Wild Swans - Jessica Spotswood
Book Synopsis: The summer before Ivy’s senior year is going to be golden; all bonfires, barbeques, and spending time with her best friends. For once, she will just get to be. No summer classes, none of Granddad’s intense expectations to live up to the family name. For generations, the Milbourn women have lead extraordinary lives—and died young and tragically. Granddad calls it a legacy, but Ivy considers it a curse. Why else would her mother have run off and abandoned her as a child? But when her mother unexpectedly returns home with two young daughters in tow, all of the stories Ivy wove to protect her heart start to unravel. The very people she once trusted now speak in lies. And all of Ivy’s ambition and determination cannot defend her against the secrets of the Milbourn past….
I don't have enough good things to say about this book... no really, it just wasn't what I thought it would be. It was way worse and fell short of my expectations.
Ivy Milbourn's mother, Erica is such a scumbag. Let me count the ways: she's an alcoholic without the emotional capacity to forgive, she never says sorry, and she is probably one bottle away from having her two other daughters taken away by child protective services. Her saving grace quality, is literally named Grace, her youngest daughter and the peacemaker/buffer between her mom and her older sister Isobel.
Alex was too controlling - he had this idea in his head that Ivy should only be with him and I get that they're best friends, but the thought of Ivy and him together as a couple is just a bad plan. In YA Fiction, it rarely, ever pans out well when best friends decide that they're ready to take their relationship to the next level. His mom was such a pushover, but she was nice and almost like a real mother to Ivy.
Connor is probably the only good character other than Ivy in this book. He's intelligent, has Ivy's grandfather's approval, and he genuinely cares for Ivy.
Life isn't the easiest for Ivy, she has high expectations to live up to in her grandfather's eyes, she feels inferior and insecure. She may be a fast swimmer, but she's never going to make it to the Olympics, her poems are mediocre (her thoughts), and she's always thinking that she's good, but not good enough. Living up to the Milbourn legacy (curse) has been a crushing weight for Ivy. Although I feel sympathy for Ivy, it just doesn't make this a great book in my opinion. It's a shame, for such a nice cover, the story just fell flat.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