What do you think?
Rate this book
Legacies #1
Poisoned Ivy
Maxton Hall 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.
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.
398 pages, Paperback
First published October 17, 2025
About the author
Ava Rani
5 books428 followersAva is a USA Today Bestselling author and a desi-girl chasing HEAs
The daughter of two immigrants, her Indian-American roots peek out in different ways in her novels.
She writes diverse escapism. Flawed characters with real problems in an idealized world. Fall in love with the hero and the heroine. But also, fall in love with their friend group. Fall in love with their chosen families and the people who support them.
When she's not writing, she's living her best 'Charlotte Pickles' life and taking over the corporate world while being a wife and mom to an adorable kiddo and labradoodle. With hobbies from gardening to studying to being a sommelier, she's always looking for her next delicious treat.
The daughter of two immigrants, her Indian-American roots peek out in different ways in her novels.
She writes diverse escapism. Flawed characters with real problems in an idealized world. Fall in love with the hero and the heroine. But also, fall in love with their friend group. Fall in love with their chosen families and the people who support them.
When she's not writing, she's living her best 'Charlotte Pickles' life and taking over the corporate world while being a wife and mom to an adorable kiddo and labradoodle. With hobbies from gardening to studying to being a sommelier, she's always looking for her next delicious treat.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 527 reviews
October 6, 2025
3.75 ⭐
Well..... This went well,I guess. The only thing that set me off is that Malena idea of freedom is sleeping around and tricking her parents ,call me a prude idgaf, I mean yeah her parents are so controlling and insufferable but that's not the right way to prove them wrong. Also Her name is pronounced the same as "melena" which made me giggle as someone who knows medical terminology. Away from that the mystery subplot made the book more interesting. And Conrad's personality is the cherry on top.
Since I had both the book qnd the audiobook I must say that I liked the narrators so much and it being in duet made it alot more enjoyable 🤎🤎
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕮𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝕯𝖔𝖔𝖗 𝕸𝖔𝖉𝖎𝖋𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
SKIP CHAPTER: 28, 31, 36, 40, 50
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
Thank you Good Girl PR for giving me the chance to read this book early 🤎
Well..... This went well,I guess. The only thing that set me off is that Malena idea of freedom is sleeping around and tricking her parents ,call me a prude idgaf, I mean yeah her parents are so controlling and insufferable but that's not the right way to prove them wrong. Also Her name is pronounced the same as "melena" which made me giggle as someone who knows medical terminology. Away from that the mystery subplot made the book more interesting. And Conrad's personality is the cherry on top.
Since I had both the book qnd the audiobook I must say that I liked the narrators so much and it being in duet made it alot more enjoyable 🤎🤎
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕮𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝕯𝖔𝖔𝖗 𝕸𝖔𝖉𝖎𝖋𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
SKIP CHAPTER: 28, 31, 36, 40, 50
⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆
Thank you Good Girl PR for giving me the chance to read this book early 🤎
December 29, 2025
FAVORITE ROMANCE OF 2025 HANDS DOWN. The banter was incredible. The writing is the best I've read in a LONG time. I loved the college atmosphere, the rich kids, the secret society, fall in new england. IT WAS THE BEST.
June 25, 2026
Manifested so hard my expectations disappeared 🤷♀️
—★✯☆☆☆· 1.75 stars
Lately, I've noticed that whenever exam season rolls around, I start finding increasingly elaborate excuses to study anywhere but home. This makes very little sense on paper since, obviously, staying back is more comfortable and convenient, and considerably cheaper than travelling for hours just for some semblance of productivity, and yet somehow I always work better elsewhere. It took me a while to realize that what I'm really seeking isn't silence or productivity, it's more of a distance thing. Nothing too dramatic as our main character here, just perhaps the constant awareness of being observed, interrupted, folded back into family routines.
Reading Poisoned Ivy, I found myself thinking about that feeling often and perhaps that's why the premise appealed to me so much. Malena Amin's circumstances are obviously far more, or maybe just as equally, restrictive than mine, but the impulse felt familiar: the desire for a version of yourself that exists beyond the roles assigned to you by family, culture, or circumstance. As someone who grew up around the familiar Indian trinity of engineering, medicine, or parental disappointment (god forbid you express an interest in something "impractical", like literature. I mean, can't one have multiple interests?), I recognized that pressure to become a predetermined version of yourself long before you've had the chance to discover who you are. And while not every immigrant or Indian family operates this way, I also recognized aspects of this scrutiny that exist still, where questions about what you're wearing, where you're going, what you're doing, who you're spending time with, and what kind of person you're becoming can follow you well into college life and, yes, most likely even adulthood. In some ways, Malena's double life reminded me of the fig tree analogy, standing beneath a tree heavy with possibilities, watching each future wither because choosing one means relinquishing the others. The spaces Malena creates for herself, through secrecy, reinvention, and carefully guarded independence, are ultimately attempts to resist that paralysis and claim the right to choose for herself, a room, however temporary, where she can simply be.
Which is perhaps why the book's shortcomings felt so frustrating. When I finished this last night, the dominant feeling wasn't heartbreak, but instead it was just a whole lot of exhaustion. Poisoned Ivy kept dangling these interesting ideas like: Malena's double life, family obligation, secret societies, class privilege, a mystery that the novel seems convinced should matter, and then repeatedly backtracked from them just as they begin to take the blunt of the emotional weight of such things. It's something I think contemporary novels very often do: they mistake the accumulation of plot contrivances (and a lot of trauma dumping) for depth and in this case it often felt like the book was describing the experience rather than embodying it. Here, every new plot thread promises significance, yet few are allowed to develop into anything substantial.
So, let's start with Malena. She is the daughter of two immigrant parents. At home, she's expected to be the perfect daughter: responsible, obedient, academically gifted, and forever on the path others have chosen for her. At university, she creates another version of herself altogether (which, frankly, deserves some respect because setting and maintaining those boundaries is not easy. emphasis on not. how she avoided complete burnout and stayed mentally sane is a mystery the novel never quite answers and honestly that’s part of the issue because the emotional cost of living this kind of double life never quite accumulates on the page), one funded through a secret phone, a secret bank account, and a carefully maintained web of lies. Malena often feels like she's moving through extreme circumstances with a kind of narrative ease that softens the impact, so the stakes exist structurally, but they don't always feel emotionally lived-in. Then, when financial troubles threaten that fragile arrangement, she finds herself pursuing a journalism contest and infiltrating an elite secret society, only to cross paths with Conrad Hastings, resident rich boy, media heir, and apparently the answer to all of life's problems. Together, they investigate an art-world mystery hidden beneath gothic libraries, extravagant parties, and generational wealth, or at least that's the idea.
The frustrating thing about this book feels like that somewhere inside it exists a genuinely compelling story. It was certainly not the secret society story, not the mystery, not Conrad (we'll get to him. oh, we will), but it was the story about Malena and her family, her elder sister who followed everything for the sake of her own mental peace and even her friends, which felt startlingly real.
