Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

White Ivy by Susie Yang

11 reviews

knkoch's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Hmmm. I feel conflicted about this one. It read like a literary thriller, and reminded me a lot of Lucy Foley’s The Guest List, with a bit less propulsion and plot twist. The sinister natures of the characters, the internal anguish, haunted pasts, corruptive nature of visible wealth and luxury, not to mention the deep dread of an upcoming wedding (!).

There are some interesting ideas explored here, like the contrast between visible and quiet wealth. The way the wholesomeness of Gideon and Ivy’s families seem to switch from childhood to adulthood, in the same way their finances do, seems to speak to the way poverty grinds people down into worse versions of themselves. And the treatment of the Lin’s immigrant experience is handled well. But I can’t really see myself recommending this book. I lost heart in all of the characters about two thirds of the way through. When I can’t identify with anyone’s choices or motivations in a story, I struggle to stay invested in the outcome. To me, there’s just no light in this. I guess I need more of that in a story, somewhere, so this one was just too dark and grim for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Infidelity, Death, and Alcohol

a character commits murder.

kylieqrada's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

She's just not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Eating disorder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

alyssa_tauber's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Death, Murder, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

angstyevie's review

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape, Mental illness, Classism, Car accident, and Blood

kelly_e's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

2.0

Title: White Ivy
Author: Susie Yang
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 2.0
Pub Date: November 3, 2020

T H R E E • W O R D S

Daring • Vindictive • Modern

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Ivy Lin, moved to America with her family as a young girl and grows up in a low-income complex in Massachusetts while attending a wealthy school thanks to her father's job. Her grandmother, and mentor, has taught her to take what she wants or needs. She is desperate to assimilate with her peers, but her family has other plans for her. When she develops an obsession with golden-boy Gideon Speyer, her overbearing mother steps in. Throughout all of this Ivy develops a taste for winning and wealth, and will go to great lengths to get what she wants. An exploration of immigration, class, race, family and identity.

💭 T H O U G H T S

White Ivy is the immigrant story I was not expecting from debut author Susie Yang. With a cast of complex characters, the real stand out here is the writing. Yang built the drama and intensity in such a way that the reader feels immersed in Ivy's story as she tests the boundaries in order to get what she wants. I also liked the exploration of opposing forces; preserving heritage and tradition, or assimilating. But for me that good end there, and without the help of the audiobook I'm not sure I would have made it through. I definitely have a hard time getting behind such a manipulative, narcissistic, and selfish character, where at times it simply felt the author was going for shock value.

Ivy is definitely a character I won't soon forget, so I guess Yang has succeed there, but this story was just not for me.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who like unlikeable characters
• anyone looking for an own voices immigrant story

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"She had long ago realized that the truth wasn't important, it was the apperance of things that would serve her.
Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Murder, Death, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Mental illness, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

Minor: Ableism

depression,

thenovelmaura's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A Booksta friend told me before this book was even released that I would like it, and she was right! I had a great time reading about someone who was so much more real than she was likeable. At first I thought Ivy was manipulative, and those who label her as such aren't wrong. It seems more accurate to describe her as an expert at reading people and acting in ways they wanted so that she could be liked. Although she did sometimes use this skill to get her way, I felt she was as much a victim to this oppressive need to be adored as her targets were. Maybe this sympathetic view came easier to me because of the initial chapters where we're told how Ivy wanted to be white and wanted to be pretty (because you can't have one without the other) in her majority-white school, pre-adolescent feelings I recognized all too well. It was brilliant how Yang started with Ivy's childhood so that the reader could see how this vibrant, flawed being came into existence.

Anyway, I definitely don't condone all of Ivy's choices, but they made for a fascinating story. And the audiobook was very well-done, too. Yang is a talented author and I can hardly believe this is her debut!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Murder

khise's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Eating disorder and Racism

kutreen's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It was really refreshing to read a book with a main character who is not just imperfect in a quirky way, but flawed in a deep way. I think most people can relate to at least one of Ivy's dark feelings or thought processes, which are too taboo to talk to people about, probably even to your best friend. Yang delves into the parts of Ivy -- and ourselves -- that are too shameful to talk about, but also so central to the way we approach and walk through life. The same raw honesty was present in Yang's writing about Ivy's family, which has real problems that aren't easily resolved -- like in real life! Bottom line: I love how real this book is. I admire Yang's vulnerability in pulling these feelings and thoughts out of her head and sharing them with us. I also appreciate the non-russian Eastern European representation :)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Eating disorder, Medical content, and Murder

alicelalicon's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Bullying

booksandprosecco's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Cancer and Murder