The Book of Ivy

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Synopsis

Years ago, the United States was decimated by a nuclear war. Eventually a group of about ten thousand survivors banded together, but they couldn't decide which family would govern this new nation, the Westfalls or the Lattimers. Following a civil war, the Westfalls lost. Decades later, they now keep the peace between the two sides through arranged marriages between the losing side's daughters and the winner's sons, and these unions typically take place when they reach the age of sixteen.

Ivy Westfall, the youngest daughter of the man who is descended from the founder has been matched with Bishop Lattimer, the son of the president of Westfall. All her life, she's been taught that the Lattimers governing style is wrong and her father desperately wants to restore democracy. He's come up with a scheme to murder Bishop and then stage a coup to take control of the country, but the only one who can carry out that plan is Ivy. She doesn't really want to marry Bishop, nor does she truly want to kill anyone, but she fears disappointing her father. However, she thought Bishop would be a horrible person, and he turns out to be anything but that. Instead, he's very considerate of her feelings, respectful of her intelligence, and even helps her get a job at the courthouse despite the fact that few married women work in their society. This places her in a position to help carry out her father's plan. But as the weeks go by, and Ivy gets to know Bishop more and more, she comes to realize that he may be the only person who has ever truly understood her. As she falls in love with him, it becomes all but impossible for her to enact the plan to kill him, but no matter what she decides to do, she'll be betraying someone she cares about.

Review

The Book of Ivy is the first book in Amy Engel's The Book of Ivy duology. It's set in a post-apocalyptic world in what used to be the Midwestern United States in the area of Missouri. The country was destroyed by a nuclear war and those who survived were ravaged by disease and starvation. Several years later, a small remnant of about ten thousand banded together in Westfall, the name they gave their new country (which is more of a city), but the Westfalls, the city's founders, and another faction led by the Lattimers couldn't agree on a form of government, so a civil war ensued. The Lattimers were the victors, so their leader became president. It's more of a hereditary title, though, that's passed down to the eldest son. Every year, when the youth reach the age of sixteen, their names are entered into a pool for arranged marriages between the two factions that are determined through personality tests and other means. When the matches are announced, the decree is inviolable and the couples are expected to wed immediately and begin procreating as soon as possible to build the city's population. If they refuse, they'll be put outside the fence with all the other criminals.

The only exception to that rule is the president's son, Bishop, who was supposed to marry the founder's eldest daughter. However, he's chosen (as a perk of being the president's offspring, I guess) the younger daughter, Ivy, instead. The two haven't met until the day of the wedding ceremony. Ivy has led a pretty sheltered life, being home-schooled by her father and indoctrinated into his way of thinking. He's always told her that he just wants to return the country to a democracy, and she genuinely believes in him and his cause. Once they knew Ivy was going to become Bishop's wife, her father and sister, Cassie, started drilling her on a plan they've had since they thought Cassie was going to marry Bishop. They expect Ivy to use her new position as his wife to suss out where all the guns are kept and how to get them. Then when the time is ripe for a rebellion, she will kill her new husband, so he can't ascend to the presidency when they take out his father. On her wedding day, Ivy is a little afraid of Bishop because of all the things her father and sister have told her over the years, but from their first night alone together, Bishop treats her with nothing but kindness and respect, setting her off balance. As their days as a married couple pass by, Ivy and Bishop slowly become friends, and she begins to realize that he's not so different from her. In fact, he seems to understand her in a way no one else ever has. But Cassie keeps pressuring Ivy to get to work on their plan and a part of Ivy still believes that her father would be a better leader. She just didn't expect to fall in love with Bishop, nor to discover that sometimes things aren't as black and white as they seem, leaving her with an impossible choice that would mean betraying someone she loves, no matter what she decides.

Ivy is the exclusive first-person narrator of the story. Her mother died when she was too young to really remember her, so the only family she has left are her father and sister. For as long as she can recall her dad and Cassie have been like two peas in a pod, planning their little revolution. They never really seemed to have much time for her outside of schooling and the cause, and they rarely showed her much genuine affection. Still, growing up in that environment, she believed all the things she was told and that the country would be better off if her father was in charge. On her wedding day, Ivy is nervous. She doesn't much like Bishop because of all the things she's been told about the Lattimers, but at the same time, she's also anxious about the prospect of killing him. She half expects him to ravish her on their wedding night, but she's surprised when he's nothing but sweet and kind, having no expectations. Every day, Bishop continues to show Ivy respect, even offering to get her a job, so she won't just be a bored housewife. This ends up helping with Ivy's mission of locating the guns, but she becomes more and more uncertain if she can go through with the plan as she grows closer to Bishop. She starts to see that they have a lot in common and begins to fall for her new husband, leaving her at a crossroads, unsure if she can betray him the way her family wants her to. I very much liked Ivy from the outset. At first, she's pretty much dead set on her mission, but once she starts to get to know Bishop, everything changes. I like that she has a mind of her own and uses it, thinking critically about everything that she's been told versus everything she starts to learn first-hand. She's still understandably torn, though, because she loves her father and sister, but she's also fallen in love with Bishop and comes to feel that he now knows her better than anyone. I respected the decision she made in the end, and thought it was the best one she could have made without completely destroying the life of someone she loved.