So, instead, the novel often skims over those moments, for example, Malena's mom gives her “a genuine, if a little prideful, smile” when Malena mentions making friends with fellow other students whom she "approves of", and Malena immediately blames herself (“maybe I was the problem. maybe I was too sensitive”) when they don't accept her. That scene should have been kind of the heart of the book: it's about learning that approval often comes with a price, constant negotiation between freedom and guilt, the emotional whiplash, the way parental love can become tangled with expectation until you're no longer sure where one ends and the other begins, and the exhausting performance of being the "good child" long after you've stopped believing in the role yourself. It echoes a pattern irl too, girls often end up reluctantly conceding because “the culture is invested in them losing their voices”. Here Malena's self-doubt matches that pattern exactly, but the novel only gives it a brief line, then keeps turning the page. And unfortunately for me, every time the novel returned to those themes, I found myself significantly more invested.
That single sentence contains more emotional complexity than most of the plot surrounding it, because that's the conversation I wanted the book to have. I honestly read that line three times. (a fourth, just to confirm it actually existed and i hadn't projected it onto the page out of sheer want.) So, it was not whether Mal and Con would finally admit they liked each other, which was obviously the tired and tested plot we all already know, and definitely not whether some ancient society was hiding another secret passageway. I wanted more about inherited expectations, about daughters becoming repositories for their parents' unrealized dreams, about what happens when protection quietly mutates into control, as Malena tells her father bluntly:
That sentence contains the emotional core of everything Poisoned Ivy seems like it's trying to explore, but the tragedy is that it never fully commits to that exploration and instead it wanders away from them, usually to describe Conrad Hastings (and sweaters).
Now, I understand the purpose Conrad serves. a) Notice sweaters that Mal wore (PLEASE SHUT UP). b) He is introduced as both a fascinating rich-boy romantic lead, described in detail (“the warm gleam in his cerulean eyes almost held my complete attention”. i mean, blue would've worked🤡) and c) a symbol of the freedom Malena thinks she wants. In theory, that should work. In practice, I never quite understood what made him compelling beyond the narrative repeatedly informing me that he was. The prose just keeps lavishing him with descriptor after descriptor, making him so one-dimensional. I honestly got more personality from the sweaters than from Conrad Hastings himself.Perhaps I missed something? Anyway, there are only so many times a person can enter a scene wearing expensive knitwear before I begin to suspect the sweaters themselves are carrying the romance.
Hence, the chemistry didn't entirely work for me either (even if the banter was alright), I was just unconvinced of the entire thing, like rather than two people discovering each other, it often felt like two attractive people occupying the same geographical coordinates until the plot decided feelings had developed. I don't necessarily need a love interest to be morally flawless (and no, having his parents divorced doesn't really count as anything but a trauma dump), but I do need him to feel like a fully realized human being. period. (like hello? they're 21.) He frequently felt more like an aesthetic as we're told again and again that he's "frustratingly attractive" and yes, frustrating is the ONLY half of that sentence I buy, anyway.
The mystery unfortunately suffers from a similar problem. On paper, it reads like the typical campus-novel trope with a rich, fall in New England atmosphere (which was really cool btw). Poisoned Ivy slides right into that tradition with an elite secret society, investigative journalism, hidden scandals, and an art-world conspiracy (which btw sounds exactly like the sort of thing I'd enjoy) but it never delivers any of the intrigue, and instead of suspense, the plot lurches through library research and cryptic hints with zero payoff and worse, I never felt particularly curious about any of it.
Ironically, what surprised me most was how much I liked Malena's friendships. They possessed distinct personalities, their own concerns, their own interiority, their constant support for Malena (which was wholesome) and so, whenever they appeared on the page, the novel suddenly gained some life, which makes it all the more sad and unfortunate that the story continually seemed determined to redirect attention elsewhere for the superficial stuff.
Also, one thing I did really like was the indian representation. It felt grounded in a manner that added texture to Malena's world without being over-explained or reduced to shorthand and it stood out to me partly because it's still relatively rare to see it done with this level of normalcy in this kind of genre. I do wish we had more books that get this right, because we need that. a lot more!!!
Late in the book, Malena delivers one of her heartbreaking lines:
It's one of the brutal truths about her family and it was the kind of line that could have been the interesting point to explore and see how it affected Malena and everyone else, but even here the book just moves on.
I didn't hate this book. In fact, that's almost what makes the experience frustrating. So yes, I can clearly see the version of it that would have worked for me and it sounds like a story I should love.
But most of the book landed flat for me, like the prose swings for insight and sometimes almost gets there, but too often stumbles into florid sentences or clichés. By the end, I came away feeling like the book had been hinting at a serious, intimate story, but it kept masking it with costumes and decoration.
So, I think if Poisoned Ivy had been willing to stay where it was strongest, to sit with all the ugliness, with Malena's pain and rebellion, the complicated relationship between mothers and their daughters, and given more background of her friends and non-friends at the university, I think it might have been more special. It does seem like a textbook case of good lines buried in fluff and unfortunately four or five excellent lines cannot carry nearly three hundred pages and the so-called plot surrounding it.
tl;dr: this book kept accidentally writing the exact book i wanted…..and then deleting it immediately 😭
pre-read
i often don't read books tagged "new adult", but the premise kinda pulled me in?
—★✯☆☆☆· 1.75 stars
Lately, I've noticed that whenever exam season rolls around, I start finding increasingly elaborate excuses to study anywhere but home. This makes very little sense on paper since, obviously, staying back is more comfortable and convenient, and considerably cheaper than travelling for hours just for some semblance of productivity, and yet somehow I always work better elsewhere. It took me a while to realize that what I'm really seeking isn't silence or productivity, it's more of a distance thing. Nothing too dramatic as our main character here, just perhaps the constant awareness of being observed, interrupted, folded back into family routines.
Reading Poisoned Ivy, I found myself thinking about that feeling often and perhaps that's why the premise appealed to me so much. Malena Amin's circumstances are obviously far more, or maybe just as equally, restrictive than mine, but the impulse felt familiar: the desire for a version of yourself that exists beyond the roles assigned to you by family, culture, or circumstance. As someone who grew up around the familiar Indian trinity of engineering, medicine, or parental disappointment (god forbid you express an interest in something "impractical", like literature. I mean, can't one have multiple interests?), I recognized that pressure to become a predetermined version of yourself long before you've had the chance to discover who you are. And while not every immigrant or Indian family operates this way, I also recognized aspects of this scrutiny that exist still, where questions about what you're wearing, where you're going, what you're doing, who you're spending time with, and what kind of person you're becoming can follow you well into college life and, yes, most likely even adulthood. In some ways, Malena's double life reminded me of the fig tree analogy, standing beneath a tree heavy with possibilities, watching each future wither because choosing one means relinquishing the others. The spaces Malena creates for herself, through secrecy, reinvention, and carefully guarded independence, are ultimately attempts to resist that paralysis and claim the right to choose for herself, a room, however temporary, where she can simply be.
Which is perhaps why the book's shortcomings felt so frustrating. When I finished this last night, the dominant feeling wasn't heartbreak, but instead it was just a whole lot of exhaustion. Poisoned Ivy kept dangling these interesting ideas like: Malena's double life, family obligation, secret societies, class privilege, a mystery that the novel seems convinced should matter, and then repeatedly backtracked from them just as they begin to take the blunt of the emotional weight of such things. It's something I think contemporary novels very often do: they mistake the accumulation of plot contrivances (and a lot of trauma dumping) for depth and in this case it often felt like the book was describing the experience rather than embodying it. Here, every new plot thread promises significance, yet few are allowed to develop into anything substantial.
