The Ivy by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur

The Ivy by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur
The Ivy #1
Release Date: August 31, 2010
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Rating: Essential

Callie Andrews may not have money or connections or the right clothes, and she may have way too many complications in her love life, what with Gregory, the guy she loves to hate; Evan, the guy she'd love to forget; Clint, the guy she'd love to love and Matt, the guy she really should love, all vying for her attention.

But she has three fantastic roommates (best friends or her worst nightmare?) and a wholesome California-girl reputation (oops) and brains and beauty and big, big dreams.

Will it be enough to help her survive freshman year at Harvard? - Goodreads

Let me start out by saying that the characters in this book are a bit older than what is the norm in YA. Callie is a freshman at Harvard, so she's just that little bit older, but the story definitely still fits the typical age range for YA.

The Ivy is an excellent contemporary book, with so much drama! I love books like this, and this really reminded me of that TV show, Greek, just without the sororities.

Callie is a great MC. She's flawed in ways that are to be expected with a teenager who's just moving into adulthood, and she has a lot to learn about friendships.

Her roommates provided a lot of humour, which I adored. I was laughing out loud throughout most of the book because these characters are hilarious and crazy! I loved them all apart from Vanessa.

Vanessa was a complete cow. She had the audacity to call Callie a bad friend, when in reality she was just as awful, if not worse. There was a scene at the beginning when Callie embarrassed herself in front of the entire cafeteria, and Vanessa pretended not to know her. Yeah, great friend.

This book does contain a love triangle, and while I normally abhor those, I actually really enjoyed this one! Gold star for the authors for doing it right!

Gregory! *hearts* I'm in love. Callie was so oblivious, but he obviously likes her. Open your eyes, woman! I love Gregory so much, he's a wonderful character.

Clint is the other side of the love triangle, and while I liked him - mostly - I felt he was too mature of Callie and they didn't have much chemistry. I think it's pretty obvious as to which side of this triangle I prefer!

Matt was another character I loved. He's such a nerd.

Overall I LOVED this book and I think it's definitely underrated. More people need to read The Ivy, because I think it's one of the best contemporaries I've read. And it is set in college which means no parents. Which means craziness ensues.