I really enjoyed this book! This is a very unusual book about romance with a very queer cast, which I always love. It ended up taking some turns at the end that I wasn't expecting, but I still really appreciated what it did with Dot and Ivy's relationship, and how it showed different kinds of love than from what we're used to. Our main character was a bit hard to like at times and that really frustrated me throughout the story.

Our MC is in love with her best friend and watches as she flits from one person to the next. She bides her time thinking that one day the best friend will realize the perfect person is her. Then the best friend meets someone new, someone who isn’t just a one time fling. This story has quite a few turns in it. I enjoyed the read.

An unusual queer New Adult love story centering the complex relationship between Andie and her best friend (and longstanding crush) Ivy. Though the central characters develop and grow throughout the novel, the ending isn't picket-fence perfect.

The Love Song of Ivy K. Harlowe is a story about Andie, a nineteen year-old lesbian who has been in love with her best friend, Ivy, for as long as she can remember. In Andie's mind, the only problem is that Ivy is afraid of relationships, more apt to bring home random girls from their local gay club (that happens to allow minors in without blinking an eye) than to date anyone. Ivy has never been in a relationship and never brings home the same girl twice, until Dot.

When Dot, a seventeen year old Vietnamese "baby gay" that Ivy sleeps with one night becomes a regular fixture in their lives, and Ivy starts to clearly fall for her, Andie is convinced that there is something wrong with her, and she is incredibly antagonistic toward Dot and very obsessed with Dot and Ivy's relationship to an unhealthy and intrusive degree.

To be clear, I found this book compulsively readable, despite not really finding it realistic and not liking many characters besides Dot and Andie's dad. I very much enjoyed the development between Dot and Ivy, and even Dot and Andie. I loved the addition of Andie's dad's bipolar disorder and the explorations of relationships between people with different abilities, and discussions surrounding taking on an unexpected caretaker role. I loved the family-run strip club that treats and pays its employees as it deserves. I loved the narrative that all love stories are different and that people have different breaking points and different needs, and that monogamy isn't the only way to go.

I found that there wasn't much depth in that none of Andie and Ivy's friendships besides the unhealthy and idealized one between the two of them were delved into much, despite a supporting cast with a lot of potential. The drug use, while integral to the story and something I tend to enjoy to read about when done well, wasn't even well researched. The "E" that they were doing, was done in tabs, to the point where Ivy told Dot "maybe half a tab for you next time," making it seem that the author was under the impression that ecstasy/mdma and acid are one-in-the-same. They are not.

I also didn't enjoy the nonchalance of the gay club allowing seventeen year olds in, despite the fake IDs. The relationship between Dot and Ivy was a bit dicey to me as Dot was freshly seventeen and still in high school, where Ivy would go to pick her up regularly despite being a college student and in a completely different phase in her life. The age of consent was mentioned, and a two year age difference isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it was a bit more normalized than I would've liked.

I also didn't think the relationship with Andie and Elizabeth was dealt with well, especially for how unhealthy it was. I get that this book revolves around unhealthy relationships, but Elizabeth's biphobia and tendency to control Andie were not touched on enough. I can't help but feel like this could have been a better book were it longer, more in-depth and better researched.

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.

I received this book in exchange of a honest review. It wasn't what I expected by reading the blurb, but it was still pretty enjoyable. THE LOVE SONG OF IVY K. HARLOWE is messy because life can be messy and confusing, so I can see how some people will appreciate this story. I think the author has a talent for writing new adult and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Book Review for The Love Song of Ivy K. Harlowe
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I'm not really sure what to feel about this story. It's got a group of friends situated in a seemingly unhealthy dynamic...I can't put my finger on the exact message this group of ladies was trying to send, but it just felt off.

The character development fell flat for me, I was hoping for more depth. Andie's friendship with Ivy, Ivy's jealousy over Andie's relationship...it was all very dramatic being that this is a 'new adult' title. Sadly, all the characters were just unlikeable for me and because I couldn't really connect with any of them, it was hard to root for a happy ending.

The Love Song of Ivy K. Harlowe is a just-scratches-the-surface, quick read for someone looking for something light to pass some time with. The writing is solid and the story is interesting enough, but I wouldn't recommend this one if you're hoping for some depth as it's just not there.


Thank you Entangled Publishing for the e-arc to read and honestly review.

