Will read any book about a prep school, especially when a murder is involved. While I loved the overall plot of the book I also think it is perfectly timed and makes you think about the college admissions scandal and how much money plays a part in privilege when it comes to education.

I loved the suspense and viscous tones of this book! The plot was fast paced and kept me wanting more. There were some parts that I predicted, but overall, great and fun read. I definitely recommend!

Everything about this book's plot and set-up screamed "me". It started interestingly enough...and then it just kind of coasted on the same level until the murder finally happened at the 25% mark. But...I realized I didn't care, because the characters were all caricatures and stock. I didn't like them...and not in a "they're so bad I love them" way. I think it also had to do with the writing, which just felt sophomoric. I know this was meant to be a satire, but I think the author went too far into it that it became a satire of a satire, and then fell really flat.

I jumped to the end to see who the murderer was, which was a disappointment already. But then it turned into a cartoon and I couldn't get to the end of THAT...with 28% more left in the book!?! How much more "ending" did this need after the reveal?

I can't fully say this is a case of "this book will find its audience" or "maybe it's just me". This book was a disappointment all the way around, and could have been a really fun ride had it been crafted better than it was.

This was a fun read if that’s ever an apt description of murder. I was excited when NetGalley approved me for an ARC, because I follow author Alexa Dunne on YouTube and I enjoyed her previous novel, Brightly Burning, a YA retelling of Jane Eyre set in space.

The Ivies are high-achieving students at Clafin Academy, an elite New England boarding school. The students have their hearts and minds set on well, the Ivy Leagues. They work hard, but they also feel entitled to a place at the university of their choice -- at any cost.

Our protagonist, Olivia, is a scholarship student who does her best to fit in among her rich and powerful friends, sometimes crossing the line to get what she and her friends want. But is she a helpless victim along for the ride or just as culpable as the rest of the pack?

The characters are well-developed and the pacing good. The author leads you down several paths in which you think you have solved the mystery, only to find you’re on the wrong track. I have mixed feelings about the very ending.

I received this Advanced Reader Copy of The Ivies from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought the idea that there would be a group of students trying to get into each of the ivies was timely.... but also I thought it was far fetched that a student would prevent another student from applying to a school or that parents wouldn't intervene. It was a quick read.

I really enjoyed this murder mystery with a college admissions spin! The characters were compelling and realistic, not necessarily likable. The writing was witty and the pacing perfect. This will be a good choice for readers who like a contemporary thriller. I happen to work in a very competitive district with both "haves" and "have nots," so many of my students will relate to the plight of Ivies. Grab a copy!

Deep look into the race for a ‘good school’. Thoroughly enjoyed this, and would recommend to reading groups of HS age children. HUGE insight into the pressures of today’s student, and the misleading way they are pushed to NEED a high level school for success. Plus, it’s just a fun read, especially for women.

This book took some twists that I was expecting, but some that were out of left field! I suspected several different characters as the culprit, but was wrong about nearly everything. This book feels like if A Good Girls Guide to Murder and A Study in Charlotte had a baby (murder on an elite boarding school campus) with added complications of college apps, acceptances and rejections.

I think that older teens will love this book, but I also think adults who enjoy YA will love this book as well. It kept me hooked the whole time and I'll definitely be recommending it to many.

While I was left wanting a bit more, I really ended up loving this book.

First, the characters are not likeable. At all. Everyone at this private school is pretty ruthless to the point of hurting people. Claflin Academy is a top private high school. Parents pay a lot of money to get their kids in there. Ivy league colleges take a lot of the kids from there. Tuition was something like $60K per year, so the kids are super rich. Olivia is there on scholarship and she feels different. Luckily she was taken in by a group of popular girls. They call themselves The Ivies. Avery is the leader and she made sure that each girl applied to one college for early admission. She gave them schools so that none of them would compete. The schools usually only take 2-3 kids from the school. Avery is a Harvard legacy, so that's her school. Emma is Brown, Sierra is Yale, Margot is Princeton, and Olivia is Penn. However, Olivia went behind their backs and applied to Harvard. It was her dream school and she got in. And Avery didn't. Things go really bad from there. When one of the girls ends up dead, Olivia is worried that it might have been Avery that killed her. Olivia starts her own murder investigation and is determined to keep Harvard a secret. While Olivia was involved in the sabotage to other students applying to Ivy Leagues, she finds out that her friends were keeping secrets from her.

