Customer Reviews

The Ivy Chronicles

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I know that I should hate this book. Ivy is shallow, shallow but she somehow manages to attract love and attention by EVERYONE in her surroundings. She is a minimal mother (at best), she is manipulative and a liar.

Yet, I enjoyed this book. I think this book is just so over the top that its enjoyable. I laughed in a few spots and basically just enjoyed this thing.

Who knew?

Is it great lit? NOPE, but if you are looking for a lightweight but fun read, buy this.

Well these parents top it all! They lie, cheat, threaten, bribe, and the list goes on! Not only are the parents doing it, but Ivy who has had the worst luck with her job and husband and needs money to support her own children is involved.

Although I do agree she didn't redeem herself fully, this book was entertaining and laughable. I don't live like them, so I have no clue about that kind of lifestyle. It seems none of them appreciate what they have, or realize that these are CHILDREN but it was entertaining and I did enjoy it. Isn't that what a book is sometimes? Away from the world, a place to escape and fantasize?

It's been a long time since I've disliked a protagonist as much as I hated Ivy Ames. While the premise of the book was intriguing (an insider's view into the cut-throat world of the Manhattan elite), my antipathy for Ivy overroad any hopes of my giving this book a good review.

She continually baffled me with her amoral stance and her ability to turn everything into a one-woman whine-fest. There was almost no one to cheer for, save some of the stereotypical "underclass" children. I almost quit reading several times, but somehow convinced myself to carry on.

It's unfortunate, because Quinn is a talented writer. She just needs to work on creating some likable characters -- maybe some with morals.

I usually "have" to finish even books I don't like - but I got about two thirds through this one and just couldn't take any more. The premise was amusing and the beginning of the book held a lot of promise. But it just got dumber and dumber until I finally bailed out and couldn't slog through the last 100 pages. I can see why it is compared to "Nanny Diaries" but it doesn't even come close in quality. Don't waste your time - there are way too many great books out there!

I read this book for my book club because it was supposed to be funny. It isn't. The author couldn't get me to care about anybody in the story. I'd never read another book by this author, and I read a lot. For a really funny book with a much better plot and sympathetic characters, read The Undomesticated Goddess by Sophie Kinsella.

I bought this book thinking I would be reading another Nanny Diaries (which I loved). This book doesn't even deserve to be in the same room with the Nanny Diaries! It was fake, forced, and completely unenjoyable. The dialogue was overdone. It was inconsistent and contradicted itself many times. Most of the characters were completely one-dimensional and/or not credible. Doesn't Faith Lord have better things to do than focus entirely on Ivy's life and cater to her every whim? And Ivy is such a pushover, it made me sick when she couldn't confront a single person of the many who have wronged her.

I couldn't do it! I forced myself to read about half-way in hopes it would get better, and then I had to give up. And I never quit books! I can't rememeber the last time I didn't finish a book, I love reading so much.

As Italians say, there is no worse thief than a bad book. I feel robbed!

Maybe the most poorly written book I've read in a long time. Not funny. Not Involving. Not even worth wasting my time writing this review but I just found it so darn annoying!!!!! Try Charlotte Simmons (now Tom Wolfe, there's someone WHO CAN WRITE!!) Try Admissions. Try Prep. Try Private Schools for Dummies. Try to avoid this dreck.

Other readers have compared this book to Admissions, another tale of what parents will do to get their kids into the best private schools in Manhattan. However, I thought The Ivy Chronicles was funnier and more memorable.

The story follows Ivy Ames though a grueling year, as she loses first her job and then her husband. As a result, she is forced to give up her old apartment, her children's private school, and doggie day care. While the scenario is a bit contrived in the beginning, Ivy's decision to help upscale New Yorkers get through the admissions process is interesting and funny. Like anyone else, Ivy is only human, worrying about her weight and whether or not the author downstairs likes her.

Ivy takes on about seven clients, including a mob boss; a Jewish/Gentile couple whose father won't allow his grandson to go to a Jewish school and tries to bribe Ivy at the tune of $ 1 million; a woman who tries to bribe the members of the Board of Trustees at every school to which her son applies; her housekeeper, who wants a better life for her son; a man who continually threatens to fire Ivy and tells her to encouage his daughter to cheat on the ERBs; and a gay couple with a disabled adopted son. Some of the characterizations seems contrived, although the humor is genuine. There were some characters I would have liked to see more of, others I would have liked to have seen less, but the author does a wonderful job of tying the pieces together.

The only thing I have to gripe about the book was its predictable ending. Hoever, it was wonderfully written (for someone who is not by profession an author). I highly recommend.

An entertaining chick lit book about the dreaded private school admissions process for kindergarten in NYC. Absolutely crazy. Ivy Ames looses her job, her husband, and her Park Ave apartment and is forced to move with her two little girls to the lower east side. With the help of her fabulously wealthy friend, Faith Lord, she begins a business as a private school consultant, helping little 3 year olds get into New York's most elite private schools. This novel provides a hilarious and depressing account of the desperate measures parents will go to in order to get their kids into the "baby ivy's." Could hardly put it down because it was such delicious fun. 8/10

Maybe it's because I work in an admission office at a secondary school, but I completely adored this book. I laughed out loud and couldn't turn the pages quickly enough. Karen Quinn has a real gem here. Her characters were hilarious, especially Ivy Ames herself. Some of the things in this book aren't as far off as those foreign to the world of prep school parents might imagine. As I got further in the novel, I came into work brimming over with the stories, to which many of my colleagues and I could relate. Overall, I thought The Ivy Chronicles was funny and well written.