Alexa Donne

The Ivies, five prep school elites who would kill to get into the colleges of their dreams, has a showdown after Liv gets into Harvard and queen bee Avery does not.

The Ivies

Courtney Passio

Claire Durand

I really do love a book that takes place at a boarding school; it just adds an element for me. Is that element the fact that all of the characters are rich? Probably. A little bit far-fetched that it was all because people didn’t get into the school they wanted but that’s fine. I would have actually liked it if it was one of the girls and not just the boyfriend, but unfortunately, at heart, it is a YA mystery. Jealousy is key.

riven

McKenzie McWhorter

I didn't hate this book, I actually really enjoyed reading it but by the end I had several problems with it that I can't look past to give it 4 stars. 
The motive felt a little too out there even for this drama filled book. 
The relationships/friendships between the different characters weren't believable and felt forced even when they weren't supposed to be, most specifically Olivia and Ethan. 
Overall it felt very predictable, I had almost everything figured out before it happened.

Aditi

The characters were fine but the mystery was boring and the book went on for way too long. I didn't really like the writing style either, it felt choppy and kept interrupting the flow of the story.

By the end, it felt too contrived and I'd stopped caring about the main plot about 100 pages before the end. The final part of the story was way too rushed. The last few plot twists were unnecessary. The red herrings were way too obvious and it felt like a drag when I'd already figured out the killer.

isabella t mejias

Read this if you loved Good Girl's Guide To Murder. But not expect much.

Beckah brooks

I was given the chance, by NetGalley, to read a digital ARC of The Ivies by Alexa Donne. The cover and synopsis jumped out at me, so I gave it a shot. I mean private school murder mystery, sign me up! Let me preface this review by saying these are all my own thoughts and I definitely will speak my mind. 

With that being said I adored this book! It was exactly what I thought it was going to be. Elite boarding school, group of devious girls, oh yeah, and a murder. If you loved Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson, People Like Us by Dana Mele, or The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas then this is the book for you! I kid you not there was such a good balance of murder mystery, friendship, romance, self-discovery, intense murder-y scenes, scholarship student turned detective, parties, and of course boarding school drama. Everything I look forward to in a YA murder mystery. 

While we are on the topic of murder, the identity of the murder was not easily guessed, at least for me. There were so many twists and turns it was brilliant. Definitely got to a point where I thought it was going to be wrapped up neatly when I noticed I still had many pages left. It was right up until the reveal of the murderer that I finally understood who the killer was. Before that, there were a handful of options that kept me from putting the book down. This is the kind of book you will struggle to put down, you just have to find out what happened!

Now onto my less savory thoughts, though with this book there aren't many. The first thing is that the beginning is quite slow and full of story building/setting the mood. The main character, Olivia, goes on and on about her friends and their dynamic. It was a bit confusing, to say the least. They are The Ives, they each applied to one of the ivy schools and must stick with it. She goes between calling them their names or their school's names. I don't think I remembered her friend's names or the schools they were going to until the 5th chapter.

The other thing I didn't favor was that Olivia felt like she was such a goody-two-shoes and really held herself on a high horse. I would have loved to see her humble herself, but no such luck. Although, these things barely stand to how good the book was. Definitely pick this one up!

kendall p

I was very excited for this release. 
Mystery has been my fav genre recently, especially boarding schools. 
I think this was done really well, and i enjoyed the mystery aspect a lot! I went back and forth on who I thought it was multiple times, and I was very shocked at the ending. 
It really made me sit back and think about how stressful academics can be to someone. 
I recommend!

Great book!! Keeps u on ur toes. A good plot twist, definitely a cannot put down typa book. <3 trust me it’s good

Prisha Bhanushali

Emma M

Omg I loved this book! They’d kill to get in. This book was so good and I loved the murder mystery aspect of it a ton. 

Enroll in this boarding school thriller about a group of prep school elites who would kill to get into the college of their dreams...literally. "The Plastics meet the Heathers in this murder mystery about ruthless Ivy League ambition." -Kirkus Reviews 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. Alexa Donne delivers a nail-biting and timely thriller about teens who will stop at nothing to get into the college of their dreams. Too bad no one told them murder isn't an extracurricular.

Mary

The narrator and story were very engaging and interesting. I love when narrators have strong biases and opinions that affect how the story is fundamentally told. And Olivia definitely fits the bill. 

The character relationships are excellent and realistic. No one is perfect and neither are their relationships.

I really enjoyed the big twists, but my favorite part was the small details and moments

Would recommend and read again.

Lamia Hajani

The Ivies is not the only book that has taken a hard look at the current state of college admissions in the United States, but it does do a better job than most. I expected this one to be similar to Girls with Bright Futures, which it admittedly was, but I thought it was much more compelling.

