Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

May 15, 2007

stephanie rated it:

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.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2008

Wendi rated it:

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...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2009

Becky rated it:

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 ab More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2008

Lain rated it:

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" child More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 02, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

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...

0 comments like

Jul 31, 2010

Rebekkila rated it:

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...

0 comments like

Mar 19, 2010

ijul (yuliyono) rated it:

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 pe More...

3 comments like

May 22, 2009

Halie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Sep 19, 2010

Chana rated it:

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...

0 comments like

May 03, 2011

Cynthia rated it:

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 th More...

0 comments like

Apr 24, 2009

Purplycookie rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 04, 2009

Melissa rated it:

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.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 15, 2010

Linda rated it:

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 h More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 02, 2011

Kathy rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like

May 19, 2011

Heather rated it:

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 t More...

0 comments like

Aug 01, 2010

Liralen rated it:

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 rea More...

0 comments like

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 More...

0 comments like

Jan 08, 2009

Endah rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 12, 2007

Ferina rated it:

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 m More...

0 comments like

May 15, 2011

Melanie rated it:

I think I'm just not cut out for these "rich bitch tell-all" sort of books (Nanny Diaries, anything by Candace Bushnell, etc.), because I just couldn't really like this. It was often so OBNOXIOUS and definitely predictable, and the main character was so unlikeable and there was something about the super-ultra-rich best friend that just felt off and over-the-top and silly. I plowed through it quickly just to be done with it. I can see other people loving it, though, so this is defini More...

0 comments like

Mar 04, 2009

Britt rated it:

This was the best book I’ve read in a long time. The characters were likeable and funny, yet weren’t unrealistic. Plus it offered a rather disturbing insight into the world of private school admissions for young children in New York City. Even thought this was sort of similar to another book I read recently, I enjoyed this one more for its humorous take on the situation and the perspective from someone on the inside of the admissions process. I give it an A.

0 comments like

Jun 21, 2008

Ginny is currently reading it

The main character is kind of annoying, but I really want to read the rest to find out what will happen. She is a very shallow woman- she likes money, looking good, and making people think that she still has money.

She keeps having one thing after another happen to her- she lost her job, her husband was already unemployed, she came home to find her husband with another woman, and she had to fire all of her "help" and move to a cheaper area. She is actually for the first time More...

0 comments like

Jan 05, 2009

Yanellie rated it:

this book confirmed my crazy notion that some parents are just waaaay too concerned about planning out their kids education from preschool! as i write this it is only january and today i over heard parents already talking about summer programs and about how they had to make sure they HAD to get their children into the summer program of their choice. AAAGH!

anyway, this book is very well written and entertaining.

0 comments like

Jul 02, 2011

Mary-Frances rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Aug 23, 2010

Claire rated it:

I picked this up on a whim at the library hoping for another satire a la "Nanny Diaries". Unfortunately, it's a pretentious novel whose characters take themselves far too seriously. Rather than slyly making social commentary, the voice of the novel suggests that I should feel sorry for the narrator who can no longer afford to budget $22,000 for birthday parties. I gave it four chapters and then couldn't slug through anymore.

0 comments like

May 05, 2010

Janet rated it:

Ivy's has 2 daughters in private school in NYC, an unemployed husband and is a successful banker until she is downsized and the problems mount. While it was a little over the top, it was entertaining and I looked forward to listening to more of the story. I cared about Ivy (warts and all) and some of the other characters. It surpassed my expectations and was sad, hilarious and at times touching

0 comments like

Nov 05, 2009

Amy rated it:

So, do you want another book about the awful behavior of rich people in Manhattan? Here ya go. Ridiculous characters all around, bizarro plot twists that are maybe supposed to be humorous? Or not? Can't tell if the author was trying to go over the top or what. Oh, and you get an unlikeable heroine that nevertheless gets (spoiler alert!) an undeserved happy ending.

Blrgh.

0 comments like

Jun 22, 2011

Amanda Lueck rated it:

Well, Ivy had little chance after _All the King's Men_. Quick, short, rough, sometimes entertaining modern chick lit with a nice touch of farce and a little (not enough) satire. Very New York, very Bridget Jones-esque, though not as funny or brilliant as that book. And yet, a few insights -- especially into the kinds of schools that are good for different people.

0 comments like

May 14, 2009

Erin rated it:

This books tells the story of a Manhattan divorcee/ single mother who starts a business aimed at helping parents get their children into the competitive private kindergartens in the city. It's an interesting read (as in you can't believe people live this lifestyle), although insubstantial. I found most of the characters to be shallow and unlikeable.

0 comments like

Nov 20, 2008

Brooke rated it:

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun mostly comical read. It reminded me a lot of the Nanny Diaries as it looks at the rich and their children in NY, NY and pokes fun. That being said this is not a Christian book like I normally read so if you take this recommendation from my list keep that in mind. I'm looking forward to reading another book by this author.

Caution: Adult themes and sexual situations

0 comments like

reviews