The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel ♥ .. Perfection.

• The Book of Ivy
• Emy Engel
• Publisher: Entangled: Teen 
• (November 11, 2014)
• ISBN-13: 978-1622664658

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Nobles

Source: Personal Purchase

Synopsis: 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. 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 return 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.

• The Book of Ivy has been on my TBR list for a while, and I'm quite happy that I picked this read up. After a brutal nuclar war, the United States is left with a small population. Peace, and control is maintained with the marriage of the daughters of the losing side to the son's of the winning side every year. Ivy Westfall is the daughter of the Westfall family who is the losing side, she is told to restore the power of their family and kill the president's son - who is chosen as her husband.

•  I do like the cover of The Book of Ivy, the young lady holding a knife which screams TRAITOR to me, I'm not a huge fan of the bottom Ivy filled cityscape though. I saw mixed reviews for this one, I think it's because it's more romance than dystopian. This is a fantastic dystopian novel that I enjoyed beginning to the end though, I haven't heard of arrange marriages much in fiction, so this was a unique concept. This is a dystopian novel, however, it is not your usual action filled dystopian novel -  it is more on the romance side and barely contains any action. I do believe the action will come in the sequel of the series, which I'm anxiously anticipating after that epic cliffhanger.. It's not a teenager angst novel though, it challenges the myths of arrange marriages and actually has a good story on what is wrong and right. This is one of the books that made me excited, happy, and basically shattered my soul with it's ending. It is just THAT GOOD. I did appreciate the background story of how the United States came to be dystopian as well.

•  Ivy Westfall is the female lead of the novel, I really liked her character - She was strong, not quite badass yet, but kind as well. She's no Katniss Everdeen but I loved the characterization. Let's not forget the amazing Bishop, the president's son. Ivy is told to murder him so she can restore peace and end the marriage law and other corrupt laws, but Bishop is actually a caring and kind person. He show's mercy to those who don't even deserve it, there was a couple of parts in this novel that left me in awe, he's douchebag free and one of the sweetest people out there, which makes him sound too good to be true though. He sounded perfect, I needed some flaws though. I did love the romance and the chemistry between the two characters, it was slow burn, swoon worthy, and deep.

“My mission is not to make him happy and bear his children and be his wife. My mission is to kill him.” 

•  I would have liked to see more action in this novel, although, there are a couple of flaws in the plot - I would like to rate The Book of Ivy 4.5 butterflies, but I hate taking the other .5 away from novels so I wouldn't rate it anything less than 5 butterflies. It's almost perfect. I couldn't put this novel down, I had to finish it and know what happens next. I loved the plot, it was intense and thrilling - I loved the twists and turns, the ending did get me teary which is pretty depressing. I didn't even cry in If I Stay when her family was dying until I heard Adam's famous speech. Overall, The Book of Ivy is a debut novel, and it was quit engaging - it is beautifully written. Since this is a dystopian novel - you would expect lots of action, I do believe the second and last installment in the series would have plenty of survival and action. I would really recommend this novel - it is an impressive start to a great duology, adding this to my favorites list now.

• 

Recommended for fans of Article 5, Legend, and Arranged.

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” —Nora Ephron 

Personal Instagram | Beauty Instagram | Tumblr | Bloglovin | Goodreads

femmmefatalee@gmail.com