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Jul 10, 2011

Josie rated it:

I have no idea what was going on with this book. Every time I thought it was going to be one thing, it veered in a completely different direction. It had all the essential ingredients of a Victorian melodrama: an orphaned heroine, a den of thieves, laudanum addiction, pre-Raphaelite painters -- but it was so bizarre, and the writing so clunky, that it left me completely cold. I felt alienated from Ivy, who was very difficult to warm to. I found her vegetarianism unbelievable (as if a starvin More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 22, 2011

Anna rated it:

There is a lot of historical, though not very descriptive, passages about Victorian England the pre-Raphaelite art movement, and the author's coyness about revealing the identity of "the Italian" gets tiresome pretty quickly, especially for those who studied English literature and was able to ascertain the name fairly early on.
This is a pretty typical story of a hard luck girl who, through sheer luck (and it was luck since Ivy is pretty dumb, not uneducated, though she is that, t More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 16, 2010

travelmel rated it:

EDIT: BEGINING THE BOOK:
I've grown tired of the book I've been trying AND TRYING to read: Bitten - and I left the new Mortal Instruments book somewhere so I'm going to try this! The cover summary reminds me of the Gemma Doyle trilogy. Mysterious, supernatural/magic, nineteeth century England.

EDIT: FINISHED
OH I WAS HAD!! Swindled, Kaboozled.... I am so dumb! So I'm reading and reading and mark my words it's an enjoyable read BUT where was the magic? Where was the superna More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 11, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

Reviewed by Tasha for TeensReadToo.com

Ivy's life isn't exactly picturesque. At a very young age, she is orphaned and forced to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins, who really can't afford to support another child. Once old enough, she is sent to school, but doesn't even last the whole day. While running from school her beautiful red hair makes Carroty Kate, a thief who literally steals the clothes off of people's backs, catch sight of her and snatch her up.

Forced into More...

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May 24, 2011

Erin rated it:

Looking at the reviews I've written so far, I became concerned that it would appear I hate everything. This is not the case. I've just picked up some duds, and a few middle-of-the-pack werewolf books lately. Ivy, however, was a lovely, captivating, and refreshingly different book, and the first in this project of mine that I've truly enjoyed.

Ivy, a red-haired orphan living in the slums of Victorian London, learns early on to expect nothing but misery and humiliation from life. She mov More...

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Feb 07, 2010

Stephanie rated it:

I started this book wanting to love it because of its subject matter since the Pre-Raphaelites and Lizzie Siddal in particular are dear to my heart. I'm disappointed that I couldn't embrace it as much as I had hoped. I can't understand why the author couldn't use Rossetti's name. Repeatedly he is referred to as "the Italian". After the third or fourth reference, I was exasperated. After reading it so many times (the Italian, the Italian, the Italian) it just became an intrusive ele More...

7 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2009

CLM rated it:

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

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 28, 2009

Terry rated it:

I am reminded of Ursula K. Le Guin's statement that her great-aunt "said nobody under 18 had any business reading Dickens." I know that I had no particular fondness for Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, etc, until I was much older (A Tale of Two Cities, as I recall, was more to my liking in my youth). Philip Pullman' Sally Lockhart Trilogy (The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well) plus one (The Tin Princess) and Julie Hearn's Ivy seem to me to make accessi More...

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Feb 06, 2012

Matt rated it:

Given the lurid pitch of this book from the friend who loaned it to me, and the profound effect it had on her artistic identity, I think I expected something a lot darker, sexier, bleaker, generally more dramatic. Which isn't to say this dampened my appreciation for what I got. Ivy has a rough go of life, but she's a resilient innocent, and there's a light sure-footedness to the narrative voice that finds warmth, humor and charm in even the most grotesque situations and characters, to where it b More...

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Jan 11, 2011

Kristy rated it:

When I picked this book out of my pile to read, I admit I judged the cover. I thought it was going to be a cheesy love story or be about some kind of jacked-up version of
Poison Ivy

But, I was way off.

Ivy is a girl living in London, with basically no one to care for her and no way of supporting her own self. One day she happens to meet a skinner, a robber of small children. But, this woman, this Kate takes a liking to the read-headed little Ivy and devises a plan to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 20, 2011

Emilija rated it:

Ivy was not my type of read, because I really, really don’t like reading books that are set in the Victorian era. But despite my strong dislike for the Victorian times I found myself enjoying the book at times. That’s probably the only reason why I continued reading it.