The pacing was great and the author did a good job with suspects. I had a couple ideas that were correct, but not everything. I would definitely read another book by Alexa Donne.

I gave this book 5 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my review copy.

Warnings for death, inappropriate relationships, issues with wealth vs average money, racism, talk of sex, underage drinking, and some really bad things that the Ivies did to other students (would be spoilers).

Quite the suspenseful mystery and timely in the wake of the college scandal involving side doors for parents willing to pay...

After recently watching Operation Varsity Blues, this book fictionalized the dark underbelly of private and preparatory schools and the college admissions process.

Told from Olivia's perspective, as one of 'the Ivies' hoping to get into a pre-determined Ivy League school, it is clear that the process is cutthroat...and potentially deadly.

I will definitely recommend this to my high school students as it is a suspenseful thriller and mysterious right to the end.

Overall, I enjoyed the read, even though I didn't really like any of the characters (nor could I really relate to any of them).

Plot: 4.5 stars -- the plot just kept on moving, changing, twisting. It was never boring, and the writing style complemented that, as well. I liked the pacing and the revelation of details. Definitely the plot (for me) was the strongest aspect of the book.

Main Character: 3 stars -- the voice was solid here, but I just didn't really like Olivia. She was certainly ambitious, but I didn't get the feeling that she was overly happy or fulfilled, and she came across as pretty cold-blooded, overall. For that matter, all the 'Ivies' were ambitious to a fault, doing whatever they needed to get what they wanted.

Writing Style: 4 stars -- even though the reveal was slow, I didn't find the book boring. The style was engaging enough to keep me interested. The only reason I lost interest here and there was because I got tired of the characters themselves.

World/Setting: 4 stars -- this was interesting and very outside my personal experience (both for my own teenage experience and for watching my kids'). It's actually a little depressing to think there might be kids out there who live like this ... but maybe it's all just fiction. ;)

Overall: 4 stars (rounded up)

Fantastic story. Mildly soapy and over the top, but it embraces it. Great weekend read if you're looking for a mild mystery.

This book was intriguing and entertaining. Kept you on the edge of your seat until the very end. The main character was relatable and likable. Thought provoking and makes one think about one’s choices.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title. While a little slow to start, once this story got going it was a twisty, fun ride! A group of “friends” at a prep school will do anything to get into the Ivy League schools of their dreams. What The Ivies don’t realize is that this will lead to betrayal and murder. I started to figure out the mysteries of the story at about the 60% mark, but was still along for the ride. Highly recommend if you’re looking for an easy, entertaining read.

What if the Mean Girls turned to murder to get ahead? The students at Claflin Academy are destined and determined to go to only the very best colleges, and the Ivies (Avery, Emma, Olivia, Sierra, and Margot) are more determined than the rest. This YA novel is a great combination of powerplays and a mystery. Great for fans of "Mean Girls" or paired with "I, Claudia" by Mary McCoy.

Rich kid, mean girl drama at its finest. Vicious and dark, an overall slow burn mystery that's gripping and difficult to pull away from. This twisted tale takes on the lengths a girl will go to get into the ivies.

Wow I got totally sucked in to this, started it on my lunch break at 2 and finished it just shy of midnight on the same day. Even though I figured out a couple of the plot points ahead of time this was still a massively fun read. In line with A Good Girls Guide to Murder.

An immerseful novel full of plot twists that will keep you on your toes. One of the best reads of the year.

Trigger and Content Warning: sexual innuendo, lots of swearing, references to alcohol, also some violence, brief mention of laxatives, brief mention of bomb threats

This review contains spoilers, do not read unless you want to be spoiled.

I read Alexa Donne's two sci-fi books in the past year and loved her writing, so when I heard she was going to be writing a murder mystery, set in a prep school, and full of lies and deceit, I knew I needed a copy.

So what's this book about:
A girl named Olivia Winters and her friends Avery, Sierra, Margot, and Emma, are known as the Ivies. They will do anything and everything to get into their dream schools. And that means anything.

Avery Montfort: Harvard
Sierra Watson: Yale
Margot Kim:Princeton
Emma Russo:Brown
Olivia Winters: UPenn

Each girl is assigned a school and can't apply anywhere else. Those are the rules. But rules are made to be broken. . .

