Thank you Netgalley for this wonderful Arc!

Olivia is in her senior year at Claflin Academy. She may be there on scholarship but she found her way into an elite group of girls called the Ivies. Their mission is to get into certain Ivy league Universities no matter what it takes. However, after one of the girls possibly took the Ivies leader's, Avery, spot at Harvard things get scary.

This book is a perfect murder/mystery based on drama at a boarding school. I loved everything about this story, particularly how it kept me absolutely thrilled until the very end.

I definitely recommend this for all fans of murder/mystery stories that keep you guessing throughout the whole book!

Great book! Really drives home the pressure students are under to perform academically and the length they will go to achieve.

Murder mystery meets college admissions at an elite private boarding school? Yes please! In full disclosure I do consider Alexa to be an online friend so take that as you will, but I've enjoyed her books since before actually meeting her and in my opinion, this is her best one yet.

The Ivies is a twisty mystery filled with soapy drama and bad behavior, coming from someone who clearly understands the world of hyper-competitive elite college admissions today. Here we follow an outsider among the wealthy: a scholarship student who has been admitted to a small group of girls committed to gaining admission to ivy league schools, no matter what it takes....

This is one where I don't want to spoil anything, but I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience. I saw some things coming, but there were plenty of gasp-worthy moments as well and Alexa doesn't skimp on juicy twists and shocking revelations. And while a lot of this is soapy fun, it also has some important things to say about problems with the system, about privilege, and about how it's racist to assume someone got into an elite school just because they aren't white. (nobody is crying for privileged white boys who think they have it hard because of movement in the direction of equality)

I also appreciated that this book didn't have an abrupt ending as some mystery/thrillers tend to do. We get get a lengthier denoument which I'm a fan of, though I imagine some readers might think it draws things out too much. It's going to be a personal preference thing. In general I think there's a lot to like here and I think it's going to be a real crowdpleaser. Check content warnings below if you need them, but note that they may be slightly spoilery! I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Content warnings include: [ teen drinking, murder (off page), finding a dead body (not graphic), bullying, mentions of drugging people, cheating, talk of blackmail by threatening to out someone as queer, other forms of blackmail, gun violence, attempted murder, toxic relationships, student/adult in position of power affair (not-explicit). (hide spoiler)]

Olivia, a scholarship student at an elitist prep school called Claflin Academy falls prey to the social hierarchy. She finds herself part of a group of girls called “The Ivies”, all of whom are assigned one Ivy League they’re allowed to apply to. That is until Olivia’s friend and roommate- a former member of the Ivies- is found murdered. The plausible conclusion is that it's because she got into Harvard, and Olivia must watch her back as she uncovers the murderer all while making sure that the Ivies don’t find out that she too was accepted to Harvard.


In the beginning, I was very excited about this book, and I overall enjoyed it. While it wasn’t as thrilling as was promised, the plot was great and had an amazing twist at the end. As for the characters, I liked Olivia and the rest of the Ivies. I questioned Olivia’s approach to the situation, but I acknowledged her reasons for not sharing anything. At times, I felt Olivia was extremely gullible. I really wish that I could've seen more development amongst all the girls. Avery’s character felt relatable, granted that she wasn’t the main character. She gave off “Mean Girls” energy, however, her character developed the most throughout the story. I liked Ethan’s character, and then I didn’t. Like most of the characters, we find out little to no information about their personality. It’s more centered around their backstory. However, it worked for this book because of the plot.


I loved the setting and the plot building of the book. The author made every single person look suspicious and it made the book exciting. While it’s slightly overdone, there’s always room for more thriller stories that take place in rich elite private schools. Halfway through the book, I needed a minute to step away from it. While it was fast-paced, it was lacking in the plot a little. It was hard to get through for a time. The ending, though, was enjoyable and satisfying.

This book was “Mean Girls” on homicidal steroids. It was a gripping page turner that I couldn’t put down. “The Ivies” are a group of girls that you love to hate.

