White Ivy

A coming of age immigrant story that has a lot to offer. This is a story about a Chinese immigrant family's upbringing. The story focuses on our protagonist Ivy. The readers learn about the life between two worlds through Ivy's lens. A close family portrait that explores familial traditions and the question in forming one's identity. But this isn't just about an immigrant experience but a coming of age story that follows our protagonist's adolescence to adulthood. 

Ivy is not a likable nor a noble character. However, as the readers witness Ivy's upbringing we do get a glimpse of why Ivy is the way she is. This novel is surrounded by a pool of unlikable characters but this is what made the novel stand out. We are surrounded by rotten characters and we are witnessing a survival of the fittest inside this pool. The more terrible a character's deed the better chance of success and survival. The characters are gritty, heavily flawed and complex. But in a way, these characters felt very real. Life and relationships are messy and this novel reflects this notion. Ivy's drive is through her underlying philosophical questions on her desires, greed, love, acceptance and identity. The tremendous attribute the author brings to the table is empathy. We may disagree with Ivy's decisions but she provides at least for me a empathetic view on Ivy's life choices through her experiences. A pleasantly surprised debut novel by Susie Yang. This is the author's potential beginning and will continue to keep an eye out for her future works. 

Thank you to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for providing me with this amazing ARC!

I really enjoyed this book!  It would be difficult for me to put this book into one genre.  It has some elements of suspense but it's very character-driven.  

The book is told from the perspective of Ivy Lin.  Ivy's family and Ivy herself were all born in China.  Her parents immigrated when Ivy was a baby, and they left Ivy behind for a few years in the care of her grandmother.  Eventually they sent for Ivy so they could raise her in America.  Upon her arrival at the airport she discovers that she has a baby brother, who obviously was born there in the States.  As a young girl, Ivy struggles to fit in with her American classmates.  She wants to assimilate but she feels her family is holding her back from doing so.  A little later in Ivy's childhood, her grandmother also comes to America to live with the family.

I don't want to post spoilers so I won't go too much into the rest of the plot, but what I enjoyed was seeing how hard it was for Ivy to fit in anywhere and how difficult it was for her to find direction in her life.  And I also think this book reflects how much our upbringing can affect our choices, even as adults.  I really recommend this book.  It's very compelling.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

BLOWN AWAY. This was completely and totally INCREDIBLE. An engaging character study, and a thrilling page turner (so rare to find that combination!) I adored every second of this, and found myself stopping for deep breaths occasionally. My favorite quarantine read of yet!