It wasn't what I expected by reading the blurb, but it was still pretty enjoyable. I am a bit too old to be the target audience, but it did give me brat pack vibes.

I am probably not really the target audience for this, but it was still fun. Well developed characters (and some of their families and friends) -- you could really tell how they would be enough so that when some of them change, it hits home. It seems kind of like a romance novel (or maybe more than one), but various things happen that take it off the rails and I didn't predict the ending, but it was still satisfying.

From the first paragraph, I knew this book would be a good one. I immersed myself into the book from the first chapter and I cannot say enough good things about this book! Honestly amazing! The writing is incredible and the plot is just one to die for. I am absolutely obsessed with this book. My favorite part would have to be the character development throughout the book. Character development is something I look forward to and this book did not disappoint. I am obsessed with the cover to! The feel of the whole book is just my favorite.

I have such mixed feelings about this book that it's hard for me to write this review. There are some things that I really liked, like the queer representation in all the characters and how the author masterfully portrayed the ambiguity of life. What really kept me from fully enjoying this book was that I simply just did not like the main characters. Andie, Ivy, and Dot take their turns engaging in toxic relationship behaviors that left me cringing. I also really disliked that Dot was 17 and still in high school while the other characters were 19-20 and in college. However, the last third of this book tied things up nicely and left me somewhat satisfied with its concluding message.

THE LOVE SONG OF IVY K. HARLOWE is messy because life can be messy and confusing, so I can see how some people will appreciate this story. I think the author has a talent for writing new adult and I look forward to reading more of her work, but this one just didn't do it for me.

This is officially one of my favorite wlw romances.

This book seems extremely shallow at the beginning, the main character is in love with her best friend who spends her time having meaningless hookups with any woman who walks. As it goes on, the story prompts a lot of questions about what love really means and who deserves the love story that they want.

Almost every single relationship in this book is toxic and or unhealthy, but I think it was written well. Andie knows she's treating her girlfriend bad but she can't pull herself out of the cycle she's been in her whole life, Ivy knows she's hurting Andie but she can't bring herself to upset the balance of their friendship, and Dot knows that one day what she and Ivy have will have to change but she is willing to put up with a lot to get the girl she loves.

Life is messy and this book displays that perfectly. I loved this book with all its flawed characters.

This book has high highs, low lows, big feelings...some very real feelings too. It went places I did not expect, and kept me reading without a break till the last page. The characters are young and grating and foolish and likely not for everyone, but they will speak to the messy queers who might need them, to see there's a life beyond the town you were raised in and goals bigger than the next night out.

I really, really like this book. Four and a half stars.

At first I felt like I was reading an updated, lesbian version of the Brat Pack novels of the 1980s. Everyone was drinking a lot and doing a moderate amount of drugs and almost everyone was having quite a bit of sex and none of it seemed to mean very much. But the more I read, the more it started meaning. The shallow hookups were still shallow hookups but the book itself is about deeper questions. What is a love story, really? How do you figure out who you are and what want and who you're going to be?

At a certain point near the end of the book, it struck me that the title echoes The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, and the narrator, Andie, is trying to figure out whether she's a Prufrock, who the mermaids will never sing for, or if she just hasn't found her story yet. The book also deals with some aspects of what it means to love and support someone with a chronic health condition, though chronic illness is not as central to the book as it is to Moskowitz's Sick Kids in Love.

This book reminded me powerfully of what it's like to be young and trying to answer all those questions and also what it's like to go through life powerfully drawn to someone who is never going to want you the way you want them. It's got a lot of big feelings and I get very invested in how things were going to work out for the three central characters. It doesn't finish with a big happy every after, but I did find myself quietly satisfied.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. (By the way, the imprint is Entangled Teen, but I definitely class this as a New Adult novel, not Young Adult.)

