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The book of Ivy  Cover Image E-book E-book

The book of Ivy

Engel, Amy (author.).

Summary: In a future where girls no longer control their own fates, sixteen-year-old Ivy Westfall has the power to give girls back their choices. If she's willing to commit murder to do it. After a brutal nuclear war, followed by famine and disease, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over who would govern the new nation. 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 Ivy Westfall's turn to be married. Only her bridegroom is no average boy. He is Bishop Lattimer, the president's son. And Ivy's mission is not simply to marry him. Her mission, one she's been preparing for all her life, is to kill him and restore the Westfall family to power. But Bishop Lattimer turns out not to be the cruel, heartless boy her family warned her to expect. And as Bishop and Ivy navigate a tentative friendship that evolves into something more, Ivy is torn between loyalty to her family and following her own heart. She is a teenage girl caught in an adult web of manipulation, lies, and the struggle for power. Ultimately, she must decide what sacrifices are worth making for the lives of those she loves.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9781622664665
  • ISBN: 1622664663
  • ISBN: 1622664655
  • ISBN: 9781622664658
  • Physical Description: remote
    1 online resource
  • Publisher: Fort Collins, CO Entangled Publishing, [2014]

Content descriptions

Source of Description Note:
Vendor-supplied metadata.
Subject: Adventure stories
Forced marriage -- Fiction
Young adult fiction
Dystopias -- Fiction
Adventure stories
Dystopias
Forced marriage
Young adult fiction
Genre: Electronic books.
Fiction.

Electronic resources


  • Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2015 March #2
    So few young-adult novels start with a wedding, but it's a pivotal element to this debut dystopian romance. Since the decline of the U.S. 50 years ago, people have been split between the Lattimers and the Westfalls, East and West, inside the fence and beyond the wall. Ivy Westfall, now 16, is slated to marry Bishop Lattimer in order to unite the two sides and bring some sense of unity to their society. Ivy's family, however, has decided that she will murder Bishop to restore her family's legacy. It's only made worse when she realizes that the Lattimers aren't the all-consuming evil she has been raised to believe, and that Bishop might even be a decent guy, which makes her mission even harder. The slow burn of their unexpected romance borders on new adult, but it stays relatively tame, even in a few steamy scenes. The novel is less about the devastation of the world and intriguingly more about the people left behind. The promise of a second book will excite potential readers. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
  • Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2014 December #2
    In this YA novel set in a post-apocalyptic future, a teenage girl is charged by her family with killing the president's son—who is also her new husband.Two generations ago, nuclear war almost destroyed the world. A small town of less than 10,000 survivors was founded by narrator Ivy Westfall's grandfather, but President Lattimer's father won the struggle for control. He now rules autocratically rather than heading up the democracy Westfall favored. Criminals are exiled and left to die. To soothe old wounds, the town instituted a tradition: Sons of the winning side marry the daughters of the losers, and vice versa. Now Ivy, 16, must marry Bishop Lattimer—son of the president, who had Ivy's mother killed. Nervous as any young girl might be about marrying a stranger, Ivy has an additional burden: She has promised her family that she will kill her new husband so as to aid the rebellion. Ivy, outspoken and reckless, soon realizes that Bishop is gentle, thoughtful and g uilty of nothing, which presents her with a terrible dilemma: "If I kill Bishop, my family will be in power, but Bishop will be dead and what will I be? A murderer." When Ivy is given an ultimatum to poison Bishop, she faces a terrible decision. In her debut novel, Engel employs the first-person, present-tense style that's almost de rigueur in this genre. Together with the emotionally fraught situation—simply having to share a house with a man is unsettling for Ivy—the book has immediacy, and there's justification for plenty of teenage angst. Ivy is forced to question her family's motivations as Bishop keeps surprising her, and she surprises herself with her growing feelings for him. The worldbuilding is mostly well-thought-out, with some complicated issues: Westfall lacks resources to make jewelry but can make electronic security systems? The pace becomes slow, too, and it seems as if the real drama is still to come in a planned sequel, which may frustrate some r eaders.An intriguing start with a brave heroine; too bad readers must await the sequel for some real action. Copyright Kirkus 2014 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
  • School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2015 February

    Gr 9 Up—After the brutal war that decimated most of the country, Ivy Westfall's grandfather founded Westfall and envisioned a democratic nation in which everyone had a right to vote. However, after a conflict between the Westfall and the Lattimer families, the Lattimers won power and governed Westfall as a dictatorship. All of her life, Ivy has been trained to hate President Lattimer for his imposed laws—specifically arranged marriages. When it is her turn to marry, she is assigned to Bishop, President Lattimer's son. Going into the marriage, Ivy's father and sister encourage her to kill her new husband and return the Westfall family to their rightful position. This mission becomes increasingly difficult as Ivy develops feelings for her husband. She is forced to make a decision that will alter her entire life. The Book of Ivy begins as most dystopians do—with a ceremony and the main character forced into a situation as dictated by the government. However, the novel quickly separates itself from the mediocre and presents a fantastic plot that makes readers think about the blurred lines between right and wrong. VERDICT Well-developed characters and intricate world-building combined with complex relationships, political corruption, and betrayal, leave readers begging for the second book in this series.—Lindsey Dawson, Saint John's Catholic Prep, Frederick, MD

    [Page 100]. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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