Sunday 18 January 2015

The Book of Ivy (The Book of Ivy, #1)

Goodreads Summary
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. The Westfalls lost. 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 restore 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…

My Thoughts
I hate the cover.  That was my initial thought. I heard some really good things on booktube though, so I thought I'd give it a try. 

I LOVED this book! I thought the world was interesting and easy to imagine what it would look like, but not so much that you couldn't let your own imagination take control. The world made sense for a time after a nuclear war. They have a different way of life than we do, but they need to. I loved that society regressed a little due to their circumstances. 

I adored these characters. Ivy is a headstrong girl who does not want to get married. She knows she has to so she puts on a happy face and marries Bishop. I love that even though he is gorgeous she wasn't creepily excited to marry this guy that she didn't know. Their relationship/friendship grew at a natural pace. It wasn't like some stories where they are put in crazy situations and then are enemies one moment and in love the next. It happened over several months and she worried about her growing feelings the whole time. She wanted to be true to her upbringing. To her family. And Ivy's family is nuts.

Mr. Westfall is on the side of democracy and you would think that'd be a good thing, but he also wants his sixteen year old to kill her husband. He groomed her to kill him. Her sister is no different. She didn't get her chance so now she will do whatever it takes to accomplish her goals. She was a bit psychotic if you ask me. Despite how crazy her family's intentions are, Ivy stays loyal. Even after she learns a life altering secret she still wants to help them gain control of the town. 

Then there's Bishop Lattimer. He's a book boyfriend for sure. He grew up as an only child of the President of this town and yet he has a mind of his own. He seems to respect his father's views, but has opinions and dreams all his own. He doesn't push Ivy to do anything she doesn't want to do and lets her speak her mind even when she shouldn't. He's just really well written.

I liked that the two sides were both flawed. The Westfalls wanted democracy, but they wanted it their way with their leader. The Lattimes ran a dictatorship that had some really horrible practices, but Mr. Lattimer could not have been kinder. He seemed to want what was best for his town. I enjoyed that one side wasn't completely evil and the other wasn't purely good. Both sides were in the wrong and that made it seem more real. 

I am really excited for the next one because this one ended kinda crazy. I need to know what happens next with Ivy. Will Bishop be ok? How will I make it until November?

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