What do you think?
Rate this book
Give Me Everything You've Got
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 clamouring 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.
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 clamouring 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.
307 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 7, 2026
About the author
Imogen Crimp
2 books203 followersImogen 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 230 reviews
July 11, 2026
well this gave me nothing.
https://emmareadstoomuch.substack.com...
i can't tell you how annoying this was.
but i'm going to try.
this is an objectively dumb quasi-literary unthrilling thriller in which nothing happens.
most of our protagonist's statements boil down to "huh?" and the response is generally just a repetition of the first thing that prompted it — because it was never actually confusing.
to try to compensate for this pointless and aggravating waste of space, there will then be a description of someone looking mysterious, but again, everyone's motives are abundantly clear and our main character is simply a f*cking idiot.
the author assumes this is a trait we share, and kindly gives us 300 pages of telling not showing, with nothing interesting to distract our pea brains, not even a plot.
dialogue without quotation marks has never bothered me before, because i've historically had the good fortune of reading books in which that was done for a reason and also in which voices were distinctive or paragraph marks were used wisely and overall it read naturally.
my luck ends here.
this author seems to have made this stylistic choice purely because it's what other people are doing, and any given paragraph can contain unnecessary chatter and mealy mouthed internal monologues and stage directions like an emerson college short film with no distinguishing, and with no uniting factor other than coincidental proximity.
i hated, genuinely, everything about this: the plot, the lack of it, the style, the adverbs, the protagonist, the love interest, the rival, the genre-bending, the genres selected, the beginning, the middle, the end.
bottom line: whenever I remember i’m done with this book i feel a shock of gratitude.
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
https://emmareadstoomuch.substack.com...
i can't tell you how annoying this was.
but i'm going to try.
this is an objectively dumb quasi-literary unthrilling thriller in which nothing happens.
most of our protagonist's statements boil down to "huh?" and the response is generally just a repetition of the first thing that prompted it — because it was never actually confusing.
to try to compensate for this pointless and aggravating waste of space, there will then be a description of someone looking mysterious, but again, everyone's motives are abundantly clear and our main character is simply a f*cking idiot.
the author assumes this is a trait we share, and kindly gives us 300 pages of telling not showing, with nothing interesting to distract our pea brains, not even a plot.
dialogue without quotation marks has never bothered me before, because i've historically had the good fortune of reading books in which that was done for a reason and also in which voices were distinctive or paragraph marks were used wisely and overall it read naturally.
my luck ends here.
this author seems to have made this stylistic choice purely because it's what other people are doing, and any given paragraph can contain unnecessary chatter and mealy mouthed internal monologues and stage directions like an emerson college short film with no distinguishing, and with no uniting factor other than coincidental proximity.
i hated, genuinely, everything about this: the plot, the lack of it, the style, the adverbs, the protagonist, the love interest, the rival, the genre-bending, the genres selected, the beginning, the middle, the end.
bottom line: whenever I remember i’m done with this book i feel a shock of gratitude.
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
October 27, 2025
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
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
Read
February 11, 2026This feels like horror without the horror. It's a long hot summer and Ruby has been invited to stay in film director, Ellen's country house for a couple of weeks. There she meets Lara, Ellen's daughter. Crimp is so good at describing the heat, the hazy days, all the unsaid things and insinuations. Make sure you go into it not expecting a big revelation or a horror moment, and you'll love it.
A subtle, claustrophobic, seduction of a novel. I loved its dreamy, hazy surface, and its uncomfortable undertow.
A subtle, claustrophobic, seduction of a novel. I loved its dreamy, hazy surface, and its uncomfortable undertow.
Read
May 19, 2026Stylist magazine comped this to Rebecca and Saltburn, so naturally I had to read it.
Premise - Ruby, an up-and-coming filmmaker, moves into the guest room of her idol, Ellen's, house. Surrounded by luxury and in the nest of her inspiration, writing her next film has to be a breeze. Right?
Only Ellen has an angsty 20yo daughter, Lara. Of course. And Ellen? She can't stay away from the mother, nor from the daughter. This family, this house -- the whole shebang could be a haunting.
...but it's not though.😅 I think the comps (Rebecca! Saltburn!) and the description of it as a gothic had me expecting a very different kind of story. This is not horror, at least no more so than any other slow-paced, minimal plot mostly vibes, angsty self-discovery lit fic.
