Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up
Recommend? Yes!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut by author Susie Yang. We meet Ivy when she's in middle school, struggling to make friends and catch the attention of her crush, Gideon, given the strict rules her Chinese parents have set for her. Gideon is the son of a senator and he's rich, kind and smart; from the beginning, it's clear that Ivy's crush has just as much to do with a longing for his lifestyle as it does with Gideon himself. After Ivy's parents catch her at a sleepover party at his house, they send her to China for the summer and then move the entire family to New Jersey, and Ivy assumes she'll never see Gideon or her other middle school acquaintances again. Fast forward ten-ish years, and Ivy runs into Gideon's sister, who invites her to a party where Gideon will be, which changes the course of her life and forces her to confront what lengths she'll go to to chase the things she desires.

I loved this book. Ivy is one of those characters whose actions you disagree with, but also have sympathy for. The book itself is an easy read that has the suspense of a thriller and the cattiness of a campus novel, but doesn't fit perfectly into either category.

While the two books are different plot-wise, I'd recommend this book for people who liked Pretty Things.

White Ivy is a gripping coming-of-age story by debut author Susie Yang. There's so much to unpack, as there are tons of moving pieces to this novel. First, I want to say that the pacing of the book was perfect. We saw all of the impactful periods of Ivy's life. When we first meet her, she's still a small child in China and being raised by her grandmother before moving to the United States, where her parents immigrated to several years earlier. Growing up she resents her parents for her strict Chinese culture and their socioeconomic class. As she grows older and leaves home, she tries to re-define herself into the person she always wanted to be, but she still faces an internal struggle that leads her to a complex love triangle. The character development is intricate and intriguing, which kept me turning the pages. Seeing everyone's flawed nature intertwine was the backbone of this story.

If I had to leave a critique, it's that at times I wanted more from the story. This isn't so much a critique is that I feel like I have so many unanswered questions, which might have been the point. There were a lot of choices in this book, and I felt as some of the consequences were a tad underplayed.

Overall, I thought this was a solid debut novel! Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster!

I’ve always been in awe of the clash of culture when immigrants make their home in America, raising their children in the manner of their home country and tradition. These children have internal turmoil as they attempt to assimilate into American culture, which in most instances is much less restrictive.
Susie Yang’s debut novel, “White Ivy” puts you into the teeny tiny shoes of a young Chinese girl as she strains against her parents’ restrictive culture. Ivy Lin’s young life was under the tutelage of her grandmother who trains Ivy to pilfer and steal, using her young innocent looks to her advantage. As Ivy enters her teenage years, she develops and strong love and desire for her school friend Gideon Speyer. Her parents intervene, stripping away everything American Ivy has accumulated in her attempts to fit in. They send her to China for a refresher course on proper culture, and when she returns they’ve uprooted and moved to a new city. The blow of this sudden change in her life, being forced to start over, sends Ivy into a cynical, destructive, and manipulative state of mind, one she never fully outgrows as the years pass.
The long term damage, the loss of innocence, the inability to ever truly be happy creates this sad story of Ivy as she struggles through the years, never losing sight of her initial goal, no matter at what cost. I couldn’t quit reading; each page struck me with compassion for this young girl, who at times behaves in a manner that certainly doesn’t deserve compassion. But because Ms. Yang does such a beautiful job writing you into Ivy’s life, you feel for her. You almost understand the woman Ivy becomes. At times sorrowful then shocking, the pain of Ivy will stick with you.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The release date is November 3, 2020.

3.5 Character Study In-Depth Stars
In The United States, we are a country of immigrants and yet it is this imposed otherness that can make it difficult for newbies to feel welcomed or included. All cultures have this bridge to cross and in White Ivy, we are given an intimate look at a Chinese young girl's struggles and determination.

WOW. Just.... WOW. This book blew me away and could end up being my favorite book of 2020. This story is so well-crafted, so well-developed, so interesting and engaging that I don't think I can do it justice to even attempt to summarize it. I did guess a pivotal reveal, but it didn't even matter- this novel isn't about the "omg moments" but is instead a thrilling, deeply thought-provoking book about human secrets and desires. The prose is genius- gorgeously crafted but also completely easy to read.... Five stars to this incredible debut.

