Starting in middle school Ivy has dreamed of a life lived among the waspy swells that she sees personified in the form of her childhood hero, and aptly named, Gideon. Fast forward to post college and he, by some serendipity, appears back in her life. Ivy’s story is a bit of a Scarlett O’Hara tale in that as, a reader, you want to direct her away from foolish choices but what is it they say about “the heart wants what the heart wants”. I loved the book! Thank you Netgalley and Simon Schuster. I cannot wait for everyone to read it so that I can discuss the book and it’s leading lady from beginning to end.

White Ivy by Susie Yang
(⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
This book follows the story of Ivy a young Asian American who steals and swindled deals for her grandmother. Her dealings lead her to be obsessed with a young man, son of a politician, who allows her a taste of the privileged life. Once her mom finds out about her thievery Ivy is sent back to China. Years later Ivy returns she finds a connection to Gideon through his sister and soon swindled her way back into his life as she pretends to be more than what she is.
This novel has many twists and turns as the author provides a character driven mystery. As I read this story I found it difficult to like any of the characters as Ivy seems more of an antagonist than the protagonist of her story. This is Susie Yang’s debut novel which you would never guess as she has a mystical way with words as she captivated me from pages one. I look forward to reading more from her in the future and hope that she continues to write about the integration efforts of Asian American families. *

Thank you @netgalley and @simonandschuster for this ARC. *

I could not put this book down! Literally read in 2 days! To say that this book was not what I expected would be an understatement. The author did a great job of making me both root for, and abhor the main character at the same time. The circle of relationships in this book was well written and the characters (while at times deplorable) were descriptive. The best parts about this book are the twists it takes along the way. Thank you so much for the advance copy, I will be reading more from this author!

I had a lot of trouble getting I to this book. I could not connect with the storyline or the characters. I tried and tried not just could not speak any interest in this.

“White Ivy” is Susie Yang’s debut novel, and what a debut it is!

Tantalizing and anguishing, sometimes I almost couldn’t finish this book — but Ivy’s story is one that begs to be told and to miss that last page, that less sentence, would be an utter disgrace.

At times it seemed impossible to love or even tolerate the protagonist — who seemed to be more of an antagonist— while other times her own thoughts and actions lead to a false desire to pity her.

Ms. Yang has wonderfully written the characters of Ivy Lin and her family with such devotion and love, this book was quite a delight to read! I can not wait to see what else the author has to offer!

(Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing a free ebook arc in exchange for an honest and unbiased review)