4.5/5

The Ivies was a thrilling read that gripped my heart and wouldn't let go until I'd turned the last page.
So, The Ivies is out! I got the chance to read it early for review.
The Ivies is a YA contemporary thriller built around college admissions and how killer they can be.
The book opens up on early decision day, a day when colleges admit some students early. And the students at Claflin Academy are ready to burst over these decisions. For some getting into one of these Ivy League colleges makes or breaks their life. And you really feel that atmosphere as you're reading. You almost take it on for yourself as you read Olivia going through her day. At first, we aren't totally sure why she's nervous, and I loved reading that tension.
Each member of the ivies group was assigned a college by leader of the pack, Avery, and Olivia wasn't assigned to a school that announcing early decisions the day the book starts.
But she's freaking out because she went ahead and applied to Harvard in secret. As in Avery's school.
And when Avery doesn't get in Olivia is relieved because she thinks there's no way that Harvard would take her over Avery—except they did.
Olivia hides that best she can through the rest of the book, which is an amazing source of tension alongside the main plot. Because the day after ED day someone winds up dead. For the sake of spoilers I won't be saying who dies, but boi oh boi I loved reading up to the murder. The tension was great, I think it was the strongest thing in the book. The constant wondering and guessing on what's going on and who done it. Oof, I loved it.
So, the tension was great, best part of the book.
Next favorite is our main character, Olivia!
Olivia is an aspiring journalist, which makes her a great character to follow in a thriller I think. She makes smart decisions as she's investigating—I love a smart main character yo. She doesn't get ideas and revelations out of nowhere, making connections that seem like they came out of left field, Olivia is smart, and she earns her keep as a journalist. Are some of her decisions crazy? Yeah,but they fit with her character. So I'd say that's smart. Good writing at least.
She goes on investigating and I really liked reading this part of the book, I liked reading all of it to be honest. I think my favorite was leading up to the murder because I was so wrapped up in who was getting killed, and then finding out who killed the student was just under that. It was still amazing though.
The twists in this book were really good, I didn't see too many of them coming, I did guess a few but that's fun sometimes. Kinda give me cool dective vibes. The final twists of the book I didn't see coming, and I will say that I didn't guess the murderer. Which is fine, I'll catch the next one in the next thriller I read!
Description wise, it was pretty good. Reading about Olivia's feelings was very real, her building anxiety and terror as she's questioning her friends and wondering if she could be the next one killed. I would have loved some more descriptions, but I'm just a description lover haha. One other thing I would have liked more of is seeing Olivia's home life. Seeing where she came from and just how set apart she is from the rest of the school. I think when she was with her mom for a bit over winter break could have been a great time to add some of that in, but that may not have been included for one of a million reasons. Length of the book, pacing, keeping up with the building tension. Either way, it didn't bug me too much, but it would have been nice.
Any way you look at it, I really loved reading The Ivies. I think it's a great book to get someone into thrillers (if they don't mind language and underage drinking.) Great book. Can't wait for the next one Alexa is writing.

I have read many books set in boarding schools with ambitious teens and The Ivies does not set itself apart from the pack.

The Ivies is lush mystery that is not without its faults. Pace is an significant issue that is evident through the second act of the novel. However, the ending does make up for a rather dull mystery.

3.5 Stars

That's Clarion Academy in a nutshell: private, elite, and bleeding bullshit from every red-bricked building.
The Ivies Olivia, Emma, Margot, Sierra, and Avery a clique of teenage girls who seemed to run Clarion Academy. The problem is though that it seems that they all have secrets from one another, secrets that could just get two of them killed because of jealousy and not sticking to the original plan. Each girl was supposed to apply to a different Ivy league, that way they all had a better chance of getting in and beating the other students. The problem is not all of them want to go to their assigned school, which leads to some of them applying to two schools just to see if they could get in.

"Five girls with the same mission: to get into the Ivy League by any means necessary."

The Ivies were willing to use any means necessary to take out their competition and never seemed to suspect each other somehow. From getting people expelled, kicked off of extracurricular activities, and failing classes they ruled the whole school and none of the teachers or principal tried to stop them because of who their parents are. Well for Olivia, Emma, Margot, and Sierra they could pretty much get away with anything. Avery on the other hand is a scholarship kid so she had to be a little more careful.
Everything seems to be going just how they planned until early selection day comes around and two of the girls get into someone else assigned school and then all hell breaks loose and anyone and everyone is a suspect.

"With friends like these, who needs enemies."

Overall this book was a good mystery as it kept me guessing as to who the real killer was the entire time. At one point in time each of the girls in the group was a suspect and so were some of the teachers. Avery however though while pointing the finger at several obvious choices and even considering the real killer at one point, still was somehow so naive throughout it all. The other Ivies had done so many things and somehow she just didn't know that they had. I don't see how that could have happened unless she was just completely oblivious to others and only focused on the Ivies. Avery was also far too trusting considering everything and again seems a little strange considering she was the scholarship kid and all of her 'friends' were rich. When it came to the actual uncovering of the mystery I figure it had to be someone in that family, I just wasn't sure who up until the very end, and then it all made perfect sense with how they had been acting throughout the whole book.

