Thank you to Penguin Teen Canada for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
4/5 stars
After reading this book, I’m so thankful that I never had to go through this kind of college-admissions stress and craziness! The Ivies was intense in a way I can only imagine many people can relate to. The pacing of the story kept it feeling like it was always moving, and the drama and the search for answers created confusion and tension between characters.
Our narrator is Olivia, the scholarship student at Claflin and a member of the Ivies. The Ivies are Avery, Sierra, Margot, Emma, and Olivia, a group of girls who are willing to sabotage their competitors to guarantee themselves a spot in their Ivy League school of choice. Drama starts right away when we learn that Olivia applied early decision to Harvard instead of Penn like she was supposed to. Avery, the leader of the group, is supposed to be set for Harvard. This drama only increases when Avery is rejected, but Olivia and Emma both get accepted to Harvard.
After a public fight at a party, Avery and Emma are on bad terms, and it doesn’t look good when Emma turns up murdered the next day. Emma’s murder sets Olivia on a path to hunt down the killer. With the help of Ethan, the boy she’s crushing on, Olivia investigates her friends and learns that they were all keeping secrets.
I felt that Olivia was a bit too naive at times, and she did seem to play the victim a lot. While I couldn’t relate to her, I liked the way she was portrayed. She was focused on her goals, and she was learning the extent of what she was willing to do to achieve them.
The drama and the twists in the story kept it exciting. Some of the twists I was able to figure out early, and others surprised me. I liked how the ending gave us some insight into the aftermath of everything. I also appreciated how the book handled some of the pressures of college applications, and how race was brought into admissions.
Overall, I thought it was a really good read! It was exciting, fast-paced, and I didn’t want to put it down. If you’re looking for a drama-filled thriller set at a boarding school, pick up The Ivies.

I am always down for a good boarding school mystery and Donne certainly did not disappoint with this page-turner about ruthless teenagers who want to make it into one of the Ivies, no matter what. The plot of this story was very solid and a really great thriller. One of the girls in this group of friends gets into an altercation with the other, but one of them turns up dead the next day. Reading through this story will make you second-guess who you think did it multiple times and Donne even throws quite a few twists in there to keep you on your toes.

The characters in this book were also interesting and made sense with the plot. Our main character, Olivia, takes you on an investigative journey to find out who murdered Emma and why. I truly didn’t want it to end. I definitely recommend this book to high schoolers and readers of YA alike. Definitely a book to add to your dark academia TBR lists.

The Ivies by Alexa Donne is a fast-paced mystery set at a boarding school... does that sound familiar? I know that there are lots of books similar to this (People Like Us by Dana Mele, STAGS by MA Bennet, or the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson), but the central idea is: what will people do to get accepted to an Ivy League college? Definitely different.. and relevant, considering the 2019 Varsity Blues scandal. You do have to suspend some disbelief, and there are a few trite storylines (inappropriate relationships, adults only being present when it's helpful, many terrible humans all in one place), but I think it was better than People Like Us and One of Us is Lying.. but not quite as fun as Truly Devious.

If you are a fan of THESE VENGEFUL HEARTS or THEY WISH THEY WERE US, then this is the book for me. This is the story of what happens when someone doesn't make it into the Ivy school of their dreams.

Donne sets up this book in such a way that she lets us get to know the group of friends that our main character is in, The Ivies, and then she lets the shenanigans begin. Despite the fact that the murder didn't happen until like 20-30% into the book, I wasn't mad about it. I was so interested and invested in the lives of these ferocious girls, that I wasn't even thinking about one of them getting murdered. Of course, I welcomed the intrigue the murder brought and was so excited that things were immediately obvious to me.

Like any good murder mystery, suspicion was thrown on every single character. But something that I especially loved about this book was the lack of likable characters. Any of them could have been murders because they were all up to shady things. Even our lovely and innocent main character is not so innocent. It made for an intriguing and well-paced plot.

As per usual, I thought I had the murderer pegged nearly from the beginning and was wrong. Most of the other mysteries or plot twists of the book I figured out pretty easy (mostly because I think Donne wasn't trying to hide them very hard). It felt nice to get the small things and then be shocked by the "big reveal."

Lastly, I wanted to talk about how this book has lots of hard truths. Things don't go well for the "well-deserving" kids just because they deserve it. Things don't go bad for the "bad kids" just because their bad. This book shows how money and wealth and legacy can play a big role in one's future. This book isn't wrapped up in a nice and neat bow and I appreciated that. It made things more real and showed that truth hurts, even though it's often true.