It is gothic in the sense that the house is a character and you get a bit of a claustrophobic feel. I came to this after reading CLEANER, another installation in the weird girl subgenera, and this is definitely more focused/less meandering than that one, but I just kept waiting for the beat to drop and it... didn't. It's a me problem.
Definitely check this out if you're in the mood for a litfic, coming of age, #metoo but they're all women, critique of 'feminists' who turn around and do the same thing when they get a sniff of power kind of read.
But the comps? Eh... I don't see it. I mean, maybe. If I squint, really *really* hard. Whilst being concussed. And not wearing glasses, nor contacts.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Mei Mei MacLeod. She did a great job with the read! It would have taken me much longer to get through this if I were reading it as a physical book, so the audiobook was a win.
Thanks, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Premise - Ruby, an up-and-coming filmmaker, moves into the guest room of her idol, Ellen's, house. Surrounded by luxury and in the nest of her inspiration, writing her next film has to be a breeze. Right?
Only Ellen has an angsty 20yo daughter, Lara. Of course. And Ellen? She can't stay away from the mother, nor from the daughter. This family, this house -- the whole shebang could be a haunting.
...but it's not though.😅 I think the comps (Rebecca! Saltburn!) and the description of it as a gothic had me expecting a very different kind of story. This is not horror, at least no more so than any other slow-paced, minimal plot mostly vibes, angsty self-discovery lit fic.
It is gothic in the sense that the house is a character and you get a bit of a claustrophobic feel. I came to this after reading CLEANER, another installation in the weird girl subgenera, and this is definitely more focused/less meandering than that one, but I just kept waiting for the beat to drop and it... didn't. It's a me problem.
Definitely check this out if you're in the mood for a litfic, coming of age, #metoo but they're all women, critique of 'feminists' who turn around and do the same thing when they get a sniff of power kind of read.
But the comps? Eh... I don't see it. I mean, maybe. If I squint, really *really* hard. Whilst being concussed. And not wearing glasses, nor contacts.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Mei Mei MacLeod. She did a great job with the read! It would have taken me much longer to get through this if I were reading it as a physical book, so the audiobook was a win.
Thanks, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 8, 2026
An aspiring filmmaker gets the opportunity to stay with a renowned feminist director and her young adult daughter at their home. Soon, she gets pulled into their messy world.
I loved this book. It’s a brilliant example of the modern gothic genre, equal parts creepy and sexy. It also totally nailed the differences between Gen X feminism and zillenial feminism, and the tensions that can arise from this. Its British country home setting felt extremely Saltburn. Pick this one up for the vibes, and stay for the captivating story.
Thank you to the publisher for giving me access to an eARC of this book!
I loved this book. It’s a brilliant example of the modern gothic genre, equal parts creepy and sexy. It also totally nailed the differences between Gen X feminism and zillenial feminism, and the tensions that can arise from this. Its British country home setting felt extremely Saltburn. Pick this one up for the vibes, and stay for the captivating story.
Thank you to the publisher for giving me access to an eARC of this book!
November 26, 2025
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.
Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company publishing for the early access.
October 25, 2025
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.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I couldn't finish it. It's a personal thing, but I don't enjoy reading books that have no quotations. Especially if it reads like run on sentences in long paragraphs. And most especially when they say the names of the characters over and over.
It's impossible to tell who is talking, who they're talking to, and if they're really even talking at all...
That said, if you like Sally Rooney you'd probably like this one. I was curious about the setting and the dynamics, I just couldn't do the massive dialog with no quotes.
It's impossible to tell who is talking, who they're talking to, and if they're really even talking at all...
That said, if you like Sally Rooney you'd probably like this one. I was curious about the setting and the dynamics, I just couldn't do the massive dialog with no quotes.
February 7, 2026
good and then it all went to shit about halfway through. how many times can you “suddenly realize” something you’ve “always known?” i’m tired
July 27, 2026
2.5
I saw a review by a Claire Fuller that said this was a horror without the horror- and that is exactly how I want to describe it. It has this slow building sense of dread, a claustrophobic atmosphere, and a fever dream quality that kept me invested.
I was convinced it was building toward something dark and unforgettable. Buuuut nothing ever actually happened, for me. I did love the narrator- she really made it that fever dream feel that kept me listening.
During a relentless summer heatwave, aspiring filmmaker Ruby accepts an invitation to stay with her idol, acclaimed director Ellen, while finishing her screenplay. But beneath the glamorous estate, artistic ambition, and shimmering pool lies mounting tension, blurred boundaries, and the unsettling feeling that Ruby isn't the first young woman to fall under the house's spell.
