Scan barcode
laurenevlyn's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So many twists and turns wow! If you’re looking for a book where every single character is morally grey (leaning towards morally black in some cases), this is the book for you. Every character was fleshed out, with their own motivations and secrets. Very quick fun read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Murder, Cursing, and Death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Rape, Racism, Outing, and Pedophilia
phantastic's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is the type of book that you’ll be thinking about long after you finish reading it. This story brings to attention many real-world issues embedded in the college admissions system and just how ruthless people can be when they chase after something they want.
No one is absolutely good, no one is absolutely evil, and people are always hiding parts of themselves from others. The characters are deeply flawed, and yet that’s what makes them realistic.
The Ivies does its job well, and I’ll certainly be left reflecting for a long time.
No one is absolutely good, no one is absolutely evil, and people are always hiding parts of themselves from others. The characters are deeply flawed, and yet that’s what makes them realistic.
The Ivies does its job well, and I’ll certainly be left reflecting for a long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Cursing, Classism, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Bullying, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Incest, Gun violence, Rape, Eating disorder, Outing, and Homophobia
myleesimm's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Racism, Homophobia, Outing, Murder, and Gun violence
dream_in_pastel's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, and Bullying
Minor: Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Racism
storyorc's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a book about bitches, male and female, and is willing to hold them accountable for their bitchery.
The camp tone requires you to play along (starting with the idea that a group of mean girls are referred to as 'the Ivies' by actual human peers). It is more of a Knives Out than a Hound of the Baskervilles, with the caveat that it is much more predictable than either.
Though none of the boys are as compelling as the female leads, every character is either hiding something or trying something. The Ivies is very much a book of its time as well. References to 'the oppression Olympics' (which Donne boldly tries to convince us her protagonist's mother coined) and Elizabeth Warren are harmless, and the through-line about systemic injustice is pertinent. However, this is strained to the point of parody by the end. I feel Sierra, the Ivies' only black member, would have benefited from exchanging about 20% of her dialogue on race issues for another character trait besides 'hacker' too. (Side note: unless Girls Who Code has drastically changed their mandate since my involvement, their web dev classes will not give you the skillset to hack your school's IT systems.)
The climax is a bit of an eye-roll but upon completion of that, we are rewarded with the most interesting moral notes of the book. Donne pokes her head above the crowd here when she forsakes the nice but unmemorable ending for one where a) the logical consequences of the murder scandal play out with no care for plot armour and b) our narrator, Olivia, when faced with one test of character, choosesthe dark side! To play the game in the documentary interview in pursuit of sweet, sweet validation. Relatable enough to root for; bold enough to balk at.
I usually steer clear of high school drama, college admissions, and rich boarding school stories, yet Ivies has such a snappy voice and the plot was so peppy that I finished it in one day. I only hope Donne's next book bears a different setting.
The camp tone requires you to play along (starting with the idea that a group of mean girls are referred to as 'the Ivies' by actual human peers). It is more of a Knives Out than a Hound of the Baskervilles, with the caveat that it is much more predictable than either.
Though none of the boys are as compelling as the female leads, every character is either hiding something or trying something. The Ivies is very much a book of its time as well. References to 'the oppression Olympics' (which Donne boldly tries to convince us her protagonist's mother coined) and Elizabeth Warren are harmless, and the through-line about systemic injustice is pertinent. However, this is strained to the point of parody by the end. I feel Sierra, the Ivies' only black member, would have benefited from exchanging about 20% of her dialogue on race issues for another character trait besides 'hacker' too. (Side note: unless Girls Who Code has drastically changed their mandate since my involvement, their web dev classes will not give you the skillset to hack your school's IT systems.)
The climax is a bit of an eye-roll but upon completion of that, we are rewarded with the most interesting moral notes of the book. Donne pokes her head above the crowd here when she forsakes the nice but unmemorable ending for one where a) the logical consequences of the murder scandal play out with no care for plot armour and b) our narrator, Olivia, when faced with one test of character, chooses
I usually steer clear of high school drama, college admissions, and rich boarding school stories, yet Ivies has such a snappy voice and the plot was so peppy that I finished it in one day. I only hope Donne's next book bears a different setting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Minor: Racism, Rape, and Homophobia
tripwired's review
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I LOVEDD THIS BOOK! it was SO bizzare but in a good way if you know what i mean. for all my A2C people this is for you. <during tyler´s affirmative action monologue at the end i was laughing so hard.> in the beginning, i had my doubts, seeing that the tropes incorporated in this book are tired and overused, but i realized that the entire point is for the book to be crazy and impossible. once i stopped with my annoying ´this would never happen in real life´ attitude i loved it. if you´re going to read this book, make sure you´re not in the mood for a dark, intense, brilliantly plotted mystery, but more of a wtf this book is actually insane mood.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Racism, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Eating disorder
caffeineandcomposition's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Alcohol
Minor: Pedophilia, Racism, Stalking, Homophobia, and Gaslighting
thetealdeal's review
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Racism, and Homophobia
cepbreed's review
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
My love for this book really crept up on me, originally I wasn't into the long exposition and drivel about another classic pack of mean girls but when the action picked up I was fully head over heels. The characters were unlikable and gritty, everyone is a suspect, and no one can be trusted. It falls into so many of those YA mystery novel tropes, but does them well enough to stay interesting. All of this really hit home for me though, and I literally mean home. I live so close to where all of this fictional action is taking place, and my brother is attending one of the cut throat colleges mentioned early on, its insane. Plus I'm a senior this year so admissions are my current hell.
