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thespinystacks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow, what a story. To say it’s a coming of age story would be an injustice, to say it was simply an immigrant story would be an injustice. Don’t get me wrong, it is both of these things but it is so much more.
Ivy Lin is a cunning Chinese woman who we first meet as a young child living in China. She is summoned by her parents who are living in USA and must adjust to a new life with them. We follow her through her teenage years with a crush on the rich boy in class, through her desire to assimilate but never quite achieving it, into young adulthood and her late 20s where she knows who she is - but are we supposed to like who she’s become?
Ivy manipulates the people around her using whatever she can. Whenever I thought I understood her motivation - she turned a different way and revealed another unknown facet to her personality and mind. I loved that about Ivy, even though I didn’t love Ivy herself.
Ivy is a largely unlikely lead, but you still feel for her when she missteps. I loved the journey I went on with Ivy and she kept me on the edge of my seat for much of this book. I’ll remember her always, but not always kindly.
Ivy Lin is a cunning Chinese woman who we first meet as a young child living in China. She is summoned by her parents who are living in USA and must adjust to a new life with them. We follow her through her teenage years with a crush on the rich boy in class, through her desire to assimilate but never quite achieving it, into young adulthood and her late 20s where she knows who she is - but are we supposed to like who she’s become?
Ivy manipulates the people around her using whatever she can. Whenever I thought I understood her motivation - she turned a different way and revealed another unknown facet to her personality and mind. I loved that about Ivy, even though I didn’t love Ivy herself.
Ivy is a largely unlikely lead, but you still feel for her when she missteps. I loved the journey I went on with Ivy and she kept me on the edge of my seat for much of this book. I’ll remember her always, but not always kindly.
Content Warnings
Minor: Eating disorder
nadia's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
There were points where I was really intrigued, but pretty much all of the characters were terrible people and I couldn't get a grip on their desires or motivations. There were also some key plot points that didn't seem fully believable.
I listed to this on audio and, on the whole, I thought the narration by Emily Woo Zeller was great!
I listed to this on audio and, on the whole, I thought the narration by Emily Woo Zeller was great!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Eating disorder
madlads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a rollercoaster of a book. I was about halfway through and like hm, thought it was going to be more thrillery, but was still really interested and then got to the last section and bam! Really engaging book, keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time,highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Homophobia
whatannikareads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
YOOOOO THIS WAS ACTUALLY SO GOOD?
i thought white ivy was such a captivating read. ivy is a very vain girl who grew up fairly poor, wanting to fit in with the rich kids of the white suburb a block over. she has a crush on this golden white boy, gideon, and tries to get his attention. however, her mom catches wind of her liking boys (interfering with her studies), thus sending her to china to spend time with her aunts. this essentially cuts off her chance with gideon and her friendship with roux, a romanian boy who she strikes a sort of friendship with consisting of stealing and lying.
fast forward and a decade goes by before they re-enter her life but in very different circumstances and their storylines get intertwined.
this. book. is. so. addicting. the writing itself is so beautiful and articulate. it raises questions about the characters that made me think as i hadn't noticed the details, and then sort of discussed possibilities and what not after, which i appreciated.
one thing going into this: ivy is not a likable character and i don't believe she is meant to be. but i loved how her and her family portrayed a familiar asian american family but with much more realistic complexities—not just being a fob or a rich transplant like the typical tropes. ivy's personality isn't based solely on her ethnicity, and while she isn't a very good person, you can't (at least I couldn't) stop reading about her, almost like observing a creature in a glass case.
i also loved that the love triangle plays upon typical tropes but also makes each guy's personalities complex as well so it's not obvious who you're supposed to root for. some people like me may enter this saying, 'ugh not another asian girl liking a white guy,' but i think this story couldn't have been done any other way otherwise, as it is a commentary on race and class and is very specific to THAT sort of white generational wealth vs. new money.
