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Jan 20, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

I loved The Ivy. Honestly, by page 4, I already knew I was going to read this book in one sitting. The Ivy is college life, ivy league style - everyone rich, famous and geniuses, or some mix of the three, or at least it seems that way. Can an average girl survive and find her way at an above average school?

I adored everything about The Ivy, from the secret societies (or Finals Clubs as they are called at Harvard), to the choosing of classes, to the parties (with authentic sounding dr More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 21, 2010

Val rated it:

I don’t even know where to start. This series is giving me serious chills and I am more than obsessed with it. Most of the books I have been reading are now becoming series. It’s hard to tell which you should start or shouldn’t especially with all the waiting in between. However, I can tell you The Ivy is going to be a HIT. No Joke. First off, we all want to know what the life of a Harvard Elite is like. Right? Or maybe just me. This new series gives you a sneak peak into the life of those “Elit More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2010

Eleni ( La Femme Readers ) rated it:

My Rating: 4.5

Lauren and Rina's The Ivy, initiated a sensational glimpse into the esteemed reputation of Harvard University. With a glamorous outside and an underlying element of cunning behavior, this debut knocked my socks off. The intensity and raw depth behind the story was an immensely pleasurable experience. The characters eccentricity was evident from the first introductions, thus, helping me build connections on different levels. Callie, a naturally beautiful girl from Californ More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 25, 2010

Lina rated it:

Let me start off by saying thank you to Greenwillow books for sending this to me. It was quite a surprise. To continue, I also have to state that this type of book, isn't really my forte. They are made for a specific audience, the ones that read Gossip Girl, The Clique and watch Jersey Shore and Real House Wives of (Insert here). The goal of these books is not, in my opinion, to be good. It is to be fun. Therefore I will be judging it on that quality rather than my own personal feelings.

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0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 21, 2011

Rachel rated it:

I loved this book! I couldn't put it down but i never wanted it to end either! the whole thing was captivating. I love the character development throughout the story and i can't wait for the next!!

and if I had to pick a favorite chapter GO ASK ALICE would soooo win. I couldn't stop laughing. Epic :)

READ THIS BOOK!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2010

Rina rated it:

Well what I can say? I would have to be biased...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2012

Brittany rated it:

Callie Andrews got into Harvard because of her brain. Not her money, not her fame and definitely not for her fashion. This makes her feel a little out of place with her roommates are first. She has Mimi who is from France and Vanessa who is from NYC, though is Callie feels left out, there super conservative fourth roommate has to feel super out of place with her crazy mates. As if classes weren't hard enough, Callie also have to navigate the social battlefield that is her life. With an ex who re More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 01, 2010

TheBookVixen rated it:

The first thing that caught my attention was the cover. I love how the title dominates the cover; all lowercase, big and bold and the way it sits against the wrought iron design. (At first glance, I had thought the background was roses.) When I first heard of The Ivy, the blurb wasn’t what you see up there; it was short and mysterious:

When Callie arrives for her freshman year at Harvard, she encounters her three vastly different roommates, new friendships, steamy romance, and scandal More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 13, 2010

Sara rated it:

THE IVY may not be the most accurate portrayal of freshman year at University, but that's besides the point: Rina Onur and Lauren Kunze fully succeeded in writing a fun, dramatic, boy-filled novel that I kept me distracted for hours.

While THE IVY exaggerated some aspects of college life, there were definitely situations that happen on campuses across the country. For me, this novel was a perfect balance of reality and fiction - too much reality would be horribly boring, too much fic More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 07, 2010

Arena rated it:

This story was like a mix between Sex and the City and Gilmore Girls (You know, after Rory has left and gone to college...)

It is *definitely* a book for mature audiences.

There was adult language, sex, nudity and drug use. Sometimes, lots of it.

Not that it bothered me, but readers should be aware as they pick up this title that the "young" in "young adult" really doesn't apply here.

It was *so* interesting to learn about life at More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Laxmona rated it:

I don't really read gossip books, but then i wanted to take a break away from fantasy and supernateral genre books!!

I found this book interesting and enjoyable till the first few chapters. But it really left me wondering if such social clubs, if they even exist, and social status hold such significant importance to students in Harvard?? I should really ask my teacher who is a Harvard graduate about that.