So, let's start with Malena. She is the daughter of two immigrant parents. At home, she's expected to be the perfect daughter: responsible, obedient, academically gifted, and forever on the path others have chosen for her. At university, she creates another version of herself altogether (which, frankly, deserves some respect because setting and maintaining those boundaries is not easy. emphasis on not. how she avoided complete burnout and stayed mentally sane is a mystery the novel never quite answers and honestly that’s part of the issue because the emotional cost of living this kind of double life never quite accumulates on the page), one funded through a secret phone, a secret bank account, and a carefully maintained web of lies. Malena often feels like she's moving through extreme circumstances with a kind of narrative ease that softens the impact, so the stakes exist structurally, but they don't always feel emotionally lived-in. Then, when financial troubles threaten that fragile arrangement, she finds herself pursuing a journalism contest and infiltrating an elite secret society, only to cross paths with Conrad Hastings, resident rich boy, media heir, and apparently the answer to all of life's problems. Together, they investigate an art-world mystery hidden beneath gothic libraries, extravagant parties, and generational wealth, or at least that's the idea.
The frustrating thing about this book feels like that somewhere inside it exists a genuinely compelling story. It was certainly not the secret society story, not the mystery, not Conrad (we'll get to him. oh, we will), but it was the story about Malena and her family, her elder sister who followed everything for the sake of her own mental peace and even her friends, which felt startlingly real.
So, instead, the novel often skims over those moments, for example, Malena's mom gives her “a genuine, if a little prideful, smile” when Malena mentions making friends with fellow other students whom she "approves of", and Malena immediately blames herself (“maybe I was the problem. maybe I was too sensitive”) when they don't accept her. That scene should have been kind of the heart of the book: it's about learning that approval often comes with a price, constant negotiation between freedom and guilt, the emotional whiplash, the way parental love can become tangled with expectation until you're no longer sure where one ends and the other begins, and the exhausting performance of being the "good child" long after you've stopped believing in the role yourself. It echoes a pattern irl too, girls often end up reluctantly conceding because “the culture is invested in them losing their voices”. Here Malena's self-doubt matches that pattern exactly, but the novel only gives it a brief line, then keeps turning the page. And unfortunately for me, every time the novel returned to those themes, I found myself significantly more invested.
"She stole parts of my girlhood because those were probably the parts stolen from her and she didn't know any better."
That single sentence contains more emotional complexity than most of the plot surrounding it, because that's the conversation I wanted the book to have. I honestly read that line three times. (a fourth, just to confirm it actually existed and i hadn't projected it onto the page out of sheer want.) So, it was not whether Mal and Con would finally admit they liked each other, which was obviously the tired and tested plot we all already know, and definitely not whether some ancient society was hiding another secret passageway. I wanted more about inherited expectations, about daughters becoming repositories for their parents' unrealized dreams, about what happens when protection quietly mutates into control, as Malena tells her father bluntly:
"In protecting me from the world, you made me unprepared to ever face it."
That sentence contains the emotional core of everything Poisoned Ivy seems like it's trying to explore, but the tragedy is that it never fully commits to that exploration and instead it wanders away from them, usually to describe Conrad Hastings (and sweaters).
Now, I understand the purpose Conrad serves. a) Notice sweaters that Mal wore (PLEASE SHUT UP). b) He is introduced as both a fascinating rich-boy romantic lead, described in detail (“the warm gleam in his cerulean eyes almost held my complete attention”. i mean, blue would've worked🤡) and c) a symbol of the freedom Malena thinks she wants. In theory, that should work. In practice, I never quite understood what made him compelling beyond the narrative repeatedly informing me that he was. The prose just keeps lavishing him with descriptor after descriptor, making him so one-dimensional. I honestly got more personality from the sweaters than from Conrad Hastings himself.
Hence, the chemistry didn't entirely work for me either (even if the banter was alright), I was just unconvinced of the entire thing, like rather than two people discovering each other, it often felt like two attractive people occupying the same geographical coordinates until the plot decided feelings had developed. I don't necessarily need a love interest to be morally flawless (and no, having his parents divorced doesn't really count as anything but a trauma dump), but I do need him to feel like a fully realized human being. period. (like hello? they're 21.) He frequently felt more like an aesthetic as we're told again and again that he's "frustratingly attractive" and yes, frustrating is the ONLY half of that sentence I buy, anyway.
The mystery unfortunately suffers from a similar problem. On paper, it reads like the typical campus-novel trope with a rich, fall in New England atmosphere (which was really cool btw). Poisoned Ivy slides right into that tradition with an elite secret society, investigative journalism, hidden scandals, and an art-world conspiracy (which btw sounds exactly like the sort of thing I'd enjoy) but it never delivers any of the intrigue, and instead of suspense, the plot lurches through library research and cryptic hints with zero payoff and worse, I never felt particularly curious about any of it.
Ironically, what surprised me most was how much I liked Malena's friendships. They possessed distinct personalities, their own concerns, their own interiority, their constant support for Malena (which was wholesome) and so, whenever they appeared on the page, the novel suddenly gained some life, which makes it all the more sad and unfortunate that the story continually seemed determined to redirect attention elsewhere for the superficial stuff.
Also, one thing I did really like was the indian representation. It felt grounded in a manner that added texture to Malena's world without being over-explained or reduced to shorthand and it stood out to me partly because it's still relatively rare to see it done with this level of normalcy in this kind of genre. I do wish we had more books that get this right, because we need that. a lot more!!!
Late in the book, Malena delivers one of her heartbreaking lines:
“We weren’t the type of family that talked about the ugliness. We yelled about it, and someone, me, always knuckled under.”
It's one of the brutal truths about her family and it was the kind of line that could have been the interesting point to explore and see how it affected Malena and everyone else, but even here the book just moves on.
I didn't hate this book. In fact, that's almost what makes the experience frustrating. So yes, I can clearly see the version of it that would have worked for me and it sounds like a story I should love.
But most of the book landed flat for me, like the prose swings for insight and sometimes almost gets there, but too often stumbles into florid sentences or clichés. By the end, I came away feeling like the book had been hinting at a serious, intimate story, but it kept masking it with costumes and decoration.
So, I think if Poisoned Ivy had been willing to stay where it was strongest, to sit with all the ugliness, with Malena's pain and rebellion, the complicated relationship between mothers and their daughters, and given more background of her friends and non-friends at the university, I think it might have been more special. It does seem like a textbook case of good lines buried in fluff and unfortunately four or five excellent lines cannot carry nearly three hundred pages and the so-called plot surrounding it.
tl;dr: this book kept accidentally writing the exact book i wanted…..and then deleting it immediately 😭
pre-read
i often don't read books tagged "new adult", but the premise kinda pulled me in?