The writing is immersive, the summer setting is incredibly vivid, and the creeping unease is done really well.
If you enjoy literary gothic fiction that's more atmospheric than outright horrifying, this one may be exactly what you're looking for.
I saw a review by a Claire Fuller that said this was a horror without the horror- and that is exactly how I want to describe it. It has this slow building sense of dread, a claustrophobic atmosphere, and a fever dream quality that kept me invested.
I was convinced it was building toward something dark and unforgettable. Buuuut nothing ever actually happened, for me. I did love the narrator- she really made it that fever dream feel that kept me listening.
During a relentless summer heatwave, aspiring filmmaker Ruby accepts an invitation to stay with her idol, acclaimed director Ellen, while finishing her screenplay. But beneath the glamorous estate, artistic ambition, and shimmering pool lies mounting tension, blurred boundaries, and the unsettling feeling that Ruby isn't the first young woman to fall under the house's spell.
The writing is immersive, the summer setting is incredibly vivid, and the creeping unease is done really well.
If you enjoy literary gothic fiction that's more atmospheric than outright horrifying, this one may be exactly what you're looking for.
Read
July 24, 2026DNF @ pg. 95
Unbearably pretentious.
Unbearably pretentious.
September 23, 2026
3.5 This was fine. It was incredibly propulsive and I read it in a day and yet I felt quite literally nothing. The house isn’t a character to me especially considering the majority of the time we spend it in a haze of sex essentially.
I will say if you find gaslighting to be triggering, this will not be for you.
I will say if you find gaslighting to be triggering, this will not be for you.
June 17, 2026
Wtf even happened??? It’s a lot of nothing and THERE ARE NO QUOTATION MARKS A LA SALLY ROONEY AND IT PISSED ME AWWWWFFF
Read
January 18, 2026Imogen 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.
July 30, 2026
What an absolutely BONKERS ride. I was expecting a fun summer read based on the cover but this is like, legit a horror novels that freaked me out.
With some REBECCA vibes (one of my fave movies, peppered with surreal moments and romantic obsession, the mother-daughter relationship that our main character gets caught up in is nothing short of freaky deaky.
It’s claustrophobic, unexpected, and a fantastic yet unexpected takedown of toxic mentorship (this example
being female filmmakers - another jam of mine). The ending was perfect too, which I always take into account with my star ratings. So, a fun weird book that’s not for everyone but for me it was a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
With some REBECCA vibes (one of my fave movies, peppered with surreal moments and romantic obsession, the mother-daughter relationship that our main character gets caught up in is nothing short of freaky deaky.
It’s claustrophobic, unexpected, and a fantastic yet unexpected takedown of toxic mentorship (this example
being female filmmakers - another jam of mine). The ending was perfect too, which I always take into account with my star ratings. So, a fun weird book that’s not for everyone but for me it was a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
November 3, 2025
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.
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.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Every book has its reader. This one's reader just isn't me, and I want to tell you why.
Back in the 1930s, a librarian named S.R. Ranganathan wrote a set of guiding principles for library science. Two of them have stuck with me for 20 years: every reader their book, and every book its reader. The idea is simple. Every person can find books they love, and every book will find the people who love it.
That's my roundabout way of telling you I'm not the reader for Give Me Everything You've Got. And that's genuinely fine.
The premise: Ruby is a young filmmaker just starting to taste success when she's invited to spend the summer at the country house of Ellen, the feminist director she idolizes and who's promised to mentor her. The retreat sours fast. Ruby gets pulled into the mind games between Ellen and her magnetic daughter Lara, and the house itself starts to feel haunted by the sense that she isn't the first promising young woman brought there.
On paper that's gothic Rebecca territory, and I wanted to love it. I just didn't feel it. The characters stayed vague and hard to root for, the pace crawled, and the whole thing is written in long unbroken blocks with no quotation marks around the dialogue. If the goal was to read like one long stream of consciousness, the writing pulls it off. I found it tough to follow.
But not connecting with a book isn't the same as a book being bad. The prose is doing something deliberate, and there are readers who will fall hard for exactly that. If you love literary fiction that asks you to sink into a mood instead of a plot, this could be your summer obsession.
Thank you to Henry Holt for the gifted copy.
