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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
This book had the most basic and annoying characters. The plot was predictable, and the killer's motive was ridiculous. A lot of the characters had no built up personality whatsoever.
This book is told from the perspective of Olivia, a girl going to a prep school on a scholarship. Her friend group is the elite, all aiming for Ivy League schools and will do just about anything to get that. When an Ivy drops dead, Olivia decides to solve it.
Needless to say, I didn't see that final plot twist coming. It was such an exciting, fast paced book and I truly enjoyed reading it.
Needless to say, I didn't see that final plot twist coming. It was such an exciting, fast paced book and I truly enjoyed reading it.
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This ended up being a really good mystery thriller.
It started a little slow, and the characters were a little off putting and hard to connect with but once Olivia started looking into the murder in earnest, everything really picked up. I felt like the Ivies were true to stereotypes and truly unlikeable girls, to the point where you didn’t want anything good for them. I also like that it played into not being able to trust what anyone from that “community,” the wealthy and the elite boarding school. The reveals were really good and it was very enjoyable.
It started a little slow, and the characters were a little off putting and hard to connect with but once Olivia started looking into the murder in earnest, everything really picked up. I felt like the Ivies were true to stereotypes and truly unlikeable girls, to the point where you didn’t want anything good for them. I also like that it played into not being able to trust what anyone from that “community,” the wealthy and the elite boarding school. The reveals were really good and it was very enjoyable.
as a senior currently going through the college admissions process i will say this was an interesting one. i kept going back and forth between who did it to the point where i couldn’t trust anyone. it was so so so good!! totally recommend for murder mystery lovers like me!!
First reviewed on my blog, Pretty Little Memoirs.
The Ivies are the most prestigious, highly-wanted Unis in the USA. Even me, being British to my core, knows that they exist, and are some of the most talked-about, made-movies-about schools out there. But this book isn’t just about the Ivies as academic places. No, this story quite immediately revolves around the Ivies: five girls with a common mission in life. They want to get into the Ivy League, and would quite literally do anything to get into them, no matter who stood in the way. But what they anticipate as their golden plans of ruining other people’s chances at getting in to make their applications look better, doing all the low-cost dirty work that it entails, will end in a way none of them could have planned.
Every mean girls group needs a leader, and of the five girls, Avery seems to take that position very seriously. And as the girls individually are supposed to apply to different Ivy Leagues – never the same as each other, to maximise their chances of getting in to those schools – it all goes wrong when clique-leader Avery doesn’t get into Harvard, her chosen school. But when she realises that Emma, one of the other girls, applied – and got in – she blames her for the failure. Our main character, Olivia – one of the other girls – tells the story through her eyes. She watches the whole thing unfold, secretly holding her own cards to her chest – she also applied to Harvard and got accepted, but she makes it apparent to herself that telling Avery is a big no. Only, when Emma turns up dead, Olivia’s life is thrown into chaos. She no longer trusts Avery, and after finding out the other girls have been doing a lot behind each other’s backs, doesn’t know if she can trust them, either. And when it’s obvious the police aren’t going to look into it as much as she could, she decides to dig into the truth herself with the help of the very-cute Ethan to get to the bottom of it.
Overall, The Ivies promised elite scandal, murder and edgy vibes and it absolutely delivered. Whilst it did have a slow start, as soon as the plot kicks into overdrive with the death of Emma, it picks up majorly and gets juicy. I could literally not put this down the last week of August, even though I was definitely meant to be doing other things. If you’re looking for something darker, cut-throat, and addictive to read, The Ivies will be right up your street. Huge four star read!
I read this book for prompt # 13 "An Academic Thriller" for the 52 Book Club Challenge. I also read it because my 13-year old did and told me I'd like it. She was right!
An interesting concept for a book (read summary to know what it's about). I was fully invested from the start and was continually drawn back in. Once I finished reading, it was fun to discuss with my daughter to see what she thought about each character, who the real killer was, and to contemplate the twists as there were quite a few. Glad I read this one.
An interesting concept for a book (read summary to know what it's about). I was fully invested from the start and was continually drawn back in. Once I finished reading, it was fun to discuss with my daughter to see what she thought about each character, who the real killer was, and to contemplate the twists as there were quite a few. Glad I read this one.
full review here! https://teatimelit.com/2021/05/25/blog-tour-review-the-ivies-by-alexa-donne/
There are a few things that I think a book absolutely needs to be categorized as a good dark academia mystery/thriller: an unreliable narrator, a gripping mystery with lots of twists and turns, ruthlessly ambitious and morally gray characters, and insane amounts of drama. The Ivies has all of that and then some.
I was hooked from the first page. In fact, once I started I don’t think I stopped until I was around 60% through, and the only reason I stopped was because I needed to sleep (ugh that pesky thing that gets in the way of reading time). The story was dramatic and over the top and I was addicted. I loved how descriptive the writing was; it was so easy to picture everything that was happening. I felt that the plot twists and reveals were done extremely well. They made sense with the direction the story was headed and there was the right amount of shock factor without it seeming completely out of left field. The plot twists had the desired effect and kept me interested and eager to continue reading. The vibes felt reminiscent of both Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars, two of my favorite teen dramas, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually saw a screen adaptation as the writing also felt very cinematic.
The overall mystery was incredibly thrilling. I liked that it wasn’t super obvious which character was going to die right from the get-go. There were two characters that I thought would be the victim at the start and I flip-flopped on which one of them I thought it would be. I wasn’t completely sure until just before we found out. Once it was revealed, the mystery just kept developing. I definitely found myself putting on my sleuth hat and trying to piece together all of the information. Honestly, I was almost considering starting an online murder board to keep track of all the possible suspects and their motives. There was so much information; the story just kept building and building and when it finally came to a head it all made sense.
There are a few things that I think a book absolutely needs to be categorized as a good dark academia mystery/thriller: an unreliable narrator, a gripping mystery with lots of twists and turns, ruthlessly ambitious and morally gray characters, and insane amounts of drama. The Ivies has all of that and then some.
I was hooked from the first page. In fact, once I started I don’t think I stopped until I was around 60% through, and the only reason I stopped was because I needed to sleep (ugh that pesky thing that gets in the way of reading time). The story was dramatic and over the top and I was addicted. I loved how descriptive the writing was; it was so easy to picture everything that was happening. I felt that the plot twists and reveals were done extremely well. They made sense with the direction the story was headed and there was the right amount of shock factor without it seeming completely out of left field. The plot twists had the desired effect and kept me interested and eager to continue reading. The vibes felt reminiscent of both Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars, two of my favorite teen dramas, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually saw a screen adaptation as the writing also felt very cinematic.
The overall mystery was incredibly thrilling. I liked that it wasn’t super obvious which character was going to die right from the get-go. There were two characters that I thought would be the victim at the start and I flip-flopped on which one of them I thought it would be. I wasn’t completely sure until just before we found out. Once it was revealed, the mystery just kept developing. I definitely found myself putting on my sleuth hat and trying to piece together all of the information. Honestly, I was almost considering starting an online murder board to keep track of all the possible suspects and their motives. There was so much information; the story just kept building and building and when it finally came to a head it all made sense.