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208th out of 1,225 books
—
3,001 voters
The Ivy Chronicles
by
Karen Quinn
When turbocharged Park Avenue mom Ivy Ames finds that she'�s been downsized from her platinum-card corporate job and her marriage, she swiftly realizes that she'�s going to need a whole new way to support herself and her two private-school daughters. So she dreams up a new business�helping upscale New Yorkers get their little darlings into the most exclusive kindergartens...more
Paperback, 342 pages
Published
January 31st 2006
by Plume
(first published 2005)
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hilarious story about a mother in manhattan who decides to turn a big buck by getting other people's kids into the elite manhattan preschools. would be even funnier if it wasn't so true.
Okay, wow, can one woman be so self-absorbed and in complete denial of what life is really like? I don't think I can say it any better than this reviewer on amazon.com: While the premise of the book was intriguing (an insider's view into the cut-throat world of the Manhattan elite), my antipathy for Ivy overroad any hopes of my giving this book a good review. She continually baffled me with her amoral stance and her ability to turn everything into a one-woman whine-fest. There was almost no one...more
A completely stupid book, that I can not believe I finished. I think I thought it would get better....it didn't. I was baffled at the outrage that she had for her boyfriend (the author--I can't rememer his name) that he would write about her and not tell her; yet, she did the same thing with her clients. And how inconsistent is it that she goes to her boyfriends apartment in teh same building and has to check her email, when she see the book. Furthermore, after complaining and complaining about...more
It's been a long time since I've disliked a protagonist as much as I hated Ivy Ames. While the premise of the book was intriguing (an insider's view into the cut-throat world of the Manhattan elite), my antipathy for Ivy overroad any hopes of my giving this book a good review.
She continually baffled me with her amoral stance and her ability to turn everything into a one-woman whine-fest. There was almost no one to cheer for, save some of the stereotypical "underclass" children. I almost quit rea...more
She continually baffled me with her amoral stance and her ability to turn everything into a one-woman whine-fest. There was almost no one to cheer for, save some of the stereotypical "underclass" children. I almost quit rea...more
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I know this book is on my list, but I just randomly grabbed it off the shelf at the library. Totally a subject up my ally, rich people trying to get their kids into hoity kindergartens in NYC. But there was a lot going on otherwise in this book. High-Powered career Girl gets fired and catches her husband having sex with the person who replaced hers' husband. She gives him the keys to the street asap and we hardly hear about him again. Good! She freaks out because she can't afford her million dol...more
When turbocharged Park Avenue mom Ivy Ames finds that she's been downsized from her platinum-card corporate job and her marriage, she swiftly realizes that she's going to need a whole new way to support herself and her two private-school daughters. So she dreams up a new business---helping upscale New Yorkers get their little darlings into the most exclusive kindergartens in the city. What begins as one woman's bid to earn a living becomes an everywoman's tale of midlife reinvention and unexpect...more
Seru?
.....Sudah pasti!
Gokil?
.....Jelas!
Edan?
.....Iya!
Bayangin aja, mo masukin anak ke TK aja musti nyewa seorang penasihat dengan tarif $20 ribu....gila nggak tuh?
Si author (plus penerbit) bilang bahwa ide cerita ini memang dibangun dari kisah hidup nyata si penulis sendiri, yang memang pernah menjalani profesi sebagai penasihat pendidikan dalam penerimaan siswa sekolah Taman Kanak-Kanak.
The Story:
Ivy Ames, adalah seorang perempuan Yahudi, mapan, matang (di awal 40an) yang telah mencapai puncak...more
.....Sudah pasti!
Gokil?
.....Jelas!
Edan?
.....Iya!
Bayangin aja, mo masukin anak ke TK aja musti nyewa seorang penasihat dengan tarif $20 ribu....gila nggak tuh?
Si author (plus penerbit) bilang bahwa ide cerita ini memang dibangun dari kisah hidup nyata si penulis sendiri, yang memang pernah menjalani profesi sebagai penasihat pendidikan dalam penerimaan siswa sekolah Taman Kanak-Kanak.