This book was intense in a really good way. Drama, sabotage, and betrayal run rampant at this elite private school which is the main setting of our story. This story certainly shows an extreme take on the lengths people are willing to go to get into a "good school".

I will admit it took me a little time to get into it because, in the beginning, I wasn't a fan of our main cast, MC Olivia included. While I know they were supposed to be the mean people of the story I was having trouble finding any likable qualities. But after a killer surprise, we find there is much more to quite a few of them than meets the eye. That is when I really started getting into it. This is one of those stories where even the secrets have secrets and EVERYONE is hiding something. It was fun trying to solve the mystery along with Olivia while learning everything that has been going down at this school in the hopes of getting into fancy colleges.

One thing I do want to point out though is that I thought the killer's motivations were a little strange. But that's just a personal take. I also want to mention that ending. I'm hurt!! I swiped at least 15 times hoping that some more pages would magically appear because I knew that couldn't be it.

Overall this was a very compelling and intriguing story. It was well written and most of the characters' personalities and actions were quite something to experience. I do hope there will be more to come.

Thank you, Random House, Alexa Donne, and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to review this book!

The Ivies are the country's most elite school, The Ivies are also a group of five ruthless teenage girls, hell bent on getting into the Ivy League school of their dreams. Olivia, our MC, stands out in her group as the only one without money, and maybe not as ruthless as the rest. Everything is going fine until Early Decision Day when one of the girls ends up dead. Now everyone on campus wants to know: Who killed her?

There were plenty of twists and turns in this book, some of which I saw coming, some I didn't. I want to say that I guessed what would happen, but really it's that I had several theories so of course one was going to stick. I liked how layered the story was. The moment you thought you had an answer something changed and you were back to square one right alongside Olivia. I found Olivia a little naive at times, and a little reckless, but that's probably the adult in me. I can't explain why sometimes when I read a YA thriller I'm all on board for them solving the mystery themselves and sometimes I'm like, "please tell the police, please just turn this information over." On the whole, I enjoyed this book and liked its examination of the desperation and deviousness that laces the university competition. Honestly though, I learned something at the beginning of this novel which I wish I had known back when I was applying for colleges, but oh well.

The story was fast-paced and yet I was able to disconnect myself and stop reading. I think that's more on me though, I don't know if I was entirely in the mood for a thriller. The last 30-25% though was really gripping. I knew more pennies had to drop, but I just didn't know how and I was eager to find out. Also, completely randomly, this book reminded me of the It Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar (author of Gossip Girl)??? I think it's the boarding school setting but honestly, I've read a lot of those and haven't gotten the same vibes so I really don't know what it is. There is one plot point that is similar beyond the setting so maybe that's it? Jury's out. Regardless, this is a fun YA thriller and I think anyone who is excited by the premise will get enjoyment from it. So please, check it out and let me know what you think!

*Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!*

I was hooked on this book from the first page. The Ivies was the cause of much sleep deprivation for me as I huddled in bed flipping ebook pages late into the night, my eyes glued to the screen like some sort of creepy possessed vampire. When I picked this book up, I knew it was a mystery, but a boarding school mystery​? I had no clue, and I was delighted when I found out, because boarding school mysteries are most certainly my cup of tea. It was also interesting to read a book that touched heavily on college admissions and Ivy League schools; I hadn't read anything like that before, but it was perfect for a mystery novel. I really enjoyed the narrator, Olivia's, voice; it felt very authentic and realistic. It was interesting to read about her thought processes during the book, especially when discovering hidden secrets and lies.

I have mixed feelings about the mystery itself. I suspected one part of it from the beginning, but I felt like another part came out of nowhere--and not necessarily in a good way, if you get what I mean? I don't want to say too much and give anything away, but the ending just felt unsatisfactory to me for some reason. I thought it was a bit unrealistic, plus the motive was super lacking.

Olivia's friend group was interesting to read about. I honestly can't say I was a fan of any of them aside from Olivia and maybe Avery closer to the end. They were all very cutthroat and ruthless, and Avery was the only one of them who had even the slightest hint of a redemption arc. However, they were made for a mystery novel (literally): they were shady, twisted, and definitely the type of people who just might murder someone to get what they want. I do wish we had gotten to know some of them more; I feel like character development was mainly focused on Avery. However, the book still worked well having them just as side characters.