Even though we only see Bishop through Ivy's eyes, I felt like I got to know him very well and totally fell for him. He's a gentleman in the truest sense and far more mature than his eighteen years. He's lived a rather lonely existence himself as an only child and the son of the president. He's an intelligent young man who wisely doesn't believe everything his father says, nor does he believe in everything that Westfall has become. From the very first night, I knew Bishop was a great guy, when he offered to sleep on the couch. He wants to become Ivy's friend and for her to fully accept him and not feel obligated to even kiss him much less to have sex with him. Even though in this society, most married women stay home, Bishop recognizes that Ivy is a smart young woman who needs something to occupy her mind, and he respect her intelligence, which is why he helps her get a job at the courthouse. He also has an egalitarian mindset, sharing the work load at home since Ivy has a job. Bishop is calm and even-tempered, but when he sees injustice, he does what he can to try to help. He pays attention to the things Ivy tells him, showing her how much he cares through the little things that he does. Best of all, Bishop believes in Ivy right up to the very end in spite of what happens. He was a really amazing hero that would have been impossible not to fall in love with.

Since this is a YA book, I'll take a moment to evaluate the content for parents and educators. I don't recall any drugs or alcohol being mentioned beyond Bishop and Ivy having a glass of champagne at a party. As for violence, there are instances of domestic violence, rape, and suicide. Ivy basically extrapolates that the DV is occurring because of marks on the victim, although there is one scene of a slap in the face that she witnesses first-hand. As far as the rape, Ivy encounters a rapist who is mentioned to have abused a child and later she sees the dead body of a young woman who she knows was raped and strangled, again from the bruising. The suicide is a story from the past that has some personal implications for Ivy. There is also an incident of someone committing violence in the interest of trying to stop an injustice that's occurring, but it's off page so Ivy doesn't actually see it happen herself. And of course, there's her father's murderous plot that's afoot throughout the course of the story. Even though it might sound like a lot, IMHO, all of these topics were handled very sensitively and age-appropriately without a lot of super-gory details. As for sexual content, Bishop and Ivy share a number of kisses, ranging from sweet and chaste to passionate make-out sessions, but no actual sex occurs within the story. There is, however, a fair bit of sexual tension as Ivy describes her body's reactions to Bishop, who at a couple of points is scantily clothed. Sexual matters are sometimes discussed in fairly veiled, euphemistic terms as well. Overall, I'd say that the book is suitable for a teen audience of about fifteen and up, depending on their maturity level.

I went into reading The Book of Ivy not quite sure what to expect since I hadn't heard a great deal about it beforehand. Now that I've finished it, I can say that I absolutely loved it. It's the best YA story I've read in some time. Ivy was a compelling narrator who is both intelligent and complex. She understandably struggles within herself, feeling her loyalties are split between her family and Bishop. I could totally relate to her contemplations on the nearly impossible decision she has to make in the end. It's a little sad how things turn out, but I'm hoping that she'll have a chance to set things right in the next book. Bishop was a total dreamboat, everything a girl could ask for. I think that he and Ivy were very well-matched, understanding and relating to each other in unexpected ways. Their romance is a definite slow-burn, but a steady one that keeps growing with time. The pace of this aspect of the story was perfect for me. The world-building was interesting and complex, a little different than I've seen in other dystopian stories. The system under which they live maybe isn't the most oppressive, but it also isn't great with the hereditary presidency, the arranged marriages, and people sometimes being put outside the fence for relatively minor infractions. At the same time, though, the reader wonders right along with Ivy whether her father's plan for revolution is the best way to make changes either, especially given that he wants to turn his own daughter into a murderer and kill an innocent young man to accomplish it. It all made for a very intriguing and compelling story that kept me excited about reading it right up until the end. I was enjoying The Book of Ivy so much, I was rather sad to have finished it, but I'm very much looking forward to reading the sequel, The Revolution of Ivy soon.

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Themes

Beta Heroes
Friends Before Lovers
G/PG-Rated Romance
Opposite Sides of the Track
Virgin Heroes