Olivia is the scholarship student who is lucky enough to belong to The Ivies, the most popular and successful group of girls who have manipulated, cheated, and overall been very devious to make sure they get into the ivy league school of their choice at their elite boarding school. But it seems that not everyone did get into their dream school- and that is when things get dark, because college is serious business, even if it means killing for a spot.

I actually did not realize this was a mystery when I started the book (I legit thought this was just a high school drama, in my defense I had not read the synopsis in a long time nor very well in general so I basically went into the story blind) so color me pleasantly surprised when I discovered a murder that needed to be solved. This was a solid read, I enjoyed the fast paced plot and all the suspects, as well as the morally gray leanings of the narrator to add a nice layer or flavor to the plot. The story wrapped up well and I enjoyed the book overall. I would easily read more from this author and I recommend this to anyone who likes mysteries, YA drama and real life college stressors, morally gray characters, and tons of suspicions.

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.

This is well-written YA thriller that kept me interested and wanting to find out whodunnit. The Ivies are very reminiscent of Mean Girls but updated to reflect the recent college scandal in the news recently. There were hints dropped throughout that helped me to figure out some of the mystery but still some twists that I didn't see coming.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC (even if it took me forever to read and review it).

THE IVIES has a lot of good aspects to it. I love the YA true crime genre and it is very good in that for most of the book. But there are way too many red herrings, and I was pretty unsatisfied with the end. It felt like the author was trying to leave it open for the reader to imagine the MC's future, but it could also be her going insane? It was hard to tell.

The topics this covers (college admissions, elite schools, super privileged rich kids) were written in a way that didn't damn them enough for my liking. This might just be my preference, but as the book is written from the perspective of the "poor scholarship kid," there wasn't enough character growth from her in realizing how terrible this system was.

The Ivies is a young adult mystery thriller standalone by Alex Donne. I absolutely loved this story. I stayed up until 1:30 am reading it because I just couldn’t put it down. I had to figure out who did it. The Ivies centers around the seedy underbelly of competitive college admissions and ultra competitive private school students. I have always been fascinated with how increasingly competitive college admissions have been. They were very competitive when I was applying for undergrad and for law school and they have only gotten worse in the years that I have been out of school. I can only imagine that it is even worse at private prep schools. Luckily, I didn’t attend school with anyone nearly as vicious as the Ivies, but I was completely enthralled by the idea of them in this book. The Ivies was a fantastically compelling read. I had to find out who the murderer was. Simply put- I loved this book!

In The Ivies, we meet our main character Olivia, who is one 1/5 of the friend group dubbed “the Ivies”. The Ivies were a group of ultra competitive girls whose goal was for each of them to get into a different Ivy league school. They were each gunning for a different school so none of them were in competition for the same “spots”. Olivia has always wanted to go to Harvard but Avery- the leader of the Ivies, assigned Olivia Penn as her school, and not Harvard because Avery wanted to go to Harvard. (she’s a triple legacy people!) When Olivia and Emma both secretly apply to Harvard early decision, they realize that Avery is going to lose her mind when she finds out that they not only applied but they both got in! (and Avery did not!) How Scandalous. Olivia decides to keep her acceptance a secret, but Emma tells Avery about getting and the next day she ends up dead.

Olivia can’t shake the feeling that her friends had something to do with her death so she decides to investigate Emma’s death on her own. And off we go on our mystery. I loved Olivia. And I was super impressed with the story that Alexa Donne crafted. While I did guess some of the smaller mysteries I could not pin point who the killer was. I think I mentally accused half of the characters in the book at one point while reading, which is the mark of a great mystery. I loved this story. I think if you are in the mood for a good thriller/mystery, The Ivies will really hit the spot. This was a fantastic book.

Olivia and her four best friends rule Claflin Academy and loving refer the themselves as The Ivies. Together they work to edge out their classmates for every opportunity to improve their chances at one of the coveted Ivy League spaces. Olivia, a scholarship student, is Penn, even though she had her heart set on Harvard and The Harvard Crimson. She's accepted her role as Penn for friendship, though, since Avery, a triple legacy student has her sights set on Harvard. Each friend represents a different Ivy: Emma, Brown; Sierra, Yale; Margot, Princeton. By cataloging their classmates, The Ivies know exactly whom to target to make sure they each have ideal class ranks, club leadership positions, summer internships, academic competitions, and athletic/musical auditions. Teamwork only works when everyone plays by the same rules, and as Olivia discovers she doesn't know everything - or everyone - she thought she did. Beginning with ED (early decision) day, this thriller will leave readers wondering who the Ivies crossed one too many times, and who's next? 

THOUGHTS: Readers will want to unravel the mystery behind The Ivies and all that they've done. They'll root for Olivia even when her role in The Ivies doesn't paint her in the best light. Recommended for high school collections where fast-paced mysteries/thrillers are in demand.

I think I had high hopes for this one but it didn't deliver for me. I still enjoyed it and was a fun summer read. I honestly wound love to see this as a mini series.

When I say this was good, I mean GOOD. When I started the book I was a little worried I just wasn’t going to be into it and that it was little too much like Gossip Girl. But, it was Gossip Girl and then some! As soon as I got about 30% into the book and past the college early decision process I was hooked.
The college admissions scandal has been the inspiration for a lot of novels, but this was the first time I felt like it was done right. No one was likable in this book except maybe Olivia our main character - I found myself rooting for. Not just because she was a scholarship student, but because she was trying to figure out how to play the game and do the least amount of damage.
There was scandal after scandal in this book and no one was innocent. I thought I knew who the murderer was for most of the book, then I thought I really knew who did it, and then I realized I definitely did not. With everyone being a suspect and so many red herrings I was guessing until the end.

The Ivies is the kind of boarding school book that I love. It's wild, twisty and murderous.