That's a wrap on my review of The Ivies! I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a boarding school mystery with twisted characters, especially if you're a fan of One of Us is Lying or Truly Devious! I gave this book Four Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Trigger Warnings: death, alcohol, bullying and blackmail, toxic relationships, some mentions of disordered eating.

(*note: the disordered eating was not explicit or truly acknowledged, but I know people recovering from/struggling with EDs can be triggered by a lot of seemingly minor or random things (ie. digital numbers might remind them of the numbers on a scale) so I put that there just in case.)

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an ARC!

Why the hell am I so obsessed with elite-private-school murder mysteries?

One of my friends is going to a prestigious residential private school next year and now I’m lowkey scared.

When I was deciding which book I wanted to download for my road trip, I kind of...didn’t feel like reading The Ivies. I spent about ten minutes debating whether or not I wanted to download this ARC. But then I did anyway and -

I spent the whole six hours reading.

And then I finished the book.

“I have to watch my back. Play the part.
I’ll have to test my acting chops tonight, pretend to play the part. Pretend I might not be ringing in the New Year with a killer.”

The premise of this book sounded pretty standard for a bitchy murder mystery - elite private school, scholarship-student main character, a popular clique of the most elite and the most gorgeous students - but the beginning still swept me away.

The Ivies are the five-member friend group of popular girls all assigned to get into individual Ivy League schools. They tear other students down so that they have all the top spots to secure their entries to top-tier universities. They’re ruthless, beautiful and cruel.

“I guess I’m a bitch, too. It’s an unfortunate side effect of being an Ivy.”

Their leader, Avery Montfort, has claimed her spot at Harvard. Unbeknownst to her, the main character Olivia Winters has also applied to Harvard...even though she’s supposed to be applying to Penn.

On the day application decisions are sent out, Olivia is accepted to Harvard. And Avery is rejected.

Emma, their friend and another member of the Ivies, has also secretly gotten into Harvard. Avery finds out.

And the next morning, Emma is found dead.

“I stare agog at my friend and her Machiavellian musings. Is this really only about competitive advantage for college?”

This plot had me suspecting so many people and seriously questioning basically everyone except Olivia and Detective Cataldo (because...you know, she’s the detective). The storyline was so engaging and I became invested in the story almost immediately.

There were so many red herrings and missed clues and hidden secrets and I was just shook at literally every twist. Because I’m gullible like that.

I did actually guess the murderer though, which was surprising.

These characters seriously had me screaming. It’s hard to develop the sides and layers of a character over just one standalone book, but somehow Alexa Donne pulled it off. There was diversity, there were contrasting sides, and there was development.

“Having a weakness is dangerous where Avery Montfort is concerned.”

Avery Montfort - the ringleader of the Ivies. She’s beautiful, skinny, and set straight for Harvard by instruction of her rich, toxic, triple-Harvard-legacy mother. Her family also owns one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. She’s the most prominent out of all the other characters, save for Olivia.

I loved Avery. She was a bitch, but her characterization had me shook. Her secrets and lies and just overall badassery made me love her so much. She’s the classic mean girl, but something about how Avery’s character was delivered just made me attached.

“In a school of elites, Avery has a way of attracting the very best to stand by her side. President of the Girls Who Code club, Claflin chapter, Sierra had figured out how to hack into the school’s administrative system before spring semester freshman year, and it remains her most useful asset as in Ivy.”

Sierra - she was a strong, steady character, and yet I wasn’t sure how I felt about her. I liked her for a bit and then I didn’t, but she wasn’t the one who changed. It was the circumstances and the plot and my own opinion, and I thought that it was interesting that she could stay the same and give me so many conflicting opinions.

“Margot is the school’s premiere actress, surely Broadway bound; she can charm (ie., deceive) teachers and students alike.”

