The Ivy-Review

Callie is one of those girls who appear to be normal. For awhile you think you might be able to relate to them, then you realize hey? she is at Harvard she can't be that normal. Callie is pretty, smart, all the right things, but she continues to screw up, say the wrong thing, and bad stuff does indeed happen to her. She makes mistakes,  is mean, and wrong, but always gets hers in the end, so it all evened out pretty well for me, I wasn't too jealous of her, she makes decisions like one Rory Gilmore, you sit back and ask her yourself, Why do that? You have Dean, why cheat with Tristan, or you have Jess who is this Logan fellow? She lives in a suit with four other girls. Mimi is the exotic party girl, she is extremely likable, and always going with the flow, she has a very big heart in her own way. The other two roomies are your Gossip Girl esqe society fashionista and the brain. I really enjoyed one of the love interests Gregory, and I will admit to being a big Gossip Girl (book) fangirl, so I didn't have any problems with this book. Also if you can tell by my blogging, tense and grammar mean next to nothing to me. I however, can sympathize with a person that dose care about writing structure, and style. For me, I get a sense of the characters, and found these characters to be pretty accurate. This book ins't the first time Harvard Final Clubs have been mentioned in my life, a huge part of the plot in the movie The Social Network had to do with them. From what I see they are life and death, and do indeed take the front seat over academics. Also in the book, Callie refers to homework and classes, but it isn't the driving focus of the story. I felt that the reader gets reminded that she is indeed in school, but the authors wanted to stay focused on what they believed were the entertaining aspects of the story, partying and boys. I don't feel like The Ivy was written as an anthropological study of Harvard elitist living, but a fun entertaining first installment in a series. I also found it believable that Callie would struggle with her self image and identity. She is transplanted from a school were she played soccer, and that was her core reason for existing at the school. Then she moves to Cambridge to attend Harvard, but due to an injury, can't play her sport. That leaves her searching for something allowing her to belong, she is alone, and her only friends are her roommates, and the boys across the hall. It makes perfect sense that she would start to party and dress different, she's trying to fit in with her roomies, and partying and fashion are two huge parts of their lives. The boys across the hall Gregory, Matt, and OK are easily accessible and friendly, again making perfect sense for them to bond. She then gets drunk at a party, making out with a random boy. She is trying to get into a Final Club, and she is extremely stressed. Then on top of it all something scandalous from home comes back to bite her in the butt. All of these factors make it perfectly acceptable for Callie to act out of character, she is growing from the person you are introduced to in the first chapters. She starts dating the random party boy, for many reasons. She is hurt from her breakup, she is stressed, on some level she probably feels obligated to after hooking up with him at the party, he is cute, and lastly he is in a Final Club. That may seem shallow and pointless, but at Harvard Final Clubs are crucial they can make or break you, and even help you get prestigious jobs in the future. Its natural that Callie would seek out someone with the ability to help her. Final Clubs aren't her life, but she see's everyone around her getting excepted to them, and no matter how strong of a person you are, seeing your friends succeed while you get left behind, that would hurt anyone. I feel I need to defend this book, because it didn't get that many rave reviews. I can certainly see everyone's point, but I really liked this book. Callie, Vanessa, and Mimi wormed there way into my heart, and I was instantly smitten with Gregory. My advice would be to take this book for what it is, fun. It has life lessons in it as well, they just don't jump out and attack you, they are scattered throughout the partying, and drama. Callie and her friends aren't perfect, but words of wisdom and life lessons hide in the pages of The Ivy, and I'm excited for the next installment.  I'm sorry if my review is biased, but like I mentioned some people didn't like this book, so I got a little defensive, felt I had to fight for it. :)