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A review by caseythereader
White Ivy by Susie Yang
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