Enchanted Ivy -- Sarah Beth Durst
More than anything else¹, Lily Carter, high school junior, wants to follow in her grandfather's footsteps and go to Princeton University. So when she attends Reunions weekend and is informed that she's been selected to attempt the super hush-hush Legacy Test -- in which she will be given a quest, which, if successfully completed by the end of the weekend, will guarantee her admission -- well, it doesn't take her long to decide that she'll make the attempt.
Her quest is to find the Ivy Key. That's all she's told. Find the Ivy Key.
Even though she has no idea what it is. Or where it could be. Or what it opens. Luckily, there's an exceedingly handsome college boy -- with orange and black hair, no less -- who seems pretty intent on helping her out.
At first, it looks to Lily like the Legacy Test will be a treasure hunt. But then stone gargoyles start talking. And moving. Then she's attacked by... a thing, plants start moving of their own accord, and she realizes that being a Princeton Legacy might entail much, much more than being a member of the exclusive Vineyard Club. That, if fact, it might involve magic.
Although there are still eleven more days to nominate titles for the Cybils², I decided to get a jump on reading this weekend -- so, at the moment, three down, sixty-something more to go.
First of all, it's very, very, obvious that Sarah Beth Durst adores Princeton -- that would have been abundantly clear even without the Acknowledgements -- and the book has a strong sense of place. I've never been on the Princeton campus, but this book not only made me feel like I had, it made me want to go there just to walk around. (Question: Is there a gargoyle or statue at Princeton that looks like the one on the cover? Because that would be rad. Relatedly: The cover is gorgeous, and even more so in real life, because it's all sparkly. But subtly sparkly, not glitterfied.)
Lily is likable, and although she certainly falls into the Everyone Falls In Lurrrve With Her category of heroine, she's bright and adventurous, empathetic and responsible, and willing to forgive, within reason. She doesn't spend much time on the "Oh noes, the world is not what I've always believed it to be"s or on feeling all guilt-ridden Woe Is Me when she makes mistakes (and she does make mistakes) -- instead, she dusts herself off and tries to Make Things Right. In other words, she's a strong-willed heroine, and it isn't at all strange that both male leads fall for her -- even though, in my opinion, they both fell for her rather early on in the proceedings.
Despite Lily's age, and despite being set on a college campus, her behavior is pretty innocent. There are some seriously violent (and disturbing, depending on the reader) scenes but they aren't at all gratuitous, and they're in keeping with the storyline. (Me being me, I found the violence done to the nonhuman characters much more upsetting than the violence done to the humans.) Even with the violence, the lack of swearing and sexiness definitely put it into the pile of books I'll feel comfortable handing to parents of younger patrons with higher reading levels. (Since it usually is the swearing and sexiness that people get all worried about.)
I tend to always enjoy stories set on college campuses, and Enchanted Ivy was no exception. I enjoyed it. It's a Classic Fantasy Quest Story/Brink of Two Worlds story, so I saw the twisits and turns before Lily did, and I spotted the Big Bad immediately, but I didn't hold that against the story or against Lily -- the turns and the Big Bad felt comfortable and right. The book didn't feel particularly inspired, didn't make me squee or jump up and down, but it was, as I've already said twice, enjoyable.
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¹Well, she also wants her mom's mental health to improve, but in terms of things that she actually has a modicum of control over, Lily wants, more than anything, to go to Princeton.
²Have you done your part yet?
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Previously:
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Book source: Review copy from the publisher.