Overall, I was happy with this book and I'm excited to read more murder mysteries.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed a gifted and advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Ivies was a real eye opener . I never realized the way high school students can compete for admission to "affluent" universities. I am sure this actually occurs. This fiction version really kept my attention. I found myself trying to figure out the guilty person. So many people were not what you expected. Does anyone really care for their friends. Who has your back? Who do you believe? Who can you trust?Alexa Donne did a great job keeping you guessing. Thanks NetGalley for this selection. #NetGalley

Olivia Winters is a member of the Ivies. At Claflin Academy, they are the smartest, the leaders, the tops in everything, and that makes them most likely to get into the Ivy League schools that they have their hearts set on. The leader of the Ivies is Avery Montfort, who is a triple legacy to get into Harvard. Sierra is aiming for Yale, Margot for Princeton, and Emma for Brown. Olivia, a scholarship student at Claflin, is looking at U.Penn’s journalism program.

At least, that’s what she tells the Ivies.

They have all been working for years on their high school resumes. And when someone was standing in their way, well, they may have nudged the odds in their favor. Pointing out that someone missed a curfew a few times until they get in real trouble with the administration. Hacking the school computer to get into the best classes. Pulling the fire alarm in the middle of the night before the day of a big test. It may not be very nice, what they did, but they never apologized for being so focused. Getting into the top colleges is competitive, and they just played the game better than everyone else.

At least, that’s how Olivia justified her part in the Ivies. She has always wanted to be a part of that world, and while she’s always aware at Claflin of how little she has in comparison to her friends, she is working as hard as everyone else to make her way to the top. And that’s why, instead of applying early decision to U.Penn, she went for the school she really wanted: Harvard. And that’s why she got accepted.

And Avery didn’t.

There are only so many spots at Harvard for students at a school. Claflin has 2 students per year who get accepted to Harvard, maybe 3. So when Olivia is accepted and Avery isn’t, she keeps it to herself. And then Emma comes out with her news—she got accepted to Harvard. Where Olivia is worried about telling anyone, Emma is proud and tells Avery that she got in at the all-school party celebrating (and commiserating) all the early decisions. Emma thought Avery would be happy for her. Instead, Avery attacked her, accusing her of stealing her spot.

And the next morning, Emma was found dead.

Would Avery really have gone so far as to kill someone to get a chance at Harvard? Olivia is determined to find out. But as she digs into what all the Ivies did to try to secure their futures, what will she find? Did Emma really get killed over a college decision, or did she have other secrets that Olivia didn’t know about?

The Ivies is a look at how competitive top tier college admissions has gotten. Written by private college admissions essay consultant and novelist Alexa Donne, this story illustrates how far some people are willing to go to get into the right college, and how that kind of competition can leave someone’s humanity behind.

To me, The Ivies was Mean Girls try to get into college, and I loved it. Seeing the story through Olivia’s eyes, an outsider and insider at the same time, brings a depth of emotion as well as some distance that adds extra layers to the storytelling. The mystery of who killed Emma kept me guessing until the end, and I was genuinely surprised when the killer’s motive was revealed. The Ivies is lots of fun, and it would be great summer reading for anyone already accepted by their first choice schools (don’t want to give anyone any ideas, if they’re still working on their resumes and applications!).

Egalleys were provided by Random House Children’s Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

3.25/5 💫 Many thanks to Penguin Random House International #partner for the e-ARC.

Okay, The Ivies turned out to be better than I expected it too. The story was fast-paced, intriguing and had the right amount of twists and turns. I finished reading it in two settings, so you guys can guess how invested I was in the story. 👍 I suspected the real murderer a couple of times, but the author did a pretty good job of diverting the attention from the killer a lot of times. The plot was carefully crafted and the ambience was great too!

Now, the low rating might confuse you. I gave the book 3.25 stars because I failed to care for the characters. 😩 Olivia, the main character, urgh - she kept doing dumb stuff. Her actions and thought processes didn't match at all, for multiple times throughout the book. I think thriller novels are inherently plotted in a certain way to make you not like the characters completely, but Olivia's character just seemed off. I expected more, that's all.

Overall, this was a very well-written YA mystery, and I definitely recommend picking it up if you're a fan of plot-driven books instead of character-driven ones! It might get you out of a reading slump too. 😌

I really enjoyed this YA mystery. Kind of a mix between Gossip Girl and Mean Girls. I didn't think I'd care for it from the blurb I read, but I could not put it down. The story centers around a group of boarding school girls who call themselves The Ivies. They are friends who will do anything to secure a spot at the Ivy of their choice. They agreed early that each member of their clique would apply to a specific Ivy so as not to sabotage the others. When one girl double-crosses the rest, her life takes an unfortunate turn. Who's to blame?