Back in the 1930s, a librarian named S.R. Ranganathan wrote a set of guiding principles for library science. Two of them have stuck with me for 20 years: every reader their book, and every book its reader. The idea is simple. Every person can find books they love, and every book will find the people who love it.
That's my roundabout way of telling you I'm not the reader for Give Me Everything You've Got. And that's genuinely fine.
The premise: Ruby is a young filmmaker just starting to taste success when she's invited to spend the summer at the country house of Ellen, the feminist director she idolizes and who's promised to mentor her. The retreat sours fast. Ruby gets pulled into the mind games between Ellen and her magnetic daughter Lara, and the house itself starts to feel haunted by the sense that she isn't the first promising young woman brought there.
On paper that's gothic Rebecca territory, and I wanted to love it. I just didn't feel it. The characters stayed vague and hard to root for, the pace crawled, and the whole thing is written in long unbroken blocks with no quotation marks around the dialogue. If the goal was to read like one long stream of consciousness, the writing pulls it off. I found it tough to follow.
But not connecting with a book isn't the same as a book being bad. The prose is doing something deliberate, and there are readers who will fall hard for exactly that. If you love literary fiction that asks you to sink into a mood instead of a plot, this could be your summer obsession.
Thank you to Henry Holt for the gifted copy.
Read
August 3, 2026A weird little book where nothing really happens but a lot of atmosphere. The book does give that fever-dream quality as a filmmaker ends up staying with her mentor and her daughter over a long week. I liked the style of no quotations and enjoyed the intensity of the characters and their relationships but if felt like build-up with no payoff. A little book with a weird little ending that felt like, at times, an MFA program was hunting me for sport. Like, something deep was supposed to be happening, but in the meantime here was some placeholder literary things (illicit sex, drinking/drugs, queerness).
August 20, 2026
I liked this in a general sense, but it definitely didn't make a lasting impression on me. I wanted more from Ellen--we get nothing about the context of her career or even much about her initial relationship with Ruby. I get that it's supposed to be spare and general, but I don't think that serves the story. I always like when a creepy house story uses the house itself as a character, and I think this book does a good job of that. Even so, I just wanted it to be more vibrant and specific than it was.
July 30, 2026
Im inclined to give this book a lovely review because of how captivated it made me. I was blown away by the events unfolding that i felt somehow in a trance. There were themes I wasn’t fully picking up on and so I see this novel as a perfect book but just not for this time in my life. I will read it again someday i’m sure. Maybe it will be hot outside.
July 16, 2026
2.5 ⭐️
Thank you so much to the Macmillan Audio Early Listeners Program for this ALC!
Give Me Everything You’ve Got is described as a modern gothic story. Throughout the book, we follow Ruby, an up and coming film maker who has been invited to stay with her mentor, Ellen. At the beginning of the book, I had expectations for what it would be, then those expectations were subverted about 30% of the way in.
Ruby is an interesting character to read, mostly because I kept getting the heebie jeebies and I just wanted to scream at her to GET OUT of that house. There were just weird vibes! It was frustrating to read her, it felt as if I were constantly awaiting some kind of jump scare.
Throughout the book, I felt like many of the characters thought or spoke just to sound poignant. Not even necessarily because that is their character, but because the book wanted to say something that felt important. I just continuously felt like it was really trying hard to be meaningful, which often took me out of the reading experience. This combined with a general lack of closure to the book made it less enjoyable than I would’ve hoped.
As an audiobook, I feel as though it was well produced. The audio was clear and the narrator did a good job of portraying that unease that was hovering over the narrative.
Thank you so much to the Macmillan Audio Early Listeners Program for this ALC!
Give Me Everything You’ve Got is described as a modern gothic story. Throughout the book, we follow Ruby, an up and coming film maker who has been invited to stay with her mentor, Ellen. At the beginning of the book, I had expectations for what it would be, then those expectations were subverted about 30% of the way in.
Ruby is an interesting character to read, mostly because I kept getting the heebie jeebies and I just wanted to scream at her to GET OUT of that house. There were just weird vibes! It was frustrating to read her, it felt as if I were constantly awaiting some kind of jump scare.
Throughout the book, I felt like many of the characters thought or spoke just to sound poignant. Not even necessarily because that is their character, but because the book wanted to say something that felt important. I just continuously felt like it was really trying hard to be meaningful, which often took me out of the reading experience. This combined with a general lack of closure to the book made it less enjoyable than I would’ve hoped.
As an audiobook, I feel as though it was well produced. The audio was clear and the narrator did a good job of portraying that unease that was hovering over the narrative.
