Review: Poisoned Ivy (Legacies #1) by Ava Rani

Poisoned Ivy (Legacies #1) by Ava Rani is LIVE NOW!

Purchase Here: https://amazon.com/dp/B0FMKFX4MK

Tropes:
🍂 Ivy League university
🍂 Secret Society
🍂 Reformed Playboy
🍂 Rich Kid Shenanigans
🍂 South Asian FMC living a Double Life
🍂 College Romance
🍂 Cozy mystery
🍂 Spicy
🍂 Maxton Hall meets Rory Gilmore’s college years

Blurb
Never Have I ever meets Rory Gilmore's college years in this decadent college romance that equal parts passion, privilege and mystery.

Malena Amin is two people.

At home, she the respectable, rule-abiding daughter that her controlling family expects. At her prestigious Ivy-League University, she’s the risk-taking, adventurous woman that she wants to be. With parents who demand to know her location settings at all times, Malena uses a secret phone and secret bank account to make her double life possible.

But when her tutoring job falls through, she hits a snag in funding that double life. So, Malena sets her eyes on the prize money from a National feature-writing contest through the school paper. And when she intercepts an invitation to an ultra-exclusive secret society on campus—she has the perfect story.

She’ll attend, lay low, and get an inside look.

Unfortunately, she’s discovered early in the night by the notorious playboy and Hastings Media heir: Conrad Hastings.

The frustratingly attractive Conrad doesn’t aspire to anything other than a good time. But when his newspaper-magnate father discovers that he’s delinquent on work for the school paper, Conrad needs to complete it before his father can make good on an ultimatum. So, he agrees to let Malena into the secret society—temporarily— if she agrees to share a byline on the article they’ll write together. Conrad fulfils his obligations, and Malena gets the inside look she needs for the contest.

But, the two soon discover an art world mystery hidden between lavish parties and Gothic libraries. And more concerningly: a palpable spark between them. With new clues unraveling before them, mounting desire they can’t ignore and Malena’s web of lies threatening to collapse—their partnership becomes a lot more than a simple deal.

MY REVIEW

Malena's parents are so controlling that she's had to lie to them about where she is, who she is, and what she's doing, AT ALL TIMES. She should be able to enjoy her college experience like any other student, but with her parents always worried about what everyone else thinks, she's in a cage of their expectations. Then Conrad Hastings finds his way into her life (or is it the other way around?) and they somehow manage to find themselves in a thing. She might not have mentioned her double life to him, and he might not have mentioned his dad's expectations of him, but they can be their true selves with each other for however long this thing lasts.

It's true that Poisoned Ivy gives major GG vibes. Malena's a different kind of heroine, though, than Rory, and I adored her as much as I felt for her. Her parents, especially her mom, are the worst, but Malena is so strong she's able to forge her own family unit in Sabrina, Cora, Avani, and finally, Conrad. When she stood up to her parents and realized her true feelings for Conrad, I was smiling and cheering her on. I wanted Con and Mal to be a real couple from their first meeting on page, but they were giving me some anxiety, wondering just how they were going to work things out. Thank God they figured things out because if ever a couple deserved each other, deserved love, it's these two. I haven't been in college in longer than I care to admit, and I haven't watched Gilmore Girls in a long time, but Malena and Conrad have me nostalgic for both. Their chemistry is sizzling, the cozy mystery is the perfect background subplot, and the found family members unit have me really excited to read their stories next.