The beauty of this book is how well crafted the whodunnit is. I thought I knew who was behind all the action, but I was left guessing till near the end. This book is well-written and suspenseful and will make young readers rethink applying to Ivies - Nah, probably not :). This book will be popular with readers 16 and up.

(4.5 stars)

“Everyone knows the Ivies: the most coveted universities in the United States. Far more important are the Ivies. The Ivies at Claflin Academy, that is. Five girls with the same mission: to get into the Ivy League by any means necessary.”

If you like stuff like Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars, this is for you.

An elite-private-school murder mystery.

The Ivies are a five-member-friend-group whose only purpose is to do everything, absolutely everything, to get into the top universities in the United States. That includes, sabotaging their competition by blackmail, cheating, poisoning, you name it. But no one said anything about murder…

Five girls. Five universities. They all claimed a different school from the Ivy League.

The leader of the group, Avery, claimed a spot at Harvard. Little does she know that two other of her friends also applied. Including Olivia, the main character, and Emma.

Olivia and Emma got in. Avery was rejected.

The next morning, Emma was found dead.


I really enjoyed the narrator's voice - that’s the first thing I knew when I started this book. From the beginning, Olivia - the main character - was easy to like and easy to listen to.

The whole idea of this book sounded pretty… basic. The whole murder mystery in a prestigious school isn’t a new premise. And yet, somehow this book was unique and enthralling. I got sucked into the book and finished it in one day without ever feeling tired.

The story itself was really interesting and easy to follow, which I really appreciated as someone who doesn’t usually read thrillers. Honestly, some of the plot-twists had me screaming.

The pacing was perfect. There’s nothing else to say, I absolutely loved reading this book.

Characters? They were all carefully-crafted, complex and special. Even side-characters were easily recognisable and unique. Let’s just say that no one was what they seemed like at the beginning…

The only reason I didn’t give this 5-stars (despite absolutely LOVING it) was the ending. Like, it was understandable and I don’t know how else it could’ve ended, but I was still slightly underwhelmed.

This was an AWESOME book -- perfect for anyone who liked A Good Girl's Guide To Murder, Truly Devious, and/or One Of Us Is Lying -- I cannot get enough of the YA murder books.

Prep school + conniving teenagers + murder + rich kids vs. poor kid + a cute crush + red herrings galore + a smart feminist protagonist --- this was SO enjoyable.

(updated to add IG on pub day)

"...Because hyper elite, competitive college admissions is some series fucking shit.
I learned that the hard way."

This reminded me of the movie Jawbreaker mixed with Pretty Little Liars. This takes place at a prestigious private high school where getting in to the best college is the ultimate goal. The Ivies (not to be confused with the Ivy league colleges) will do absolutely anything to make sure they get in to the best college.

A student is found dead on campus the day after early college admission decisions are announced. Everyone suspects The Ivies and Olivia takes it upon herself to figure out who the killer is.

Olivia is not like the rest of her classmates, she isn't rich, and her parents can't buy her way into an elite college if she doesn't get in. As the investigation proceeds we find out what the Ivies were willing to do, and who they were willing to hurt to get what they wanted. And Olivia finds out why a group of rich girls were so willing to be her friend.

This made me hate high school all over again. Teenagers are the worst. The author pulled off the angst of being a teenager in highschool and the entitlement that goes along with it. These girls only care about their goal and to hell with everyone else.


This is a great thriller, and the writing is wonderful, I was pulled in from the beginning. I have read the authors other books but I feel like this is where she really shined.

If you like Thrillers, stories set in high school, murder mysteries, and romance, then this is for you. There were lots of twists and turns that will keep you reading until the end.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review.

I feel like The Ives is a good solid mystery. The story is really well written and fast paced so story goes by pretty quickly. To be honest none of the characters are likeable except Olivia. Although sometimes she makes it kinda hard to. The characters going on and on about their richness gets kinda old after awhile but it is kinda the point of the story I guess. After the death of Emma I thought I had it figured out but i didnt even though I should have seen it a mile away. I honest didnt expect some of the twists and misdirects in the plot. Watching all of the girls secrets and allegations unfold as the story progresses really makes the story so much better. I'm really looking forward to what the author comes up with next.

