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The Ivy Years

by Sarina Bowen

The Ivy Years series by Sarina Bowen has 6 known books (6 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Year We Fell Down (2014). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Shameless Hour.

Books
6 known books (5 novels + 1 collection)
Published
6
First published
2014
Status
completed
Shelved under
Romance
Last checked

Start here: The Year We Fell Down (2014) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of The Year We Fell Down

The Year We Fell Down (2014)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. The Year We Fell Down

    Novel

    The Year We Fell Down is the novel that opens The Ivy Years, by Sarina Bowen, first published in 2014 at 272 pages. It's followed in the reading order by The Year We Hid Away, in a series of 6 books that ran from 2014 to 2019.

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  2. The Year We Hid Away

    Novel

    The Year We Hid Away is the 2nd entry in The Ivy Years, by Sarina Bowen, published in 2014 at 272 pages. It follows The Year We Fell Down and precedes The Understatement of the Year in the reading order.

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  3. The Understatement of the Year

    Novel

    The Understatement of the Year is the 3rd entry in The Ivy Years, by Sarina Bowen, published in 2014 at 307 pages. It follows The Year We Hid Away and precedes The Shameless Hour in the reading order.

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  4. The Shameless Hour

    Novel

    The Shameless Hour is the 4th entry in The Ivy Years, by Sarina Bowen, published in 2015 at 345 pages. It follows The Understatement of the Year and precedes The Fifteenth Minute in the reading order.

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  5. The Fifteenth Minute

    Novel

    The Fifteenth Minute is the 5th entry in The Ivy Years, by Sarina Bowen, published in 2016 at 156 pages. It follows The Shameless Hour and precedes Extra Credit in the reading order.

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  6. Extra Credit

    Collection

    Extra Credit is the 6th entry in The Ivy Years, by Sarina Bowen, published in 2019 at 234 pages. It follows The Fifteenth Minute and closes out the 6-book series, which ran from 2014 to 2019.

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About The Ivy Years

The Ivy Years is Sarina Bowen's original New Adult series, set among students, athletes and misfits at a fictional Ivy League school. The Year We Fell Down opens the series with a quietly emotional romance between a hockey player and the wheelchair-using former figure skater across the hall from him after a career-ending injury — a book widely credited with helping define the disability-representation-forward side of the New Adult genre when it was at its peak. Each following book hands the story to a different student on the same campus: a closeted athlete's coming-out arc in The Understatement of the Year, a recovering party girl finding her footing in The Shameless Hour, and a shy freshman navigating first love and family pressure in The Fifteenth Minute.

Bowen writes with a gentler, more literary touch than a lot of college romance — real consequences, real vulnerability, and characters who feel like actual twenty-year-olds rather than romance-genre types. The series became the direct predecessor to her wildly popular hockey-romance work (Brooklyn Bruisers and beyond): several Ivy Years side characters, including hockey player Adam Hartley, get their own books in the later Brooklyn series. Extra Credit, a collection of three novellas, catches up with the extended Ivy Years cast.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in The Ivy Years series?

Six: five full-length novels (The Year We Fell Down, The Year We Hid Away, The Understatement of the Year, The Shameless Hour, The Fifteenth Minute) plus Extra Credit, a collection of three novellas.

What order should I read The Ivy Years books in?

Publication order for the five novels, with Extra Credit read last since it's a novella collection catching up the extended cast after the main series ends.

Do I need to read The Ivy Years before Brooklyn Bruisers?

No, but it helps: hockey player Adam Hartley is introduced here as a side character before headlining Rookie Move, the first Brooklyn Bruisers book. Each series stands on its own.

Is The Year We Fell Down a standalone or does the series need to be read in order?

Each Ivy Years book is a complete, standalone romance with a new lead couple. Reading in order isn't required, but it lets you watch the same friend group grow across all five books.

Is The Ivy Years series finished?

Yes. The five-novel series plus the Extra Credit novella collection is complete; Bowen has continued the wider world through her separate Brooklyn Bruisers/Brooklyn Hockey books.

Reading order last verified .