August 5, 2026
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener copy of this modern gothic novel. The more I sit with this one the more I like it. This is the perfect combination of weird girl modern lit meets Rebecca, but make it more psychological.
From the very beginning this had me in a choke hold. I paused this book numerous times to sit and think about the choices made by the female main character and the conversations had around feminism, identity and sexuality.
The psychological games being played built steadily without feeling overwhelming until you as the reader are unsure of reality. While I have seen many critiques of the plot progression and conclusion, I think the ending was masterfully done. This isn't a plot forward book. The author does an excellent job building dread, anxiety and confusion through manipulation while focusing on the characters.
The audio was narrated well with distinct voices for the characters. I think people who have issues with books without quotation marks will enjoy this audio as an alternative.
4.5 ⭐️
From the very beginning this had me in a choke hold. I paused this book numerous times to sit and think about the choices made by the female main character and the conversations had around feminism, identity and sexuality.
The psychological games being played built steadily without feeling overwhelming until you as the reader are unsure of reality. While I have seen many critiques of the plot progression and conclusion, I think the ending was masterfully done. This isn't a plot forward book. The author does an excellent job building dread, anxiety and confusion through manipulation while focusing on the characters.
The audio was narrated well with distinct voices for the characters. I think people who have issues with books without quotation marks will enjoy this audio as an alternative.
4.5 ⭐️
July 25, 2026
Ruby is a young artist who is grasping for any semblance of upward mobility, so it feels almost too good to be true when she's invited to a mentorship at a famous director's idyllic countryside estate. Naive and eager to prove herself, she slowly begins to question her companions' intentions and, eventually, her own mind. What follows is a fever dream of creative ambition, summer lust, and eventually, paranoia, wrapped up in an eerie gothic atmosphere.
I kept waiting for this to tip into horror, but it really stayed in the realm of "uneasy vibes." It felt like a lot of suspense without much payoff. It's a little more distant than I tend to like for character-driven fiction. Everything felt slightly surface-level, and I kept wanting more of Ruby's interior life. I even found myself almost dissociating from the story at times, as the slow hazy pace was hard to tune into.
However, Mei Mei MacLeod's audiobook narration is exceptional. She captures the novel's strange, unsettled frequency so well that I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook, even without much plot momentum or significant character development to propel it forward.
Thank you to Henry Holt for the ARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC via netgalley!
I kept waiting for this to tip into horror, but it really stayed in the realm of "uneasy vibes." It felt like a lot of suspense without much payoff. It's a little more distant than I tend to like for character-driven fiction. Everything felt slightly surface-level, and I kept wanting more of Ruby's interior life. I even found myself almost dissociating from the story at times, as the slow hazy pace was hard to tune into.
However, Mei Mei MacLeod's audiobook narration is exceptional. She captures the novel's strange, unsettled frequency so well that I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook, even without much plot momentum or significant character development to propel it forward.
Thank you to Henry Holt for the ARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC via netgalley!
July 18, 2026
Give Me Everything You've Got had everything I usually love: gothic atmosphere, sapphic tension, a complicated mentor relationship, and a creepy country house. The premise immediately pulled me in.
I found the writing to be immersive, and Crimp captures the oppressive heat and sense of unease beautifully. The atmosphere is easily the novel's best feature.
Unfortunately, the story became increasingly abstract to me. I kept waiting for the tension to build into something more, but many of the threads never felt fully explored. By the end, I admired what the book was trying to do more than I actually enjoyed reading it.
If you love slow fiction that's driven more by mood than plot, this may be a great fit. It just wasn't quite a perfect book for me.
Thank you NetGalley for the early copy!
I found the writing to be immersive, and Crimp captures the oppressive heat and sense of unease beautifully. The atmosphere is easily the novel's best feature.
Unfortunately, the story became increasingly abstract to me. I kept waiting for the tension to build into something more, but many of the threads never felt fully explored. By the end, I admired what the book was trying to do more than I actually enjoyed reading it.
If you love slow fiction that's driven more by mood than plot, this may be a great fit. It just wasn't quite a perfect book for me.
Thank you NetGalley for the early copy!
June 2, 2026
I don’t know, this one wasn’t really for me. I went back and reread the synopsis after I finished the book, and I didn’t really get that from the book at all.
Ruby is as aspiring screen writer and she goes to stay at a famous director’s house for the summer to work on her screenplay, but gets tangled up with the director’s odd daughter. I didn’t feel like the story was super parsed out. I kept expecting more to happen, but it didn’t.
