Review of White Ivy by Susie Yang

Part coming of age story, part family saga, part tale of obsession, White Ivy is a unique and thought-provoking read. Check out my review of White Ivy by Susie Yang (and a link to my spoiler post for White Ivy.)

White Ivy by Susie Yang. Published on November 3, 2020 by Simon and Schuster. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.

Synopsis: Ivy Lin is a thief and a liar. She was taught how to pilfer items from yard sales and second-hand shops by her immigrant grandmother. Thieving allows Ivy to accumulate the trappings of a suburban teen—and, most importantly, to attract the attention of Gideon Speyer, the golden boy of a wealthy political family. But when Ivy’s mother discovers her trespasses, punishment is swift and Ivy is sent to China, where her dream instantly evaporates. Years later, Ivy has grown into a poised yet restless young woman, living in Boston and haunted by her conflicting feelings about her upbringing and her family. When she bumps into Sylvia Speyer, Gideon’s sister, a reconnection with Gideon seems not only inevitable—it feels like fate. Ivy sinks her claws into Gideon and the entire Speyer clan by attending fancy dinners and weekend getaways to the Cape. But just as Ivy is about to have everything she’s ever wanted, a ghost from her past resurfaces, threatening the nearly perfect life she’s worked so hard to build.

Review of White Ivy

I requested White Ivy thinking (based on the title and synopsis) that it was a thriller. It’s not. White Ivy is part intergenerational immigration story, part family saga, part tale of romantic obsession.

The book spends a great deal of time setting up Ivy’s family history and relationships and describing some pivotal experiences in her childhood. The narrative spans over ten years of Ivy’s life and delves into the history of her family in China and details about their immigration to the United States. Once I got to the end of the book, the inclusion of all this backstory made more sense to me. To understand Ivy and her obsession with Gideon, you need to understand her relationship with American culture and with her family. To understand her decisions, you need to understand her deep-seated need for belonging and stability.

This was definitely a character-driven book, with Ivy at its center. The book does play on some stereotypes (the overly strict immigrant parents, the bland, passive WASP love interest) but the book also allows these characters to break out of their expected roles and surprise the reader.

Susie Yang is a talented writer, with a sharp eye for detail and characterization. There is a lot of information in the book that’s interesting but takes time to pay off. I’d argue that to understand Ivy and her choices, you need this information. But some readers used to the pace of modern commercial fiction (especially those, who, like me, go in expecting a fast-paced thriller) might not have the patience to wait.

White Ivy does have a slight suspense element, something the entire first three-quarters of the book sets up. The book’s final set of revelations were unexpected and interesting and I’ll be curious as to how other readers interpret them.

If you’re in a book club, White Ivy would be an excellent choice, a book that I think would spark many interesting discussions.

Come Check Out My White Ivy Spoiler Post

I’m not in a book club at the moment, so if/when you’ve read the book, come check out my SPOILER DISCUSSION! Let’s talk about the book!

Have you read this or are you planning to?