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A review by uchechiduruji14
The Ivies by Alexa Donne
3.0
This book was so very close to receiving a 3-star rating from me, but the last 40 pages really had my jaw DROPPED, so I would consider a 3.5 but goodreads doesn’t have those.
Obviously with the recent exposure of what’s been christened “Operation Varsity Blues”, the relevance of the book doesn’t need to be questioned. I think it does go to target a larger conversation of how people who are excluded from the benefits of certain systems seek to join the ranks of those systems instead of making them accessible to all.
The main character, Olivia, is labeled poor in the eyes of her peers who attend an upper echelon prep school for the children of government officials, celebrities, businessmen, etc. She’s taken in by the group that calls themselves “The Ivies”, and while she believes she reaps the benefits of their despicable behavior, she goes to find that they’ve been excluding her all the while. She’s more upset at the fact that they’ve been scheming behind her back, than what the actual schemes were.
This book was a nice genre change for me, because I’ve really bee in in my romance era for MONTHS, and I feel like I want to diversify the types of books I’m reading this year. The teen girlies need to PUT THE COHO DOWN, and start reading books that are actually appropriate for their age, because the damage being done is irreparable. It’s actually been a while since I read a normal book, depending on your standards of normal.
One critique is that a lot of characters were forgettable/one-dimensional and maybe that was an intentional dig at rich spoiled white kids but it made for a difficult read when I couldn’t remember why certain character’s name drops were important. Another is that the ending was cheap and lazy. The killer’s motivations didn’t make nearly enough sense to justify what he’d done. Maybe because they’re teenagers, and the person was unstable their reasonings didn’t have to make sense, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Obviously with the recent exposure of what’s been christened “Operation Varsity Blues”, the relevance of the book doesn’t need to be questioned. I think it does go to target a larger conversation of how people who are excluded from the benefits of certain systems seek to join the ranks of those systems instead of making them accessible to all.
The main character, Olivia, is labeled poor in the eyes of her peers who attend an upper echelon prep school for the children of government officials, celebrities, businessmen, etc. She’s taken in by the group that calls themselves “The Ivies”, and while she believes she reaps the benefits of their despicable behavior, she goes to find that they’ve been excluding her all the while. She’s more upset at the fact that they’ve been scheming behind her back, than what the actual schemes were.
This book was a nice genre change for me, because I’ve really bee in in my romance era for MONTHS, and I feel like I want to diversify the types of books I’m reading this year. The teen girlies need to PUT THE COHO DOWN, and start reading books that are actually appropriate for their age, because the damage being done is irreparable. It’s actually been a while since I read a normal book, depending on your standards of normal.
One critique is that a lot of characters were forgettable/one-dimensional and maybe that was an intentional dig at rich spoiled white kids but it made for a difficult read when I couldn’t remember why certain character’s name drops were important. Another is that the ending was cheap and lazy. The killer’s motivations didn’t make nearly enough sense to justify what he’d done. Maybe because they’re teenagers, and the person was unstable their reasonings didn’t have to make sense, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.