Why try and redeem Avery at all? It would've been much better leaving her as a completely irredeemable bitch instead of changing her character to help the one-note-poor-girl MC. She was meant to be bad, they all were, even the MC, so I felt no remorse for any (minimal) consequences they received.
Songs:
Songs:
- Bang Bang Bang Bang - Sohodolls
- Are You Satisfied? - Marina and the Diamonds
- Teacher’s Pet - Melanie Martinez
- Boarding School - Lana Del Rey (unreleased)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, and Incest
thesaltiestlibrarian's review
dark
tense
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? It's complicated
2.0
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are mine alone and may not reflect the views of the author, publisher, or distributor.
A lot of thoughts are swirling around my head, and I'm not even sure where to start. Let's break it down. So you have this private school, Claflin, in Massachusetts. Sounds swanky, right? It's also cutthroat. Only a few students every year are admitted into Ivy League schools.
You know what, no, I'm going off. I can't stand it. I grew up poor and didn't even think I'd ever have the chance to go to college. But I did, because I worked my ass off in full-time online courses for two years WHILE I took care of my grandmother so my parents could work. Those online grades got me scholarships to the campus I eventually attended, and yes, I think it's good for people to study what they're passionate about. But we need to stop pushing the "college is the only option" narrative on teenagers. It's unrealistic with the way things are run right now. Education is becoming a privilege, which is absolutely not what it actually is. I can teach myself the same physics for free at the library that someone shells out $100,000 for at a college that equates in the long run to buying brand-name toothpaste: no one cares in the real world, it holds no actual sway, and is swindling you out of money you can spend on the same damn thing somewhere else.
This book didn't deliver on the narrative that it could have. We got rich people problems running amok, terrible people being terrible, and no real discourse on how education elitism is poisoning the post-secondary tracts that should ultimately be free or HIGHLY reduced in-state. The whole motive in this book was so ludicrous that I very nearly stopped reading at the 89% mark. Private school is a sham, Ivy Leagues mean nothing, and standardized testing only measures your ability to take a test and memorize crap.
The writing was fine, I couldn't have cared less about any of the characters, and the narrator was no more innocent or lovable than the nearest Fannie Mae CEO. Nothing about these people was redeemable. No one tried to redeem themselves in any capacity. The only reason I'm not more pissy is that this actually had structure and plot that held me. Olivia's whole "we're not the same, sis" attitude got old FAST, and I can't believe she was surprised at her friends' horrible actions.
The reason I AM pissy is the lack of indictment on college scandal and the price of education. If Donne had just taken that extra step, THE IVIES would have been absolutely scathing. But we got a run-of-the-mill YA mystery that actually left me feeling that Donne approves of the current state of affairs. If you're looking for the next Holly Jackson, this ain't it. If you're looking for societal commentary, it's not here. This book is a reflection of Ivy Leagues: promises a whole bunch and delivers only disappointment and a time commitment you can't get back.
A lot of thoughts are swirling around my head, and I'm not even sure where to start. Let's break it down. So you have this private school, Claflin, in Massachusetts. Sounds swanky, right? It's also cutthroat. Only a few students every year are admitted into Ivy League schools.
You know what, no, I'm going off. I can't stand it. I grew up poor and didn't even think I'd ever have the chance to go to college. But I did, because I worked my ass off in full-time online courses for two years WHILE I took care of my grandmother so my parents could work. Those online grades got me scholarships to the campus I eventually attended, and yes, I think it's good for people to study what they're passionate about. But we need to stop pushing the "college is the only option" narrative on teenagers. It's unrealistic with the way things are run right now. Education is becoming a privilege, which is absolutely not what it actually is. I can teach myself the same physics for free at the library that someone shells out $100,000 for at a college that equates in the long run to buying brand-name toothpaste: no one cares in the real world, it holds no actual sway, and is swindling you out of money you can spend on the same damn thing somewhere else.
This book didn't deliver on the narrative that it could have. We got rich people problems running amok, terrible people being terrible, and no real discourse on how education elitism is poisoning the post-secondary tracts that should ultimately be free or HIGHLY reduced in-state. The whole motive in this book was so ludicrous that I very nearly stopped reading at the 89% mark. Private school is a sham, Ivy Leagues mean nothing, and standardized testing only measures your ability to take a test and memorize crap.
The writing was fine, I couldn't have cared less about any of the characters, and the narrator was no more innocent or lovable than the nearest Fannie Mae CEO. Nothing about these people was redeemable. No one tried to redeem themselves in any capacity. The only reason I'm not more pissy is that this actually had structure and plot that held me. Olivia's whole "we're not the same, sis" attitude got old FAST, and I can't believe she was surprised at her friends' horrible actions.
The reason I AM pissy is the lack of indictment on college scandal and the price of education. If Donne had just taken that extra step, THE IVIES would have been absolutely scathing. But we got a run-of-the-mill YA mystery that actually left me feeling that Donne approves of the current state of affairs. If you're looking for the next Holly Jackson, this ain't it. If you're looking for societal commentary, it's not here. This book is a reflection of Ivy Leagues: promises a whole bunch and delivers only disappointment and a time commitment you can't get back.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Vomit, Drug use, Gun violence, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Incest and Homophobia
More...