Ivy - Secrets by Lauren Kunze & Rina Onur
Publication dates: August 31st, 2010 - June 1st, 2011
Published by: Greenwillow Books
Genre: YA Contemporary
Ratings: 5/5 - 5/5
Congratulations! You have been admitted to the most prestigious university in the world. Now what are you going to do?Callie Andrews may not have money or connections or the right clothes, and she may have way too many complications in her love life, what withGregorythe guy she loves to hate ...Evathe guy she'd love to forget ...Clintthe guy she'd love to love ...and Mattthe guy she really should love ...all vying for her attention.But she has three fantastic roommates (best friends or her worst nightmare?) and a wholesome California-girl reputation (oops) and brains and beauty and big, big dreams.Will it be enough to help her survive freshman year at Harvard?
Reputation, Reputation, Reputation.
You're a student at the most prestigious university in the country, and you've been tapped for the most elite social club. You've made it!Now Don't Blow It!
Callie Andrews triumphed during her first semester at Harvard: she made incomparable friends, found the perfect boyfriend, and received invitations to the most exclusive secret societies. But she may have ruined every-thing with one ill-fated night. Now she's keeping secrets from everyone, including-Clint the upperclassman who's too good to be trueVanessa the best friend turned backstabberGregory the guy who's a total(ly hot) mistakeand Lexi the social queen who wants to bring Callie down.
But Callie didn't get into Harvard by giving up, and she isn't about to now. Besides, she's not the only one with something to hide. . . .
2nd read (Feb 2019)
Secrets
Gregory, you are the best, you are amazing, you're awesome. No room for improvement because you're perfect.
Callie....OMG. I must have been more patient when I was younger because this time I had zero tolerance for her endless shenanigans. I mean, she acted, for fear of saying something even more offensive, completely moronic. She thinks she's all mature and makes fun of the shallow, rich girls (so not cool by the way) but she is so stupid. What she put poor Clint through, I mean I would dumb her ass in a heartbeat if I was him. But I guess that's what happens when you have the two sexiest students on campus drooling over you. Ugh.
Alexis, you might be mean, conniving and manipulative but you do it perfectly. Alexis all the way woot woot!
2nd read (Feb 2019)
The Ivy
I absolutely loved this series when it first came out and I was dreading to read it again seven years later, knowing full well that I would probably hate it the second time around. Even though my tastes have pretty much remained the same, it doesn't change the fact that when I first read the Ivy I was 29 and now I am 36 and change, which means less attracted by and interested in beautiful/ rich girls' inane "troubles" and tumultuous love life, basically what other girls their age would kill to have. Also, I am way more cynical, easier to pass judgement and pick out any cleverly concealed sexist/racist/body shaming comment; especially books of this genre are full of them!
Turns out, I shouldn't have worried-I still love it 😃
And yes, maybe I'm rolling my eyes at some of the snotty attitudes and behaviours, but I guess, since both of the authors actually went to Harvard and know first hand, that at least at some extent, they are actually real, albeit a bit exaggerated (hello, fiction! Or is it...?)
What was the most memorable part of the book though was definitely Gregory who could easily be my fictional boyfriend, even at 36. Don't care if it's creepy, he's amazing, gorgeous, I love him ❤
Callie was a bit of a disappointment because I remember rooting for her before but now I found myself almost disliking her. Gregory, you deserve better!
Definitely will read it again for a 3d time, maybe after 40.
Ugh, 40. Yikes
1st read (Oct 2011)
Could I be any more in love with the Ivy series?
Secrets
Gregory, you are the best, you are amazing, you're awesome. No room for improvement because you're perfect.
Callie....OMG. I must have been more patient when I was younger because this time I had zero tolerance for her endless shenanigans. I mean, she acted, for fear of saying something even more offensive, completely moronic. She thinks she's all mature and makes fun of the shallow, rich girls (so not cool by the way) but she is so stupid. What she put poor Clint through, I mean I would dumb her ass in a heartbeat if I was him. But I guess that's what happens when you have the two sexiest students on campus drooling over you. Ugh.