I think it's fair to have mixed feelings about The Love Song of Ivy K. Harlowe and the messages it fossilizes. It dishes out a decent chunk of dramatically unlikeable characters and unhealthy dynamics on the cusp of disturbing - some of it downright unreadable without cringing - and it's really in its concluding chapters that anyone is redeemed or their alarming actions/attitudes righted. This aside, it's pretty astute in how it portrays platonic affection and polyamory, the ambiguity of post-high-school paths and the plans and postponed ambitions that its protagonists have to make allowances for, and the ambivalent, amorphous status of partnerships and social pressures for tender-aged adults in the age of Tinder. I think the last third was a tad more enjoyable and truly turned it around for me - at least in edging us towards the light at the end of the tunnel for Andie's enduring enthrallment with Ivy - and the ending energetically tied up loose ends with more thorough tact, but the essence of the Andie/Ivy tensions and the equivocal emotional explosions that weren't tended to 100% left me a little uneasy.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled: Teen for kindly passing on this arc! 💫

The Long Song of Ivy K. Harlowe is an interesting premise set alongside a really great flipped plot genre of enemy to friends. Our main character Andie pines for her bestfriend, and opposite Ivy. The characters felt a bit wooden and I would of loved to see the cast of side characters in a bit more depth. The only qualm I faced while reading was Andie's actions felt invasive at times in her obsession with her friend and Dot. It is exceptionally hard to root for Andie and Ivy in this regard.

But life is messy, and this read reflects that reality quite a bit. Overall a nice read with good writing earns a solid 3 stars.

This is exactly what a “new adult” book shouldn’t be for me.

Andie is in love with Ivy, but Ivy doesn’t do love. She hops from one girl to the next, sometimes multiples in a night. That is until Dot comes along. A couple years younger than the main and her obsession. Andie here is the main, book is written from her POV, Ivy her obsession. Dot sort of stalks her way into Ivy’s life and becomes a constant in Ivy’s revolving door of hookups. Andie can’t stand this, she pines and pines of Ivy and sabotages any thing she can have. Andie’s whole life and personality revolve around Ivy, she seems like such an incredible door mat.

Ivy and Dot’s “relationship” develops and they do as well, but remain rather superficial and annoying to me. Andie might be one of the most annoying characters I’ve ever come across. And her parents? I just don’t get how they can be ok with all that goes on under their roof, it’s one thing to be excepting, but quite another to almost be enablers and encouragers. The rag tag group of friends you don’t get to know much about because, as mentions before, Andie’s obsessed with Ivy. This almost feels like some sort of stalker story, but it really isn’t. All I can say is the writing was decent enough but I couldn’t wait for this one to be over and start a new, and hopefully better book for me.

I requested this book expecting it to be a friends to lovers romance. So, it was obviously an adjustment once I realized it was not.
This is certainly a novel approach to best friends to lovers trope. What happens when one of the friends is in love but the other falls for someone else. The Love Song of Ivy K. Harlowe is about more than romance. It is about messy and complex friendships and accepting that sometimes you don't get what you want in life. I really felt for the MC, Andie. Her relationship with her best friend Ivy has always been complicated but gets even more so with the arrival of Dot and she has to watch the girl she loves, fall for someone else. It was painful to see her pine for Ivy. I kinda had a like/hate relationship with Ivy. She sometimes comes off as mean and lacks consideration for others feelings. I liked that the ending was realistic but still hopeful for Andie and her maybe future relationship with Alyssa.
Overall, it was an okay read for me but only because I mostly read romance and expected this to be a best friends to lovers (just like Andie did) So, it was surprising for me to watch it go in another direction, one which I didn't personally love. But the only problem I have is the plotline. The writing was really great and I would recommend it to people looking for something different from the usual romance books.

Copy provided by the publisher, via NetGalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

When Hannah described this as the great lesbian love story, I was immediately sold. That’s exactly what it was. I fell absolutely in love with Ivy and Andie. What a beautiful journey about growth, love and learning what your limits are.

This book follows Andie as she tries to grapple with her feelings for Ivy and still live her life. When Dot comes on the scene Andie must deal with the fall out as she doesn’t just leave after her night with Ivy. What starts as one story you think is going to happen blooms into something completely different. The journey that Andie goes on throughout this book is such a beautiful mix of self discovery and messy problems. I loved every second of this. It’s such a great story and one that should be told. That life may not always be this grand love story or adventure. You can find yourself in the most obscure places, even when you don’t want to find yourself at all.

Ivy. Oh Ivy. What a joy to watch Ivy transform as well. It was fun and fluid and her relationship with Dot was so cute!! I loved it. It wasn’t this picture perfect thing but it worked for them and that’s so important. Not everything is made the way society wants, but it can still work and that’s how these two were. It was fantastic.

I loved the core group of friends and their ability to be there for one another. Andie’s parents were also incredible. It was like this little found family, mixed with an incredible friend group and growing up. What a book. So, so good!