November 16, 2025
𐙚⋆°｡⋆♡ ── 4.5 stars
⤷ started sept 26
⤷ finished sept 30
✧˖°🍂 ⋆｡˚꩜ tropes
⤷ south asian rep
⤷ fmc living double life
⤷ reformed playboy
⤷ family drama
⤷ secret societies
⤷ very rich mmc
ᝰ.ᐟ 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
i adored this book so much!!! so fun and realistic !!!! her biotech billionaire series is literally collecting dust on my shelf rn so i will pick those up asap!!!
this has a mystery aspect which i thoroughly enjoyed and had fun with them trying to figure it out.
full rtc!!!!
𐙚⋆°｡⋆♡ ── pre-read
i've been eyeing ava's books for a while esp since she's a desi author (i have 2 of her books on my physical tbr!) and when i saw the arc sign ups for this i ran!!! like the cover looks so cute and perfect for fall!!!
⤷ started sept 26
⤷ finished sept 30
✧˖°🍂 ⋆｡˚꩜ tropes
⤷ south asian rep
⤷ fmc living double life
⤷ reformed playboy
⤷ family drama
⤷ secret societies
⤷ very rich mmc
ᝰ.ᐟ 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
i adored this book so much!!! so fun and realistic !!!! her biotech billionaire series is literally collecting dust on my shelf rn so i will pick those up asap!!!
this has a mystery aspect which i thoroughly enjoyed and had fun with them trying to figure it out.
full rtc!!!!
𐙚⋆°｡⋆♡ ── pre-read
i've been eyeing ava's books for a while esp since she's a desi author (i have 2 of her books on my physical tbr!) and when i saw the arc sign ups for this i ran!!! like the cover looks so cute and perfect for fall!!!
December 14, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.75 stars)
Poison Ivy by Ava Rani was my first book by this author, and it definitely won’t be my last.
If you enjoy stories set in an academic environment with secret societies, hidden power dynamics, and a strong FMC who refuses to stay inside the rigid box her parents have tried to force her into, this book is absolutely for you. Watching her push back, question expectations, and carve out her own path was one of my favorite parts of the story.
I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the experience. Both narrators did a great job bringing the characters to life and kept me engaged throughout, which made this an easy recommendation in audio format.
Overall, this was an intriguing and entertaining read that left me excited to pick up more from Ava Rani in the future.
Poison Ivy by Ava Rani was my first book by this author, and it definitely won’t be my last.
If you enjoy stories set in an academic environment with secret societies, hidden power dynamics, and a strong FMC who refuses to stay inside the rigid box her parents have tried to force her into, this book is absolutely for you. Watching her push back, question expectations, and carve out her own path was one of my favorite parts of the story.
I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the experience. Both narrators did a great job bringing the characters to life and kept me engaged throughout, which made this an easy recommendation in audio format.
Overall, this was an intriguing and entertaining read that left me excited to pick up more from Ava Rani in the future.
October 19, 2025
loved this one!! I loved the concept of the secret societies and the upper echelons of society at a college scene. Ava masterly was able to capture the pressures of a first generation born child of immigrants and the pressures that can be put on them as they grow up in America versus where their parents were born. I loved the way Malina grew into her own person throughout the book and about how she wanted to maintain her own personality and sense of self, while also honouring her culture and traditions. The way Conrand was not just accepting of Malina and who she was, but actively pushed her and supported her in maintaining her Indian identity.
Loved this one!!
Loved this one!!
November 6, 2025
This was a good read I loved it, I thought the characters, the romance and the plot was easy to read and captivating. I liked the fmc so much and how she was trying to navigate her strict south Asian parents. I also liked the mmc and how he was navigating his family life. The New England aspect was fun for me and I loved the mystery aspect. The romance was cute and steamy and I had so much fun reading. I liked seeing as the relationship and mystery developed between them. I will always love being in a world with rich kids and families especially the ones written by this author.
October 24, 2025
Thank you so much to swipethebook PR and the author for sending early copies of this book! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.
It has been so long since a book consumed me the way this one did. The moment I started reading, I was completely hooked and any time I wasn't reading, I was thinking about when I could pick it up next.
This was the PERFECT fall romance - little mystery, academia, and a head-over-heels love story. And I loved all of the parts equally. The mystery was just as fun as the relationships.
And this definitely explored a lot of different types of relationships. Not only do we have the romantic love between the MCs but each of them is also dealing with their relationships with their biological and chosen families.
A huge part of this story is about finding your place - in your family, culture, society, world. The heroine has a very toxic relationship with her parents and is struggling to balance making them happy and staying connected to her culture without completely sacrificing her needs and desires. I loved how this explored biological vs chosen family. It didn't gloss over or unrealistically rectify the relationships which I appreciated. And I think a lot of people will be able to related with difficult decisions the heroine had to make.
Lastly - the audiobook. The AUDIOBOOK. Connor Crais could narrate a grocery list and I'd listen. And I loved how it was done as a dual narration. Not just where each narrator read their respective chapters, but they dual narrated the dialogue as well. Which made it so much more immersive. I actually listened while reading along because I loved the audio version so much.
This was my first book by this author but it definitely won't be my last! And I CAN'T WAIT for Sabrina's book next!!
It has been so long since a book consumed me the way this one did. The moment I started reading, I was completely hooked and any time I wasn't reading, I was thinking about when I could pick it up next.
This was the PERFECT fall romance - little mystery, academia, and a head-over-heels love story. And I loved all of the parts equally. The mystery was just as fun as the relationships.
And this definitely explored a lot of different types of relationships. Not only do we have the romantic love between the MCs but each of them is also dealing with their relationships with their biological and chosen families.
A huge part of this story is about finding your place - in your family, culture, society, world. The heroine has a very toxic relationship with her parents and is struggling to balance making them happy and staying connected to her culture without completely sacrificing her needs and desires. I loved how this explored biological vs chosen family. It didn't gloss over or unrealistically rectify the relationships which I appreciated. And I think a lot of people will be able to related with difficult decisions the heroine had to make.
Lastly - the audiobook. The AUDIOBOOK. Connor Crais could narrate a grocery list and I'd listen. And I loved how it was done as a dual narration. Not just where each narrator read their respective chapters, but they dual narrated the dialogue as well. Which made it so much more immersive. I actually listened while reading along because I loved the audio version so much.
This was my first book by this author but it definitely won't be my last! And I CAN'T WAIT for Sabrina's book next!!
January 13, 2026
I love duet audiobooks. This was good!
Full review to come.
Full review to come.