As a huge fan of Karen M. McManus and Holly Jackson, this book was marketed for readers like myself, and I was not disappointed at all. There are a group of friends and the leader has assigned them their Ivy League school. They do some really not nice things to their competition in their private boarding school. When one of them ends up dead after getting into Harvard (not her assigned school), Olivia, our main narrator, does her own investigation. Olivia is a scholarship student who has never quite fit in with the Ivies.

Donne does a good job of making us not trust a single person. She throws in a complicated romantic situation, and it's honestly well done. I would recommend The Ivies to any YA mystery/thriller lover, like myself! Although some of it is predictable, I was still second-guessing everything until the very, very end.

aashna

this was really fun to read and when i found out the murderer it made sense... but that motive was just 🧍‍♀️ so i have no clue what to rate this esp bc wish there was more closure. also the entire time i was reading i pictured sierra as monet from gg

Cheryl Hedlund

Being a member of the clique of girls called the Ivies at Claflin Academy means being willing to do whatever it takes to get into your Ivy League university and secure your high flying future. Sabotage, lying, cheating are where it begins. Does it end with murder? Peak behind the curtain of ultra competitive college admissions. It is not pretty or for the faint hearted. The characters get as much attention as the turns of the plot in this young adult thriller. This is an exploration of the friendship dynamics between a group of smart and ambitious mean girls at the top of the social pyramid of a very elite boarding school  There is also a theme of class differences. One unlikely member of the Ivies alliance is a scholarship student who worries about getting a good enough financial aid package to be able to go to her dream school. There is a snarky sarcasm that lightens the tone. This was a quite enjoyable read. 

ahaana bhargava

Caitlyn DeRouin

full review here! https://teatimelit.com/2021/05/25/blo...

There are a few things that I think a book absolutely needs to be categorized as a good dark academia mystery/thriller: an unreliable narrator, a gripping mystery with lots of twists and turns, ruthlessly ambitious and morally gray characters, and insane amounts of drama. The Ivies has all of that and then some. 

I was hooked from the first page. In fact, once I started I don’t think I stopped until I was around 60% through, and the only reason I stopped was because I needed to sleep (ugh that pesky thing that gets in the way of reading time). The story was dramatic and over the top and I was addicted. I loved how descriptive the writing was; it was so easy to picture everything that was happening. I felt that the plot twists and reveals were done extremely well. They made sense with the direction the story was headed and there was the right amount of shock factor without it seeming completely out of left field. The plot twists had the desired effect and kept me interested and eager to continue reading. The vibes felt reminiscent of both Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars, two of my favorite teen dramas, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually saw a screen adaptation as the writing also felt very cinematic.

The overall mystery was incredibly thrilling. I liked that it wasn’t super obvious which character was going to die right from the get-go. There were two characters that I thought would be the victim at the start and I flip-flopped on which one of them I thought it would be. I wasn’t completely sure until just before we found out. Once it was revealed, the mystery just kept developing. I definitely found myself putting on my sleuth hat and trying to piece together all of the information. Honestly, I was almost considering starting an online murder board to keep track of all the possible suspects and their motives. There was so much information; the story just kept building and building and when it finally came to a head it all made sense.

Jessica Williamson

4.25 Stars (would be a 4.5, but that cover is MEH)

Well this was a bright shining star in the world of what I've been reading this week! 

This had ALL THE DRAMA! All of it. So many twists and turns and plot maneuvers and I loved every minute of it. 

The characters are annoyingly well done. Everyone is flawed, veeeerrrry few people are just innocent bystanders. It's just a giant group of teens behaving badly and all the shit people will do backstab one another to get into an Ivy league school. It was insane. You know the saying "truth is stranger than fiction"? This felt like reading a true crime novel there was just so much going on and I could not get over everything that was happening.

All the pieces were so perfectly put together and the ways everyone was dirty were just absolutely crazy. This mystery was done so so well. Very happy with this one!

Cover 3; Characters 4; plot 5; pace 5; writing 5; enjoyment 4

haley kendall owen

I think I was not the right demographic for this book. Definitely made for a younger YA audience. A quick, fast-paced read with some twisties thrown in. 

Zoe Smolen

3.75 

Saw a few of the twists coming but overall a super entertaining YA mystery/thriller.

Sarah Willhite

4.5 /5 stars!!!
 So I had a plan to finish this tonight for a second book in the Magical-hop-a-thon and I succeeded. I succeeded in finishing the rest of 168 pages in this. So I was kind of torn on the rating but because of enjoyment I will give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed this. The whole premise was unlike anything I have read, it was very fast paced, and the setting was so believable, I would believe that this was true crime. 

 So firstly, I really enjoyed the overall premise and synopsis of the novel. It had a very nice school setting, but the one thing that I thought was so interesting and so intriguing and unlike any other book I have read, was that it set-up as a murder for getting into a school somebody else wanted. So essentially, there is a group of girls, the Ivies. Our main character, Olivia is going to school on a full scholarship, while the other 4 girls are rich snobs that just take her in. The one rule in this " It Clique" is that you can only apply for a school that Avery, the leader of the group, assigns them. Olivia's dream school is Harvard so she applies thinking she has no chance, but gets in. The girl who is murdered also got in so, Avery accuses her of taking her spot says she could kill her, and 4 hours later that girl is dead. So like I said, very intriguing and interesting. 