Welcome to the world of elite prep schools, where some people will do anything to succeed. Meet The Ivies -- a group of five prep school teenage girls who are ready to take down anyone standing in the way of their entrance into an Ivy League college. They sabotage competitors, I mean, classmates, grades, club positions, class status, and even personal relationships just to ensure the five friends will have a smoother path to Ivy League acceptance. But sometimes they get a little too competitive. When one of them ends up dead, all fingers point to the so-called friend group having "taken out" one of their own. Olivia, a surprising member of The Ivies given her middle-class family status, is shaken by her friend's death. She's determined to figure out what happened and just who is to blame -- and who is left for her to trust...

Thoughts: I'm so excited to share this new YA thriller with my students! The drama, the intrigue, the "red herrings" -- there's a lot going on in this elite school murder mystery! And despite the setting being at a school for "rich kids", the main character Olivia is a scholarship student from a middle class family, which makes her much more relatable to most YA readers. I wasn't buying her plea of innocence as to how far her "friends" would go for an Ivy League admission, but considering she's not nearly as cutthroat as the rest of her peers I guess it shouldn't be that surprising. Given that this story centers around college admissions, I'd highly suggest it for high school juniors and seniors just because I think they'd feel the tension of the college admissions process moreso than younger YA readers. I think the inappropriate relationship got glossed over a bit, there were a few predictable aspects, and I could do without the no-trustworthy-or-completely annoying-adults YA trope, but otherwise I give this book a solid 4.5 stars. It was a page-turning, suspenseful mystery with surprisingly relatable characters and enough twists and turns to keep the story moving.

I loved this book so much. There was one twist that I predicted as soon as it started, beyond that, I did not see the killer, motive, or ending coming! I am in awe of Alexa's thriller writing.

The comparison of this title to Mean Girls and Heathers is an apt one. The writing is bitingly sarcastic and the narration does not miss a single moment to call out the world of college admissions, teens with wealthy parents, and the roller coaster of high school status.
I love that the reader can't even be really sure about Olivia, the protagonist. She doesn't really like her girl gang. She uses them. She is aware they are connected by a shared ambition- rather than affection. She doesn't trust them. She is imperfect, but works through her imperfections to get what she wants.
The only reason I am giving 4 stars instead of 5 is because there moments of the murder investigation that just don't ring true. In a world of True Crime lovers, readers notice those gray moments of plot right away. It wasn't a big deal though, because this book is good enough that the reader is willing to suspend their disbelief long enough to find out "whodunit"

Put this book in the hands of fans of Karen McManus, Stephanie Perkins, April Henry, and Maureen Johnson.

If you want to read an murder mystery set in an Elite Prep school with all its drama and toxicity, this one's for you. I read this book pretty quickly in a couple of sittings. It's the kind of book, you don't expect to like but just can't stop reading. I really wanted to know who the killer was and I couldn't wait to find out. The author actually deceived me pretty well. She threw a lot of red herring and I feel for them.

The writing style was saucy. The tone of the book was dramatic. The narration was written in first person and had single POV. The characters in the book were definitely mean girls- pretty, ruthless and cruel. The usual high school drama was mixed with the pressure of getting into an Ivy college. The 5 main protagonists( Olivia, Margot, Avery, Sierra and Emma) were called the Ivies and their leader was Avery. She basically decided that Olivia ( MC) gets to apply for Penn though her dream was to go to Harvard.

Early decisions were announced and Olivia who secretly applied for Harvard gets in and Avery doesn't get in. To make matters worse, their other friend, Emma also applied to Harvard and gets in. Emma tells Avery and they have a huge fight. The next day Emma was found dead in the boat house by Olivia and Sierra. Olivia was compelled to investigate this as her own life was also on the line. But she uncovered more secrets then she bargained for. Does she survive the truth? Or does she die trying? Read to find out!

I was given this book by publishers through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

This is a solid mystery. I may be personally bias being from MA but I did enjoy it. We follow five over achieving female friends and one ends up dead but who did it? The plot does have a few twist that I clearly saw coming but that others may not. There are a few good misdirects as well. Though it did disappoint a bit in regards to the final reveal. As an avid true crime lover and true murderino it was standard protocol. I love the shock of being wrong.

The writing is good, fast paced and keeps you invested in our main character Olivia. You're surrounded by spoiled well to dues in this novel and that topic gets a little old but it's kind of the point of the story. Over all I think it's a good book. If you enjoyed other stories like Truly Devious or One of us is Lying, then this book is for you.