I finished this book a little while ago, but have been ruminating on how to rate this book. My true rating is probably somewhere between a 4-4.5!

The premise of the book is fairly straightforward on paper: girl meets boy, girl has crush on boy, girl moves away but one day reconnects with boy, girl and boy finally fall in love but the girl’s past may impact that. But Susie Yang does a really incredible job at fleshing out these various parts of Ivy’s life (though it can seem a little disjointed from part to part - the disconnect between past and present scenes was my main criticism for this book). The things that Ivy goes through (illicitly going to a co-ed sleepover, losing her virginity in protest, getting sent to China for a summer, etc) paints the backstory, but it’s not nearly as important as her thought process throughout these events. Ivy is a learned thief and pickpocket, trained by her grandmother to take advantage of those who “won’t notice”, especially because Ivy and her family are already so disadvantaged. This thought process is deeply important to Ivy’s character.

What I especially enjoyed about the book is the nuance of being Asian American, but exacerbated especially so by socioeconomic difference. There’s a self-hatred in Ivy, as she’s grown up despising herself and where she comes from and idolizing the more white “norms”. And yet, she doesn’t react to life like a typical Chinese woman, or a white one. She reacts to life as someone who’s clawing to take advantage and betterment in any way they can, whether it’s through lying, stealing, or sexuality. Ivy is is compelling because she’s not really a heroine - if anything, she’s an anti-hero that’s hard to root for, but her thoughts and circumstances are what keeps the story so taut.

Alongside these nuances of social class, there’s a deeper one about family and inherited trauma, and the lies that we’re willing to tell in order to reform an entire life. I feel like this part of the book is deeply important, but lies a little under the surface, really only coming to a head when we have full-on comparisons between how Ivy sees her family, how her grandmother sees Ivy’s mother, and how Ivy’s mother views her duty; there’s a lot to be unpacked and discussed in terms of gender roles and identity, and carving out space within those limitations. On the less nuanced side sit the men - Ivy’s father doesn’t really play a true role, her brother struggles immensely over the course of the book (something that I wish was better fleshed out), and even the love interests are fairly flat, mostly there to serve their phallic purpose.

But my favorite part is the writing - Susie Yang spins a very tight story and without meaning to, I stayed up the entire night reading this book. I really needed to know what happened, and then I sat on the ending for days afterwards. It’s a really great read for the current season, and I especially recommend it to anyone who enjoyed character thrillers like The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Secret History or The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, or maybe even the more frothy Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan (though this obviously is much darker). Overall, enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. There’s a lot to be discussed and thought about, and even the ending isn’t really an ending - I think it repeats back to her family’s tendency to rewrite with lies: no one is truly happy, but the narrative becomes one that’s easy to tell. (Made me think a little about the ending of Gone Girl, where terrible people continue to be terrible to and with one another) At the end of the day, it’s not so much love as it is survival by any means necessary. Susie Yang does a fantastic job, and I’m excited to see what she’ll continue to write.

Disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this through NetGalley (my first NetGalley book!), but these are my honest thoughts on the book. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity!

Thank you to @netgalley and @simonandschuster for giving me early access to White Ivy by @susieyyang in return for my honest review.

My favorite books are the ones that take you in a different direction than you initially expected from reading the summary. White Ivy tells the story of Ivy Lin, a Chinese immigrant who comes to America around the age of 5, once her parents are settled and financially stable enough to take her. From here, we explore what it is to grow up as a first generation Chinese-American living under very traditional Chinese parents.
As an adult, Ivy struggles to find who she is and what life she is supposed to lead. This story is told in a beautiful way, even if I didn’t always find the characters beautiful. This book had me tearing up at times, and audibly gasping at others.

I finished this book two days ago and I am honestly still not sure how I feel. Mostly sad for the characters. But I think the fact that I am still reeling marks this as successful book for challenging my opinions and views. As much as I always say I want a book without a traditional happy ending, I am still left torn in two when it’s not. I will be thinking of Ivy Lin for a while to come.

A different kind of coming of age story....Ivy is an immigrant from China, and will do just about anything to assimilate and infiltrate into what she perceives to be the perfect American life. Ivy is not particularly like able, but her character is so well thought out she ends up being very compelling. While most of us would never be like Ivy, maybe we can understand her actions. Very good book.

