Hannah Moskowitz

Ivy K. Harlowe is a lot of things. She’s my best friend. She’s the center of attention. She is, without fail, the hottest girl in the room. Anytime. Anyplace. She has freckles and dimples and bright green eyes, and with someone else’s energy she’d be adorable. But there is nothing cute about Ivy. She is ice and hot metal and electricity. She is the girl who every lesbian wants, but she has never been with the same person twice. She’s one-of-a-kind but also predictable, so I will always be Andie, her best friend, never Andie, her girlfriend. Then she meets Dot, and Ivy does something even I would have never guessed—she sees Dot another day. And another. And another. Now my world is slowly going up in smoke, and no matter what I do, the flames grow higher. She lit that match without knowing who or what it would burn. Ivy K. Harlowe is a lot of things. But falling in love wasn’t supposed to be one of them...unless it was with me.

The Love Song of Ivy K. Harlowe

Nichole Bogard

The Love Song of Ivy K. Harlow is a love story but not the kind that makes you weak in the knees, it’s a true look at a realistic love when something unexpected happens and you have to navigate a whole new way of life, but it also a story of unrequited love. 

It is told from the point of view of Andie who is so desperately in love with Ivy she has pretty much put her life on hold waiting for her life long best friend to realize she is in love with her. If I am being honest Andie is super whiney and just expects that things are going to turn out the way she wants. Her world is wreaking when Ivy who never falls in love and sleeps with everything that moves, falls in love with Dot. The entire story is based off Andie’s telling of how the events played out. Eventually she comes to realize that this is not a love story from her novels and that Ivy never has been in love with her. 

Although this story was not something that I normally read, I did find it intriguing and enjoyed the story line. It shows you that love does not always turn out the way we planned and that in fact it can’t really be planned at all.

Special thanks to Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Flavia Louise

This was very different from everything I've ever read. In a good way?

Jude Silberfeld

I don’t know what to think of this book. It’s well-written. There are feelings. Teenage angst. So much teenage angst.

Andie has been in love with Ivy since forever. Ivy doesn’t do relationships and goes from girl to girl, which isn’t that surprising at nineteen. Andie is okay with it because she’s convinced that, someday, Ivy will settle down with her. Then Dot comes into the picture. Andie doesn’t take her seriously, in part because she’s only seventeen, but when Ivy keeps taking her home and Dot suddenly seems always there, Andie begins to worry.

This story made me feel very uneasy at times, which is actually a good thing. It rang true and makes me wonder whether this book wasn’t for me because I’m too old or because I really don’t want to relive these years.

I didn’t like any of the characters, which, for the character-driven reader I am, is a problem. I might have liked Elizabeth at first but she turned out to be way too closed-minded. I grew to respect Dot after a while and almost wish the story had been told from her point of view instead of Andie’s.

Telling the story from the point of view of a character who isn’t one of the mains involved in the romance is an interesting and bold choice. I can see how it might unsettle some readers but I rather liked it. At some point in the book, Andie, who is the least driven character in the whole story, wonders if she’s a secondary character in her own story, and is there anything more teenager-y than that? Some people, like Ivy or Dot, are lucky enough to know who they are and what they want from a pretty young age, but many others, especially queer kids, spend years finding themselves.

When I say I didn’t like any character, it’s not entirely true, I rather liked Andie’s parents, their strip club and the way they deal with the dad’s mental health issues. And I did like the three main characters a little more by the end.

That said, in all this rather depressing story (it’s not just the characters, there are pretty terrible things happening to them), there are some really good scenes, including a couple of epic ones. And it’s all very sex-positive, which is always a huge bonus. Except from Elizabeth, there is no judgement, no shame.

I was very tempted to give this book 3 stars because of how uncomfortable it made me feel but it wouldn’t be fair. It’s too well-written for that, and I’m also sure it will stay in my mind for a while.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Candyce Kirk

Thanks to Netgalley & Entangled Teen for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been a fan of Hannah Moskowitz’s books for some years now, leaving me at a point where if I see she’s releasing a book, I really want to read it. This was no exception! I was looking forward to it even more when I saw that it was an all queer cast, and I was just so in love with the idea of that many characters I could see myself in. 

Unfortunately, it took until roughly 80% for me to like this book. While the characters were so great and so developed that I never had to scramble to play a quick game of “Which lesbian said this”, it was also really hard to connect to Andie. I still stand by my idea that the first 80% from any other perspective would have been flawless, spectacular. I do like who Andie grew to be in the later stages of the book, though. At the end, there wasn’t a single character that I found I disliked simply because of the growth they all went through.

The writing was good, as expected. She has a way of writing that just sucks me into a book and lets me envision myself there, and that’s what kept me dedicated to finishing, even at times where I wasn’t sure I wanted to. If the development and major event happened earlier, the writing quality could even have bumped this up to a 4, instead of the 3.5 it’s currently sitting at.

And god, that major event sure was something! It was unexpected, despite knowing it was happening in some sense due to trigger warnings I saw for the book. It took me completely by surprise and I was even moved to tears in the middle of it. You see, despite the fact that my inability to relate and connect to Andie made it harder to get through, I still felt connected to the rest of the characters. So when a moment( that I’m not giving details about to avoid spoiling the literal turning point of this book) hit, it is happening to characters I’d come to love. Seeing everyone’s character development after this event was also this beautiful thing to see, just letting me adore these well-crafted characters so much more.

The problem was, I associated this book with romantic love, romance. The title and description tell you one part of this story and I let myself get caught up in that. But in reality, it’s a book about so much more. It’s about found family, real family, pure and tumultuous friendships, true dedication and how tragedy can make you think clearer, and be better. Romantic love was still an aspect, but not nearly as important as I’d let myself believe.

The Love Song of Ivy K. Harlowe

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