would have been excited to pick it up again the next day.

I would recommend this book to readers who like reading about the idyllic English countryside, the negative parts of the film industry, and women who make bad choices.

***Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.***

[Julia DeLuise · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Instead, she was looking intently at my hands. I was cutting a cucumber. I wondered if I was doing it wrong.”
That single moment captures the quiet, creeping unease at the heart of Give Me Everything You’ve Got by Imogen Crimp.
Ruby, a young and deeply insecure filmmaker, enters the orbit of Ellen: a celebrated, confident director who leads a workshop Ruby attends. Ellen doesn’t just mentor; she magnifies. Every glance, comment, and silence seems to sharpen Ruby’s self-doubt. When Ellen invites Ruby to spend a couple of weeks at her country house outside London, the power imbalance only intensifies.
The house itself—a vast, beautiful mansion with an odd layout - feels almost sentient. It seems to hold secrets… or maybe it’s simply a mirror for Ruby’s unraveling mind. Under pressure to finish a script as her deadline looms, Ruby’s anxiety blurs the line between perception and paranoia. Is something truly wrong here, or is she misreading everything?
Adding another layer is Lara, Ellen’s 20-year-old daughter, who appears to be battling demons of her own. Her presence deepens the emotional tension and raises questions about inheritance -not just of talent or privilege, but of pain.
Crimp writes incisively about manipulation, ambition, anxiety, and the painful process of growing up into oneself. The novel hums with psychological tension, carrying a quiet mystery and strong My Year of Rest and Relaxation–style vibes, though here the unease is social rather than sedated.
“You don’t realize how much everything was hurting, do you? You don’t realize how much everything was hurting until the pain stops.”
That line lingered with me long after I finished.
I genuinely enjoyed this book - its atmosphere, its restraint, its emotional precision. If anything, I found myself wanting just a little more from the ending, a sharper turn or deeper release. Still, it’s a confident, unsettling debut that stays with you.

Ironically, I can totally see this being turned into a Netflix show or movie. And I am here for it.

With thanks to Henry Holt & Co., Andy Tang, and The Hive for the opportunity to pre-read this book as an ARC reader.

[Christina Pace · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big thank you to Henry Holt and Co., Netgalley, and the author for providing an ARC for review!

2.5, rounded up to 3 for the descriptions and the prose.



Give Me Everything You Got started out promising for me. Female and sapphic obsession, unhealthy fixation on a personal idol, creepy vibes, weird actions/reactions, and a creepy house? Okay, you got me! However, as it went on, I began to realize how meandering it is.

I loved reading the descriptions in this book, and the way Imogen Crimp describes the malaise of a heat wave is so perfect. I could easily envision the setting in my mind. The main cast -Ruby, Lara, and Ellen (lol) - and how they played off each other was something I couldn't wait to see evolve further, as well as their views on film as 'feminist' filmmakers, but then... it just stopped. There is a specific point in the book where you can feel the narrative tension sputter out into pages of hallucinogenic freeform. I'm not completely opposed to a stream-of-conscious style of writing (I really liked Brittany Newell's Soft Core, for starters) but there are so many bizarre red flags that pop up at the beginning to pique your interest, only to never be further interrogated. Maybe they were supposed to be red herrings, maybe not, maybe it's answered in some subtext I didn't pick up on, but regardless it's still unsatisfying to read these plot threads come up, only to be dropped in favor of obsessive, dream-like angst.

I'm also trying to remain spoiler-free, because this book won't be out until July 2026, but BIG BIG BIG content warning for one sequence in the book that involves animal death - specifically that of a chicken. It's not super graphic but it's so luridly detailed that I started skimming, and the character reaction to it adds to the nausea of the sequence.

[SVL · Rating 2 out of 5]

This advanced readers copy publishes this upcoming summer, but unfortunately the plot is anything but hot. Not only did nothing really happen in the story, the inner world of the characters were lacking in detail and personality. This is a book that tries to be deep, it tries to say something, but in reality it ends up saying nothing. Luckily, it was pretty short.

