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A review by tinybibliophile
White Ivy by Susie Yang
4.0
My Review:⭐️⭐⭐⭐/ 5 stars
White Ivy follows the story of Ivy Lin, a young Chinese-American woman born in the Boston area in a humble, “poor” family. She was taught at an early age to be a casual thief at yard sales and second hand shops by her grandmother. All her life, Ivy aspired to appear much wealthier than she was, crushing on Gideon, son of the state senator. After sneaking out as a teen to his house party and her parents embarrassingly picking her up, she was sent back to China for the summer and she never saw Gideon again. Years later, after moving back to Boston, she stumbles into Sylvia (Gideon’s sister) who invites her to a dinner at her home to rekindle their friendship - Ivy jumps at the chance to see her childhood crush. However, as she intensifies her pursuit of Gideon, another man from her past comes back too and threatens to disrupt everything she has worked hard to achieve.
Ivy has very unlikeable qualities- dishonesty, lack of care with her family unless she needs something, a cheat, and overall inauthenticity. However, you can’t stop reading about her and somehow rooting for her nonetheless. This contemporary fiction quickly shifts into a slow burn thriller - and I am all for it. The ending was not a shock, but still you wondered if it was really going to go there -- and it did. Ivy clearly had evolved into a much worse iteration of herself and it was so subtle and perfect. Really enjoyed this read and am looking forward to reading more from Susie Yang.
White Ivy follows the story of Ivy Lin, a young Chinese-American woman born in the Boston area in a humble, “poor” family. She was taught at an early age to be a casual thief at yard sales and second hand shops by her grandmother. All her life, Ivy aspired to appear much wealthier than she was, crushing on Gideon, son of the state senator. After sneaking out as a teen to his house party and her parents embarrassingly picking her up, she was sent back to China for the summer and she never saw Gideon again. Years later, after moving back to Boston, she stumbles into Sylvia (Gideon’s sister) who invites her to a dinner at her home to rekindle their friendship - Ivy jumps at the chance to see her childhood crush. However, as she intensifies her pursuit of Gideon, another man from her past comes back too and threatens to disrupt everything she has worked hard to achieve.
Ivy has very unlikeable qualities- dishonesty, lack of care with her family unless she needs something, a cheat, and overall inauthenticity. However, you can’t stop reading about her and somehow rooting for her nonetheless. This contemporary fiction quickly shifts into a slow burn thriller - and I am all for it. The ending was not a shock, but still you wondered if it was really going to go there -- and it did. Ivy clearly had evolved into a much worse iteration of herself and it was so subtle and perfect. Really enjoyed this read and am looking forward to reading more from Susie Yang.