I loved, loved, loved this book. I found it addicting in the best way possible. I hate using the term "unputdownable" in reviews, but this book was truly that - I didn't want to stop until I reached the end. The character development, the writing, the plot twists, it was all just delicious.

At first, the story is dark. You're just getting to know Ivy Lin, our protagonist, and all of the backstory that makes her who she is - her grandmother taking care of her, moving to the US and hating it, her obsession with Gideon Speyer, her handiness at stealing things, her brief stint in China after her parents get fed up with her behavior. Yang epitomizes "show, don't tell" here - you hardly learn anything from Ivy herself; it's almost like she's a passive object, with all of these external things happening to her, informing her development as she grows up. Reflecting on it now, I still don't know that much about Ivy as a character - she has no sense of self, but an idealized picture of what she should be or what's desirable, and she's always striving to achieve that and compensate for her insecurities, family shame, and failures.

Fast forward 10 years or so, and Ivy is a first-grade teacher at a prestigious Boston school. One day at pickup, she runs into the sister of her childhood crush, Sylvia Speyer. Ivy immediately sees an opportunity. She plays it cool and gets an invitation to a party that Sylvia is throwing. Despite their family coming from old money and Ivy still being poor and in debt, Ivy knows how to dress and act around the wealthy. She knows how to blend in with that crowd. She re-meets Gideon at that party, and they hit it off, eventually dating and getting closer to each other.

The rest of the book explores their relationship - the tensions of fitting in, and Ivy always striving to be someone she's not. She's almost like a con artist, but she can't decide what she truly is - she wants to believe that she truly is deserving of Gideon's family, that she's happy and stable and on the up-and-up. Then, an unexpected character from Ivy's past shows up and throws a wrench in everything.

I don't want to give away too much of the book, because part of what makes it so excellent are the little reveals and the big twists. I highly recommend this book as a coming-of-age story for a modern immigrant young woman, navigating two worlds that seem so far apart. Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the ARC!

I couldn't put this book down! There was something that felt unsettling about this book, and I couldn't tell if it was from the actual writing or from the perspective of people and life that the book ultimately concludes on. Susie Yang does an exceptional job of writing about otherness and the desire for inclusion in everyone, and does a wonderful job about exploring the peculiar aspects of it specific to the immigrant, or more specifically first gen immigrant, experience. As an Asian American, I found myself relating to a lot of Ivy's natural desires that she experienced growing up. The storytelling really does propel everything further and there is character development (though not necessarily in the direction readers naturally want it to go), but in an honest way for the narrative. I think it's a great read from both a narrative aspect as well as some of its commentary of otherness.

White Ivy is Edith Wharton meets Patricia Highsmith in a blistering novel about class and privilege as well as the push and pull of cultural expectations among first generation immigrants to America. It's amazing and absolutely one of the best books I've read in 2020.

I loved Ivy, who is sharp and full of wanting that her family doesn't understand. She discovers what and who she wants when she's young, partially in rejection of what she thinks her family stands for but mostly because she loves the idea of being at ease in the world, of having enough money to not think about it, and to have the kind of social clout that people come to you without you having to do more than simply be in their proximity.

And so Ivy, wanting this world, and Gideon, who she sees as the pinnacle of it, focuses everything she has on getting it and him. She will do (and does do) whatever it takes but is so blinded by her pursuit that she never sees Gideon as a person until it's too late. And, for me, the best part was that Ivy, in trying so hard to not be like her mother....ends up exactly like her.

Beautifully written, White Ivy is that rare blend of literary and commercial fiction--which means it will appeal to readers of literary fiction, women's fiction, mystery/thrillers, psychological fiction, and even YA (older teens will devour this) It's just remarkable and Susie Yang is most definitely a writer to watch.

White Ivy is absolutely one of the best novels I've read in 2020 and is very highly recommended.

