And, as a teacher myself, I can say that it gets the politics of college admissions right too. This story has the hallmarks of so many stories that we love: One of Us is Lying, Mean Girls, Heathers, Pretty Little Liars, and even a bit of Legally Blonde. Olivia finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew about herself even before the murder. They even keep The List which they use to track each student’s academic standing so they can keep tabs on their competitors and plan sabotage when necessary. They also use their social skills, social standing, and wealth to navigate to the top of the class in ways that are not always altruistic. We quickly learn that the Ivies rely on more than just their intelligence. When Olivia is given the chance to join the Ivies, she doesn’t hesitate. Our main character, Olivia, is a transfer student and serves as a conduit for the audience we learn about Claflin right along with her. With every reason to suspect Avery, this mystery, like its characters, is not always what it seems to be. And, to make matters shockingly worse, Emma is found dead the next morning.

But after seeing how Avery reacted, she’s too afraid to say anything. Olivia watches all of this from the sidelines with a secret of her own: she also applied to Harvard without telling anyone and also got in. Avery confronts Emma at a party and after their altercation, both girls leave the party enraged.

Which wouldn’t be an issue - except that Avery did not. But on early decision day, Avery finds out that Emma secretly applied to Harvard and got in. Each girl has decided to apply early decision to a different Ivy League school so they won’t be directly competing against each other, but as you can imagine, things don’t go according to plan.Īvery Montfort, the self-appointed leader of the Ivies, has claimed Harvard for herself.

These girls, dubbed the Ivies by their classmates, are both feared and revered for their academic prowess and unwavering dedication to mastering the college admissions process. Set at the prestigious boarding school Claflin Academy, The Ivies follows a group of five girls – Avery, Emma, Olivia, Margot, and Sierra – who are all vying to get into the five best schools in the country. 74 A Super-Competitive Clique at a Cutthroat School

The ivies book