Olivia applies to Harvard and gets in. But that's Avery's school and when Avery gets a rejection Olivia knows she can't tell Avery or face her wrath. But then Emma comes to her with a secret: she got into Harvard too. And she has every intention to tell Avery that night. But things don't go to plan and Avery and Emma get into a fight where Avery says she'll kill Emma. The next morning Emma is found dead in the rowing house the next morning.

My thoughts on the characters:
Olivia Winters: she's smart and resourceful but not the perfect MC. She is flawed, unable to hold friends besides the Ivies, and not entirely innocent when it comes to the Ivies antics. I liked how she wasn't dependent on anyone when the author very much could have made her.

Avery Montfort: Easily my favorite character. The development from preppy and narcissistic to actually caring and totally herself is one of my favorite things about her. She even had a moment where it seemed she had reverted to her old, self-centered ways, and the flip where she revealed she hadn't was the thing that made me believe her character was different. Also she was a secret lesbian and developed into someone out and proud from a closeted, and scared which was an amazing contrast.

Sierra Watson: She went from caring and concerned about Olivia to someone who would do anything to keep her reputation, which I liked because it revealed her true priorities.

Margot Kim: Nothing really notable, she was really self-centered from the beginning and stayed that way for the rest of the book.

Emma Russo: She seemed really innocent but by the end of it, it was revealed she was actually a pretty bad person when compared to the rest of the Ivies. The lengths she went to for her own benefit were quite a stretch and section by section she became less and less innocent.

Ethan Kendall: He was actually a pretty good guy, seemed perfect, Canadian, and really innocent in general. As the story progressed it became obvious he had another agenda, a secret motive. For a while I actually suspected him as the murderer, because he just seemed to be hiding something. In the end, he protected himself when he had the chance to do the right thing, and I think I prefer it to the stereotypical the guy and the girl get together because of their trauma and everything is fine.

Conclusion: This book was amazing. Tyler being the murderer was unexpected, and the reason even more so. Avery's development was something I really loved to see. Ethan's self-centered attitude was not expected, but made the story even better. Olivia not going to Harvard and getting kicked out of Claflin in the end was something I actually liked because it didn't follow stereotypes and proved things really don't turn out perfect every time.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and Alexa Donne for providing an ARC!!

I love a boarding school mystery- something about rich kids and murder makes me keep turning pages every time. The Ivies focuses on a group of girls who are all Ivy League bound, until one of them is murdered, which leads to secrets spilling out. Overall, it was a fun and quick read. The pace of the book was perfect to keep me interested without throwing too much action and plot points to confuse the reader. The twist at the end was satisfying. I recommend the book to anyone else who has a love for boarding school thrillers!

I have to admit that boarding school any type of story usually get me. So I had to request this arc when I saw it. Boarding school murder mystery? Crossed with some college admission scandal relevancy. Count me in.
Plot
I thought the plot/story was really well done. It wasn’t a thriller, but it wasn’t slow or fast paced either. The pace was just right with the mystery unraveling slowly, with misdirects here and there that while the villain was on my list of suspect, it wasn’t that high on it. So well, done there, Alexa Donne.

Characters
Olivia, was the main character, one of the ivies that we follow throughout the book. She was actually ok, she wasn’t overly annoying or whiny, but she was very naïve which isn’t cumbersome while the story plays out, but when you pan back and think back to the book after reading it you definitely stop to think, wait. This girl was supposed to be super clever? She came a long way, but she was still naively guilty throughout a lot of it, regardless of what she actually committed with her two hands. The other ivies weren’t fleshed out that well other than Harvard. Even the murdered girl we didn’t get much into, it would’ve been nice to explore them a little bit more than we did, although perhaps that was intentional given that Olivia didn’t know them as well as she though she did? Still, would’ve been nice to see more on them though. The love interest was fairly boring, but the book again wasn’t really about that, so even the conclusion to that arc was satisfying.

Twist/Reveal
I appreciated the reveal for what it was – a bonkers revelation in an already over the top bonkers book. But it was fitting, and it made a semblance of sense in a book that was already striving to pull off ridiculousness. I didn’t hate it like I would’ve in other books, because Donne doesn’t ask us to suspend disbelief just for an unpredictable twist. She asks us to heighten our imaginations and reach for the unreachable (I hope, it’s unreachable, anyway!) from the very beginning.