Callie had been a very likeable heroine who is smart and beautiful in More...

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Aug 25, 2011

Audrey rated it:

Title: The Ivy
Author: Lauren Kunze with Rina Onur
Genre: YA fiction
Publishing Information: August 31, 2010 by Greenwillow Books

Where I got it: E-book library

One sentence: Freshman year at Harvard is a whole new ball game for California girl Callie Andrews.

Themes: Romance, college, parties, secret societies, secrets, drama

Main character: 4/5
I liked Callie immediately because I could relate to her. She made mistakes, she acted unwisely, s More...

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Jul 20, 2011

Karina rated it:

I didn't really know what to expect from this book when I first picked it up. Sure, I was attracted to it by its cool cover and it's little slogan on the front: "Get In or Get Over It". Since I've been starting to look at random colleges, I know about the 'big' Ivy Leagues. And since the book was written about Harvard, and the authors went to Harvard, I thought it would teach me a little about the school and be interesting.

All I learned was that this book was very confusin More...

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May 11, 2011

Kaiya rated it:

I have started to get exuberantly tired of books that are always so predictable. The ones about mean girls who fall from grace and nobodies who fall in love with a guy who doesn't notice them. But, what made the ivy so amazing was the fact that I never knew what was going to happen next and I'm the kind of girl who can go to a movie and tell you exactly who killed whom and how the movie will end.

Callie Andrews is a not-so normal girl from a normal life. When she gets accepted to Harvar More...

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Oct 04, 2010

The Bookologist rated it:

Built with friendships, relationships, secrets and college drama, The Ivy is a hilarious and sexy novel that will let you experience how it really is to be in an Ivy league school, Harvard University, one of the most prestigious schools in the world-- or let me say, the most prestigious school in the world.

Kunze and Onur gives you the perfect setting. With experience, being room mates and from graduating harvard, they both add in some of Harvard's real courses and classes, traditions, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 25, 2010

Adele rated it:

It had me for a while. Enough to make me feel like an idiot for being engaged for that short time. Then I realised that this book was a series of shallow vignettes about getting drunk, laid and more and I couldn't find the joy any more. This is definitely the kind of read that would energise a reader with no expectation other than a cliched protagonist surrounded by stereotypical supporting players that act in stupendously stupid ways. I don't know what offended me more - the depiction of a More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 29, 2010

Angie rated it:

I picked up an advanced copy of THE IVY last month at BEA. I had seen it pop up here awhile back and flagged it as interesting in that it's a YA take on the whole Ivy League experience. So when I was offered a copy at BEA, I grabbed it and stuck it in my bag. And, given how much I enjoyed Diana Peterfreund's Secret Society Girl series, it seemed only fair to give this similar series a go. Written by best friends and former roommates at Harvard themselves, Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur, I like the s More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 18, 2010

Shanyn rated it:

I picked up The Ivy at BEA, and was very happy to have gotten it because it was during one of my mad crazy rush hours of being in 10 lines in an hour!

The summary sets up the book at a college, which is perfect for me because it's one of my favorite settings to read about. This fact alone made it one of the first BEA books I picked up to read, and guess what - I really loved it!

I didn't love it for the same reason I loved Courtney Summer's Some Girls Are (excellent charact More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 04, 2011

Samantha rated it:

So basically, I hated every single one of those dead boring and stupid characters. Now, admittedly I didn't finish the book but five chapters in and I still couldn't care about any of them. They were about the simplest things I've ever read about. There isn't one chapter where they weren't demonstrating their extreme shallowness. They'd barely pass off as high school students, let alone Ivy League students. Low test scores and big family donations; that about describes all the characters.
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Feb 21, 2012

Mary Grace rated it:

This is a tough cookie and I must be honest, I am finding it difficult to write an opener (evidence right there) for my review so on to it then!

I felt so detached with this book, half way through it I was mostly skipping pages and scratching my head because I can connect to the characters nor the story as I should be. I won’t say that it wasn’t for me or something since I wouldn’t pick it up if it didn’t interest me but along the way – our chemistry wasn’t working at all. I just felt More...

