Review : The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : The Book of Ivy (The Book of Ivy #1)
Author :Amy Engel
Publication Date : November 11th 2014
Publisher : Entangled Teen
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The Westfalls lost. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual.

This year, it is my turn.

My name is Ivy Westfall, and my mission is simple: to kill the president’s son—my soon-to-be husband—and restore the Westfall family to power.

But Bishop Lattimer is either a very skilled actor or he’s not the cruel, heartless boy my family warned me to expect. He might even be the one person in this world who truly understands me. But there is no escape from my fate. I am the only one who can restore the Westfall legacy.

Because Bishop must die. And I must be the one to kill him…

Personal Thoughts

Discovering new books is one of my favorite perks that comes with book blogging. The Book of Ivy wasn't a book that was on my radar until blogger friends started to sing high praises for it. Moments like those make me grateful to be part of this community. I've been over dystopian novels for the past few days, so I was bit hesitant to start The Book of Ivy, but boy did this book blow me away with how addictive it was!

From the very first page, I sympathized with our main character, Ivy. She had huge responsibilities to shoulder along with having to marry the son of her family's enemy. From the very start, she was determined to do everything possible to avenge her family's situation and to make her father and sister proud. But as Ivy slowly got to know her husband, her personality really started to shine through and I couldn't help but feel for her and the position she was in. For someone as young as her, the dilemma her family put her through was excruciating. I liked that Ivy wasn't entirely blinded by the stories her family told her. She was the kind of girl who got to the core of every statement and made her own judgements. That made her brave and all kinds of smart, according to me. All in all, Ivy was a heroine I admired from start to finish. Bishop, her husband, and supposed enemy was not like anything I expected. He was sweet, down-to-earth and entirely too nice. I loved how even though Amy Engel could have made him into a bad boy, she didn't. He was so gentle with Ivy and I loved how he slowly opened up to her and propelled her to open up to him.

The romance between Ivy and Bishop was so sweet. It was one that developed very slowly given their circumstance. I loved how they slowly got to know each other and grew fond of each other. It was such a delightful romance that had my heart fluttering. It definitely had one of my favorite YA romances. The Book of Ivy wasn't your typical action-packed dystopian book, but my heart was beating non-stop throughout the story with the revelations and the suspense. By the time the cliffhanger ending came, I wanted to cry my eyes out and scream out my frustrating at how unfair the world was. The world building was also interesting and I'm looking forward to learning more about these two families and their war. Amy Engel is definitely a talented author who knew how to play with her readers emotions very tactfully. She's an author to look out for!

The Book of Ivy was an emotional addictive and compelling read with solid characterizations and a slow-burn romance that will leave you breathless. The wait for the final book in this duology will be excruciating!

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

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