The plot follows a young screenwriter Ruby who, after taking a workshop with a renowned director named Ellen, is invited to spend a couple weeks at her summer house in the English countryside. When she arrives, she third wheels the unsettling relationship between Ellen and her daughter Lara before Ellen leaves Ruby to essentially babysit Lara for a few days (Lara is 20). What follows is a singular, peculiar, and messy relationship that develops between Ruby and Lara before Ellen’s inevitable return.

Here’s my issues with this book: all the characters are annoying in different ways, and they’re annoying in a non-respectable way. They are genuinely boring and underdeveloped. Additionally, I despised the formatting that left character quotes unquoted. This was terrible because so much of this book relies on commentary and it gets lost in the formatting. Also, the ending infuriated me given how the book started in a future scene. The reader is left totally hanging on multiple regards.

The reason this book does get two stars is because Crimp succeeds in delivering a story that is truly unsettling. All the characters are unwell in different ways and I truly wanted to scream at all of them at different points in the plot. Ruby lies to herself, Lara needs anti-depressants and a therapist, and Ellen is truly just a loudmouthed know it all b*tch. For a book about three women with so many problems, nothing happens.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Director Ellen has a reputation for helping other women in film. Ruby is one of the students in her workshop.

Ellen has invited Ruby, ex-tutor and aspiring screenwriter, to spend some time at her summer home where the past six weeks or so had been dominated by a vicious heatwave. Ruby settles into her room, unsure as to why Ellen feels compelled to apologize for her daughter, Lara, not being particularly friendly.

But Ruby is supposed to be working on her film; she’s hoping Ellen will help her and is a bit taken aback when Ellen asks her to help Lara with her college application.

And then Ellen leaves for a week . . . .

=========
In this exploration of determination, influence, and yearning, there’s a lingering sense of uneasiness that tends to keep the reader on edge. Stifling heat, questionable loyalties, and uncertain relationships create an atmosphere for the telling of the tale, but the story moves slowly and the convoluted plot seems determined to remain unresolved.

Nevertheless, the creeping uneasiness keeps readers feeling tense as the story slowly plays out. Sadly, the author’s unnecessary overuse of a particularly objectionable expletive is likely to be offensive to many readers . . . and this lowers the rating for this book.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Henry Holt & Company / Henry Holt and Co. and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving this review.
#GiveMeEvrythingYouveGot #NetGalley

[Kate Connell · Rating 2 out of 5]

At no point do you care about these characters enough to have opinions on the situation. There isn't even truly a situation to have an opinion on. This will be the right book for some people, but it is not the right book for me.

During a heatwave, aspiring filmmaker and ex-tutor Ruby accepts an invitation from her directing idol Ellen. who worked with her at a seminar. Ruby accepts and sees it as a great opportunity to work on her screenplay with a quick approaching deadline. Ellen's country home is beautiful, a swimming pool, chickens, lots of land and her own room. So, what if Ellen's daughter Lara is also there, taking up more of her time than Ruby would like? So, what if Ruby is asked to help her in her college application process, she used to be a tutor after all? But when Ellen leaves for a week to work on her latest film (which is gaining criticism beforehand for appropriation), Ruby and Lara will have to do more than orbit each other.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.

[Nicole Pi · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want clean catharsis and tidy answers, this book will frustrate you (as it did me), because Crimp is more interested in erosion than revelation. Still, it’s an incisive study of ambition and creative vulnerability, of how badly someone can want to be chosen, and how that wanting can rearrange their sense of self.

Crimp grazes on the performance of feminism at several points throughout the book, but doesn't seem to make any point on it. Like she's simply observing that, in contemporary art, feminism is moreso a performance rather than a politics. Which I guess is cool to point out, and not everything needs to be revolutionary, but I can't help but feel there was some unrealized potential here.

I think the biggest let-down was that, after the n-th unsolved mystery/crazy passage that we never circled back to, I just stopped really reading into it, I stopped thinking about what I was reading, because it felt like there was no point.

