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A review by hanghuhn
The Ivies by Alexa Donne
emotional
sad
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
I don't know anything about college/university and schools in the US. I don't know why they need to write essays for the applications and also, the whole concept of elite universities, at least the elite universities in the US, is foreign to me. Although I also study at an "elite university" (excellence university) in Germany, from what I gather, it's completely different.
So I don't know how realistic this boarding school/applying to university in this book is. The protiagonist are mostly not likeable, they are rich kids who think they can get anything what they want. Maybe there are too many clichés, but we all know that rich people behave badly and think they are the best and can get what they want without consequences.
And than there is this schoolarship girl, Olivia, at this elite boarding school. She dreams of going to Harvard since she was a child, but doesn't have the money and background all the others at her school have. The Ivies, a group of mean girls, takes her under their wing and manipulates the girl who tries her best to fit in. So she falls for the Ivies. She does things that are not okay, but the rest of the Ivies do worse things.
There are secrets and scams, money flows between the rich kids, they cheat on exams, but hey, they wont get caught or get any punishment. Their families have connections, money, lawyers.
And than one of the Ivies is dead. Murdered. Olivia is scared. What if it's one of her supposed friends? Because the dead friend got into Harvard and Avery, the leader, was rejected. And Olivia got into Harvard, too, but keeps this from Avery. Because of the pact that the Ivies made. One girl for each elite university.
Olivia is determined to solve this murder. She has help from the boy she has a crush on, Ethan.
Olivia digs deep and although she receives threats to stop or else, she wont stop. She wants to know if the Ivies kept secrets from her and why. She thought they were her friends, but thankfully, she starts to question their behaviour. But then, especially Avery is nice to her again and it seems like she isn't that bad.
I've read an Amazon review about this book where the reviewer says that the book is racist because of the way the author talks about all those rich kids – they are white BTW (with the exception from Sierra, one of the Ivies). The reviewer says that it seems that racism is okay if it's against white. Well, there is no racism against white people. It's called discrimination, but not racism. And maybe some people may feel a bit offended, but than it may be because you are on of those white, rich kids who can get whatever they want without any consequences, punishment and so on. Maybe you should ask yourself why you feel offended.
I liked the book, not the things the Ivies did. But I liked that Olivia got out stronger.
A few words about Olivia and Ethan: At first I thought they would be great together, as a pair. But Ethan turns out to be just like the rest. Not because he did bad things, well, he did. He participated in Emmas SAT scam. But otherwise he seems to be harmless. But his apology towards Olivia, or his so-called apology ... I'm glad that Olivia stood up for herself and didn't let her crush blind her. It isn't always necessary for a girl in a YA novel to get together with her crush. It would have been a nice ending, but Olivia didn't need Ethan or any boyfriend.
So I don't know how realistic this boarding school/applying to university in this book is. The protiagonist are mostly not likeable, they are rich kids who think they can get anything what they want. Maybe there are too many clichés, but we all know that rich people behave badly and think they are the best and can get what they want without consequences.
And than there is this schoolarship girl, Olivia, at this elite boarding school. She dreams of going to Harvard since she was a child, but doesn't have the money and background all the others at her school have. The Ivies, a group of mean girls, takes her under their wing and manipulates the girl who tries her best to fit in. So she falls for the Ivies. She does things that are not okay, but the rest of the Ivies do worse things.
There are secrets and scams, money flows between the rich kids, they cheat on exams, but hey, they wont get caught or get any punishment. Their families have connections, money, lawyers.
And than one of the Ivies is dead. Murdered. Olivia is scared. What if it's one of her supposed friends? Because the dead friend got into Harvard and Avery, the leader, was rejected. And Olivia got into Harvard, too, but keeps this from Avery. Because of the pact that the Ivies made. One girl for each elite university.
Olivia is determined to solve this murder. She has help from the boy she has a crush on, Ethan.
Olivia digs deep and although she receives threats to stop or else, she wont stop. She wants to know if the Ivies kept secrets from her and why. She thought they were her friends, but thankfully, she starts to question their behaviour. But then, especially Avery is nice to her again and it seems like she isn't that bad.
I've read an Amazon review about this book where the reviewer says that the book is racist because of the way the author talks about all those rich kids – they are white BTW (with the exception from Sierra, one of the Ivies). The reviewer says that it seems that racism is okay if it's against white. Well, there is no racism against white people. It's called discrimination, but not racism. And maybe some people may feel a bit offended, but than it may be because you are on of those white, rich kids who can get whatever they want without any consequences, punishment and so on. Maybe you should ask yourself why you feel offended.
I liked the book, not the things the Ivies did. But I liked that Olivia got out stronger.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Toxic friendship, and Death
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Adult/minor relationship