Book Review: The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

The Book of Ivy
The Book of Ivy #1
Author: Amy Engel
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopia
Released: November 11th 2014
Review Source: Entangled: Teen | Netgalley

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…

I’ve been in such a Dystopia funk lately, nothing I’ve read has caught my attention and I couldn’t seem to enjoy kind of apocalyptic novels.  The Book of Ivy got me out of that funk. WOOHOO. From the first chapter I was interested and knew I was going to enjoy it.

The Book of Ivy isn’t as brutal as some of the Dystopian novels I’ve tried to read recently. That’s a good thing. The character development was just right, the kiss was timed perfectly and the overall plot was captivating. Sometimes I find the overly heavy plots off putting and I prefer a slower pace. Time flew when I was reading, one minute it's sunny and the next it's 4+ hours later and dark out.

Bishop and Ivy as a couple made me grin a lot. Not only were they cute as they found their footing together, neither of them being in a relationship before or gone further than a kiss, and I loved Bishop’s humour. I loved them together more than I loved the actual plot. There was no insta-love, but nice, cute developed feelings that they shared.

And that ending... cliffhanger much? I kind of feel a little lost having finished the book with no second instalment to dive in to.