Alexa is at Claflin Academy on scholarship, so she doesn't exactly fit in, but she ends up in the illustrious "Ivies" group. Basically a bunch of mean girls that will go to extreme measures to make sure they get into their Ivy League school of choice. It's a little wild, but after the recent college scandal believable.

One of the girls gets murdered and that's where things really start to spiral out of control. Alexa is determined to find out what happened and who did it and ends up discovering a lot of things, including that her friends weren't who she thought they were.

The ending was really good, a bit nontraditional and that's why I loved it.

I ENJOYED…
☂️
I’ve been looking for some great mystery reads lately and with The Ivies, well, I got exactly what I wanted. Suspenseful and entertaining, it was the kind of page-turner I wanted it to be and I’m so glad!
There’s this group of girls called The Ivies. Each of them are assigned one Ivy League college they’re applying to and… well, anyone else in their class better not step on their path… until one of the ivies turn up dead. What happened?
Right from the start, I was hooked onto the story, my eyes glued to the page (well, virtual page), wanting to know exactly what happened and what would happen next.
Our main character, Olivia, was really interesting to follow. Right from the beginning, she never really fit in with the Ivies and sometimes felt a little bit excluded, as well. I loved following her as she starts her investigation and tries to figure out what happened to her friend… only to discover a whole lot of dark secrets about her.
On the relationships: I found so many good dynamics in this book! Let’s get this started with Avery:
Avery’s the Queen Bee of the Ivies. She seems superficial and determined to do anything to get into the college of her choice, as well. I really liked seeing how the relationship between the girls grew as the story went on and loved the ending! I also loved discovering a little more about Avery as the story went on.
Ethan shares part of the editor spot at the school’s journal. He’s curious and kind and I really appreciated seeing their relationship grow, just as well. It wasn’t perfect and the feelings are a bit messed-up, but I found that it added a nice layer to the story!

Another thing I loved about The Ivies: how it shows that people can be so much more different than they appear to be, at first. Emma seems like the perfect girl, yet as the story goes on, Olivia discovers a whole bunch of secrets lying under the surface.
The best thing about this book is, in my opinion, the atmosphere. Alexa Donne manages to build suspense right from the very first pages and the fancy boarding school is exactly the kind that I love.
I HARD A HARD TIME WITH…
☂️
I kind of ended up guessing the ending. I kind of wish I had that “gasping out loud” kind of moment when I discovered the killer, but well…. I didn’t.
Some of the Ivies were, in my sense, a little under-developed. I wish I could have known the characters from this little group more. I got to see Sierra and Margot as well, but not as much as I wish I had.
OVERALL
☂️
If you’re looking for a great boarding school thriller, I definitely recommend The Ivies. I liked the atmosphere, the characters and had a lot of fun reading this!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I love anything dark academia and elite boarding schools that have mega drama (and murder). This thriller was indeed that for me, very thrilling! The murder mystery aspect of this book was so fun and while I did guess 2 of the twists of the book, I enjoyed this read. The characters that I absolutely hated, I grew to love which I think is such a redeemable quality in any book but especially dark academia! Great book, will recommend.

Fast paced, with plenty of intrigue and just as many suspects, with an ending that will leave you wondering. Great for readers of Good Girl's Guide to Murder.

Exactly the type of YA thriller I wish existed when I was a teen! I loved the suspense and I was able to really engage with the characters, which doesn't always happen when I read YA.

I did not finish this book. I think it read age appropriate and it has good info for students to glean information about college admission but I didn't really like the storyline.

The college admissions process can be a deathly game... quite literally. A group of (mostly) wealthy, powerful girls call themselves The Ivies and won't let anything- or anyone- stand in the way of their college admissions---- not even each other. When one of the Ivies is found dead, the girls are the top suspects... who can they trust? Who did it?

Thank you to Random House Children's and netgalley for this fun ARC!

I was approved to read and review this but the file never downloaded to my device properly. I had trouble getting it to open in the app and wasn’t able to read it unfortunately. I tried contacting support but never received a response. I tried using the NetGalley app and my kindle.

Really suspenseful, kind of similar to pretty little liars. It was good, not a stay up all night reading kind of book if you’re a chicken like me. But stay up all day reading definitely. I couldn’t put it down.

I really enjoyed this book. It was “Mean Girls” meets “Pretty Little Liars”. I love the timeliness of the college admission scandal in Hollywood. It had me guessing until the end. Thank you for an ARC of this book.

Really really good and suspenseful!! I enjoyed it a lot and I cannot wait to read another book by this author!!

Alexa Donne shines with a witty, suspenseful, timely novel, The Ivies. The story is atmospheric, it is suspenseful, but most of all it transports the reader to what it feels like to be 17 years old making one of the biggest decisions of your life, and full of the unwavering certainty that you would do ANYTHING to make your dreams a reality.

In the case of the Ivies, Claflin Academy's biggest It girls, the list of things they are willing to do to get into their Ivy League of choice has included, blackmail, backstabbing, and sabotage. When acceptances don't shake out the way they envisioned, Olivia is left to wonder would murder be a bridge too far?

Donne nails the high school atmosphere, the tension that arises from being placed in an ultra-competitive environment with ultra-competitive parents, and deep pockets that have never failed to buy the students out of any unfortunate situation. I think this is why Olivia's character shines so brightly. As a scholarship student, she is a natural "odd one out" among her rich, privileged peers. This places her perfectly to investigate the crime. She appears to belong to one of the most feared groups on campus, but as it becomes clear they may have secrets and motives that extend far past what she is privy to she uses that sense of betrayal to drive forth an investigation of her own as the police seem to flounder with theirs.

A quick read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys Gossip Girl, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, or the One of Us is Lying series!