I ENJOYED THIS SO MUCH i couldn't put it down once i picked it up. each character made me skeptical (because of the questions susie throws in) of their intentions and what was bubbling underneath. i figured out the *major thing* right before it happened and gasped when it actually happened. i also was completely blindsided by the *plot twist* but i loved how it made me sit and have to reevaluate everything i just read. i think some people may not vibe with the ending, but i enjoyed it! it was a sort of sweet release—not necessarily good for you, but you couldn't give lesser of a fuck because yup! life sort of sucks ass and at the end of the day, we're all humans and you're not any better than me! i'm the only one who can look out for myself!
i thought white ivy was such a captivating read. ivy is a very vain girl who grew up fairly poor, wanting to fit in with the rich kids of the white suburb a block over. she has a crush on this golden white boy, gideon, and tries to get his attention. however, her mom catches wind of her liking boys (interfering with her studies), thus sending her to china to spend time with her aunts. this essentially cuts off her chance with gideon and her friendship with roux, a romanian boy who she strikes a sort of friendship with consisting of stealing and lying.
fast forward and a decade goes by before they re-enter her life but in very different circumstances and their storylines get intertwined.
this. book. is. so. addicting. the writing itself is so beautiful and articulate. it raises questions about the characters that made me think as i hadn't noticed the details, and then sort of discussed possibilities and what not after, which i appreciated.
one thing going into this: ivy is not a likable character and i don't believe she is meant to be. but i loved how her and her family portrayed a familiar asian american family but with much more realistic complexities—not just being a fob or a rich transplant like the typical tropes. ivy's personality isn't based solely on her ethnicity, and while she isn't a very good person, you can't (at least I couldn't) stop reading about her, almost like observing a creature in a glass case.
i also loved that the love triangle plays upon typical tropes but also makes each guy's personalities complex as well so it's not obvious who you're supposed to root for. some people like me may enter this saying, 'ugh not another asian girl liking a white guy,' but i think this story couldn't have been done any other way otherwise, as it is a commentary on race and class and is very specific to THAT sort of white generational wealth vs. new money.
I ENJOYED THIS SO MUCH i couldn't put it down once i picked it up. each character made me skeptical (because of the questions susie throws in) of their intentions and what was bubbling underneath. i figured out the *major thing* right before it happened and gasped when it actually happened. i also was completely blindsided by the *plot twist* but i loved how it made me sit and have to reevaluate everything i just read. i think some people may not vibe with the ending, but i enjoyed it! it was a sort of sweet release—not necessarily good for you, but you couldn't give lesser of a fuck because yup! life sort of sucks ass and at the end of the day, we're all humans and you're not any better than me! i'm the only one who can look out for myself!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, and Blood
caseythereader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the free advance copy of this book.
Ivy and her family are Chinese immigrants, working their way up from nothing in the wealthy suburbs of Boston. In middle school, Ivy had a hopeless crush on Gideon, an untouchably rich boy at her prep school. Years later as adults, they meet again and begin dating, and Ivy finally reaches the inner circles of wealth - but also discovers the dark side of this seemingly perfect world.
Good things first. This book is beautifully written - the plot takes its time to get rolling but I found myself carried onward by the smooth prose. I thought the contrast between Ivy's family's origins in rural China and the WASPy life she finds herself in was quite interesting, viewing the tale of outsider-infiltrating-old-money through a new lens.
Stuff I didn't like as much. I found this story to be so predictable. I could see every turn of the plot coming from a mile away (yes, even the two big twists in the last 50 pages). There's also a fair bit of unchallenged fatphobia and ableism from both the characters and the narration, including use of the R-word.
Content warnings: eating disorder, physical abuse, fatphobia, ableism, depression.
Ivy and her family are Chinese immigrants, working their way up from nothing in the wealthy suburbs of Boston. In middle school, Ivy had a hopeless crush on Gideon, an untouchably rich boy at her prep school. Years later as adults, they meet again and begin dating, and Ivy finally reaches the inner circles of wealth - but also discovers the dark side of this seemingly perfect world.
Good things first. This book is beautifully written - the plot takes its time to get rolling but I found myself carried onward by the smooth prose. I thought the contrast between Ivy's family's origins in rural China and the WASPy life she finds herself in was quite interesting, viewing the tale of outsider-infiltrating-old-money through a new lens.
Stuff I didn't like as much. I found this story to be so predictable. I could see every turn of the plot coming from a mile away (yes, even the two big twists in the last 50 pages). There's also a fair bit of unchallenged fatphobia and ableism from both the characters and the narration, including use of the R-word.
Content warnings: eating disorder, physical abuse, fatphobia, ableism, depression.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Physical abuse