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Nov 10, 2010

Kelly rated it:

Callie is a freshman at Harvard. You may think that the blonde girl from California (make your Elle Woods jokes now) would be a fashion genius, but she’s not. She’s a total klutz and lives in jeans, hoodies and flip-flops. (I don’t judge, but pretty much every Harvard girl does.) Like most college experiences, the book soon becomes more about the friends, parties and guys than about the classes, homework and exams.

Oh, yes, guys. There’s the guy from back home (who broke up with More...

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Sep 21, 2010

Katie rated it:

I feel like it's almost a cliche to say, but there should be more books set in college! It's such an interesting time of life. Anyway I'm going to try to do this without spoilers since I saw some of you guys mark it as to read and figure you might be interested (the internet makes me feel like such a stalker). But some slight ones will probably creep in.

I liked it. It's not perfect. I think it almost doesn't know what kind of book it wants to be. Too often, it feels like it's trying to More...

10 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 26, 2010

Kate (I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read!) rated it:

THE IVY, by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur, is a story about starting over and growing up. Everyone who has gone away to college can relate to this book in more ways than one, whether it be making new friends, succeeding in classes, or balancing social with academia. The Ivy takes a deeper look into the highs and lows of choosing what is important in an extremely stressful environment of Harvard.

Never have I read a book where I felt like I was reading about myself. This book took be back More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 13, 2010

Tara rated it:

When I was a teenager, I was lucky enough to live in Boston. I spent a lot of time in Cambridge and wandering throughout the Harvard campus, wishing that I had both the money and the SAT scores to attend. I wish I could say that because of my fondness for my Boston days that I really loved this book, but that sadly wasn't the case.

I really didn't care about anyone in this book, as I felt all the characters to be stereotypical and one dimensional. Sure, Callie's a nice California girl More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 19, 2010

Jenny rated it:

I’ve wanted to read this one since I first heard about it months back. It’s a YA book geared towards older YA readers and is about college life. So for someone like me who’s not a teen anymore it definitely appealed to me.

The story centers on Callie Andrews, a California girl who is starting her freshman year at Harvard. She’s excited to be at Harvard and doesn’t know what to expect but is looking forward to everything. She meets her three roommates, Mimi, Dana and Vanessa and becom More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 01, 2011

June rated it:

I went to an Ivy league school and I was a bit taken aback by the characters behaviors. I kept asking myself if this was an Ivy league school or a party college! Now, no disrepect to 'party schools". I just expected a different sensibility. The characters were so shallow and self-absorbed. As the story proceded, I did get into it more. A lot was written through newsletters and similar correspondence and initially, this pulled me out of the story, but as I continued to read, this method beca More...

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Aug 06, 2010

Trisha rated it:

I can not say enough good things about this book. After I started it I could not put it down and finished it in one day. This book is full of so much humor, drama, romance, and everything else that a college person goes through that you just have to keep reading it.

This was just an excellent book. Saying this, their were a few things in the book that left me guessing. Callie's mom is mentioned a few times and so is her dad, but she doesn't call them for help when the people she thoug More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2011

Megan rated it:

FINALLYYY a book with characters that are not in high school! I loved this book and also the second book the Ivy:Secrets. They are fun, racy and AHHH have SEX and BAD LANGUAGE and DRINKING that most people who are in high school and college SURPRISEE actually do! I'm so sick of these virgins who've never kissed a boy and "MG he wants to touch me and kiss me OHH NOOO" its ridiculous. I dare someone to find me a 17 yr old virgin in hs that's like never drank or been alone with a boy or n More...

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Nov 05, 2010

Katie added it

Let me be honest, I thought I would hate this book and didn't understand why my friend gave it to me as a gift. This was not the type of book I'd enjoy and honestly I had read a couple awful reviews online.
I WAS WRONG! This was definitely a guilty pleasure read, but it was definitely really, too juicy-ly guilty! C'mon people.. Don't we all enjoy affection from hot guys, scandal and drama? Don't we all secretly watch/read GG or PLL?
This was a perfect YA read about college. It was fun, f More...

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Jul 10, 2011

Mitchii rated it:

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

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