 This book was so fast paced and the rhythm of the book was so good. It was so easy to follow and the flow of the novel, as I like to say, was very nicely done. It was so enjoyable, so I highly recommend. 

 Lastly, THE SETTING. The setting was just so amazing at a nice rich high school and I believed it so much. If I would have read without knowing the genre, I probably would have said it was true crime. It was just so amazing and lovely as a setting and so atmospheric. It was a PERFECT FALL READ!!!!!!

 So overall, I highly recommend. Nothing wrong at all with it, I fully, thoroughly, enjoyed it. If you want a atmospheric, fast paced, mystery this is the way to go. If you like that kind of premise, it won't disappoint. If you thought it sounded intriguing, you should pick it up because it is very easy to dive into and anyone will love this! 

 SO IF YOU MADE IT TO THE END, READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jawahir M

I would like to thank Turn the Page Blog Tours for including me in the lineup for this tour. I received the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my personal opinion.

Score: 5/5

I rushed over to write this review as soon as I found myself finished with The Ivies. Donne has written a compelling "sink your teeth in" thriller that'll leave you wanting more. This may market itself as another "high school murder with mean girls" but it is far more than that. Donne writes about wealth privilege, class privilege, the education system, and capitalism. 

No character is "good" here, and that makes it even more fascinating. What peaked my intrigue is knowing that Donne was a private-college essays consultant, she uses her past knowledge and expertise fantastically to craft up a scandalous cut throat affair with ambition and jealousy.

Needless to say, Donne has become an auto-buy after this one, and I can't wait to sink my teeth into whatever psychological mind bending tale she crafted up.

Do I recommend? Yes absolutely, it's a perfect for a sit down with a nice of cup of tea

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ashley larsen

wow, okay, those twists and turns. my mind was all over the places trying to figure out who did it. this was very good. i read it in a single day.

Lynn Braden

Olivia is one of the five "Ivies" at Clafin Academy, each with their own desired Ivy League school that they are attempting to get into through Early Decision acceptance. The "Ivies," including Olivia, have all done underhanded things to get ahead and win those coveted Ivy League spots, but when the Queen Bee, Avery gets rejected by her choice, Harvard, and two other "Ivies," Olivia and Emma, are accepted instead, it leads to Emma's murder. 

The Ivies includes mysteries beyond just Emma's murder. It is certainly well written with characterization that is skillfully developed, and a plot that includes a variety of clues and suspects, but it lacks hope. None of the characters, including protagonist Olivia, are very likable and they do very little to help anyone but themselves. The lesson that the characters learn by the end of the story is that the only way to succeed is to lie, cheat, and abuse trust and friendship. Overall, The Ivies is a timely story that leaves the reader with depressing messages.

Gabriella Rivera



⭐️Review⭐️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Okay so this is I think half a point different from the rating I put on my story, but after some thinking I decided a 4 was best.

✨𝓢𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 -

First off, I ADORE the setting! A brick campus in the winter? Stunning. 

✨𝓟𝓵𝓸𝓽 -

The plot was pretty good and was obviously what made me want to read it. It was dark and snarky. My only complaints were that sometimes the jokes felt a little 'too' on the nose to feel funny and the plot was VERY reminiscent of Pretty Little Liars. Also, I expected more murders than there were.

✨𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 -

The characters were really good! I thought they were all fleshed out really well and you could definitely tell them and their voices apart easily! 

My favorite was definitely Avery because she was definitely the most complex of them all (at least to me). 

Also, Ethan? Wow. I love how realistic he was.

✨𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓦𝓻𝓪𝓹 𝓤𝓹 -

In regards to who ended up being the killer I figured it out maybe 3/4ths the way through and someone with better clue-spotting-skills might have figured it out sooner.

The wrap up itself was definitely more tell than show. Especially with the news about Avery. However, I was DEFINITELY surprised by that ending! Like, Olivia, WHAT?! 

✨𝓞𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓵 -

For one of my first thriller/murder mysteries (as far as I remember) this was really good! I always love reading about mean girls and the Pretty Little Liars vibes in this was pretty engaging. The ending caught me off guard for sure and I don't quite know why Olivia did it...but it was good. 

I don't think I will reread this, but I definitely recommend it!

Tabassum Irin Zaman

3.25/5 💫 Many thanks to Penguin Random House International #partner for the e-ARC. Genre ~ Dark-Academia, Mystery

Okay, The Ivies turned out to be better than I expected it to. The story was fast-paced, intriguing and had the right amount of twists and turns. I finished reading it in two sittings, 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.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. 😌

The Ivies

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