June 10, 2026
2.75
i enjoyed the first half of poisoned ivy kind of? or maybe i am deluding myself into thinking that because i stopped reading this for weeks after they started dated halfway into the story. it was a good build up in the beginning with a side of mystery and the main character had an inner conflict that was very relatable to me. i also enjoyed the easter eggs for future couples, i have a feeling i will enjoy the next books more then this but for this one the main characters fell very flat and the guy was a cardboard cutout of every other main guy every written. i couldn’t bring myself to care for him at all. ava rani was able to make a guy with daddy issues so boring and uninteresting 💀that is a feet!
i feel like a broken record saying this but they got together a little over halfway into the plot which authors need to stop doing. i am not here to read about them being happy in love. give me drama and angst and some insane rich people shenanigans. i need to stop checking out these books after seeing the authors promoting them on their socials. they always make them sound so juicy and then serve a shrivelled up piece of whatever poisoned ivy was. and they had a breakup around 80% for a reason anyone would see coming if they had read the first page of this book.
i enjoyed the first half of poisoned ivy kind of? or maybe i am deluding myself into thinking that because i stopped reading this for weeks after they started dated halfway into the story. it was a good build up in the beginning with a side of mystery and the main character had an inner conflict that was very relatable to me. i also enjoyed the easter eggs for future couples, i have a feeling i will enjoy the next books more then this but for this one the main characters fell very flat and the guy was a cardboard cutout of every other main guy every written. i couldn’t bring myself to care for him at all. ava rani was able to make a guy with daddy issues so boring and uninteresting 💀that is a feet!
i feel like a broken record saying this but they got together a little over halfway into the plot which authors need to stop doing. i am not here to read about them being happy in love. give me drama and angst and some insane rich people shenanigans. i need to stop checking out these books after seeing the authors promoting them on their socials. they always make them sound so juicy and then serve a shrivelled up piece of whatever poisoned ivy was. and they had a breakup around 80% for a reason anyone would see coming if they had read the first page of this book.
November 14, 2025
the way i was so excited for this book too ugh 😭😭 2 stars is honestly too generous, i felt like i was writing a smutty high school fanfic, the INACCURATE references to f1 pmo too, like f1 girls are already called pretentious and performative, this just makes it worse 🥀 the entire book was a whirlwind where i had to stop and say 'oh my god that is so not how it works' every five seconds, malena amin was an insufferable pick me, conrad had literally zero personality except to cater to malena's kinks, even the side characters fell flat for me like i could not keep track of who was supposed to be who when they all had the same exact persona.
October 28, 2025
I need you to know that very few books capture what it’s like to live a double life with controlling parents who still love you. It’s always an extremely evil parent or a loving parent in books. However, the truth is usually in the middle. There are parents who love but their way of showing that can be toxic. I truly loved this book. As a woman who had to live a double life to find her joy this book resonated so deeply with me. Malena is an obedient “good girl” to her parents but lives a second life in college where she is free to be herself. Yes, she’s sexually active and hanging out with her “no good” friends. Is she worthy of being tossed aside for that!? She loves writing and while she does love the idea of being a doctor she has no clue who she is. Her Indian identity is something she loves but the community doesn’t accept her. (Wow, that hit hard) Conrad is the man who makes her feel free and their whole mystery solving story was fun. The story had me hooked and I was most interested in Malena’s parent drama more than the mystery itself strangely. I truly think it’s because I saw myself in Malena as I lived it myself. I loved how the author gently wrote the trauma and her pain. I loved how she showed the conflicting feelings and the growth of Malena as she finds her peace. The spice is open door and plentiful and it was written well. You will not find me hating on a thing about this book. I loved it and want it injected in my veins. I receive this book a an ARC from the author but then I read halfway and pre-ordered the book as I knew it would be a favorite. I was right.
October 20, 2025
I did the audiobook for this one (it is available on Everand, Storytel and many other platforms!)
Duet style narration 5/5🎧
Story 3/5 ⭐️
Spice 2,75/5🌶️
I don’t know what kind of a karma is following my reading but the vibes are not aligning 🫣
This one started quite promising- and it reminded me a bit of the HBO show: The sex lives of college girls… for a minute we get the FMC being the one having all the smexy times and working her frustration out over a controlling family by having ONS! I”m like: “get it girl”! but after she meets the MMC and he is very much into her… (both of them are into each other!) and there is an opportunity for them to pursue their attraction, he just lets her go and sleeps with OW (he was of course trying to forget the FMC!) - Why!?!? Couldn’t he be celibate for a change - like revese those bloody roles!
Yeah … no! What a bummer!
The writing style was a bit repetitive and there were too many stagnant scenes with their inner monologues and too much descriptions rather than actions - the premise was there but the execution was lacking…
Duet style narration 5/5🎧
Story 3/5 ⭐️
Spice 2,75/5🌶️
I don’t know what kind of a karma is following my reading but the vibes are not aligning 🫣
This one started quite promising- and it reminded me a bit of the HBO show: The sex lives of college girls… for a minute we get the FMC being the one having all the smexy times and working her frustration out over a controlling family by having ONS! I”m like: “get it girl”! but after she meets the MMC and he is very much into her… (both of them are into each other!) and there is an opportunity for them to pursue their attraction, he just lets her go and sleeps with OW (he was of course trying to forget the FMC!) - Why!?!? Couldn’t he be celibate for a change - like revese those bloody roles!
Yeah … no! What a bummer!
The writing style was a bit repetitive and there were too many stagnant scenes with their inner monologues and too much descriptions rather than actions - the premise was there but the execution was lacking…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2025
4.25⭐️ Happy Release Day!! This was so sweet and perfect read for the fall season! to me it felt like if Gilmore Girls, Never Have I Ever and the Sex Lives of College Girls combined. I really liked the diverse group of characters and the studious vibe it gave.
Conrad Hastings?? YES. Of course I was a huge fan of how hard he fell for Malena. Their banter was fun and witty I had a lot of annotations to prove it lol the only thing is I wish the tension between them being enemies to lovers was stretched out a little more. I feel like I blinked and they were falling for each other, but I really loved them because they complemented each other so well!
I thought Malena was so fierce and unapologetically her own person! I thought it was so relatable to live two different lives and always feeling like she needed to please her parents. While I can’t relate to her being South Asian, being a woman of color in a predominantly white community 100% is. You hear so many stories of people like Malena where their parents sacrifice so much for their children to have better futures, but what about how much the children sacrifice for their parents approval? I appreciate that she touched on that topic.
The side characters were great too, especially Isha, Cora and Sabrina- they were my favorite! Hope to see more of them in the future!
I’m so glad I was able to get the E-ARC and ALC version of this book (the male narrator’s voice was chef’s kiss btw oh my word). Thank you Ava Rani for allowing me to read this!
Conrad Hastings?? YES. Of course I was a huge fan of how hard he fell for Malena. Their banter was fun and witty I had a lot of annotations to prove it lol the only thing is I wish the tension between them being enemies to lovers was stretched out a little more. I feel like I blinked and they were falling for each other, but I really loved them because they complemented each other so well!
I thought Malena was so fierce and unapologetically her own person! I thought it was so relatable to live two different lives and always feeling like she needed to please her parents. While I can’t relate to her being South Asian, being a woman of color in a predominantly white community 100% is. You hear so many stories of people like Malena where their parents sacrifice so much for their children to have better futures, but what about how much the children sacrifice for their parents approval? I appreciate that she touched on that topic.
The side characters were great too, especially Isha, Cora and Sabrina- they were my favorite! Hope to see more of them in the future!
I’m so glad I was able to get the E-ARC and ALC version of this book (the male narrator’s voice was chef’s kiss btw oh my word). Thank you Ava Rani for allowing me to read this!
October 3, 2025
If you wanted more from Rory in Gilmore Girls (like her not to be overprivileged and judgmental of everyone), and if you wanted even MORE banter from Rory and Logan, then may I present to you: Poisoned Ivy by Ava Rani.