The Story:
Ivy Ames, adalah seorang perempuan Yahudi, mapan, matang (di awal 40an) yang telah mencapai puncak...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This was a pretty good book. It was yet another book that I had never heard of before spotting it on the bookshelf at the local library. It was quite a bit better than many of the books I find that way, and many that I've heard of beforehand.
The characters are interesting, though many aren't sympathetic. Of course, I don't think that they're supposed to be considered sympathetic, since this book is clearly pointing out the spoiled nature of the private school system and what a life of privilege...more
The characters are interesting, though many aren't sympathetic. Of course, I don't think that they're supposed to be considered sympathetic, since this book is clearly pointing out the spoiled nature of the private school system and what a life of privilege...more
Read this in a few days, I loved her previous book "Wife in the fast lane" so was really looking forward to this and was not disappointed.
Ivy has just lost her job in a ruthless merger of her company, her husband has been unemployed for a few months and it is she that is holding all together, the final straw comes when she discovers her husband in bed with her colleague's wife and she realises things have to change. No longer can she afford to keep the kids at private school and she must move do...more
Ivy has just lost her job in a ruthless merger of her company, her husband has been unemployed for a few months and it is she that is holding all together, the final straw comes when she discovers her husband in bed with her colleague's wife and she realises things have to change. No longer can she afford to keep the kids at private school and she must move do...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Awful and amateurish, even by chick-lit standards. Ivy loses everything (job, husband) right off the bat, but when she then becomes an entrepreneur she immediately SUCCEEDS. This thanks to her having money and an ivy league degree, knowing people with money and power, and also a series of serendipitous events that work in her favor.
So where is the plot and/or problems?? She has several romantic interests after her marriage breaks up, she is successful in her new business immediately, and there a...more
So where is the plot and/or problems?? She has several romantic interests after her marriage breaks up, she is successful in her new business immediately, and there a...more
What happens when a New Yorker loses her job, her husband, and her ritzy Park Avenue pad and is forced to carve out a new niche for herself and her two private school-educated daughters?
After transferring the girls to public school and renting a shabby-chic (at best) flat upstairs from a knicherie (her rich friends thinking she chose to live next to a crack den), Ivy Ames takes her billionaire friend Faith's advice (now that's somebody who married up---unbelievable as the specifics of her prenu...more
After transferring the girls to public school and renting a shabby-chic (at best) flat upstairs from a knicherie (her rich friends thinking she chose to live next to a crack den), Ivy Ames takes her billionaire friend Faith's advice (now that's somebody who married up---unbelievable as the specifics of her prenu...more
Amazing? No.
Enjoyable piece of rather ridiculous fluff? Yes.
That's what I wanted, that's what I got. Purpose fulfilled.
***
Audiobook Review: Annoying main character = obnoxious narration. Right on character-wise for narration, but got to be a little much when listening to hours of this.
Enjoyable piece of rather ridiculous fluff? Yes.
That's what I wanted, that's what I got. Purpose fulfilled.
***
Audiobook Review: Annoying main character = obnoxious narration. Right on character-wise for narration, but got to be a little much when listening to hours of this.
I am wishing, praying and hoping that I don't have the misfortune to suddenly become a billionaire and have to live in New York. That, surely must be a terrible fate to befall people. How on earth do they get their five year olds into the best schools? I am grateful to the author of this book for highlighting the plight of these people who are victims of their success. Now, as I glance through Forbes rich list, I am filled with sympathy, indeed pity, for these poor, poor rich individuals and the...more
I have yet to decide how I feel about this book. Parts of it were laugh out loud funny, but a lot of it was annoying, mostly because of the caricatures of people were so over the top as to make you roll you eyes.
Ivy Ames seems to have it all, a high powered job, a loving husband, 2 great kids and fabulous life living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. All this comes to a crashing end when Ivy loses her job and finds her husband with another woman on the same day. Forced to start her own busine...more
Ivy Ames seems to have it all, a high powered job, a loving husband, 2 great kids and fabulous life living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. All this comes to a crashing end when Ivy loses her job and finds her husband with another woman on the same day. Forced to start her own busine...more
1½ stars rounded up. Nothing really wrong with writing, I just could not finish. Interesting premise; but, If found story flat and uninteresting--in all fairness, I do tend to do that when I cannot get into the character. Might appeal to another reader who did like the character or felt for her (the circumstances of losing job, catching husband in affair, having to re-invent self, creating a niche -- should have made her sympathetic to me).
