Anyone But Ivy Pocket by Caleb Krisp

Anyone But Ivy Pocket by Caleb Krisp

Release Date: April 21, 2015
Illustrated by: Iacopo Bruno
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Series: Ivy Pocket, Book 1
Rated: MG 11+
Format: eGalley
Source: Edelweiss
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

Ivy Pocket is a twelve-year-old maid of no importance, with a very lofty opinion of herself. Dumped in Paris by the Countess Carbunkle, who would rather run away to South America than continue in Ivy's companionship, our young heroine (of sorts) finds herself with no money and no home to go to ... until she is summoned to the bedside of the dying Duchess of Trinity.

For the princely sum of £500 (enough to buy a carriage, and possibly a monkey), Ivy agrees to courier the Duchess's most precious possession – the Clock Diamond – to England, and to put it around the neck of the revolting Matilda Butterfield on her twelfth birthday. It's not long before Ivy finds herself at the heart of a conspiracy involving mischief, mayhem and murder.

Illustrated in humorous gothic detail by Iacopo Bruno, Anyone But Ivy Pocket is just the beginning of one girl's deadly comic journey to discover who she really is...

When I first read the synopsis, Ivy Pocket’s character sounded a lot like Amelia Bedelia from the Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parish. However, what really drew me to the book was the illustration on the front cover. It looked quite gothic and kind of reminded me of Tim Burton’s stop-motion films, so I knew I had to give this one a try. I don’t often laugh out loud when it comes to reading books but when I was reading Anyone But Ivy Pocket it was a common occurrence. This book is HILARIOUS. Honestly, I found myself chuckling every few pages–that’s how funny this book is. I know that it won’t be everybody’s cup of tea, but I found it absolutely delightful.

I’d read a few reviews for this book, and what I found is that people either love and hate Ivy Pocket’s character. After reading this book I can see why. Ivy Pocket is completely enamoured with herself and infuriates those around her. It’s sometimes a little bit incredible to believe she’s only 12 years old because of all the things she says and the manner in which she conducts herself. She tends to think very highly of herself and thinks she knows what’s best. Sometimes you feel like ripping out your hair whenever Ivy says something or is completely oblivious to what is obvious to everyone else, but her comments made me laugh most of the time. She's got a sharp edge of humor that reminds me of A Series of Unfortunate Events–you either get it and laugh or you don’t and end up hating the book.

I was just a little sad because the eGalley didn’t include some of the gorgeous illustrations. The whole experience of a children’s book sometimes comes from the fact that there are illustrations present and not being able to see them I felt took away from the experience. But that’s maybe just me–it wasn’t a picture book so luckily it didn’t take away too much.

I enjoy dark books and I enjoy funny books, and Anyone But Ivy Pocket was the perfect blend of the two. I didn’t really expect this book to take a supernatural turn, but it just goes to show that there’s so much more to follow, and I can’t wait to read more of this series. A bundle of laughs weaved into murder and mystery, do yourself a favour and READ THIS BOOK.

If you like this, try...

• Fleeced! by Julia Wills ● Goodreads
• The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket ● Goodreads