Our main character Malena is easy to root for from the start. Her parents are overbearing, so she has a burner phone that forwards her calls from them while her real phone is in her dorm room and broadcasts her "location." I really appreciated the pieces of herself that the author put in this story, and I hope writing Malena's story was cathartic. I loved reading her strength, vulnerability, and growth.
Conrad was BAEEEEE. Like, Daddy. He had great depth to him, and I loved how Malena accepted him as he was, but she still wanted him to grow, and he wanted to be the best he could for her. Their relationship was equal parts spicy and sweet.
There was an element of mystery to this story that I wish had been woven a little more throughout. There were long periods where we would just forget about the mystery, and that made me not care about it. Which honestly didn't bother me too much because I was FED with the romance, and that's what I ultimately cared about. I also wish we had more hints and growth with Conrad's feelings for Malena. He was all of a sudden ALL IN on her, which I appreciated, but I also would've liked to see that hinted at before it happened.
Ultimately, I think this was a really great, fun, spicy, college romance. The college side of romance has been a bit of a dud for me for a while, and this revived it! And teasing us with a President's Daughter/Hot Secret Service Agent Sequel!??! I am SO there.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.
Our main character Malena is easy to root for from the start. Her parents are overbearing, so she has a burner phone that forwards her calls from them while her real phone is in her dorm room and broadcasts her "location." I really appreciated the pieces of herself that the author put in this story, and I hope writing Malena's story was cathartic. I loved reading her strength, vulnerability, and growth.
Conrad was BAEEEEE. Like, Daddy. He had great depth to him, and I loved how Malena accepted him as he was, but she still wanted him to grow, and he wanted to be the best he could for her. Their relationship was equal parts spicy and sweet.
There was an element of mystery to this story that I wish had been woven a little more throughout. There were long periods where we would just forget about the mystery, and that made me not care about it. Which honestly didn't bother me too much because I was FED with the romance, and that's what I ultimately cared about. I also wish we had more hints and growth with Conrad's feelings for Malena. He was all of a sudden ALL IN on her, which I appreciated, but I also would've liked to see that hinted at before it happened.
Ultimately, I think this was a really great, fun, spicy, college romance. The college side of romance has been a bit of a dud for me for a while, and this revived it! And teasing us with a President's Daughter/Hot Secret Service Agent Sequel!??! I am SO there.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.
October 23, 2025
3.5 ⭐️ A sweet college romance about a girl leading a double life and a rich guy who forgets everyone else the moment he meets ✨her✨ But the detective storyline is weak, even the characters themselves occasionally forget about it, let alone the reader.
November 13, 2025
This had potential but it fell flat in my opinion.
October 21, 2025
Poisoned Ivy was such a fun, easy listen, it’s a mix of academia, secrets, and slightly slow burn tension with a side of spice. I loved the mysterious undercurrent and watching Malena find her voice against the backdrop of Ivy League privilege and pressure. Soneela Nankani was phenomenal as Malena, perfectly capturing her emotional growth, while Connor Crais nailed Conrad’s arrogant rich boy energy (that voice 👏). A great balance of sweet, sharp, and a little steamy — the kind of new adult audio that’s easy to binge in a weekend.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you @mustloveaudio for the alc 🧡
Tropes:
🎓 College / New Adult
🕵️ Secret Society
💼 Ivy League
🐈 Black Cat x Golden Retriever
🎙️ Duet Narration
💢 Dislike to Lovers
Tropes:
🎓 College / New Adult
🕵️ Secret Society
💼 Ivy League
🐈 Black Cat x Golden Retriever
🎙️ Duet Narration
💢 Dislike to Lovers
Read
June 3, 2026soft dnf bc i dont think im in the mood for it
Read
August 25, 2025beta read + audio proofing🫶🏽
October 18, 2025
overall, this was a fun time, but the mystery aspect was very underwhelming in my opinion.
i’m also getting really bored with the whole “man takes a different girl home every night, but sees this one girl that’s just so special that he decides he wants a relationship all of a sudden” plot.
i’m also getting really bored with the whole “man takes a different girl home every night, but sees this one girl that’s just so special that he decides he wants a relationship all of a sudden” plot.
October 20, 2025
4.25 stars
Wealthy legacy white boy falling for a brilliant, overachiever desi girl in a light academia, Ivy League setting? We used to pray for stories like this. If you were into Rory and Logan’s dynamic, but thought Devi Vishwakumar was a far better, more complex character (I said what I said) and wanted to see her college years in a Sex Lives of the College girls type lush university setting, this is the book for you.
Malena is a smart, outgoing academic star, who’s also living a bit of a double life to get some freedom from the burden of expectations of her parents. As one does. Especially when you’re an Indian, and a first generation immigrant kid who likes parties and sex at that. Malena’s messy, complicated relationship with her parents was painfully relatable even as not a child of immigrants, while at the same time made me send a prayer of gratitude for my own (slightly more normal) family. I couldn’t relate to the worst parts of her pain, but her story of being stuck in between cultures and wanting to belong is so familiar and heartbreaking. And following her journey of coming to terms with that is hopeful and joyous.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Conrad Hastings, heir to a media empire with a terrible family situation and zero motivation or ambition, and a manwhore reputation. Quintessential aimless wealthy white boy. But he’s far more than meets the eye at first, and we see some great character development for him. I sort of wanted more from him but maybe I’m just saying that because he’s too nice and you know I’m a ho for a messy man. This is all compensated by the fact that he’s a total simp over Mal; may all the girlies struggling with their identity find their own Conrad.
Neither of them is the relationship type, and instant attraction leads to fireworks that lead to sexy times in some very interesting places (all hail the library ladder). Before they know it, feelings have made their pesky way into the fling, and if you know a strict Indian family, you know how fucked Mal is.
The secret society backdrop adds intrigue (and cool locations) to the story, and while the mystery is a little confusing, it wasn’t something I really worried about. The aesthetic was on point and the vibes are immaculate. One of my absolute favorite parts was the found family on both sides. Cora and Sabrina’s unquestioning support of Mal, as well as Con’s motley crew of filthy rich kids keeping him on the straight and narrow were totally heartwarming. I am obsessed with Ishani and hope she eventually gets a book. The author is great at these supportive friend groups that are also wealthy as sin, which makes for some great destinations and fancy shenanigans where you just don’t have to worry about how they’re affording this (although they do travel between Massachusetts-Connecticut-New York by road far too quickly to be realistic), which is the kind of escapism I need. I can’t wait for next book after the hints we got in this one.
*I received an arc, and voluntarily chose to read and review it. All opinions are my own*
Wealthy legacy white boy falling for a brilliant, overachiever desi girl in a light academia, Ivy League setting? We used to pray for stories like this. If you were into Rory and Logan’s dynamic, but thought Devi Vishwakumar was a far better, more complex character (I said what I said) and wanted to see her college years in a Sex Lives of the College girls type lush university setting, this is the book for you.
