“He didn’t save me, though. He allowed me the freedom to save myself, which is the very best type of rescue." -The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel

The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel is a great imaginative dystopian read. With a gradual mesmerizing romance and political themes that will captivate readers.

Ivy was a wonderful heroine, she’s relatable, resourceful, intelligent, and yes a bit reckless, but we all have our faults right? The uncanny way she could never hold in what she was thinking was amusing to read about even though it got her into problematic situations and made me seriously doubt her sense of self

preservation.

The Book of Ivy touches political themes that will make the reader question their own morals and views and leave them torn in the process. Much like the inner turmoil Ivy herself is experiencing, she is extremely conflicted between two sides, the ideals she has known her entire life and the ones she is learning now as she becomes her own person away from her intense family who have obviously had a manipulative influence over Ivy’s entire life. A family who made me want to go in there and shake some sense into them.

A huge part of this back and forth is Bishop (insert happy sigh and goofy smile here) whom Ivy thought was going to be this cruel inpatient ruthless man, but who turns out to be quite the opposite. I adored their scenes together, the way Engel tackled this complicated relationship was absolutely and downright fantastic. The romance buds from slow friendship and understanding and eventually becomes something more profound. Their life together once they got to know each other was incredibly sweet and had me blissfully swooning.

The aspect I didn’t favor was that there was a moment where the pacing slowed down and I found myself skimming and disinterested.

This was soon remedied by an ending that made me a shocked frustrated wide-eyed mess. As I realized what was about to occur the moments leading towards it I went into denial and sincerely hoped Ivy wouldn’t do exactly what she did. It was basically like watching a train wreck I couldn’t stop.

The way Ivy handled the problem she had just felt so drastic I kind of felt that there could have been another way to resolve the issue but instead the most dramatic jaw-dropping inducing route was taken. However, I might be biased since I’m freaking out over the fact that the next book doesn’t come out until November 2015.

Overall, The Book of Ivy by Amy Engel is a must read for fans of dystopian, gradual realistic romance, marvelous world building, and compelling characters.