It just had a completely unlikable, self-absorbed main c...more
It just had a completely unlikable, self-absorbed main c...more
revied at : The Ivy Chronicles by Karen Quinn
I can't connect with the character, Ivy. At times she was a responsible mother trying her best to make ends meet but then she jumps into bed with the first guy that catches her eyes. When she was dump by one guy, she would go to another.
The issue on getting kids in to exclusive or private school is a hot issue in many country now. Yes, the scenario portrayed in this book is pretty much believable. Parents would go to any lenght to have their kids st...more
I can't connect with the character, Ivy. At times she was a responsible mother trying her best to make ends meet but then she jumps into bed with the first guy that catches her eyes. When she was dump by one guy, she would go to another.
The issue on getting kids in to exclusive or private school is a hot issue in many country now. Yes, the scenario portrayed in this book is pretty much believable. Parents would go to any lenght to have their kids st...more
This book is a hoot (except the end was too "pat")! The Ivy Chronicles is the story of a woman who reinvents herself and becomes kindergarten consultant aka woman who does whatever is necessary (and more!) to get her clients' kids into the "right" first tier private kindergarten. She's not always the most likeable person but if she was, would she be doing this for a living?! It's a quick, easy beach read; I didn't read more into it than that. Yes,in reality the stress gets to parents and they do...more
This is a tough review because I liked the book overall - it was amusing and took at look at an interesting topic of private school kindergarten admissions. But good lord was the main character unlikeable 80% of the time. Not only was she completely self-absorbed, but I'm actually baffled that the author thought it was OK to write some of the ridiculously unethical(and racist) things she included without wholeheartedly denouncing them as wrong. Plus, while I liked the ending, it was predictable...more
It was... okay.
I really wanted to like this book. I'm a sucker for books about private and/or boarding schools - actually, most schools - and, having done a fair amount of non-fiction reading on the subject, I wanted to see how a fiction author treated it.
Unfortunately, I had trouble sympathising with the main character. Yes, she has some tough breaks, but frankly, I've read enough books about wealthy characters falling on hard times that I was unimpressed. I'm glad I read this (though I doubt I...more
I really wanted to like this book. I'm a sucker for books about private and/or boarding schools - actually, most schools - and, having done a fair amount of non-fiction reading on the subject, I wanted to see how a fiction author treated it.
Unfortunately, I had trouble sympathising with the main character. Yes, she has some tough breaks, but frankly, I've read enough books about wealthy characters falling on hard times that I was unimpressed. I'm glad I read this (though I doubt I...more
Aug 05, 2011
Karen
added it
I listened to this book on tape, so that may have amped up my enjoyment level, but I found The Ivy Chronicles very entertaining. I lived in Manhattan and experienced the hard-to-believe world of ultra competitive pre-school admissions; it is definitely a world worth skewering. I thought Quinn's take was very funny, and while Ivy is not a particularly lovable character, I enjoyed hearing about her negotiation through a uniquely Manhattan minefield. The supporting cast of characters was also very...more
I'm embarrassed I actually read this. If it weren't for my very limited book selection at the time, I don't think I would have. The main character lacks common sense and a basic conscience. Somehow, the most outlandish and extravagant things happen to her that just aren't believable.
It's like watching a terrible chick flick while you're doing mindless chores around the house. For some reason you don't turn it off, but you're cringing the whole time. It's over and you just shake your head thinki...more
It's like watching a terrible chick flick while you're doing mindless chores around the house. For some reason you don't turn it off, but you're cringing the whole time. It's over and you just shake your head thinki...more
I was looking for a light summer read when I came across this book, being offered as a free download. It was advertised as being similar to the Nanny Diaries, which I read a number of years ago and found amusing. I figured I'd give it a try. Now I understand why they were giving it away. If I didn't have this thing where I find it difficult to leave books half-read, I wouldn't have finished it. The main character is unlikeable, and although there are some amusing parts, overall it just made me f...more
AUDIO BOOK
This is hilarious!