At first I was kind of bored and then it got tense and weird and then I didn’t understand the ending.
Maybe it went over my head, maybe others will enjoy it, but for me, it just didn’t really work.
Ruby is as aspiring screen writer and she goes to stay at a famous director’s house for the summer to work on her screenplay, but gets tangled up with the director’s odd daughter. I didn’t feel like the story was super parsed out. I kept expecting more to happen, but it didn’t.
At first I was kind of bored and then it got tense and weird and then I didn’t understand the ending.
Maybe it went over my head, maybe others will enjoy it, but for me, it just didn’t really work.
April 13, 2026
This was a pretty good read. This book was well written, and told a unique story but was a bit slow to unfold. As intriguing as this book’s concept was, I failed to relate and feel for the characters and between that and the pacing there were times where I struggled to want to continue reading. I think this book had some good moments and had a lot of potential, but I’m not sure I would categorize it as a horror. Overall, I’m not sure what I thought of this one.
Thank you to Henry Holt for sending me this gifted copy.
Thank you to Henry Holt for sending me this gifted copy.
July 29, 2026
This book was a bit of a slog for me. I'm not the biggest fan of gothic writing, so to me the "modern gothic" bit here was done well in that it was set in a big spooky house; the MC was constantly disassociating, wandering around aimlessly, and losing her mind for no apparent reason; and it was repetitive in a way that was probably intentional but just felt vague and boring. Aside from that, it read a little bit like a toothless "The Guest" by Emma Cline, or like a less compelling "bottle episode" version of a novel by Sally Rooney.
I liked the oddness of Lara's character, and the relationship between her and Ellen. I would have liked the progression of the relationship between Lara and Ruby more, but it felt like Ruby was just randomly doing things. Like, it didn't feel like she was doing anything intentionally or because she wanted to do them, she was just floating around and reacting to things.
Ultimately, I think this would have been ten times better as a short story. I also feel like I would have enjoyed it a lot more as a film, which is a thought I probably had because the main characters were all filmmakers. I feel like an atmospheric, gauzy, somewhat directionless story like this is one I could appreciate more through a visual medium. The claustrophobia of the isolated house, the unbearable heat, the house slowly getting trashed once Ellen leaves, etc. were all very strong visuals in the story, but as a book, I just felt a little unfulfilled.
2.5 rounded up. I listened to an ALC from Libro.fm, and the narration by Mei Mei McLeod was great.
I liked the oddness of Lara's character, and the relationship between her and Ellen. I would have liked the progression of the relationship between Lara and Ruby more, but it felt like Ruby was just randomly doing things. Like, it didn't feel like she was doing anything intentionally or because she wanted to do them, she was just floating around and reacting to things.
Ultimately, I think this would have been ten times better as a short story. I also feel like I would have enjoyed it a lot more as a film, which is a thought I probably had because the main characters were all filmmakers. I feel like an atmospheric, gauzy, somewhat directionless story like this is one I could appreciate more through a visual medium. The claustrophobia of the isolated house, the unbearable heat, the house slowly getting trashed once Ellen leaves, etc. were all very strong visuals in the story, but as a book, I just felt a little unfulfilled.
2.5 rounded up. I listened to an ALC from Libro.fm, and the narration by Mei Mei McLeod was great.
July 25, 2026
Thank you to @henryholtbooks for sponsoring the giveaway through @goodreads for the opportunity to read an ARC of Give Me Everything You've Got by Imogen Crimp. My opinions are my own.
I also fall into the group of those readers who prefer quotations or line breaks for dialogue. Having it within a paragraph makes it difficult for me to follow and I had to go back several times to find where a spoken line ended and descriptive writing began, which ultimately kept interrupting the reading experience.
All in all, beautiful writing in a story that didn't seem to go far and left me with more questions than answers.
I also fall into the group of those readers who prefer quotations or line breaks for dialogue. Having it within a paragraph makes it difficult for me to follow and I had to go back several times to find where a spoken line ended and descriptive writing began, which ultimately kept interrupting the reading experience.
All in all, beautiful writing in a story that didn't seem to go far and left me with more questions than answers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Did Not Finish
July 7, 2026Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. The story moves very slowly (I’m not one for a slow burn) and I found it really difficult to become invested in the characters. I was excited to read it but it just wasn’t what I was looking for.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 230 reviews