The Ivies

The Ivies is a book that has been on my tbr for a very long time and it's also a book that I went into completely unaware, which I'm finding is the best way to read a book.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Usually, I find that Young Adult Thriller/Mysteries fall a bit flat as they have to attempt to not be too scary for their targeted audiences, however, this was so much fun.

The mystery and the thrill of Olivia and Ethan investigating the murder of Olivia's roommate and friend, Emma reminded me a lot of A Good Girl's Guide To Murder (aka the best series ever). I love not being able to trust any of the characters and having a feeling of suspicion about all of them, it almost makes it feel as if I'm a part of the story.

Olivia was such a fun main protagonist and someone that you couldn't help but root for.

I would've loved to have rated this book higher than I had but there were a few things that I didn't like about this book. I disliked the motive behind Emma's death and I wasn't a huge fan of how the ending played out.

Overall, this was fun and I can see myself revisiting this again in the future.

Wow. This book was awful. It felt like a first draft someone in high school turned in after they wrote it in one night before the deadline.
I hadn't heard of Alexa Donne until I read this book, but after finishing The Ivies I searched her and was absolutely horrified to learn she gives writing advice on Youtube. After watching many of her videos, I feel as though my brain has melted into a puddle of goo. Please, if you are looking for writing advice, do not take any of hers. If anything, use her videos as a guideline of what not to do.
I'm sorry for being uncharacteristically harsh, I am just so stunned by this author and her work.

I am so disappointed.
The book was hypocritical, pretending to stand up for some social issues and high morals, whilst excusing the worst behaviour, and promoting prejudice and dismissiveness. It was all performative platitudes.
No consistency.
The most ridiculous reason for the murderer to murder.
I absolutely hated the main character - no character arc, terrible personality, zero morals. But she was poor, so it's okay. Apparently.
I gave it two stars only because there was a moment between 20 and 60% where I was somewhat intrigued.