Malena is a smart, outgoing academic star, who’s also living a bit of a double life to get some freedom from the burden of expectations of her parents. As one does. Especially when you’re an Indian, and a first generation immigrant kid who likes parties and sex at that. Malena’s messy, complicated relationship with her parents was painfully relatable even as not a child of immigrants, while at the same time made me send a prayer of gratitude for my own (slightly more normal) family. I couldn’t relate to the worst parts of her pain, but her story of being stuck in between cultures and wanting to belong is so familiar and heartbreaking. And following her journey of coming to terms with that is hopeful and joyous.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Conrad Hastings, heir to a media empire with a terrible family situation and zero motivation or ambition, and a manwhore reputation. Quintessential aimless wealthy white boy. But he’s far more than meets the eye at first, and we see some great character development for him. I sort of wanted more from him but maybe I’m just saying that because he’s too nice and you know I’m a ho for a messy man. This is all compensated by the fact that he’s a total simp over Mal; may all the girlies struggling with their identity find their own Conrad.
Neither of them is the relationship type, and instant attraction leads to fireworks that lead to sexy times in some very interesting places (all hail the library ladder). Before they know it, feelings have made their pesky way into the fling, and if you know a strict Indian family, you know how fucked Mal is.
The secret society backdrop adds intrigue (and cool locations) to the story, and while the mystery is a little confusing, it wasn’t something I really worried about. The aesthetic was on point and the vibes are immaculate. One of my absolute favorite parts was the found family on both sides. Cora and Sabrina’s unquestioning support of Mal, as well as Con’s motley crew of filthy rich kids keeping him on the straight and narrow were totally heartwarming. I am obsessed with Ishani and hope she eventually gets a book. The author is great at these supportive friend groups that are also wealthy as sin, which makes for some great destinations and fancy shenanigans where you just don’t have to worry about how they’re affording this (although they do travel between Massachusetts-Connecticut-New York by road far too quickly to be realistic), which is the kind of escapism I need. I can’t wait for next book after the hints we got in this one.
*I received an arc, and voluntarily chose to read and review it. All opinions are my own*
October 23, 2025
This was an EASY 5 star read for me! It's giving enemies to friends to lovers and set in an Ivy League college!!!!
This was giving Rory and Logan in Gilmore Girls with the secret society, the New England setting, and some amazing banter!!!!
My first Ava Rani book but absolutely not my last! I loved Rani's storytelling and the spice actually had me weak in the knees!!!!
I loved it, the audio was SO special too!!!
This was giving Rory and Logan in Gilmore Girls with the secret society, the New England setting, and some amazing banter!!!!
My first Ava Rani book but absolutely not my last! I loved Rani's storytelling and the spice actually had me weak in the knees!!!!
I loved it, the audio was SO special too!!!
November 14, 2025
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
4 stars୨୧
Would recommend if you like:
👩🏫Ivy League Setting
🎭Family Drama
Cozy Mysteries
What I liked:
-I loved the secret society vibes. It made the plot so much more entertaining.
-The character development was done very well.
What I didn’t like:
-I do think the mystery portion of this was a bit bland at times. I appreciated that it was there, but I wanted more intrigue behind it, & maybe a more interesting topic for that aspect.
4 stars୨୧
Would recommend if you like:
👩🏫Ivy League Setting
🎭Family Drama
Cozy Mysteries
What I liked:
-I loved the secret society vibes. It made the plot so much more entertaining.
-The character development was done very well.
What I didn’t like:
-I do think the mystery portion of this was a bit bland at times. I appreciated that it was there, but I wanted more intrigue behind it, & maybe a more interesting topic for that aspect.
October 13, 2025
Thanks so much for the ARC! Malena is living a double life. One that her parents want and one that is how she wants to live on her own terms. I think it’s very difficult to show this type of dynamic that is very very common without it being a truly “evil” parent. But a parent child relationship that loves so much it is smothering. Also we see with our MMC the reverse, parents that provide but are detached. Both sets of dynamics are explored well while individually the couple is dealing with their family dynamics they are also finding their true self and happiness in each other. The academia and cozy mystery is a fantastic background plot for the relationship to grow and flourish. Overall enjoyable read and I bet I would have enjoyed the audiobook even more!
November 2, 2025
Poisoned Ivy by Ava Rani (Oct 17, 2025) Thank you @authoravarani and @ingram_books for the gifted print copy! Billed as equal parts passion, privilege and mystery - it more than delivers!
Malena Amin is living a double-life. Her controlling parents demand relentless perfection and total focus on her academic success in service of the medical career path they’ve set forth for her. Mal also wants to have a life and have fun. She has a burner phone so that the phone her parents track her with can always be in the apartment she shares with her best friends (whom her parents disapprove of). She writes for the school paper, which her parents think is a waste of time, and she hooks up with guys - but no strings, ever. Then there’s fellow newspaper writer Conrad Hastings, who can wear a sweater. He is almost as absurdly rich as he is handsome. And he has the key to her next story - access to an elite secret society. She’ll even share the byline. But soon they discover a mystery amongst the secret passages of the secret society and as they work to solve it, they each begin to feel seen for the very first time. And their electric chemistry becomes impossible to deny.
This is everything I want in a college romance - found family friendships, decadence, shenanigans, deep connection, some sports - he’s a rower, and emotional growth. PLUS - there’s a really fun art forgery mystery. There is definitely a lot of rich people privilege in this one, but the characters are multi-dimensional and they do good with their privilege. I loved the book and I’m thrilled that it is the start of a series. The second book was teased in this one and I cannot wait to get into the tale of Mal’s roommate and her bodyguard.
🎧 Audiobook Thoughts: If I haven’t already convinced you to read this book, here’s one more enticement: An absolutely perfect DUET narration by Connor Crais and Soneela Nankani. It is SO GREAT. (11h 44m)
Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
🎧 Audio performance: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
🔥 Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Malena Amin is living a double-life. Her controlling parents demand relentless perfection and total focus on her academic success in service of the medical career path they’ve set forth for her. Mal also wants to have a life and have fun. She has a burner phone so that the phone her parents track her with can always be in the apartment she shares with her best friends (whom her parents disapprove of). She writes for the school paper, which her parents think is a waste of time, and she hooks up with guys - but no strings, ever. Then there’s fellow newspaper writer Conrad Hastings, who can wear a sweater. He is almost as absurdly rich as he is handsome. And he has the key to her next story - access to an elite secret society. She’ll even share the byline. But soon they discover a mystery amongst the secret passages of the secret society and as they work to solve it, they each begin to feel seen for the very first time. And their electric chemistry becomes impossible to deny.
This is everything I want in a college romance - found family friendships, decadence, shenanigans, deep connection, some sports - he’s a rower, and emotional growth. PLUS - there’s a really fun art forgery mystery. There is definitely a lot of rich people privilege in this one, but the characters are multi-dimensional and they do good with their privilege. I loved the book and I’m thrilled that it is the start of a series. The second book was teased in this one and I cannot wait to get into the tale of Mal’s roommate and her bodyguard.
🎧 Audiobook Thoughts: If I haven’t already convinced you to read this book, here’s one more enticement: An absolutely perfect DUET narration by Connor Crais and Soneela Nankani. It is SO GREAT. (11h 44m)
Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
🎧 Audio performance: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
🔥 Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
September 28, 2025
I don't often read new adult romance, but I really enjoyed this one! I found that this had a great blend of cozy mystery, heartwarming friendships, and a sweet romance.