Margot - she was the most bland out of the Ivies, but I liked that she still had her own personality and dangers to her. We didn’t really get a lot of her on the page. She was smart, scheming, and an amazing actress, and that’s really all we need to know.

“Emma’s the social Renaissance woman, in with every conceivable group. As captain of FIRST Robotics, first-chair flute in band, butterfly champion on the swim team, and tech director for the drama club, Emma’s got a finger in every pie.”

Emma - the victim of the murder. She was...interesting.

Emma appeared to be the “good-girl” character at first. Nice, unassuming, and talented, with a rebellious boyfriend. She wasn’t actually that nice, since we know that all of the Ivies were bitches, and she wasn’t that unassuming, since we know that the Ivies were conniving, but compared to everyone else she was the “good girl”.

As Sierra described her:

“That girl lives in her own universe, where she’s the smartest and nicest person, tee-hee, and how could anyone ever think otherwise? Always pushing shit too far and then acting innocent when things blow up.”

Finally, Olivia Winters - our main character, scholarship student, and the only lower-middle-class member of the Ivies...or really Claflin Academy. She’s smart and hardworking, but is considered the “extra” friend - as in, the Ivies don’t include her in half their shit. Her narrative was intense. I liked her and she was definitely a strong, relatable character.

“I’ll never stop marveling at rich kids getting upset about other people calling them rich. They’re so sensitive.”

After Emma’s death, Olivia starts investigating. Part of it is because Emma was her roommate, but it’s also because Avery and Emma got into a fight over Harvard. The last thing that Avery said to Emma was “I could kill you for this.”

“The lead weight of doubt settles in my stomach. The question 'Did Avery kill Emma because of Harvard?' is feeling less and less ridiculous. Avery is hiding something. And Sierra and Margot may be in on it.”

Unfortunately, this investigation that Olivia launches uncovers a little bit too much. Emma, apparently, was not the perfect girl that everyone thought she was.

Of course, this prompts Olivia to start digging deeper.

The setting was so good. Claflin Academy felt like a real school, albeit similar to a lot of other private schools in the other murder mysteries I’ve read. I felt like I could imagine everything and I understood the whole hierarchy. Let’s be honest, we’ve all dreamed of being those gorgeous clique-y billionaire kids.

“That’s Claflin Academy in a nutshell; private, elite, and bleeding bullshit from every red-bricked building.”

The atmosphere was perfect. It was just the right amount of creepy, tense and bitchy. It really contributed to the mystery and the unsolved questions, and it made the different suspects just seem...more suspicious. It was that mysterious “never-trust-anyone” vibe that I’m obsessed with in these kinds of books.

“Something is wrong. I feel it in my bones, like when you enter a room and know people were just talking about you. Or like a ghost walking over your grave. My mom always says that, though it doesn’t really make sense. And yet...that feeling.”

In my opinion, there didn’t need to be romance. It was a good aspect, but it wasn’t really needed (although that might just be me being tired of having so many romances in every single book I read). Their dynamic was great, and it provided a lot to the plot, but I feel like Olivia’s and Ethan’s relationship would have given us the same through a platonic dynamic.

“Are you trying to shunt all the investigation work onto me?” Ethan teases. I like this, us being playful with each other. It’s distracting me from being terrified.
“No.” I grin at him. “I have the hardest job of all.”
“And what’s that?”
“Going to war with the Ivies.”

I loved the Ivies, though. I loved the whole bitchy aesthetic that they gave. They were cruel, ambitious bitches, and they were completely fine with it. I know I would hate them with all my soul if they existed, but reading about soulless monsters of teenage girls is such an experience.

“Tears prick at my eyes, finally. I am not a sociopathic monster. With friends like Avery, I worry sometimes.”

I’m honestly a little bit tired of the whole girl-who-doesn’t-fit-in trope. Because naturally every protagonist of a rich boarding school mystery will be the scholarship student who’s a charity case for the popular kids. She’s always left out, even though everyone else thinks she’s part of them. She doesn’t have fancy clothes and rich lawyers. She’s just average and they’re elite. Etc.

