REVIEW: The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

Thursday, November 13, 2014


The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel
Published by: Entangled Teen on November 11th, 2014
Series: The Book of Ivy #1
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Genre: Dystopian, Science Fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
BUY THE BOOK or ADD IT TO GOODREADS!

FROM GOODREADS: After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The Westfalls lost. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual.

This year, it is my turn.

My name is Ivy Westfall, and my mission is simple: to kill the president's son -- my soon-to-be husband -- and restore the Westfall family to power.

But Bishop Lattimer is either a very skilled actor or he's not the cruel, heartless boy my family warned me to expect. He might even be the one person in this world who truly understands me. But there is no escape from my fate. I am the only one who can restore the Westfall legacy.

Because Bishop must die. And I must be the one to kill him...

MY THOUGHTS: 

Dear The Book of Ivy,

Okay, I'll be honest right of the bat. I hadn't heard anything about you whatsoever until about three days before your release when one of the blogs I co-blog on wrote a review for you, gushing about how much they enjoyed you. Meh. I thought. Then I saw a few more reviews popping up saying the same things. How great you were. Five stars everywhere. All over goodreads. Then, I went to the bookstore, and lo and behold my bookstore had one copy of you. It was like it was fate. My copy of you was meant for me, and me alone, and destiny had me purchase you. Thank goodness for that, because all those reviews and fate/destiny and what-not? They got me to sit down immediately when I got home to read you, and I didn't stop.

Your main character, Ivy Westfall, is the daughter of one of the founder's of a city after the US was obliterated. But he wasn't the only one. A Lattimer beat him to the throne, and now to keep the peace, he has arranged marriages for everyone. Ivy is arranged to marry the president's son, but her family has plans for her other than marriage. She is meant to kill her new husband, Bishop, but Bishop is turning out not to be who she was raised to think he was. 

Ivy was awesome! I loved her character! And Bishop. Oh how I swooned for him with each passing of your pages, The Book of Ivy. I wasn't expecting much out of you, but in a world drowning in dystopian YA novels, it takes a lot for me to say that you stood out in the crowd. Your characters were spot-on. The prose was great. The setting was flawless. Your pace was fast and kept me on the tips of my toes. I had no idea what to expect next. On the surface, you're a typical dystopian YA book, but I would encourage all my bookish friends to take a deep breath and plunge inside your pages. Because I assure them, they won't stop until they've finished you.

At least, that was definitely my case with you, The Book of Ivy. You blew me away, and I'm totally dying after that ending. WHAT THE WHAT?! You can't do that to me! I have no idea how I'm going to wait for the sequel to you, but I shall endure, because I have a feeling it will be one hell of a ride, just like you. FIVE HEARTS!


Still in awe of you,
Becca

Have you read The Book of Ivy?
Do you want to?
What did you think?
Let's discuss!

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7 comments:

  1. Dear Becca,

    I'm so glad you enjoyed this as much as I did!! I thought it was a great dystopian novel with awesome characters and a good plot! BISHOP <3 I totally hated Ivy's family. But the end was so traumatizing ;(

    Awesome review!!

    Your friend,
    Rachel

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    1. HAHA I LOVE THIS COMMENT! All comment should follow these guidelines from now on! :D

      YES! I seriously loved it so much and ah! BISHOP IS BAE! But yeah, I hated them soooooo much. The way they just brushed her aside at the end was bs! Assholes! I know. That ending totally killed me, and it sucks that the sequel doesn't come out until next November! OMG! I'm dying to get my hands on it!!!

      I'm so happy we both loved this equally, Rachel! <3

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  2. Hmmmm, a dystopian?? I haven't been in the dystopian mood as of late BUT if you say this one is a 5 stars and that must be read?? I'm adding it to the wish list for when I lift the book buying ban for sure!!
    Great review!

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    1. I haven't either, but Andye's review totes convinced me that I needed to get it. I'm so glad I did, because it was one of the best I've read in quite a bit, and has me itching to read another dystopian because it was so good. Even though I know another dystopian probably won't live up to The Book of Ivy!

      BOOK BUYING BAN?! WHAT?! o.O

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    2. Trying to save money and recover from the trip to US and my buying an amazing and VERY expensive new camera... the pain is real!!

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  3. Hold up! Did you just say "meh" about my opinion?? Don't you know it's GOLD??!! You should always trust me :P

    So glad you loved this one too!!

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    1. LOL I mostly meant meh because it's a dystopian and it's hard for me to get into them as of lately! But really your review was what grabbed my attention about it to begin with, because I know if you loved it, then I was going to! LOL. I should've reworded that a bit better.

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