This book didn't end up being four-star though for me because of how in the end no real lessons seemed to be learned. Nothing changed at all for any of the people involved in this situation. One of them might have gained a little empathy for others, but not a lot.

After having enjoyed this book I'm interested in reading more by this author in the future to see what they can come up with next.

An intricate murder plot involving a group of girls who protect themselves with the secrets they've manipulated. These girls are the Ivies. Truly captivating read, the characters could be real with their life-like attitudes and I think that's where the true darkness seeps in.
Full review on my YouTube channel.

This book was a twisty read about an elite clique of girls at a competitive boarding school known as the Ivies. Between the high school drama and the tension of getting into an Ivy League university that leads to murder this was a fun read that kept me guessing until the end. Thank you #NetGalley for my ARC.

This is a really fun thriller story. I, to be honest, and more of a fan of mystery books than thrillers so this was a kind of unfamiliar reading experience. I liked the characters and the author's writing was easy to read. The plot was thrilling as promised and I think it's a really fun almost boarding-school-like story.

I wanted a book about cutthroat college admissions and this delivered 100%!

I am fascinated by the whole world of college admissions and I know Alexa Donne is as well. That did indeed come through in this book and I loved reading all the college name drops and the all the discussion of strategy and just absorbing all the drama and backstabbing.

While this book isn’t that realistic, it was so addicting to read! It was so interesting to see how these people would do absolutely anything—ummm, including breaking the law—to get into the school of their dreams. It was very dramatic and compulsively readable which I loved.

All the characters were very interesting. They all had so much drive and determination. Sans the murdering and cheating and scamming, they were kind of inspiring because of how hardworking they truly were. I loved Olivia and her arc (view spoiler)

Overall, this was a very solid, juicy, frothy book. I loved the drama and the addicting writing and bat crazy characters and the mystery at the heart of the story. If you need a fast-paced, all-consuming read, this is a great one to pick up!

🏫📚🎓✏️

As soon as I heard that Alexa Donne was writing a thriller, I was hooked. The Ivies was a fantastic read and it made me incredibly excited for any future thrillers that she releases!

The Ivies by Alexa Donne is a YA mystery featuring students at an elite college prep boarding school, and just how far they will go to secure a place at the school of their dreams. This was tense on several levels- they are dealing with extreme academic pressures, family pressure, legacies, all while also dealing with the usual teen dramas and emotions. Boarding schools always provide great settings. I wouldn't call this a must read, but I don't regret my time listening.

I won this ARC through YALLFEST in 2021. I was very excited to read this book because it is a dark academia story that highlights just how much pressure teens are under to not only attend college, but to get into the top schools. This story follows a group of five girls who do everything and anything to ensure that their group will get into the ivy league school of their choice. They have studied the statistics of college acceptances, and they know that only one or two students from each school will get accepted into each ivy league university. Knowing this, they are each "assigned" a school that they are going for and the other girls agree to only apply to their assigned ivy league school. Chaos, betrayal, and murdered ensues after it is discovered that more than one girl applied to the same school, and now a legacy will not be attending her family's school.
This book was definitely drama-filled and slightly over the top, which I would expect from a YA book. I felt like the ending was a little unbelievable for me because I felt like the killer just did not have enough true motivation to kill. Up until the end, I really enjoyed seeing the mystery unravel. I could also see the author really did her homework and is well-versed in the college application process!

Was a great story!

Description
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.

This is a quick-paced thriller for fans of dark academia and murrrrder. I loved how outrageous and frustrating the characters were (just like real teens!) throughout the whole murder investigation. The ruthlessness of the Ivies mixed with the mystery definitely gave Riverdale meets Gossip Girl vibes.

I'm such a big fan of dramatic YA murder mysteries that I couldn't resist The Ivies. Throw in a bit of prep school kiddos with a competitive side and you have a perfect storm of suspicion on every single character. With the plot twists and turns, I was never quite sure what the outcome of the story would be. The ending of the book was so dramatic that I found myself rushing through just to get to the end and see what would happen to the characters. Overall, this story was well written and clearly well thought out. The Ivies was a really fun read!

This was an interesting storyline about how cutthroat getting into college can be, and the lengths that some will go to get accepted.

I love Alexa's Youtube channel and enjoyed her previous two books. Her entrance into YA thrillers is amazing. I loved her characters, even when I was hating them. I was interested up until the very end. I can't wait to see more from this author.

I love a pulpy YA thriller, and this book was exactly what I wanted. The stakes are high, the characters are interesting, the plot twist is twisty but not completely unexpected. This is an easy recommendation for readers who like Karen McManus.

Wow, this book had me hooked! Finished this in one sitting. I am still reeling from this book! Is there a way to forget a book and re-read it! Loved this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ecopy for my kindle. Ugh, this book just wasn't for me. The story was well written, that wasn't the problem. The twists weren't all that twisty. I saw those coming. I felt like it was over the top at times. This just wasn't my forte.

This book was great! It is perfect for fans of Truly Devious (which we are.) Also great for fans of Julie Buxbaum's Admission.

Mysterious with a complicated protagonist. I love books like this! So do my middle schoolers.

Murder, private schools, and double-crossing athletes make this book stand out. The reader will be guessing who done it until the end.