“Why does it matter who knew? Or is our plan to rat us all out? You’re not one of us, Liv, and we know it. Why do you think we left you off the group text? You can’t be trusted. Always playing the victim.”

It’s just getting tired. Give me an elite billionaire-class bitch who is actually nice. You don’t have to be “poor” (AKA average) to be nice.

“I never did think you fit in with them. You didn’t make sense.” Ethan narrows his eyes, thoughtful.”

Speaking of rich bitches, Avery. I know I already gushed talked about her earlier in the character section, but she was basically the embodiment of another tired, overused trope - the Blonde Queen Bee™. Why is every single top bitch blonde, skinny, tanned, and gorgeous, with sparkling blue eyes? I’m a bitch and I’m tan-skinned Asian, and I’m not even pretty. Seriously, I feel cheated.

“This is what Avery and I have the most in common. Self-soothing through food. She has to be in a very bad place to carb load on junk food, though. Usually her version of stress eating is swapping out her light balsamic salad dressing for creamy ranch.”

I did like the writing of this book. It wasn’t extraordinary or really that different, but I think it perfectly suited the vibe of the book and delivered pretty much everything that you need a writing style to deliver. The tone, voice and atmosphere matched everything else perfectly. There were a few typos and grammar errors, but that’s honestly kind of normal for ARCs? So it wasn’t a big deal. I could overlook them pretty easily.

“I get close enough to see, really see, the body. Because it has to be a body. It’s not moving.
It. When do you cease to be a person and start to be a body?”

I think the best thing about this book was the drama. There were so many secrets being revealed, so much tension and suspicion, and the plot twists and red herrings were just so intense. I was swept into this book from the first three chapters and from there it was just one thing after another. The pacing was fast and the plot twists were everywhere and it felt like I couldn’t keep up.

That might just be because I sat down and read this book in one sitting, but still.

“Tyler launches into a fine speech about all the things he loved about his girlfriend, and I can’t help but feel jaded. The Emma he describes is perfect, but I now know my friend was far from it. If I’d come to know all of Emma’s secrets before she died, would I still have liked her? Will she now forever be crystallized as a saint because she died young and tragically?”

Overall, this was definitely the best ARC I’ve read yet (LMAO this is my third one, that’s not a solid judgement). This was intense, harsh, and dramatic, and yet none of it was even that unrealistic. I loved the drama and the secrets and the mystery, and how twisted some of the characters were, and I loved the ending. It seriously shook me. The Ivies carries messages about being popular, being ambitious, and being cruel, and I was invested.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children for an arc of The Ivies in exchange for an honest review!

College admissions have always been something to look forward to, something that is a source of pride and accomplishment. But the path to acceptance....that’s a whole other story. We see that clearly with a group of girls who call themselves the Ivies at a famous boarding school who are known for their ruthlessness in doing anything that could edge themselves ahead of their peers to ensure their spots at their dream universities. Everyone knew them for their cunning eat all nature, but could one them really result to murder in order to land one of the few spots at an Ivy league school?

This book never ceased to catch me off guard. It’s reminiscent of mean girls with a huge academic and murderous twist. Every single member on the Ivies has a complex story to be told, but we find ourself following Olivia, who, unlike the rest of her friends (if you can even call them that) isn’t wealthy in any sense of the word but is adopted into the group. With them she finds that maybe her income status and lack of being a legacy child doesn’t matter when applying for colleges when you have friends willing to do ANYTHING to help you land your dream spot.

I found my heart racing at multiple scenes and I could not stop every single question that popped into my head as Olivia tries to get to the bottom of the murder investigation that seemingly has academic motive. I loved seeing her internal conflict of doing what’s right versus trying to get ahead by any means when her own life circumstances seem to not make her the ideal candidate in getting into Ivy leagues. All of the plot twists were so well concocted and everything I thought I knew was chipped away slowly, making me rethink what I pieced together. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the satisfying conclusion it presented! I do have to say that at times I wanted to shake Olivia for how naive she was being. That being said, I loved how Alexa Donne touched on the very interesting and twisted world of college admissions and how, at times, the competitive nature of it all could be scary, and in this case, deadly. YA thrillers have suddenly moved to the top of my list after reading this well written murder mystery!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy to read and review!

