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A review by theelderbooks
Ivory Apples by Lisa Goldstein
4.0
What a quick entertaining read ! Ivory Apples is made of a magical ambiance, and I loved the mixing of fairytale and reality. They entertwine so closely you sometimes don't know what's real anymore, and somehow, in this book, this is a good thing.
Ivy and her family have a secret. Their aunt Maeve is actually Adela Martin, one of the most famous author in the country. Adela only wrote one book, "Ivory Apples" and disappeared from the publishing world altogether after releasing it. When Kate Burden slithers her way into the family, Ivy does not trust her. Kate also has a secret of her own. Who is she really and what does she want ? Ivy doesn't know, but she has a gut feeling it has to do with her aunt and "Ivory Apples"...
This book and I didn't start on the right foot. Lisa Goldstein kind of throws the reader in her world, with little introduction whatsoever, which made the first 40 pages a little hard to read for me. Fortunately I kept going on, and all in all, it was worth it. Even though the story is really fast paced and you have to really focus to keep up, I enjoyed the magical vibe I felt while reading.
As usual, I liked side characters more than the main one, and I fell in love with Ivy's sisters. It might be because they're described from Ivy's point of view, and I felt the big sis love, but I thought they were incredible characters, and their development through the book is delightful.
No spoilers, but I just want to say that Piper definitely reminded me of Peeves in Harry Potter, and I can't express enough how happy I was about him !
The only aspects bugging me were the length of some sections, in which the story felt overdevelopped, the overdescription, how the villain is a little cliché and the redundance of a few paragraphs.
It was a short book, and if you like light fantasy, this really could be a book for you. Some topics might be considered as trigger topics though (child neglection, death, etc...) but it's no highlight of the plot, and I was not shocked by any of it.
Thank you Netgalley and Tachyon publications for providing me with an e-arc of the book !
Ivy and her family have a secret. Their aunt Maeve is actually Adela Martin, one of the most famous author in the country. Adela only wrote one book, "Ivory Apples" and disappeared from the publishing world altogether after releasing it. When Kate Burden slithers her way into the family, Ivy does not trust her. Kate also has a secret of her own. Who is she really and what does she want ? Ivy doesn't know, but she has a gut feeling it has to do with her aunt and "Ivory Apples"...
This book and I didn't start on the right foot. Lisa Goldstein kind of throws the reader in her world, with little introduction whatsoever, which made the first 40 pages a little hard to read for me. Fortunately I kept going on, and all in all, it was worth it. Even though the story is really fast paced and you have to really focus to keep up, I enjoyed the magical vibe I felt while reading.
As usual, I liked side characters more than the main one, and I fell in love with Ivy's sisters. It might be because they're described from Ivy's point of view, and I felt the big sis love, but I thought they were incredible characters, and their development through the book is delightful.
No spoilers, but I just want to say that Piper definitely reminded me of Peeves in Harry Potter, and I can't express enough how happy I was about him !
The only aspects bugging me were the length of some sections, in which the story felt overdevelopped, the overdescription, how the villain is a little cliché and the redundance of a few paragraphs.
It was a short book, and if you like light fantasy, this really could be a book for you. Some topics might be considered as trigger topics though (child neglection, death, etc...) but it's no highlight of the plot, and I was not shocked by any of it.
Thank you Netgalley and Tachyon publications for providing me with an e-arc of the book !