The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

 

I've loved every single one of Amy Engel's adult books so I was curious to read her YA, even though it's a genre I typically don't like (post-apoc). The premise of this one is pretty interesting. It takes place in a sort of strongholded society following a nuclear holocaust. There's two opposing "sides" within the compound, and they maintain peace by marrying girls and boys from each side to one another in a sort of government-approved teen marriage contract.

Ivy, the heroine, is the daughter of the founding families of the "losing" side of the historic compound war, and she's engaged to the son of the president of the winning side, Bishop. But this time, things are going to be different. Her older sister and father plan to have him and his entire family assassinated and they want Ivy to help him do it. Too bad he's a lot nicer than she was told he'd be.

Even worse that she starts to fall for him.

So this kind of felt like a cross between THE HUNGER GAMES and THE SELECTION, peppered with tropes that you'll recognize from about half a dozen other dystopians that were popular at the time of the boom. For what it's worth, it's better than THE SELECTION. The characterization really makes up for a lot of the shallow world-building. Ivy is a vivid character and so many scenes in this book had me feeling so emotional.

I also LOVED her relationship with Bishop. This is a marriage of convenience that manages to portray the initial awkwardness and the slow bond of getting to know someone intimately as a person. There was also a moment in here where Bishop pushes a man off a roof for abusing his wife, and I don't know about you but one of my favorite microtropes is when a nice guy reveals that maybe sometimes he's a not-so-nice-guy when someone he cares about is in danger. HOT.

After reading THE BOOK OF IVY, I think I still prefer her adult fiction to her YA, but this was still pretty fun. I might read the sequel, we'll see.

3 out of 5 stars