The Ivies is a great YA thriller about a group of cutthroat high school rich girls. They are all gunning for getting into an Ivy school hence the nickname The Ivies. They basically run the school and blackmail, cheat, and steal their way through life. The poorest one of the group is the narrator and out of all the Ivies, she is the most likable. She is also the one who along with her rowing teammate finds a dead body. The story is really well written. and seems to fly by. The characters are great and incredibly unlikeable which helps the story along. At points, you really can't pick which one is the worst. It is really a fantastic book and I look forward to reading more by this author.

The Ivies synopsis did not do this mostly unpredictable contemporary novel justice. It was pitched as girls who would do anything to get into an Ivy school. What it really is is Get Even + high school drama on an extreme level. Add some murder and you have The Ivies.

There is a being difference between the Ivy League schools and the Ivies. The Ivy League are some of the best schools ranked. The Ivies are a group of girls who will do anything to get into an Ivy. Each girl in the group is assigned a school by their rich leader, Avery Montgomery, who chooses Harvard for herself.
But Avery has competition. Harvard only takes two or three spots from Claflin Academy, and one had better be Avery's. But when she doesn't get in, and someone who does is murdered, investigations start. One: The official investigation o figure out who killed the would-have-been-Harvard-Student and two: An Ivies run mission to find out who exactly took Avery's spot. Olivia, an outsider Ivie, thrown into both investigations, starts a third to clear her name and keep away from Avery's rage if she ever finds out Olivia secretly applied to Harvard instead of Penn and was accepted.

Olvia was a fine main character, she was nice, but she was a pretty stereotypical character: the poor girl who gets a scholarship to the school she currently goes to. I enjoyed her perspective which added to my final thoughts. Olivia's character ARC was amazing!

Avery is a bitter-sweet badass but is also a walking stereotype. She's the mean girl of the story, who also happens to be rich and perfect. But she had a good motive and a great story, she's not the best role model and does some horrible things- which maybe she didn't do after all, but I still can't help but love the defiant queen she is. I loved what happened with Avery in the end, even if she took the hard way to get there.

I liked Sierra, she was a cool hacker and brought some diversity to the novel. She also wasn't afraid to call out others for saying the only reason she could ever get into an Ivy School is because she's black.

Margot the Ice Queen wasn't the greatest, but I liked her calm reserve. The Worst Ivie trophy is reserved for Emma, but Margot was still a jerk. She definitely brought some spice to the story.

Emma, the worst-doing Ivie. She is so evil, and is the victim? She's a villain, as Olivia discovered. Maybe she was murdered, but she maybe wasn't the perfect girlfriend or student she appeared to be either.

It's time for the Ivies to come clean.

The plot was a masterful twisty road. I did predict half of it but was a little surprised at the next reveal. Just as you start to trust someone, Donne reveals a new witness, and everything changes. I LOVED that. Just the concept of this book makes it amazing.

The writing wasn't anything special, but it was well done. The sentences flowed nicely and were of varying lengths, very standard but still enjoyable. It fit the story and Olivia's perspective.

This was the most contemporary story I've ever read- mention of COVID-19, the SAT scandal, and plenty of other giveaways, and it was wonderful. There was also a New Year celebrating which gave me so. Much. Hope.

The Ivies is chock-full of lessons on friendships, toxic relationships, and many other important topics, which I appreciate!

This is a very strong novel, I recommend this to anyone wanting a book that will spark discussion, wants a contemporary mystery, and fans of the show Get Even (there are many similarities). The Ivies will get your mind working until you turn the last page!

The Ivies have one mission: get into the Ivy League by any means necessary and that means lying, cheating, and sabotaging their classmates. Olivia is a scholarship student but has managed to become part of this exclusive group. She’s done some messed up things but that’s the price for admission since she got into her dream school, Harvard. But then her roommate (and fellow Ivy) Emma is murdered and the evidence is stacked against Olivia. Now all Olivia needs to do is clear her name and find out who really killed Emma. This is a fast paced, dark humor, boarding school thriller, with so many twist and turns you’ll be guessing until the very end.

It wasn’t a perfect ending, but who said real life was perfect? I found it realistic and even though she wasn’t innocent and did some really shitty things I liked Olivia, she was easy to relate to and super funny. Without giving anything away I will say a major fuck you to Ethan (and Sierra), turns out my favorite character besides Olivia was actually Avery. These are all multi-layered characters with tons of secrets.

The Ivies has total Mean Girls and Pretty Little Liars vibes. If you’re looking for your next suspenseful, murder mystery look no further. Pre-order The Ivies now it’ll be out on May 25th and you don’t want to miss out on it! Thanks for the ARC NetGalley!