It is unfortunate to say, but there was no world building or character development. I understand why the book didn’t need world building, because it’s the Victorian era everyone knows what it was like and what London lo More...

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Oct 07, 2011

Amanda added it

Ivy was a simple story that I thoroughly enjoyed. Yeah the wording was a little funky but I got it. Ivy has no education, emotionally abused, shes had an overall tough life. She let herself get swept up in an addiction so she wouldnt feel. I thought it was a good twist for her to be a vegetarian and into animals and not the all criminally cruel like her family. I'm not really all that knowledgable of the pre-raphaelite era artists but her reference to 'the Italian' in that context so much was a More...

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May 18, 2010

Erin rated it:

Ivy grew up in England in the mid-1800s. Orphaned and left with selfish relatives, she is given the opportunity to attend school; after a negative run-in with a woman who tries to force her to eat meat, she runs away. Ivy is taken in by a street gang and begins a different sort of life on the streets...

Fast-forward a number of years. Ivy is living with her relatives once again, when an artist inquires about her becoming his model. Although she may be stunning on the outside, ther More...

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Feb 07, 2009

edh rated it:

The Victorian world is not kind to destitute little red-headed girls, and Ivy is no exception. The titian titular heroine finds the use of laudanum a blessed escape from the grinding poverty of her family (such as it is). After a rather unsuccessful childhood in the mean streets of London, Ivy finds herself sought after by an aspiring pre-Raphaelite painter who wants her to pose as iconic characters Eve and Ophelia. The painter's mother is terribly jealous of her son's newest obsession and pl More...

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Jan 04, 2009

Natalie rated it:

Once I figured out that this was not your average YA novel, I was better able to appreciate the story. Something of a Victorian-inspired with Oliver Twist and The Bell Jar elements, Ivy is a complex tale of its title character. From a poorer than poor family, to a school for wayward children, to a life on the streets with thieves and criminals, Ivy's first few years of life more than difficult and unfortunately formative. She spends the next ten years in a drunken stupor, and then is recognized More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 20, 2010

Morgan rated it:

Ivy's life is far from picturesque. Orphaned at a young age, she moves in with her in-laws, a poor family of scoundrels. At the age of five, she runs away and finds herself an addition to a troupe of thieves, in particular, the "skinner" Carroty Kate. In order to silence Ivy's screams in the middle of the night caused by nightmares, Kate starts giving Ivy laudanum, one drop at time.

Eleven years later Ivy is back home with her family, when her bright red hair and pale bea More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 25, 2010

Lady rated it:

A decent teen read, but not outstanding. It was simply okay, everything from the plot to the characters to setting can be summed up by "unremarkable", "okay", and other such words. Good, but not memorable.

Ivy is a "stunner" that poses for an aspiring artist in Victorian London. She doesn't like it, but as long as she has her laudanum to take nothing bothers her. Due to her poor birth and lack of education, Ivy has no prospects and is lucky to get work as More...

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Jun 03, 2010

Kress rated it:

So I haven't written a review in some time since I've been reading some non-fiction books that I don't think will appeal to teens. But now I'm back on the YA scene....

I enjoyed this book. It's set in 19th century England's art world. (And, as you may know, this is a world I love.) Hearn begins the book with one of my favorite poem's by Christina Rossetti. And she does give voice, as does that poem, to the women who peopled the famous paintings of the day by allowing us to know o More...

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Aug 18, 2010

Irishgirl1247 rated it:

OK, so I admit it... I didn't finish. I got a little more than halfway. I wanted to, it had multiple things I thoroughly enjoy (1800s plus multiple class views to add diversity and interest, gingers and especially the art aspect.) As a History major and art history minor I thought this would be a diamond, but sadly no. I didn't really like any characters and what was with her being vegetarian in the Victorian England slums? not really an option. Plus with the nutrient deficiency of slum life, More...

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Jun 25, 2010

Gorfo rated it:

This book is a light read. I found myself following the life of Ivy with very little care. A good novel for just passing the time. There's was nothing especially striking about it. Though I did learn a little something about skinners. I felt like the book was missing something, perhaps the adition of the supernatural would've made it more interesting. Ivy seemed like a female version of Oliver Twist, so her character was not really that original, on top of this she doesn't talk much so the stor More...

