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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
isabella_ramensky's review
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
So I read this book because of Alexa’s youtube channel and was not disappointed.
I am a little younger than the girls in this book and go to school in America so I related to them on a lot of levels. College stuff and whatnot.
A lot of the plot twists were predictable but not in a bad way, in a everything fits together way. And figuring it out was fun.
I thought some of the slang fell a bit flat. Considering the author is older than her characters it makes sense though. mostly I laughed and cringed a tad when something felt off. only happened a few times though.
SPOILERS BELOW:
I liked how you still didn’t really know who it was until Olivia found Tyler’s computer.
On that note though, I got while reading that he mentioned Emma being strangled and it was a little infuriating watching Olivia not notice. I feel like she did that a lot which makes sense as a character thing I guess but still.
Also I ended up loving Avery (which I didn’t expect) even though her getting away unscathed and going to Princeton annoyed me so much.
I was pretty disappointed in what happened with Ethan. I mean I guess that was the point but I really liked how he and Olivia worked together. I mean he was a little cringy and the Harry Potter line was weird considering the age of the characters. Nobody talks about it super much.
I wasn’t super satisfied with Tyler’s motives and confession either. Not sure why, but something was missing. <spoiler end>
Also, I liked Olivia and the detective’s conversations.
Overall I really liked this book.
I am a little younger than the girls in this book and go to school in America so I related to them on a lot of levels. College stuff and whatnot.
A lot of the plot twists were predictable but not in a bad way, in a everything fits together way. And figuring it out was fun.
I thought some of the slang fell a bit flat. Considering the author is older than her characters it makes sense though. mostly I laughed and cringed a tad when something felt off. only happened a few times though.
SPOILERS BELOW:
On that note though, I got while reading that he mentioned Emma being strangled and it was a little infuriating watching Olivia not notice. I feel like she did that a lot which makes sense as a character thing I guess but still.
Also I ended up loving Avery (which I didn’t expect) even though her getting away unscathed and going to Princeton annoyed me so much.
I was pretty disappointed in what happened with Ethan. I mean I guess that was the point but I really liked how he and Olivia worked together. I mean he was a little cringy and the Harry Potter line was weird considering the age of the characters. Nobody talks about it super much.
I wasn’t super satisfied with Tyler’s motives and confession either. Not sure why, but something was missing. <spoiler end>
Also, I liked Olivia and the detective’s conversations.
Overall I really liked this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Racism, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Gun violence, Outing, Incest, and Eating disorder
spookystag's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Racism, and Sexual content
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
heytherekaity's review
challenging
dark
emotional
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
Review to be published on kaitplusbooks.com later this month!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence
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