This book is less outwardly spooky than I expected, but it's still horrifying in a more subtle way. Rather than a straight-up horror or thriller, White Ivy is a dark coming-of-age story that shatters the myth of the "perfect immigrant daughter" and outlines how Ivy's obsession with having an outwardly perfect American life--no matter how hollow it may be on the inside--destroys her physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The beginning started off a bit rocky with a lot of exposition, but the narrative races along after the first quarter of the book--I couldn't stop reading it (I even swiped at the pages of my Kindle while cooking dinner, which I would not recommend...).

Oh man, was this book compelling to read. I went in expecting a thriller and found a stunning character portrait about a girl willing to do anything to achieve what she wants. Ivy wasn't a likeable character throughout most of the book, but I still found myself rooting for her, hoping she'd get what she was working so hard for. The ending literally made me gasp out loud, especially with the way it turned the entire book on its head. This debut was absolutely wonderful, and I look forward to seeing what Susie Yang has to write next.

I thought that this would be an immigrant story of the coming 0f age of a young woman who doesn't feel like she fits in. I liked the parts about her relationship with her grandmother and her rebellion against her parents. The characters in the story are well developed. I was impressed that this is Susie Yang's first novel. The ending threw me a big surprise. I didn't expect that Ivy would do such a thing. i highly recommend this book.

This is an unflinching, unforgiving look at a first-generation Chinese American's obsession with WASP culture and the rules she will break to enter that most protected old-moneyed society. It is full of pain, of jealousy, of an outsider status that it seems the narrator can never escape. Ivy is disgusted by her family, her friends, her life, as she views it always through the eyes of her white and moneyed classmates. To be American, to finally fit it and enter the upper echelon of American society, she believes that she must find a way to infiltrate this elite class. Ivy is not likable, but readers can understand her selfishness. The ultimate American dream is of course to completely make oneself over, and this is where Ivy excels. The story is tantalizing if not always pleasant, and readers will leave feeling that Ivy got what she both wanted and deserved.

White Ivy is appropriately named: Ivy is a plant that climbs and seeks different directions in so doing, and Ivy, the protagonist, is every bit a climber, taking advantages of situations and people to meet her goals. When we first meet Ivy, she is a middle schooler, living in Massachusetts with her family, who are immigrants from China. She had spent the first few years of her life in China, living with her grandmother, who it could be said subtly planted the seeds of deceit and dishonesty in her. When she is five, she and her grandmother join her family in the USA, and Ivy never really takes to them. Her parents embarrass her...she wants a different family. Their Chinese-ness makes her uncomfortable, and she is forever seeking a different life. When she is caught "acting out" by her parents, they ship her off to China for a summer, where Ivy learns more about what she wants (and what she doesn't) out of life.

As soon as Ivy is old enough to leave home, she does so. By then, her parents have moved to New Jersey, so Ivy returns to Massachusetts in search of a new life. She reunites with an old crush, and from there the book really takes off. What first looks appear to be quirks, and later quirks combined with deceit and avarice, soon lead the reader to see that Ivy has a personality disorder. She remains disconnected from her family to the extent possible: her parents continue to embarrass her, her younger brother is depressed (which the family attributes to anemia), yet her relationship with her grandmother remains the most significant in her life. Ivy focuses on marrying Gideon, whose family is old Massachusetts money and (to me) annoyingly superficial.

As the book unfolds and the plot develops, Ivy, too, shows the reader her cards. We want to like her because we feel bad for her inability to accept who she is, but we hate her for her disregard for others, her insincerity, and her shallowness. She is a person who operates on whims and out of self-interest: she has no self respect.

The ending of this book is intense, as two major things happen: one I did not expect (it is disturbing) and when it happened, cemented for me Ivy's mental illness; the other, I had guessed at long before.

White Ivy is a very engrossing story - hard to put down- and an excellent choice for book groups. The manner in which Ivy rejects her Chinese family remains somewhat underdeveloped, yet it is a fundamental piece of why Ivy behaves as she does (at all times). Really worth reading! (I remain ISO of someone to discuss the book with!)

My apologies but I could not finish this book. I have read past a third of the book and if it’s going anywhere special it is taking too long for me. I am sure that this story is great for other people but it just isn’t for me.

Thought-provoking, coming-of-age story, that might seem slow at parts, but it truly is outstanding. Read this book!!

