The Book of Ivy

De: Amy Engel

Narrado por: Taylor Meskimen

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…

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!

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.