Ivy in Delicious Monsters: Character Analysis of the Ghost Who Possesses Daisy

Overview of Ivy in Delicious Monsters

Ivy is the ghost of a girl who haunts the Belanger mansion and possesses Daisy at night. She is the daughter of Dione and Peter Belanger, hidden in the basement and killed in a walk-in freezer. Her driving need is to learn the identity of a girl she sees in the house’s memories—a girl who turns out to be her own younger self. Ivy’s presence fuels the novel’s mystery, forcing Daisy to confront family secrets and the cost of silence. She is both a tragic victim and a dangerous force, embodying the novel’s exploration of forgotten lives and the lies families tell themselves.

Plot Role

Ivy serves as the supernatural catalyst for the story. She first appears as a mysterious girl in the forest, offering Daisy an orange hat and a pact to explore the mansion together. As the narrative progresses, she reveals she has been possessing Daisy’s body at night, using it to move through the world and to search for answers. Her demand to know the girl’s identity drives Daisy into the house’s darkest corners, leading to the revelation that Ivy is the daughter of Dione and Peter, and that she died because no one acknowledged her existence. Ivy also acts as an antagonist: she kills a goat, threatens guests, and slashes a girl’s face, all in pursuit of her goal. Yet her actions are rooted in desperation and a longing to be remembered.

Motivations and Traits

Ivy’s primary motivation is to know who she is. In the piano room, she says, “All I want is to know who that girl is,” referring to a figure she has seen in the house’s memories. She does not recognize that the girl is herself, a detail that underscores her fractured identity. She also wants to live fully—she studies, gets better grades, and dreams of a university future, all while inhabiting Daisy’s body. Ivy is manipulative and cruel, using threats and violence to get what she wants. She tells Daisy, “I’m smarter than you. I actually give a shit about the world.” Yet she is also lonely and scared. She admits the house is her only friend, but her voice carries uncertainty, suggesting she craves genuine connection. The text shows her as corporeal—she can walk, talk, and make people see her—but she is dead, and she knows it.

Chronological Arc

Ivy’s arc moves from mysterious guide to threatening possessor to tragic figure.

First meeting: In the forest, she gives Daisy her orange hat and proposes they enter the mansion together. She lies about never having been inside.
Mansion exploration: She leads Daisy through the house, later admitting she had visited before and let the photographer in.
Possession begins: She starts inhabiting Daisy’s body at night, causing memory gaps and the goat’s death.
Confrontation: In the piano room, she demands the girl’s identity. When Daisy refuses, Ivy reveals she is dead and threatens her.
Revelation: In the interview with Brittney, Dione confesses that Ivy was her daughter, hidden by Peter and killed in the freezer.
Resolution: Ivy is given a grave with a plaque reading “Here Lies Ivy Odlin. She Will Never Be Forgotten Again.”

Relationships

With Daisy: Ivy uses Daisy’s body, but she also forms a twisted bond. She calls Daisy “pathetic” but later says, “I thought we were friends.” Their relationship is one of possession and reluctant alliance.
With King: King’s family dislikes Ivy, and King warns Daisy against her. Ivy is an outsider even among the dead.
With Dione: Her mother abandoned her, never claiming her as a daughter. Dione’s shame and silence contribute to Ivy’s forgotten status.
With Peter: Her father abused her, locked her in the freezer, and caused her death. After death, Ivy torments his ghost, keeping him in agony.
With the house: She has a symbiotic relationship with the mansion. It feeds on the living and the dead, and Ivy uses it to control events, but she is also trapped by it.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Possessing Daisy: Ivy decides to inhabit Daisy’s body to get answers. This leads to Daisy’s memory loss, physical harm, and a fractured sense of self.
Killing the goat: She kills the goat before Grace can use it, hoping to prevent a ritual. This act draws attention and deepens the mystery.
Demanding the girl’s identity: Her insistence leads to violence, including slashing a girl’s face, and ultimately forces the truth into the open.
Letting Daisy into her mind: In the end, Ivy allows Daisy to see her past, which enables Daisy to understand and help her.
Accepting her name: Ivy finally receives a grave and a name, ending her erasure.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Ivy is a symbol of forgotten victims and the cost of silence. Her story connects to several central themes:

Intergenerational trauma: Ivy is a product of Peter’s abuse and Dione’s abandonment, passed down through generations.
Conditional maternal love: Dione’s failure to claim Ivy, and Grace’s manipulation of Daisy, show how love can be withheld or weaponized.
Truth, memory, and storytelling: Ivy’s forgotten identity represents the erasure of victims; the novel seeks to restore her name.
Possession and bodily autonomy: Ivy’s possession of Daisy violates Daisy’s autonomy, mirroring how adults control children.
Healing, survival, and being believed: Ivy’s story is finally believed and honored, offering a path to healing.

For deeper exploration, see the themes on intergenerational trauma, conditional maternal love, truth, memory, and storytelling, possession and bodily autonomy, and healing, survival, and being believed.

Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Who is Ivy in Delicious Monsters?

Ivy is the ghost of Dione and Peter’s daughter, hidden in the basement and killed in a freezer. She possesses Daisy at night to learn the identity of a girl she sees in the house’s memories.

2. Why does Ivy possess Daisy?

She wants to know who the girl in the house’s memories is—a girl who turns out to be herself. She also wants to experience life and be remembered.

3. How does Ivy die?

She is locked in a walk-in freezer by her father Peter and dies from the cold and the dead piling in, as shown in the vision in chapter 47.

4. What is Ivy’s relationship with the house?

She claims the house is her only friend, but she also has power over it. The house feeds on the living and the dead, and Ivy uses it to torment Peter’s ghost.

5. How does Ivy’s story end?

She is given a grave with a plaque reading “Here Lies Ivy Odlin. She Will Never Be Forgotten Again.” She is finally acknowledged and remembered.

For more on the novel’s resolution, see the ending explained and questions and answers.