White Ivy, Susie Yang
White Ivy, Susie Yang
44 Rating(s)
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

White Ivy

Bestseller

Author: Susie Yang

Narrator: Emily Woo Zeller

Unabridged: 12 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/03/2020


Synopsis

“A truly addictive read” (Glamour) about how a young woman’s crush on a privileged former classmate becomes a story of love, lies, and dark obsession, offering stark insights into the immigrant experience, as it hurtles to its electrifying ending in this “twisty, unputdownable, psychological thriller” (People).

Ivy Lin is a thief and a liar—but you’d never know it by looking at her.

Raised outside of Boston, Ivy’s immigrant grandmother relies on Ivy’s mild appearance for cover as she teaches her granddaughter how to pilfer items from yard sales and second-hand shops. 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, and her dream instantly evaporates.

Years later, Ivy has grown into a poised yet restless young woman, haunted by her conflicting feelings about her upbringing and her family. Back in Boston, when Ivy bumps into Sylvia Speyer, Gideon’s sister, a reconnection with Gideon seems not only inevitable—it feels like fate.

Slowly, 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.

Filled with surprising twists and a nuanced exploration of class and race, White Ivy is a “highly entertaining,” (The Washington Post) “propulsive debut” (San Francisco Chronicle) that offers a glimpse into the dark side of a woman who yearns for success at any cost.

About Susie Yang

Susie Yang was born in China and came to the United States as a child. After receiving her doctorate of pharmacy from Rutgers, she launched a tech startup in San Francisco that has taught 20,000 people how to code. She has studied creative writing at Tin House and Sackett Street. She has lived across the United States, Europe, and Asia, and now resides in the UK. White Ivy is her first novel.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lisa of Troy on December 30, 2023

Meet Ivy. As a teenager, she is struggling to find her identity. Her family, immigrated from China, has certain ideas of exactly who Ivy should be: a pure, angelic doctor. However, Ivy just wants to be a popular kid, but that usually doesn't work out if you are broke as a joke. She has one friend, a......more

Goodreads review by Nilufer on March 13, 2021

This is promising coming of age, thought provoking immigrant story slowly grows on you but you got to be patient enough for getting into Ivy’s world, her family dynamics, reasons behind the shame and motivations triggered her wrongdoings, her dreams to jump to her upper social class and her desire t......more

Goodreads review by jessica on June 09, 2021

this is not the story i thought it would be. the synopsis made me think this was more along the lines of mystery/thriller, with ivy being cunning and manipulative, always watching for her past to catch up to her. but that couldnt be further from the truth. this is a story about a girls desperation t......more

Goodreads review by emma on March 29, 2024

girls can have a little petty theft, as a treat this book is like baking brown butter chocolate chip cookies and eating a whole tray, or getting your high school part time job paycheck and immediately spending it on a frozen coffee drink and 8 interchangeable crop tops from american eagle. in other wo......more

Goodreads review by Michael on November 03, 2020

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY! I’m not even sure how to write this review, but I really loved this book way more than I expected to. It’s the story of Ivy, a Chinese American who grew up learning to steal (taught by her grandmother), and always dreaming of having the finer things in life. She becomes infatua......more


Quotes

"Narrator Emily Woo Zeller skillfully steers the dramatic plot of this audiobook. . . . Zeller is commendable in breathing life into the mostly Asian characters. As Ivy, she is a reserved but cunning woman; as Sylvia, Ivy's friend, she is sweet and confident. Zeller's outstanding storytelling also elevates the work's twists and the harsh reality of the immigrant experience."

Narrator Emily Woo Zeller gives a brilliant performance, bringing a chilling, hard edge to Ivy’s interior calculations, but also capturing the woman’s anguish, causing listeners to feel some sympathy for this complex, if ruthless, character.”