This dark story follows the life of Ivy. A brilliant mix of literature + immigrant subject + notes of thriller is surprisingly a debut novel by Yang. I’ve got to say - Ivy’s grandmother is SASSY!! The story and characters are realistic and have great originality to them. Treasure-worthy

Thank you Simon & Schuster, Netgalley and Susan Yang for allowing me to experience White Ivy in exchange for an honest opinion.

We meet Ivy as she’s initially living in China with her grandmother, but the story quickly moves to Massachusetts. Ivy’s parents, and her brother, Austin (who was born in the US) are living there and financially able to bring Ivy, and then her grandmother, to live with them. Yang’s story about Ivy as a young child (both in China and in the US) grabs your heart. Throughout the book, however, Ivy wasn’t always a sympathetic character..and the last third of the book is an eye opener!
Early publicity about the book focuses on Ivy as a child when she was a child and taught to steal by her grandmother. This was only a small portion of Ivy, but it was interesting to see how the underlying approach to skirt the laws of life developed as she grew up.
Overall, it’s an impressive debut novel with a number of interesting storylines and characters. One big gap, for me, was around Ivy’s college years. Knowing more about that time period might have developed Ivy as a character even more fully. I also ended with questions about the parents: what did Ivy’s parents really do for a living and what was really the story behind Gideon’s parents and their standard of living?
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read White Ivy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved and loathed <i>White Ivy</i> in equal parts. Initially, I was convinced I had embarked on a 5-star read. The descriptions of Ivy's upbringing, family dynamics, and interactions with America as a Chinese immigrant were well-depicted and powerful. The writing is beautiful and I loved the Chinese axioms interspersed throughout. Then, the novel had a dramatic shift toward a soap opera-esqe plot. I literally groaned, thinking, what is going to happen to this storyline I love? It veered in that direction for the remainder of the book, but the writing was strong and I was able to enjoy it despite my growing dislike for the characters.

Ivy was born in China and immigrated to the suburban United States as a child. Her parents immigrated before her, and until she was able to follow them, she was raised by her grandmother Meifeng in Chongqing. Ivy describes her Chinese childhood as filled with warmth. Her admiration for Meifeng is palpable and remains a thread throughout <i>White Ivy</i>.

When Ivy arrives in the US, she is shocked--by culture, by family, by just about everything. Ivy struggles to fit in at school and at home; things finally begin to shift for her when Meifeng arrives on US soil. I was immediately head-over-heels for their relationship and Meifeng's character. For example, Meifeng teaches Ivy to steal in a variety of settings. Whether it's at the charity thrift shop or a tag sale, the two are always scheming and I found it oh-so-entertaining.

So what changes? This becomes a romantic drama with infidelity, violence, and self-harm. As a youth, it is easy to fill sad for Ivy, but as she ages, Ivy becomes less and less likable. The word that struck my mind over and over was vapid. Ivy is self-involved, obsessed with image, and seemingly willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that image. Also, take note, trigger warnings for the above topics.

In attempt to not give anything away, I'll say that it gets ugly. Ivy's behaviors spiral endlessly downward and it was hard for me as a reader to decide if I felt empathy or sympathy for the ancillary characters impacted by Ivy's behavior. There are moments when I felt badly for Gideon and Roux, and then others where I disliked them as much as I disliked Ivy.

Ultimately, I think this book was excellent and would recommend it. However, it's always hard for me to say that I loved a book when I so strongly disliked the characters. In many ways, I wish it had continued as a family drama and immigrant narrative rather than derailed to a well-written saga.

Favorite quotes:
<i>“Remember this, Baobao: when winds of change blow, some build walls. Others build windmills.” Ivy repeated the phrase. I’m a windmill, she thought, picturing herself swinging through open skies, a balmy breeze over her gleaming, mechanical arms.

Due to the high year-round humidity and a diet of mountainous vegetables cooked in vats of bubbling chili oil, the girls grew up with pearly, lustrous skin, not a blemish or dry flake to be seen. Because of this perfect complexion, the beauty of Sichuan women became famous throughout China—they were known collectively as la mei nü, or “spicy beauties.”

not all forms of money were equal. She thought: I’ll always carry my wealth on my body, not in my wallet.

As I get older, I think that a shared history counts for a lot more in friendship than quantity of time spent with another person.”</i>