White Ivy: A Read with Jenna Pick

There is not one likable character in this book, but the book gets 4 stars. Families are complicated. Our parents struggle with their pasts, whether they know it or not, and the kids live with the effects, and years later the kids see their parents and their struggles. The book is about secrets and perceptions and bad choices. We keep an image, especially when the truth is damning. We protect the people we love even through bad decisions. We want love in one place because it appears to be one thing, when what we really want is love in another way. We sabotage ourselves while protecting our egos when what we really need is to be vulnerable.

Anyway, a good read.

Can we talk about the ending? I’m still shook and I had to reread the last two chapters several times to come to terms with It.

I didn’t think I got that vested in Ivy but as I continued to read, I guess I did connect with her. She and Gideon were okay together but the passions and electricity between her and Roux was much more fascinating and tbh, believable. I felt like Ivy was just in love with what Gideon represented but Roux knew her best. While theirs was a volatile relationship, I honestly felt he knew her better than Gideon could ever get her.

Her family’s dynamics was so messed up and sad and yet, believable up until towards the end. Being Asian, I can see where one isn’t sure how to navigate, “who pays” for the wedding. I made it easy and hubby and I paid for it.

I adored her relationship with her grandmother in the beginning but as she journeyed through her life, she seemed to forget about grandma and their dynamic changed and became distant. The two things her grandmother instilled into Ivy ate the two qualities necessary for survival: self-reliance and opportunism. Meifeng always says, “... Give with one hand and take with the other. No one will be watching both.” P7

Lots of holes in the plot of the book but if it still resonated within my mind and I give it a solid four. For instance, when she was on the hike, she admitted her true feelings to Roux and even stated “let’s just stop and turn back.” It was Roux who decided to forge ahead. That shows she truly does care about him. ..and yet….

The ending with Sylvia was also interesting. What about the photos of her and Gideon when they were kids? What was the author trying to imply? All Ivy sought after, at the end was for peace. Does she really have it? Can she really find peace within her family and if so, which one?

Things that make you ponder and ask, will there be a follow up? I do hope so because this lady wants answers! Or at least plugs for the holes in the book.