I’m sorry to say this wasn’t the book for me. Between the synopsis and the amazing cover art I expected more of a gothic, haunted house, time-traveling tale. I expected sinister vibes. I loved how the book kicked off. But once it switched to primarily a historical romance, I lost interest. And unfortunately I didn’t care for the main romance. It’s a short book but it took me a while to read and I contemplated DNF a few times. The twist at the end upset me, but having read the Author’s Note I now understand why she wrote that ending.

I must admit, as I begin this review, that the author's writing style and narration set the right tone. There is a very ominous atmosphere throughout, and the claustrophobic feeling drips off the page.
There are two ways I do not enjoy a book. One is where I do not like the writing and, therefore, by extension, do not enjoy my reading experience. The other is when the writing is just right and I have high hopes for what I am to encounter in the book. This is the latter scenario. I liked the first few chapters and was looking forward to where things might lead. A timeslip was not exactly what I was envisioning, although the blurb does talk of it.
The focal point of the romance is the feeling of disconnection of a woman almost trapped and lonely in a big crumbling house, and when she finds the house pushing her into the arms of a man in the past, she gives in (in a way).
The pairing is not as strong as it could have been (given the writing itself). I actually felt the lost relationship stronger because of the way it was written. The newer budding one was a little pale in its comparison. Given that the entire plot relies on the growth of the timeslip romance, I did not enjoy my time with it.
I would definitely try any other book the author has written, and I still recommend this to people who are fans of the subgenre.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

I only read a couple of chapters and I couldn't connenct with the story or the characters. I found it rather depressing to read and I wasn't in the mood for it at all.

I'm really sorry to say but this one just wasn't for me.

I found it really difficult to read, the writing style was frustrating and was getting in the way of a storyline for me. It was just too slow and too depressing and not at all what I was expecting from the synopsis unfortunately.

I feel this book's premise is a bit misleading. I had hoped to find a deliciously gothic romance with some dark undertones, but what I found was the repetitive tale of a woman stuggling with her mental health.
The writing may be nice, there are a couple of good quotes, but there's not a whole lot of plot. This is 100% character driven and the protagonist is not one I could easily relate to or even empathize with.
The romance was poorly done in my opinion. It was too simple, almost instantaneous and the love interest sounded like a teacher or a therapist.
When I got to the ending, it was not exciting nor really satisfying. If anything, I found the protagonists attitude a bit annoying. So, unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book.

*****3.5 rounded to 4 STARS*******
I LOVE books about time travel (I LOVE Outlander!!), so I was eager to read this book! Where Ivy Dares to Grow was a mysterious, compelling read that I couldn't put down! At times it was slow and repetitive. I love descriptive books, however sometimes this one was over the top with descriptions and a bit wordy, which bogged it down. I wished the book had instead given more background to Saoirse's illness, her family and her relationship with Jack, her fiancé. The themes of Frankenstein (monster vs being "alive") play into how Saoirse is feeling about herself--is she a creation of everyone's expectations or is she alive with her own self worth and goals/dreams? She escapes to the mansion's past, meeting Theo and falling deeply in love, only to find herself at the end. The ending is a bit ambiguous and I wished instead, that it had been a bit more clear about the time travel mystery and a way for her to find true love. Also I wish that there had been a bit more to the ending so the reader would know if she connected to her family and found love again or sought out the mental help she needed and continued with her educational goals. Had the ending been more fleshed out, rather than as abrupt as it felt to me, and the book less repetitive, this would have been a 5 star book for me.

This is one of the books that are kind of an "acquired taste," you either love it, or hate it.
Sadly, I belong to the second group.
The problem with books that have the main plot revolving around mental health is that they can be heavy to read.
As a reader, I love to be inside the characters' head, understand their thoughts and so on. However, I don't want to be completely inside their heads that I start to feel claustrophobic.
In this book, I felt suffocated reading the same situations and conversations multiple times. I got how miserable Saoirse was in her relationship after a couple of chapters, but the author kept repeating the same interactions between Saoirse and her fiance's family.
The thing is, I still don't understand the purpose of the book. There is a starting point and a vague ending point, but you can't really find what ties them together.
The author treated the book as a case study, it was basically the FMC describing one of her episodes. Nothing more, nothing less.
As much as I love mental health representation in books, you can't build the whole book about the problem, a character is much more than their disorder.
*I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

An exciting ,gothic romance with an element of time travel. This is my kind of book. I loved the setting and the atmospheric writing.
Many thanks
to Kensington and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Romance if it was written like lit fic. And finally, a good time-travel romance! Isekai'd me straight into Theo Page's arms.

Everything about this book was charming, from the 1990s setting to the Regency love interest, even if the introspective prose could be a bit hard to process when sitting down for a relaxed read after a long day of work. I still gobbled this up in a matter of hours, though it sat heavy in my stomach like a syrup-soaked desert. Even the on-page sex scenes were written in that wordy style - which was an excellent choice, to be frank.

The marketing for this release is not very honest. "Gothic" might not be the genre I would assign Where Ivy Dares to Grow to, and I certainly wouldn't do it the dishonour of comparing it to my nemesis Outlander, but it's definitely more of a read for the dark seasons. I am looking forward to hearing more from Marielle Thompson.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Where Ivy Dares to Grow by Marielle Thompson!