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Jun 14, 2010

April rated it:

I enjoyed this book for the complex characters and just slightly gritty feel. Typical Victorian-era novels have more fluff than anything, but this one focused on the underclass with glimpses into the upper. The situations were so strange that they kept me interested and engaged through the whole book. I'd have liked a little more justice in the end, but that's me!! :)

This is a pretty clean book with just a few suggestive references that were relevant to the story and not at all grat More...

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Dec 07, 2009

Meredith rated it:

I went through several stages of liking/disliking this book, but in the end I liked it. Several of the supporting characters were satisfactory caricatures - deliciously-evil or bumpkin-humorous - and just the right mix of squalor/decadence and humor/grim despair. You wanted to slap Ivy just about all the way through, but she couldn't help it. I was puzzled, at first, by a reference to Dickens on the flyleaf, but I see it now. Except this book was readable. (Not to disparage my non-ancestor, More...

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Nov 07, 2009

Ashe rated it:

Ivy was an interesting book... novels set in old English times usually aren't very appealing to me, but there was something about this book that drew me in. Ivy is a redheaded orphan who's living in an old apartment with her aunt and uncle along with her cousins. She meets a painter who wants her to model for him and while she's being paid, her quality of life improves... until she becomes addicted to a dangerous drug and the jealously of another woman threatens to destroy her.

The endi More...

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Aug 30, 2010

Maddie rated it:

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

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May 17, 2009

Amber rated it:

Interesting novel. I thought it was different from other YA books in two regards:
1. The main character is poor & remains poor. I haven't read too many YA books (except, of course, the one I read just the other day--How To Be Bad) where the main character is poor & illiterate. The time of the book is around 1850s or so (I believe).
2. The main character is a vegetarian. Yeah! :)

Overall, this is a nice, quick read. There's not a whole lot happening in this book but it's en More...

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Oct 22, 2011

Catherine rated it:

Although quite enjoyable, this book tended to jump around a bit, from one concept to another without much warning. I found this rather annoying! Concepts were introduced and not followed up and interesting advances in the plot barely lasted a chapter and dissapeared promptly without a trace. But in saying that it was a good take on Victorian life, that didn't try to be overly grungy or sweet, therefore striking the right balance. Some characters seemed one dimensional, but Ivy was atleast on the More...

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Apr 21, 2009

Julia rated it:

Ivy has grown up in the London slums of the 19th century. Her childhood caregivers have been con artists and thieves. As a child, she was often given laudanum (an opium drug) to help her sleep and became an addict. Despite this, she remains a striking beauty as she grows up. One day she discovered by an artist who wants to use her as his model. Little does Ivy realize that she’s stepping into a world of greater danger when she agrees to work for him. Will Ivy be destroyed, or will she disc More...

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Apr 01, 2011

Sophie rated it:

I read this after reading Hazel, as Ivy is mentioned as Hazel's mother and seemed like an interesting character. Like Hazel, Ivy is very much like a character study and touches on several issues and themes of the time (skinners, the Pre-Raphaelite movement, etc). The most interesting thing about this book is probably the depiction of the slums in which Ivy and her adopted family lives. The story is somewhat anti-climatic, but the book is still good for those interested in the circumstances of th More...

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Jan 02, 2011

Purplycookie rated it:

In true Dickensian manner, this atmospheric, richly detailed story takes readers from the slums to the upper-class locales of mid-1800s London. Ivy is a victim throughout much of the book, trying to escape villains who seek her demise. Orphaned and living with uncaring relatives, she runs away at the age of five, after bad experiences during her first day at school. She returned home a few years later, a laudanum addict.

At 15, she’s roused from her typical drugged state in order to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 21, 2011

Nafiza rated it:

Doesn’t the synopsis sound divine? I thought so too. I checked this book out from the library because the synopsis coupled with the cover won me over. There’s an ethereal sense about the girl on the cover, perhaps the curve of her cheeks that whispers of vulnerability and I’m going to wax poetic until I stop myself.

Okay, I’m done.

Anyway, the book didn’t deliver as I had hoped it would. It was sort of like seeing the potential, knowing it was in there but failing ultimatel More...

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