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beccamidori's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual content
lilaceous's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
i was not expecting any of the things that happen in this book! i actually went in thinking it was just a romance! it is not :)
the characters were sooo nasty and unlikeable but i had a good time. definitely not for everyone.
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Look, this is a compelling read but holyyyyyyyyy shit, are these humans insufferable!!!! The text examines topics of family, optics, wealth, classism, racism, being othered, and doing whatever you can to get what you want.
This made me think of how I felt when I was watching the first few episodes of Succession and I didn't realize it was a dramedy(drama/comedy). I was literally sitting there thinking, 'Why are all of these people SO horrible to each other?!' That's how I felt about the characters in White Ivy, but it never got better and it never made me laugh like Succession did.
I don't love the homophobic undertones of your sexuality being compared to an ACTUAL crime .... Other than this, the book did reel me in from start to finish and I finished in one sitting because I was curious how this mess would play out.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia and Suicidal thoughts
moriahleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol
lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Medical content, Murder, and Classism
painausten314's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ivy Lin is an unreliable main character, and this whole story is warped by her perspective. A lot of the characters seem like bad people, but I found myself constantly questioning how bad of people they really were, because I was viewing all of them through Ivy’s eyes.
The theme of ownership comes up several times in this book. Ivy struggles to change her destiny, take ownership over her own life, but always ends up under the thumb of somebody else.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
alyssa_tauber's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
tddaffin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Murder
angstyevie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Mental illness, Rape, Blood, Car accident, and Classism
kelly_e's review
2.0
Author: Susie Yang
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 2.0
Pub Date: November 3, 2020
T H R E E • W O R D S
Daring • Vindictive • Modern
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Ivy Lin, moved to America with her family as a young girl and grows up in a low-income complex in Massachusetts while attending a wealthy school thanks to her father's job. Her grandmother, and mentor, has taught her to take what she wants or needs. She is desperate to assimilate with her peers, but her family has other plans for her. When she develops an obsession with golden-boy Gideon Speyer, her overbearing mother steps in. Throughout all of this Ivy develops a taste for winning and wealth, and will go to great lengths to get what she wants. An exploration of immigration, class, race, family and identity.
💭 T H O U G H T S
White Ivy is the immigrant story I was not expecting from debut author Susie Yang. With a cast of complex characters, the real stand out here is the writing. Yang built the drama and intensity in such a way that the reader feels immersed in Ivy's story as she tests the boundaries in order to get what she wants. I also liked the exploration of opposing forces; preserving heritage and tradition, or assimilating. But for me that good end there, and without the help of the audiobook I'm not sure I would have made it through. I definitely have a hard time getting behind such a manipulative, narcissistic, and selfish character, where at times it simply felt the author was going for shock value.
Ivy is definitely a character I won't soon forget, so I guess Yang has succeed there, but this story was just not for me.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers who like unlikeable characters
• anyone looking for an own voices immigrant story
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"She had long ago realized that the truth wasn't important, it was the apperance of things that would serve her.
Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear."
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Ableism
depression,