So... A LOT of people didn't like this book because of the main character, Ivy.
Well, for me, that means the author did her job.
This is a look into the lifestyle of the NYC wealthy elite. And YES, it is despicable!
I believe that's the point.
I listened to this as an audio book and I'm not sure it would translate as well if I read it myself. The reader
was excellent.
This was laugh-out-loud funny. A ridiculous spectacle that I couldn't turn away from.
For audiobook lovers...more
Previously reviewed on www.simplylowcountry.blogspot.com
Ivy Ames couldn’t have had a better life. She lives on the Upper East Side, drives a nice car, has a well-paying corporate job, lives in a beautiful apartment on the Upper East Side of New York and has a wonderful marriage. No quicker than about two chapters into this book does Ivy loose it all.
After being laid off from her corporate job at Myoki, Ivy walks in on her husband with another woman in the middle of the day. No sooner do these e...more
Ivy Ames couldn’t have had a better life. She lives on the Upper East Side, drives a nice car, has a well-paying corporate job, lives in a beautiful apartment on the Upper East Side of New York and has a wonderful marriage. No quicker than about two chapters into this book does Ivy loose it all.
After being laid off from her corporate job at Myoki, Ivy walks in on her husband with another woman in the middle of the day. No sooner do these e...more
Ivy is a high powered bank executive living with her husband, 2 children, a dog and a staff in a Manhattan Park Ave high rise. But her husband has been laid off, then she herself is eliminated from her job in a cost-saving measure. As she arrives home early from this disaster she discovers that her husband is cheating on her. Shortly she is finding herself having to move to the lower east side and put her kids in public school. She starts a business getting kids into private kindergarten, the ba...more
Kerap kali dalam kondisi terjepit seseorang jadi kreatif. Seluruh daya kemampuan dikerahkan demi keluar dari himpitan itu. Agaknya itu sudah merupakan naluri purba yang dimiliki setiap makhluk hidup agar tetap survive. Tapi tak jarang juga "kreativitas" itu malah mengarah pada kriminalitas yang menghalalkan segala cara.
Bagi Ivy Ames, 39 tahun, yang baru saja dipecat dari kantornya dan menangkap basah perselingkuhan sang suami, keadaan itu memaksanya berpikir keras untuk secepatnya mendapatkan p...more
Bagi Ivy Ames, 39 tahun, yang baru saja dipecat dari kantornya dan menangkap basah perselingkuhan sang suami, keadaan itu memaksanya berpikir keras untuk secepatnya mendapatkan p...more
Hidup Ivy Ames hancur dalam satu hari. Dijegal rekan kerjanya sendiri hingga akhirnya dipecat, dan ketika tiba di rumah, Ivy mendapati suaminya sedang berselingkuh dengan istri orang yang membuatnya dipecat!
Untung ada Faith, sahabatnya yang selalu setia memberi pandangan yang menguatkan Ivy. Ivy membuka usaha konsultasi untuk orang tua yang ingin memasukkan anak-anak mereka ke taman kanak-kanak pilihan. Mau masuk TK aja butuh konsultasi? Well, para orang tua yang kaya raya itu, gak mau anak-anak...more
Untung ada Faith, sahabatnya yang selalu setia memberi pandangan yang menguatkan Ivy. Ivy membuka usaha konsultasi untuk orang tua yang ingin memasukkan anak-anak mereka ke taman kanak-kanak pilihan. Mau masuk TK aja butuh konsultasi? Well, para orang tua yang kaya raya itu, gak mau anak-anak...more
I got this at a library sale and it was still sealed and figured it would be great in the car. I found it engaging and likable and I was not disappointed. I loved Ivy and felt like I was listening to a tv show or sitcom. The plot was creative. Depicting rich society as a pretentious bunch of insincere snobs was I think uncannily on point. This is a departure from what I regularly read. A chic book with sass. I recommend this book for a fun light read that will fill your reading time with pleasur...more
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