Regardless, thanks to Henry Holt & Company for the eARC :)

[Kennedy Purcell · Rating 2 out of 5]

~ ARC Review: 2.5 stars ~

Give Me Everything You’ve Got follows Ruby, a young filmmaker, as she stays in the summer home of her idol Ellen, an iconic director who has offered to help her finish her screenplay. This slow burn modern gothic gradually exposes the lengths Ruby will go to to impress her mentor, avoid her trauma, and make it in the industry. The haunting vibes of this quiet and isolated summer home draws you into the story initially, with the tension build between characters keeping you invested until the end. This book made me feel unsettled and uncomfortable, to the point where I wanted to DNF but also needed to know what happens. While it was definitely unforgettable, it was not the right book for me.

If you like to be submerged in someone’s raw unfiltered thoughts and don’t mind an ambiguous plot and open-ended finale, you might really enjoy it! I didn’t connect with or enjoy knowing one single character in this book, and felt like they were all too static for me to learn from. Crimp isn’t afraid to let the story wander in the same messy, restless way her main characters do. This book felt like a hazy fever dream for me, but in this way it was also lacking clear structure and closure.

A must-read for the girlies who love chaos, obsession vs. longing, and character studies wrapped in sharp, emotional writing. Thank you NetGalley, Henry Holt & Company, and Imogen Crimp for giving me this e-book ARC <3 Even though it wasn’t my cup of tea, I know many other readers would love to have a go at analyzing these characters and themes!

[Alaina]

Imogen Crimp deftly explores the many facets of what it means to be an ambitious woman in the arts in this slow-simmer of a summer novel. The scene-setting is incredibly effective here; you can practically feel the sweat drip down your back. I also really enjoyed Crimp's keen observations throughout; I'm just coming off a binge of the Neapolitan quartet, and Crimp had many moments here that felt Ferrante-esque in their astuteness. It's a gift, to be able to capture those universal-and-yet-nobody-really-talks-about-it experiences. While I do wish there had been more of a payoff for all of that boiling tension, I enjoyed this nonetheless.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seductive writing, amazing dialogue, and a stunning plot - this book has it all. I was consumed and did not want to step away from the world inside this book. The feelings between Ruby, Lara, and Ellen drew me in and had me in awe. The feminine vibes oozed from the pages and the setting itself was like walking into a beautiful painting and living inside of it. At times haunting, this book is truly a work of art. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ambiguous plot filled with no quotation marks? Do not sign me up again!! This read like the longest 300 page fever dream and not once did I feel a connection to any of the characters or "plot". I feel like the author wanted to make a feminist book so bad and just completely missed the mark by constantly drilling feminist ideologies into the dialogue without really saying anything. This may be the book for some people, but it was not the book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley + publisher for the ARC!

[ashley anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started reading this book, I wasn't too sure what I was getting myself into. I found myself annoyed that none of the dialogue was in quotations.

But before I knew it, I got sucked into the summer haze that the characters found themselves in. I got wrapped up in the drama and eventually paranoia that Ruby found herself in. I couldn't stop reading, I finished the book in less than two days. I'm going to be thinking about this for some time to come.

I was provided with an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

[camille! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Henry Holt and Company for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of those books that enchanted me in that it was not so much a story as a sequence of feelings that flit across the page. It was a psychological thriller without a real twist and SOMEHOW that worked for me?? The world is full of constant surprises!

However, it's one of those books that I would be super selective about recommending to people because while it landed for me as a constant emotional rush, I don't know if other people would be as receptive.

Anyway, as someone who cares about the way that summers feel sick and strange and melancholic, this book hit the emotional nail on the head and I was delighted.

[BooksAsDreams (Tiffany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC! Love the writing style. Feminine vibes throughout. So many classic story elements: isolation, house with its own personality, gardens, chickens, heatwave. And, most importantly, the mind and imagination.

[Ciarra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book interesting at the first sentence. Was completely addicted to Crimp’s writing style and am excited to read more of Crimp’s work in the future. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.