This was a very interesting on the time travel romance genre. I think I liked it more after reading the author’s note at the end, FYI. Saiorse has gone to Langdon to be with her fiance's family as his mother transitions to hospice care. As they arrive, it is clear that Saiorse is not liked by her fiance's family and it is clear that Saiorse has had some sort of mental break in her past and both her fiance and his parents hold that against her. As she tries to navigate her own mental well being as well as the illness of her soon to be mother in law in the bleak English countryside in winter, the house itself has other plans for her. Langdon, it seems, is a conduit for its inhabitants to visit other times as needed. And the house has deemed that not only does she need a different time, but Theodore Page in 1817 needs Saiorse too.

A beautiful love story, but the writing was rather bleak and overwrought at times. Overall, it was enjoyable and an easy, if saddening, read.

Saoirse Read travels to the old English manor of her fiance to spend the last days with his terminally ill mother. While there, she cannot escape the disdain Jack's parents have for her and the distance between her and Jack intensifies. The creepiness of the house gets into her mind and one day as she explores the grounds she finds herself leaving the cold stark atmosphere and arriving in the bright days of 19th century meeting a past family member, Theo Page. The time travel becomes an obsession for Saoirse and an intense romance develops. So is this happening in the house or in her mind? It's a good fantasy and exploration of mental health.

Thank you to Kensington Books and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

They were not kidding when they described this novel as Mexican Gothic meets Outlander! Saoirse goes to her fiance's old family manner to help him spend time with his dying mother, only to discover the love of her life by time traveling while wandering the manner. Or does she?

The twist at the end of this book was really interesting and I"m was surprised but not shocked by it. Saoirse is a mixed bag as a character. I feel for her clear struggle with depression and other mental health issues, and her fiance is doing nothing to help and support her during this time. I felt the author balanced the time Saoirse spends in the two worlds, though at times I don't understand what she does all day in the present when she isn't time traveling. No one seems to notice she's rarely there and maybe that's the point?

Regardless, I liked this novel a lot and would love to read more from this author.

Lush descriptions and strong emotions fill Where Ivy Dares to Grow, a debut gothic fantasy by Marielle Thompson about the imperative of self-love. Saoirse Read is engaged to wealthy British aristocrat Jack Page--not that she cares about his money or status. She only cares that Jack shows her the attention and love she never got from her own family back in the United States. Jack's parents, on the other hand, never approved of Saoirse. When she falls victim to a disorder that plays tricks on her mind, her relationship with Jack starts disintegrating as he deals with her illness by trying to mold her into the wife his parents want her to be.

With Jack's mother on her deathbed, the couple heads to Langdon, the Page estate in the English countryside. There, Saoirse struggles to find her place in the estate, in her life, and in her own body and mind. When Langdon mysteriously sends her from 1994 to 1818 and she meets Jack's ancestor, Theodore Page, who sees her and loves her for who she is without trying to change her, Saoirse begins to see the world--and herself--in color again.

Thompson's writing style echoes a mind in the thrall of mental illness and allows readers to see events from Saoirse's perspective. Though Langdon's time-slips are the catalyst for Saoirse beginning to believe that she deserves unconditional love and isn't hopelessly flawed, Saoirse rescues herself from the doomed relationship she has found herself in. Where Ivy Dares to Grow, an immersive debut, does a great deal to counter the stigma of mental illness.

A beautiful and heartbreaking read. I picked this up due to the description of "Mexican Gothic" combined with "Outlander", and, even so, this not what I expected in a great way.

I love a good gothic time slip romance, but this was just sad and depressing. If you want to read about mental illness, this book is for you. If you want to read a good time slip romance with a HEA, this is NOT the book for you. The ending was such a downer. There wasn't much happiness to be found anywhere on these pages. The whole thing just depressed me and that's not why I read.

I feel really bad for the author. In the notes at the end of the book, she admits that she suffers from the kind of mental illness depicted in her novel. I hope she at least gets her HEA. I'm not sure her lead character did. It was a beating waiting for the romance while her character hashed out her feelings (it came off really whiny at times) ad nauseum over and over. Did you ever read a book and feel concerned for the character's well-being after it ended? That's kind of where I'm at. I thought I was reading a romance, turns out it's a tragedy.

Wow.

I'm past due on this review because… when I first started Where Ivy Dares Grow… I struggled. AND I'M A BLOODY IDIOT for not pushing through because this book is absolutely, heartbreakingly, beautiful.

Maybe I just wasn't in the headspace to understand the lush words of worlds and mental health and loneliness and love and longing. I absolutely did not expect this book when I chose it, even after reading the description. I did not expect Saoirse or Theo and I DID NOT expect that ending.

The authors note at the end was a special touch and I appreciate her honesty and vulnerability in not only writing this book, but telling HER tale at the end, too.

Beautiful cover, beautiful words, beautiful story.

Interesting story which stems from the authors own journey with DPDR. Evocative of gothic stories that center female characters questioning their ability to trust what they see, hear, and feel. The story follows the main character as she rediscovers herself and builds her capacity to break free from the judgements of others.

I struggled to truly enjoy this book, while I don’t mind melancholy, it just felt too depressing at points. Where ivy dares to grow is well written however, personally I felt it was too lengthy and descriptive at points. A major issue for me was that I didn’t connect with any of the characters, failed to sympathise with Saoirse and didn’t feel any chemistry. I see the comparison with Mexican Gothic, but as it’s one of my recent favourites, this simply doesn’t live up to that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. When the promo says Mexican Gothic meets Outlander, they could not have been more right. This book has it all - a spooky old house that might have a soul of its own, a love interest from another time period, the fight to stay with the people you love despite history and a world apart. Plus the author adds an incredible portrayal of having a mental health diagnosis and how that impacts our main character's relationships. This would absolutely be a 5 star read if the romance in the middle didn't feel a bit shallow. Also I wish there was. a bit more of a language jump between the two time periods. But overall, I loved this book!