What damages someone to the extent they pretend to be someone or something they are not? Who is Ivy and what is she up to? The narrative style describes less and acts more in the way it winds around a subject and takes us to a place within the character that consumes us and eventually spits us out in surprise.

Loved this book! I keep thinking another title for it would be "The Great Pretenders" - all I could think about once I finished were the many complex layers from start to finish of ways in which people pretend to be what they wish to be seen as, while they struggle with the reality of who they really are. Terrific story, loved the writing, interesting characters that often are not as they seem. Have fun!

A page-turning read with plenty of twists and shocking turns. Layered and thoughtful writing. Would be great for a book club. I see this being turned into a movie or limited series.

This is a slow burner that slowly starts reeling you in. Ivy is a complicated protagonist who is manipulative, scheming, and obsessive, but you don’t really hate her for it, I think that’s where the brilliance of the author shines. She lets you see where Ivy is coming from, and although you may not like or agree with Ivy, you have a window into why she’s like that.

An incredible novel about a young Asian woman, Ivy Lin, who aspires to the finer things -- and finer families -- in life. This story is at once the intriguing character study of a female sociopath, and an accurate portrayal of immigrant families and the nuanced dynamics within. I just loved this book and the impeccable writing. Looking forward to Yang's next book.

Well, I DIDN’T see all that coming when I started reading the book about a Chinese immigrant family who moved to Massachusetts. I thought it was going to be a coming of age story, but it’s a lot more than that. Ivy is a very original character. Growing up she learned to steal from her maternal grandmother who started the family career of selling used items on the internet. Ivy does not fit the mold of disciplined, polite Chinese child. She is angry most of the time. She’s extremely unlikable, which made it hard for me to believe that she was accepted as the future member of a WASP family when she married the son. And yet, Yang can pull me into believing the story. She had no moral compass in most of her decisions. And yet, at the end, Yang again gets me to believe that Ivy finally sees the importance of family. Soooo….my next question is what Ivy and Gideon’s future will hold. I learned from all the twists and turns in this story, that what I anticipated was not what I got. I didn’t think I’d like this book, but I was compelled to stay up late to finish reading.

Ivy Lin is obsessed. At the age of fourteen she is certain that Gideon Steyer is the perfect match for her. Yet Ivy seems to be the only one who realizes this. How does a girl from a Chinese immigrant family worm her way in to a family with old money? Ivy's own family seems to be a millstone around her neck, but is she seeing them clearly? Will her former love, Roux, be a distraction or an ally -- or something else entirely? What does it mean to be loved? To feel loved? What is happiness? Filled with complicated relationship dynamics and interpersonal conflict, this debut novel is a bit like Ivy herself. You are blinded by the girl with the deceptively agreeable demeanor and then that ending hits you like a sucker punch.

When you're a bad girl....and still obsessed with someone unattainable....

Yang's debut novel about an outsider, petty thief, and a social climber trying to fit in with a wealthy white Bostonian family is elegant, thoughtful, and ever so deliciously sharp.