This was a very enjoyable book for me. It definitely had that Mean Girls/Pretty Little Liars vibe happening. Backstabbing, deception, and - eventually - murder in an elite boarding school? Sign me up!

The story was fast-paced and exciting. As each new bit of information was uncovered, I had to keep reading to figure out what was going to happen next. There were definitely some clichés in the book with regards to the characters, but I think they fit the story well.

By the time we get all of the answers, I realized that I was able to correctly guess only a few. I wasn't blown away by the big reveal, but the motive was absolutely unexpected. Part of me wants to say I didn't like it and thought it was too unbelievable, but the author actually wrote that character so perfectly to fit what they did that I absolutely believed it.

All-in-all, this was a super fun read. I would have probably given it five stars except for one thing that distracted me throughout the entire novel. When it starts, it mentions how they are all waiting for emails that say, "Welcome to Harvard, class of 2025!" It is also said in various ways throughout the book that it specifically means they would be graduating from college in 2025. Since these are typically four-year degrees, it stands to reason that this is the class of 2021 (also reasonable, since this is when the book will be published). The events of the book take place in December of their senior year, so that would place them at December 2020. The book mentions COVID-19 and how it happened earlier that year (particularly mentioning an SAT or ACT test that took place that February before things shut down).

So <i>why</i> are their so many descriptions of scowls and lips and lipstick??? If they hadn't specifically mentioned the corornavirus and put the book in December 2020, it wouldn't have bothered me at all, but it kept sticking out like a sore thumb to me. I know various areas of the US handled the coronavirus different, but nearly every school I knew of in most states were still virtual at that time, and the ones that weren't had strict social distancing and mask mandates in place. Olivia shouldn't have been able to see everyone's lips.

(I know that is probably a weird thing to get stuck on, but I do think we are at a point in history right now where authors need to account for things like that if they are going to acknowledge COVID-19 and place their stories in this current timeline.)

Other than that, though, I thought it was great!

I found this book to be a pleasant surprise!
This was a good YA thriller about how far the wealthy will go when it comes to college admissions. It had some Pretty Little Liars (the early seasons) vibes that made it read super quickly, I liked our protagonist Olivia, and there were actually a couple of turns that got me when I had assumed things were going to be predictable.

One of the best books I’ve read this year,
The Ivies is so much more than a YA thriller. First of all, the multiple narrator format was done so well that I became truly invested in each of the girls and their families. I will be recommending that my high school junior/senior students read this.

*Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for an ARC copy*

What would you do to attend the college of your dreams? Some people bluff when they say anything, the Ivies on the other hand do not.

Drescription:
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. I would know. I’m one of them. We disrupt class ranks, club leaderships, and academic competitions…among other things. We improve our own odds by decreasing the fortunes of others. Because hyper-elite competitive college admissions is serious business. And in some cases, it’s deadly.

I enjoyed so much about this book. YA Thriller about college admissions with a Mean Girls vibe sprinkled with a murder. Yes please! The Ivies kept me page turning to find out what was going to happen next. Even when the ball drops, you know these kids are more cutthroat than just murder to where you can’t quit reading.

There’s characters to love and hate but they’re all thrown at you right away. I found it a bit confusing keeping track of who was who right away, even the main character’s name I couldn’t remember at first. After about 100 pages you have them down to a T as to who’s “that girl” and it flows well.

I recommend to pick this up when it’s released!

This book was completely addicting and wildly entertaining. A dark academia murder mystery set at a boarding school? Count me in.

Even though there was a large cast of side characters, it didn’t feel overwhelming. The characters were complex, unreliable, and ruthlessly ambitious, if a bit exaggerated at times. Though perhaps a bit too pop culture-heavy, the dialogue and Olivia’s internal monologue was sharp and witty while still feeling realistic and relatable.

