{Review+Giveaway} The Ivies by Alexa Donne

The Ivies by Alexa Donne
Pages: 320
Published by Crown on May 25, 2021
Genres: contemporary, mystery, Thriller, Young Adult
Source: eARC from Publisher

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.

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.

---

To enter, fill out the rafflecopter below to win ONE (1) finished copy of The Ivies by Alexa Donne. This giveaway is open to US residents only and will run from May 23rd to May 30th at 12 AM CST.

Note: Book Briefs Contest Policy applies.  All of the prizes, terms and conditions of the giveaway should be contained in the rafflecopter below. No Purchase necessary to enter. Void where prohibited by law.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Related Posts