White Ivy: A Read with Jenna Pick
Nov 2020 · Simon and Schuster
4.3star
16 reviewsreport
Ebook
368
Pages
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About this ebook
“A truly addictive read” (Glamour) about how a young woman’s crush on a privileged former classmate becomes a story of love, lies, and dark obsession, offering stark insights into the immigrant experience, as it hurtles to its electrifying ending in this “twisty, unputdownable, psychological thriller” (People).
Ivy Lin is a thief and a liar—but you’d never know it by looking at her.
Raised outside of Boston, Ivy’s immigrant grandmother relies on Ivy’s mild appearance for cover as she teaches her granddaughter how to pilfer items from yard sales and second-hand shops. Thieving allows Ivy to accumulate the trappings of a suburban teen—and, most importantly, to attract the attention of Gideon Speyer, the golden boy of a wealthy political family. But when Ivy’s mother discovers her trespasses, punishment is swift and Ivy is sent to China, and her dream instantly evaporates.
Years later, Ivy has grown into a poised yet restless young woman, haunted by her conflicting feelings about her upbringing and her family. Back in Boston, when Ivy bumps into Sylvia Speyer, Gideon’s sister, a reconnection with Gideon seems not only inevitable—it feels like fate.
Slowly, Ivy sinks her claws into Gideon and the entire Speyer clan by attending fancy dinners, and weekend getaways to the cape. But just as Ivy is about to have everything she’s ever wanted, a ghost from her past resurfaces, threatening the nearly perfect life she’s worked so hard to build.
Filled with surprising twists and a nuanced exploration of class and race, White Ivy is a “highly entertaining,” (The Washington Post) “propulsive debut” (San Francisco Chronicle) that offers a glimpse into the dark side of a woman who yearns for success at any cost.
Ivy Lin is a thief and a liar—but you’d never know it by looking at her.
Raised outside of Boston, Ivy’s immigrant grandmother relies on Ivy’s mild appearance for cover as she teaches her granddaughter how to pilfer items from yard sales and second-hand shops. Thieving allows Ivy to accumulate the trappings of a suburban teen—and, most importantly, to attract the attention of Gideon Speyer, the golden boy of a wealthy political family. But when Ivy’s mother discovers her trespasses, punishment is swift and Ivy is sent to China, and her dream instantly evaporates.
Years later, Ivy has grown into a poised yet restless young woman, haunted by her conflicting feelings about her upbringing and her family. Back in Boston, when Ivy bumps into Sylvia Speyer, Gideon’s sister, a reconnection with Gideon seems not only inevitable—it feels like fate.
Slowly, Ivy sinks her claws into Gideon and the entire Speyer clan by attending fancy dinners, and weekend getaways to the cape. But just as Ivy is about to have everything she’s ever wanted, a ghost from her past resurfaces, threatening the nearly perfect life she’s worked so hard to build.
Filled with surprising twists and a nuanced exploration of class and race, White Ivy is a “highly entertaining,” (The Washington Post) “propulsive debut” (San Francisco Chronicle) that offers a glimpse into the dark side of a woman who yearns for success at any cost.
Ratings and reviews
4.3
16 reviews
Joelle Egan
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August 29, 2020
A superbly impressive debut from an author with an unlikely background in pharmacy and tech, White Ivy by Susie Yang is an excellent character study and an absorbing read. Ivy is just a young girl when she immigrates from China to join her parents who have already settled in Massachusetts. Up until then, she had been raised by her grandmother, from whom she learned how to proudly steal and cheat. She continues these practices when she arrives in the U.S., ashamed of her humble origins and her family’s poverty. She longs to be accepted by the other children at school, and idolizes the wealth and ease experienced by her mostly white peers. She especially is enamored of a boy named Gideon, who seems to embody all the qualities she would love to possess. Ivy pines for the golden boy, but her only real fiend is Roux, a boy from a similar background to her own. Now an adult, Ivy finally seems on the cusp of achieving all she desires with Gideon when Roux, now a man with unsavory connections, pops unexpectedly back into her life. Ivy is torn between assimilation with the WASP family she has always wanted and the allure of the dangerous “bad boy” who knows her true personality. Ivy is a complicated character and Yang does a fabulous job portraying her devious and manipulative nature while also evoking sympathy for her. Completely lacking a moral compass and desperate to escape what she believes is a traumatically embarrassing family, Ivy’s grasping and striving is at once pathetic and horrific. This cunning duality, maintaining a façade of compliance and impeccable manners as a cover for naked ambition makes for an engrossing story. The unexpected ending takes an interesting turn and yet makes perfect sense given the author’s skillful unveiling of events. White Ivy is a compulsive read, a gripping and unique twist on the immigration tale with a truly unforgettable and unrepentant “protagonist.” Thanks to the author, Simon & Schuster and Library Thing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
12 people found this review helpful
A Google user
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October 26, 2021
Good Ebook
6 people found this review helpful
About the author
Susie Yang was born in China and came to the United States as a child. After receiving her doctorate of pharmacy from Rutgers, she launched a tech startup in San Francisco that has taught 20,000 people how to code. She has studied creative writing at Tin House and Sackett Street. She has lived across the United States, Europe, and Asia, and now resides in the UK. White Ivy is her first novel.
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