White Ivy: A Read with Jenna Pick

By Susie Yang

Book Overview

"A truly addictive read" (Glamour) about how a Chinese American 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, race, identity, and ambition, 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1982100605
• ISBN13: 9781982100605
• Release Date: July 2021
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

4 stars

WHITE IVY by Susie Yang This hit a little too close to home for me. Ivy Lin wants to be normal teenager in Boston while trying (and failing) to please her Chinese immigrant family. Their interactions were eerily similar to mine. The emotional and verbal abuse echoed the very same things I heard as a teenager. If you’ve dealt with something similar, I’d suggest reading with caution. Despite that, I found this dark and twisty psychological thriller to be “unputdownable”. Themes of classism, race, identity, and the immigrant experience are woven together seamlessly. Even the slower pace wasn’t a detriment to the overall story, at least for me. Ivy is unlikable and clueless. However, the author writes her in a way that makes you think twice about passing judgment for her self-serving, manipulative and conniving ways. Even her mother and grandmother’s motivations for treating Ivy so terribly is (somewhat) understandable once you learn their backstories. While the foreshadowing was heavy handed, and I was able to easily guess the twist and outcome, I still found myself turning the pages, wanting to see how it all played out. Rating: 4/5 ⭐️