The whole setup was completely wild with lots of great twists and turns that left me shocked (but were well set up, not out of nowhere). I was so invested that I was able to suspend my disbelief whenever it got to be a bit over the top, or when the main character did things that were completely dumb to do while a murder investigation is taking place—though I will admit I did find myself wishing she’d stop blabbing to everyone and their mother, but not the police.

Despite the minor flaws mentioned above, this book was compulsively readable and incredibly hard to put down, perfect for when you’re looking for a dark academia book to devour.

The Ivies by Alexa Donne is a Young Adult thriller novel about 5 young female academics at Claflin Academy, also known as The Ivies, each self-assigned an Ivy league college to apply to and work towards acceptance. Other hobbies of The Ivies include; terrorizing all their classmates and anyone who tries, or just ends up being the unlucky soul in the wrong place at the wrong time, to conflict with getting what they want. A standout from the otherwise rich, luxurious, cutthroat members of the club, apprentice journalist Olivia Winters, aka Penn, eagerly awaits acceptance. When she gets accepted into Harvard, the school "belonging" to the leader of the Ivies, Avery Monfort, and Avery doesn't, things start to go downhill on Avery's search for which Claflin student took her place at the esteemed university. Downhill turns to deadly, and when one of the Ivies is found dead, Olivia decides to take action to find out what really happened.
If you choose to read, the first thing you'll learn via Author's Note is that this was intended as —for the better part— a satirical book with some elements of genuineness. I was interested to see how that would be pulled off since I know satire can be worked with well to create a poignant story, but this book did not deliver that. Sometimes reading it just felt like a waste of time, and it didn't spend enough time focusing beyond the surface of "they're smart and rich and hot and evil" into what caused these girls to be Ivies in the first place, which I would've loved. The somewhat ridiculousness of their club could've been worked into a narrative about false sense of superiority/no consequences based on privilege and the perfectionism young girls are meant to have in our society, but alas. Surface was scratched, as I said, but no dent worthy. Some points about feminism and privilege specifically are made in the end, just wish it extended to encapture the book in it's entire. Lacked much coherency for this reason and others. And it just wasn't a fun book to read.
Pet peeves time: It felt sort of like a long, rambly Wattpad novel, and I was surprised to learn that this wasn't the authors debut, which I would've thought it was, just based on the general maturity the writing itself showed. A big no-no was mentions of COVID-19. Just don't mention it, authors. Please. I can't think why one would want to hear the word coronavirus when they're trying to read about newspaper nerds flirting. Speaking of which. Listen. I like it when authors use repetitive language/specific words over again (100% about E. "But she was uniquely qualified for it, so it was sexy" Lockhart) but you can only use words like "niggling" and "shit-eating grin" unironically so many times before a reader wants to scream. Please. The shit-eating grin is never a fun visual. Additionally, I was severly disappointed that Sam Claflin was nowhere to be found at the Claflin Academy. Book would've been loads better if Finnick Odair/Billy Dunne popped up somewhere in there and Olivia was like "You're British?!" because same girl, I watched THG three times before realizing that. Talk about plot twists (of which this book had none, at least it didn't try to have any. Whatever.)
Deeper criticisms: Something that bothered me quite a bit was that there's no crystal clear takeaway to virtually any of the motives of any of the characters. Thrillers NEED to be tight, this is a rule out of my book, and this book didn't give me that. I'm still a little confused as to why Olivia, the main character, wanted to take this mystery into her own hands in the first place. With other main-character-acts-as-detective mystery books such as (THE HIGH SCHOOL MYSTERY BOOK OF ALL MYSTERY BOOKS I'M GONNA MENTION IT!!!) One of Us is Lying, Truly Devious, and Sadie, all characters have clear-cut reasons as to why they act how they act. The Ivies failed to at least be clear about that as Olivia tries to solve this murder over the course of the novel. One could (quite logically, objectively) argue it was the death of Olivia's friend, Emma (victim), that caused her to do this. But after a while, this drive to find out the fate of a girl who treated her like shit and who she wasn't really all that fond of turned into something compulsive that didn't really fit with the rest of her character? Maybe if Donne drove the point home in a different way, the story's whole would be more compelling.
Some intel on what this book did/didn't deliver: One of the main reasons I requested this from NetGalley was because I saw the LGBT Genre-tag. There is one main lesbian character, and aside from the fact that all queer content/interaction off page and even within so barely mentioned, I was not generally pleased with the rep this had to offer, so if you're a "see LGBT-mark as to-read" person such as myself, please look elsewhere for a book to heartily fulfill your killer/hero/anti-hero/detective (whatever your trope is, I hope you find it) queer needs, my friend. This book also included no sense of found family nor anti-found family, the lattter of which it had a lot of potential for but didn't quite reach that threshold. My final reason for reading was the notion of dark academia (aka I see boarding school + exclusive club + murder, I call DA in my head, should probably work on that to not be disappointed in future) of which this was not either. 0 for 3, Ivies.
Different plot points got quite messy in the middle, and it felt like I was picking up the book again after a months pause after each chapter. I was thinking to myself, wow, this is kinda harsh, but this is a great example as a writer of a subtley awful book. Nowhere near structurally sound.
I will say that the ending was well done. Smith seems like a great fit for Olivia (my mom's an alum who works there in real life, ha). Olivia may have annoyed the living shit out of me at parts, but she seemed genuinely good and the author had a good sense to cap her limits on not-like-the-other girls. That last glance of the Ivy girls as a whole is realistic enough to believe about something that doesn't exist and never really compelled me in the first place. More page-time could've been spent on creating a greater sense of this terse friendship if it was to make me feel anything upon the state of their friend group at the end of the story. Neither did any bits feel "nail-biting", as promised via description. You know that sense of dread you get when watching a good thriller or reading a great thriller book? Yeah, that book is not The Ivies. But what did make me feel a little...
On Olivia and Ethan: I was honestly a little/yeah, okay, quite heartbroken about the way Ethan and Olivia left one another, though. I'm happy he got his dreams, even if they were at the cost of hers because if this is a full disclosure I liked Ethan more than Olivia. I didn't really like the two of them together at first and was really annoyed at how they went from this cringey to bordering on unenjoyable to read friendship where they both annoyed me around one another for the better part of their relationship, of course until the part where they completely ignore all the shy yearning and say that they like each other, Olivia over text and then mentioning little about it in her internal dialogue until Ethan confronts her in the FBI parking lot and they kiss? Cute, but not consistently for me.
So with that said, no, this book did not make me feel nothing, but it sure as hell could've been worked to make me feel more.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

