The Book of Ivy

By: Amy Engel

Narrated by: Taylor Meskimen

Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

What would you kill for?

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 return 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...

©2014 Amy Engel (P)2014 Listening Library

Why?

Any additional comments?

I did enjoy most of this book. But I do not relate to thinking one thing and doing another. Could not get past that in the main character!! Got tired of her thinking things in her head and making a problem bigger. She could have stood up for what was right. Thinking her family would stop. stupid.

Loved this, looking forward to more from Engel!

Wonderful and entertaining story, not just for young adults!

The narrator was spot on, her delivery was smooth and believable, and easy to listen to (I'm INCREDIBLY picky about narrators and will avoid books I have been lusting after if the sample narration is unbearable). Looking forward to more from both Engel and Meskimen, and going to start the second book in the series now..and already wishing this were a trilogy.

Thumbs up for the first book!

I thought the first book of Ivy was very good. The narrator, not so much. My only complaint was that the males voices sounded bizarre for their characters. Maybe a bit too feminine for the prince..? and just really weird for the rest! Story was great though!

Great 2-book YA series!

I was intrigued to read because Ivy was being forced to marry the president's son. Her intent to eventually kill him. I was hooked from chapter one. Worth the credit!

A thrilling dystopia...

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

4 Stars

THE BOOK OF IVY was full of love, betrayals, murder plots, deception, and the courage to do what is in your heart, no matter the consequences...

I've had THE BOOK OF IVY on my radar for a while now, but since it sounded vaguely familiar to another book I read, ABERRANT, I was reluctant to pick it up. But my curiosity won me over and I finally decided to give THE BOOK OF IVY it's fair shot regardless of the similarities I thought they had. But I am pleasantly surprised to admit that was not the case and the similarities were very minor, and it was definitely worth the read.

THE BOOK OF IVY was very slow paced with hardly any action, but that was strangely okay with me. I still enjoyed the drama and suspense of it all. There were a lot of layers and plots and schemes and tons of betrayals that kept this story interesting enough even without the action and adventure. And the world-building was a little different then what I excepted, but still interesting enough. Though I would of liked to have more history on the war and conflict between the families, but I'm hoping we'll get more info in book two, THE REVOLUTION OF IVY.

THE PLOT

After the war, Ivy's ancestors founded Westfall Community, a place that the people could rebuild and start anew. But their was disagreement about how to keep things up and running, and who should run them. The Westfall's and the Lattimer's went head to head for the position, and as fate would have it, the Lattimer's were the ones who seized control of Westfall Community. But instead of killing the rival family, they made the Westfall's the lowest citizens of their Community, and forced them to marry off their future children to the future Lattimer children, and thus seizing even more control of the Westfall's and the Community.

And then the murder plot begins...

Ivy Westfall is on a mission, one that could change the world as they know it. One that could bring her family to their rightful place in power. One that could bring freedom back to their people. One that could save their women from marrying monsters. One that will turn her into, a murderer...

For the mission she must complete is simple:

"Marry the enemy, make him trust you, find the codes and guns, wait for the order, execute on site."

Easy right? To save her people Ivy must kill the only person that might really want to save them all—Bishop Lattimer, the enemy and the presidents son, but also the love of Ivy's life... She must kill the man she's grown to love if she's to change their world...

So to sum it all up, THE BOOK OF IVY was way more then I anticipated. I reveled in this story and the slow paced plot with strong characters and a slow burning romance that made me want to stay up late for just one more chapter!!

Overall, THE BOOK OF IVY is definitely a must read for dystopian fans out there. It's not your gritty, face-paced, action-packed dystopia, so if that's what your looking for you won't find it here. But if you want a slow burning romance, with a slower pace plot, fleshed with rich developed characters, with spunk and determination, and a desire to set what's wrong right, and to avoid the dirtier methods to get it, then THE BOOK OF IVY is something I'm sure you'll enjoy. I am soooo eagerly waiting for book two, THE REVOLUTION OF IVY. I can't WAIT to see what happens next, because that ending was a KILLER!!!!