Alexis, you might be mean, conniving and manipulative but you do it perfectly. Alexis all the way woot woot!
2nd read (Feb 2019)
The Ivy
I absolutely loved this series when it first came out and I was dreading to read it again seven years later, knowing full well that I would probably hate it the second time around. Even though my tastes have pretty much remained the same, it doesn't change the fact that when I first read the Ivy I was 29 and now I am 36 and change, which means less attracted by and interested in beautiful/ rich girls' inane "troubles" and tumultuous love life, basically what other girls their age would kill to have. Also, I am way more cynical, easier to pass judgement and pick out any cleverly concealed sexist/racist/body shaming comment; especially books of this genre are full of them!
Turns out, I shouldn't have worried-I still love it 😃
And yes, maybe I'm rolling my eyes at some of the snotty attitudes and behaviours, but I guess, since both of the authors actually went to Harvard and know first hand, that at least at some extent, they are actually real, albeit a bit exaggerated (hello, fiction! Or is it...?)
What was the most memorable part of the book though was definitely Gregory who could easily be my fictional boyfriend, even at 36. Don't care if it's creepy, he's amazing, gorgeous, I love him ❤
Callie was a bit of a disappointment because I remember rooting for her before but now I found myself almost disliking her. Gregory, you deserve better!
Definitely will read it again for a 3d time, maybe after 40.
Ugh, 40. Yikes
1st read (Oct 2011)
Could I be any more in love with the Ivy series?
The answer is: hells no!!!!!
After a series of OK books, I finally found something I was completely obsessed about and loved with all my heart. And that is the Ivy series.
My friend M. and I have had endless conversations about books that we read and them being either too YA or too adult. We had yet to find the much coveted in-between book, the one that has good parts of each of the genres.
In other words: college.
First came Beautiful Disaster by Jamie MacGuire which I absolutely adored. Unlike BD though, Ivy doesn't only focus on two college students' unrequited love, which is by no means bad, but rather on describing college life and in this case, life at Harvard University. Both authors attended Harvard, and though they don't admit to the books being biographical, they acknowledge that "..they are realistic". The places, the dorms, the parties, classes, professors, all of it is real. Personally, Harvard college life took me by surprise. I had no idea things like that happened at such a prominent, Ivy league university. I thought Harvard students were with their heads inside a book all day.
Yeah, right!
As it is very well known, partying and debauchery in general, always lead to epic romances.
Or epic mistakes.
This series had both in excess. Each time you felt happy and relieved, something would happen to make it all bad and chaotic again.
There's no question books are written around Callie and how she, a poor california girl, is adjusting to a new life in the East coast and how she struggles to hang in there and not crumble under the pressure of exams, initiations, mean girls and of course love!
I liked all the characters in the series equally. Yes, even Alexis! She was something all right, but I liked her. There are a lot of characters in Ivy and Secrets and no one falls under the radar, goes unnoticed. Every one has a distinct voice and is memorable.
In all honesty though, I cannot decide who is best for Callie. I like Clint and Greg both! I loved Greg right from the start because he is hot(duh!)and snarky, but Clint…I mean, what's there not to like? The guy is perfect. And I don't mean, boring perfect, I mean the right amount of perfect. I'm telling you, I did not want to be on Callie's shoes at the end of Secrets. Seriously.
Speaking of, Secrets's ending? Huge, mind-blowing cliff hanger!!!
If you read contemporary fiction there is NO way you won't like the Ivy series. I got through both of the books so quickly, I kinda regret it now. I wish I would have taken my sweet time and savor them :(
Ivy and Secrets made me wish I was back in college. Yes. With all the studying and everything. That's how much I loved these books!
Rivals, book 3 in the series, is coming out March 6th 2012 by Greenwillow.
No comments:
Post a Comment