I absolutely LOVED The Ivies. I saw comparisons to one of my favorite thriller/mystery authors, Karen M. McManus. The novel was so well built and fast paced that I wasn't able to put it down till I reached the end. I was absolutely captivated by the atmosphere, and the characters.

This novel submerges the reader in a landscape so imaginative and detailed that the information of the world building/plot never feels forced, and is never difficult to understand or picture in one's mind. I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone!

The story was smart, addictive! The characters get under your skin, they are ruthless and twisted. The girls are twisted and will do anything and I mean anything to get into thier dream college, even murder. This is a great whodunit type of book this is the most realistic take on college admissions I've ever read in a fiction novel--we all know quotas are a thing

I received an e-arc of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars

There has been something pulling me towards a good mystery book lately and was really excited to have gotten an early copy of The Ivies. I don't tend to read mysteries very often but I do enjoy reading them periodically. This one had the promise of a dark academia setting with a murder mystery laced through it.

The overall story was pretty intriguing and I enjoyed uncovering the different pieces pointing to the potential killer/killers. I wasn't completely taken in by the story which just may be from a disconnect to the actual characters. I never felt fully invested in our main character even as this mystery was unraveling and stakes were getting slightly higher. The rush of adrenaline never really overtook me which I kind of expected it to with our main character trying to do her own investigation. Overall the story kept me mostly interested and it was a pretty fun read. I do wish that things ended slightly different but don't want to go into any details to refrain from any possible spoilers.