Starting with the mystery, I found it fun to sleuth around with Malena and Conrad in the mysterious catacombs beneath their university. This also led to a cute little nickname pairing between them! One qualm I often have with nicknames in books is that the usage of them feels so shoved in, repetitive, and unnatural, but this had none of that. The mystery was low stakes and well-paced, so I never felt that there was too much or not enough mystery/romance.
Malena was a great main character, and I loved that she knew her worth! It was hard to see her go through the pressures and abuse from her family, and having to navigate her double life. I was a little stressed at times, worrying about how the truth would inevitably come out. I think things did wrap up in a realistic way, and I admired how Malena developed as a character and stood her ground. Conrad was a good pairing for Malena, and I liked that he was always doing his best to support her. It was also endearing how he could be nervous and awkward at times. I thought the development of the romance was well done and the communication was!! I loved that during tough moments, both of them would still try to reach out to the other, meaning the conflict wasn't stretched out unnecessarily.
Some other things I liked were:
- the South Asian culture! traditions and food
- the friendships! truly a found family
You will probably really enjoy this if you liked Maxton Hall and/or Gossip Girl, and I noticed some fun references to the latter!
Thank you so much to the author and Good Girls PR for kindly sending me the eARC!
Starting with the mystery, I found it fun to sleuth around with Malena and Conrad in the mysterious catacombs beneath their university. This also led to a cute little nickname pairing between them! One qualm I often have with nicknames in books is that the usage of them feels so shoved in, repetitive, and unnatural, but this had none of that. The mystery was low stakes and well-paced, so I never felt that there was too much or not enough mystery/romance.
Malena was a great main character, and I loved that she knew her worth! It was hard to see her go through the pressures and abuse from her family, and having to navigate her double life. I was a little stressed at times, worrying about how the truth would inevitably come out. I think things did wrap up in a realistic way, and I admired how Malena developed as a character and stood her ground. Conrad was a good pairing for Malena, and I liked that he was always doing his best to support her. It was also endearing how he could be nervous and awkward at times. I thought the development of the romance was well done and the communication was!! I loved that during tough moments, both of them would still try to reach out to the other, meaning the conflict wasn't stretched out unnecessarily.
Some other things I liked were:
- the South Asian culture! traditions and food
- the friendships! truly a found family
You will probably really enjoy this if you liked Maxton Hall and/or Gossip Girl, and I noticed some fun references to the latter!
Thank you so much to the author and Good Girls PR for kindly sending me the eARC!
January 15, 2026
I really enjoyed this forbidden, secret interracial college romance!!! It was EXCELLENT on audio narrated by two of my favs, Connor Crais and Soneela Nankani and just hit all the right spots for me. It had emotional toxic family dynamics, spicy heat and fun destinations (ie Paris). I can't wait for book 2!! Highly recommended for fans of authors like Bal Khabra, Elle Kennedy or Grace O'Reilly.
October 20, 2025
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you so much to Ava Rani and Good Girls PR for the eARC.
Buddy Read with Pearl!🍂
𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏 - Chapter One to Eleven (October 1st) (22%) ✓
𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟐 - Chapter Twelve to Twenty-Two (October 2nd) (44%) ✓
𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟑 - Chapter Twenty-Three to Thirty-Three (October 3rd) (61%) ✓
𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟒 - Chapter Thirty-Four to Forty-Four (October 9) (82%) ✓
𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟓 - Chapter Forty-Five to Epilogue (October 10) (100%) ✓
────────────────────────
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 : Poisoned Ivy
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 : Legacies (Book One)
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 : Ava Rani
𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 397
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 : October 17, 2025
───────────────────────
This was my very first Ava Rani novel and I was extremely excited to read an academic romance setting ever since I first heard about it.
This book's core theme was something I really resonated with. It's usually hard to capture the double life that a person leads when controlling parents who love you make it difficult and suffocative. Ava Rani does an absolutely amazing job capturing the raw and true existence of the theme, where I could literally feel the actions and excuses from the pages.
This was a cute and spicy book, with two characters that I did now expect to related but ended up understanding and relating them. Conrad and Malena's romance was swoony and messy, with problems of their own that they solve throughout the book.
The romance is parallel to the mystery in the book, something that did intrigue me and I did not expect the outcome and revealtions that came towards the end. The balance of romance and suspense was perfect.
I expected to resonate with Malena's character and I truly did. The way she handled things despite the emotional turmoid and consequences was something that hit me hard. I really ended up loving Malena's character a lot by the end as it is truly not easy to live a double life and keep up the lies while trying to be understanding to the toxic love that her parents were giving her.
The confrontation with her family hit harder and made me respect her character even more because she was willing to finally stand up to herself and life a life on her own agency, where she would make choices and life for herself and not for the painting that the society painted her to be.
This story has so much more than I had anticipated, from deeply emotional scenes to a swoony romance, which dips into culture and heart, growing as people, I had a fun time reading this novel!
Thank you so much to Ava Rani and Good Girls PR for the eARC.
Buddy Read with Pearl!🍂
𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟏 - Chapter One to Eleven (October 1st) (22%) ✓
𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟐 - Chapter Twelve to Twenty-Two (October 2nd) (44%) ✓
𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟑 - Chapter Twenty-Three to Thirty-Three (October 3rd) (61%) ✓
𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟒 - Chapter Thirty-Four to Forty-Four (October 9) (82%) ✓
𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝟓 - Chapter Forty-Five to Epilogue (October 10) (100%) ✓
────────────────────────
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞 : Poisoned Ivy
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 : Legacies (Book One)
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 : Ava Rani
𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 : 397
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 : October 17, 2025
───────────────────────
This was my very first Ava Rani novel and I was extremely excited to read an academic romance setting ever since I first heard about it.
This book's core theme was something I really resonated with. It's usually hard to capture the double life that a person leads when controlling parents who love you make it difficult and suffocative. Ava Rani does an absolutely amazing job capturing the raw and true existence of the theme, where I could literally feel the actions and excuses from the pages.
This was a cute and spicy book, with two characters that I did now expect to related but ended up understanding and relating them. Conrad and Malena's romance was swoony and messy, with problems of their own that they solve throughout the book.
The romance is parallel to the mystery in the book, something that did intrigue me and I did not expect the outcome and revealtions that came towards the end. The balance of romance and suspense was perfect.
I expected to resonate with Malena's character and I truly did. The way she handled things despite the emotional turmoid and consequences was something that hit me hard. I really ended up loving Malena's character a lot by the end as it is truly not easy to live a double life and keep up the lies while trying to be understanding to the toxic love that her parents were giving her.
The confrontation with her family hit harder and made me respect her character even more because she was willing to finally stand up to herself and life a life on her own agency, where she would make choices and life for herself and not for the painting that the society painted her to be.
This story has so much more than I had anticipated, from deeply emotional scenes to a swoony romance, which dips into culture and heart, growing as people, I had a fun time reading this novel!
November 5, 2025
I am so obsessed with this book! The characters, the plot, the vibes, the tropes, the themes. I loved every second of it. This was such a sweet story. I loved Mal’s journey and adored her and Conrad so much.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 527 reviews