NOTE: I received a eARC from Entangled for reviewing purposes! All opinions express are my own and are not influenced in any way!

On the fence

I'm not sure if I like this book, but I can't stop listening. I immediately bought the sequel after finishing book one though lol
This is probably the worst narrator I've heard on an audiobook. Not that she's terrible, just not as good as the others

Amazing Captivating Love story

Where does The Book of Ivy rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The best book I've listened to. Second only to the sequel, the revolution of ivy.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Book of Ivy?

The tension and suspense yet maturity the author has woven into this young couples love story is absolutely fascinating and excellent

Which scene was your favorite?

The entire book, but also anything with bishop

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Captivating love written on a supreme level

Any additional comments?

Stupendous. Since finishing this story, I haven't been able to find any that even compare, and it is so frustrating! I absolutely can't wait to find more books from this author, I will hang on every word!!

Pleasantly surprised and plan to keep reading

I had read the mixed reviews before purchasing and started to read this series with cautiously optimistic expectations. I enjoyed the narrator and was surprised by the easy to follow and interesting storyline and the pace it seemed to move along. I thought that the characters could have been a little more developed but it didn’t destroy the storyline. I’ve already bought the second book in the series and plan to read it next.

A BOOK LONG PROLOGUE

Any additional comments?

I love this book and can't wait for the sequel!

SPOILER WARNING

It's all told from Ivy's point of view. So just a word of warning. You might get frustrated with the main character. But at the same time, feel a lot of compassion for her. I do think that Ivy's father did a disservice to her and her sister by pretty much indoctrinating them with his own ideals and beliefs. Not even allowing them to make friends and make their own choices and opinions.

Pretty ironic given how Ivy's father is supposed to want democracy.

Halfway through the book, I already had a feeling that Ivy's father and sister are more in it for the power rather than democracy. And, I was right.

Poor Ivy had no one to trust outside her family until Bishop came along. And her eagerness to belong and be given her family's approval in contrast to truly starting a life with Bishop is (to my opinion) the main conflict of the book. Yes, the main premise is about government enforced arranged marriages and lack of democracy. But it feels to me that it's secondary. Unlike books like the hunger games where you really see the widespread devastation and poverty, inequality and suffering of the people, this book doesn't show that. Or at least, it is not as hungry for a widescale revolt as the Hunger Games. The supposed enemies (the Lattimers) are not even the President Snow type characters.

Ivy pretty easily found the access code to the guns. And the Presidential family (the supposed enemies) never even expected Ivy's family of wanting to revolt. Again, it seems that only Ivy's dad and sister are the only ones who want a revolt.

In fact, the book even shows that people are even ok with the arranged marriages (most of them anyway). While of course, the book is realistic enough to show the perfectly arranged marriage,the very dysfunctional and the in-between. But the point is, (the presidential family aside), the matching process isn't as rigged as one might expect from a dystopia. I mean, sons from the winning side marry girls from the losing side. While girls from the winning side marry sons from the losing side..It seems like a good idea to create unity at a time when you also want to grow the population

Of course, it's always better to have choices. But I think majority of the population in the book is of the "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" type of mindset.

But just because it doesn't seem as bad as the Hunger Games scenarios, this book does make us forget that it is still about a dystopia. I must warn that there are parts that are dark. It doesn't give any graphic depictions. But if there are any readers who are even the tiniest bit triggered by the mention or implication of rape, this might not be for you.

As for the ending...some readers might prefer waiting for the second book to come out before starting on the first book.

All I will say is that I'm comforting myself with the saying: "Throw me to the wolves and I'll come back leading the pack"

Wow! Loved and hated this book!!

I love this book, but to me it seemed like the author tried to sum up all the events way too fast! I guess I don't know how else she could have written it. It just didn't seem fulfilling enough... I just listened to "The Partials" so maybe that is clouding my view. I like detailed books but this just seemed all about what Ivy had to do and how she can't do it, like a one track mind??? There didn't seem like a bigger purpose... Idk... I do like this book, amazing ending! Not crazy about the reader, but not the worst I've ever heard.