The Ivies

By: Alexa Donne

Narrated by: Phoebe Strole

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Enroll in this boarding school thriller about a group of prep school elites who would kill to get into the college of their dreams...literally.

"The Plastics meet the Heathers in this murder mystery about ruthless Ivy League ambition." -Kirkus Reviews

"Twisty and thrilling...boarding school murder has never been so much fun!" –Kara Thomas, author of That Weekend

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.

©2021 Alexa Donne (P)2021 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"The Plastics meet the Heathers in this murder mystery about ruthless Ivy League ambition.... A thrilling boarding school story with a satirical edge." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Donne pens a thrilling novel set in the world of competitive, hyper-elite college admissions, combining romance, suspense, and mystery into one thrilling story that closes with a twist." (Booklist)

"Quick pacing, dark humor, and deftly drawn characters distinguish this satirical thriller from Donne." (Publishers Weekly)

"Donne unravels elite college admissions with a bitter blend of privilege, high pressure, competitiveness...and murder, in this twisty, page-turning thriller. A definite one-sitting read." (J.Elle, New York Times best-selling author of Wings of Ebony)

Consumed it in 2 days!

The pacing keeps you listening long after you meant to! The end is just *chefs kiss*. This was my first YA thriller and it has opened up a genre door for me!

Love love love

A super fun contemporary YA thriller!! Love that it’s a standalone because I get tired of trilogies but I would love to see more of these characters. Good representation and thoughtful commentary. Addicting for sure.

Suprise! It's great!

I loved this book; the characters were interesting, and the storyline kept me guessing. This was an exciting ride, and the ending was a surprise to me. Easy listening while I worked in my office during the day and even at night, I had to know what happened next. Definitely recommend this book.

Great Book

Storyline kept me engaged until the end. Makes the listener invested in where our main character ends up based on the choices she makes throughout the story.

The book could be better if…

I like the story line but there was way to much VS we had to throw in every little thing. I read to escape all the crap going on in the world not to her about capitalism sexism etc etc etc pretty much everyone was mentioned. Unless you are writing political literature leave it out of fiction it will make the book way more enjoyable

A fun read!

Alexa has a nice entrance into thrillers! I didn’t realize this was a thing in Americans schools & how competitive it is, so that was interesting to read. I did find the main characters constant comparisons to the rich kids a little exhausting after a while & the why of the killer was silly, but I guess that was the point.
I liked the characters relationships but some could have been developed more.
I think the ending was little rushed & closed a lot of plot points abruptly but also a satisfying ending where I have no unanswered questions.
Overall I enjoyed it & finished it quickly. Plus I find Alexa’s YouTube channel very helpful. So congrats to all her hard work!

Hooks you from beginning to end.

This book was great- I was hooked right from the start and stayed interested due to all of the twists and turns. I am an adult woman and enjoyed this, but think it would also appeal to older teens.

Good but too much cussing

First of all, the narration was good. I feel like she grasped the story well and read it well. I would've probably given this book a 4 star review but it was pretty hard to get through with all the cussing. Other than that i liked the murder mystery aspect, Alexa Donne did a great job at throwing me off, I didn't guess the killer. I did feel the reason behind the killing fell a little flat, that's why I would've given it a 4 star. I wish there was more depth to the killing. I wouldn't let my teenage daughter read it because of the strong language. I will read Alexa Donne's future books but I hope she leaves out all the cussing going forward so I could let my teenage kids listen or read as well.

So entertaining!!!

Very good listen! Kept me guessing the entire time! The narrator was great too! Loved her voice!

Ok this was so good though

Absolutely loved it … enough twists and turns to keep me reading. Really satisfied with it