Chloe Berringer has everything she could possibly want: an amazing best friend, a cute friend turned boyfriend, a loving family, and privilege for days. But she doesn’t have the grades, SAT scores, or burning passions to get her into the kind of college her parents think she needs to attend. Their solution? Throw money at the problem. But when Chloe’s B-list celebrity mother is arrested by the FBI early one morning, it turns out that the expensive college counselor is part of a massive scam her parents bought into and that Chloe got into college not as herself but as a Latina pole-vaulter with an essay she didn’t write and SAT scores she didn’t earn.

Clearly based on the real life college admissions scandal, this was an interesting but not surprising read. Chloe was almost aggressively directionless, in a way that was certainly realistic but also very frustrating to read. She is forced to confront her privilege, but due to the nature of the plot, we never get to see her do much about it.

Five GLORIOUS stars. I loved this so much! Julie Buxbaum is a YA Queen, and her latest installment did not disappoint. She dove into the story of the college admissions scandal and somehow made it a coming-of-age family drama that sucked me in from the first page and didn’t let go until I had flown through the whole thing. The alternating timelines between pre- and post-scandal was a really nice plot device that kept the story moving, and really gave her the opportunity to show our characters’ growth.

All of my thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read an early copy– I can imagine you’re going to be seeing this one everywhere once it releases!

**Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Kids for the advanced review copy. This in no way affects my rating of the book**

Julie Buxbaum has been an autobuy author for me since I finished What to Say Next. She always manages to write characters who seem authentic and who suck the reader into the pages and refuse to let go until the last page. This book is no exception.

Chloe Wynn Berringer seems to have it all. She's the daughter of a sitcom television star, she lands the boy of her dreams, she has the perfect best friend, and she just got accepted to Southern California College, her dream school. But that was before the FBI showed up to arrest her mother as part of a college bribery scandal.

It's very apparent that the mother is based, at least partially, on people from the real college scandal (particularly Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin). It would have been very easy to write the parents in a harsh light, based on personal feelings about the morality of the crime they committed. Buxbaum, however, doesn't do this, and instead, writes nuanced characters, which blurs the line for the reader between righteous indignation and understanding their point of view. The interest of the book isn't to condemn the real life counterpart, but to allow you, as the reader, to think about how the affected child (or siblings of that child) may feel about the situation.

Buxbaum makes two particularly interesting points to this regard in Admission. She talks about when a person no longer is thought of as a person by the general population, but as "a meme". That they're so far removed from how we view our lives that we cease to empathize. She also says "People forget that about novels. It's not our job to like our main character. It's our job to try and understand them." And I think she does a great job of this with Chloe, our protagonist.

Chloe is the stand-in for all of the kids whose parents cheated their way into college for them. She is intriguing and compelling as a main character. You feel for her as she starts to question what is happening or if her parents think she's too stupid to do the work herself. I appreciated the dive into what makes someone an accomplice and when does suspicion become knowledge. To go back to that meme quote from earlier, Chloe also reminded me of some of the memes I saw surrounding Lori Loughlin's daughter when the news first broke. It really made me think about the way we treat people based on status and whether or not initial reactions are fair.

Additionally, I liked the way relationships were developed in the book. Chloe and her best friend, Shola, have both a deep and superficial friendship, depending on the way you look at it. Her relationship with her sister, Isla, and the student she volunteers with, Ceasar, are also really well-written.

All in all, I give this book a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars. It was gripping from beginning to end and very thoughtful about its source material. This book is 10,000% worth your time to go pick up.

Popsugar reading prompt: A book with a pink cover

Julie Buxbaum is an amazing writer and every book she has written, I have LOVED. Admission is no different: chock full of real-life based characters involved in a crazy (yet actually very possible) situation. This book is basically a fictionalized story of current Hollywood stars and college admissions scandal participants Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, combined. The story is written from the POV of high school senior Chloe, daughter to a famous actress and business mogul living in Los Angeles. Chloe is just beginning the very stressful and lengthy process of applying to colleges and is doubting herself and her academics because of her less than perfect SAT scores and merely average grades. Any family who has been through this process knows how difficult it is and how it can adversely affect even the best student's self image and confidence. Famous, rich families are no different, or at least they shouldn't be..... Also, Chloe attends an elite school where most of the students strive for outstanding grade, are involved in multiple activities/sports and are expected to attend an number of top-notch universities. Not only are her two closest friends both of this mindset, but so is her incredibly brilliant younger sister--all which does not fair well for Chloe's own average-ness or quest for mediocrity. Chloe's parents are introduced to a private college admissions advisor who does everything possible to get her into her dream school (SCC--definitely a make-believe USC)--for a large price, which they pay. Chloe retakes the SAT and scores much higher than she had initially. Her essay is edited by the admission advisor's staff without her actual knowledge and there are several bold faced lies on her application as a whole. Her entire application is submitted by someone else, and although she does have some idea what is going on....Chloe basically chooses to ignore any inkling she feels of wrongdoing on her or her family's part. Sadly, someone else doesn't ignore it, and her mother is arrested and charged with several crimes related to her college application and amazingly much-improved SAT score, that, surprisingly, she actually did not get all by herself. Chloe blames herself because she coasted through high school without really trying and did the bare minimum. Her family starts to fall apart. Lawyers are constantly in their home. Her mother is facing jail time. She loses all of her friends. Her sister helps her as much as she can, but is also having a really hard time with the family breakdown. Sadly, Chloe feels like she forced her parents to pay for her inflated application because she just isn't smart enough to do it on her own and they had no choice. The ending of the book is one I would like to see in real life in the case of Lori Loughlin who claims she is innocent and was only trying to be a good mother and do what was best for her kids. Right. We'd ALL like to have an IN to a prestigious college and be able to get our kid in without suffering through the process, but that's not how it works. No matter how much money a person has. Eventually Chloe and her family start to recover from the entire scandal, and in spite of losing friends, jobs and fame, they begin to heal. Chloe starts to find her way as a young adult. Her sister excels on her own. Ironically, my own daughter was applying to colleges last year and had an excruciating time applying and then waiting to hear back from the colleges, in spite of her spotless academic record, four years of extracurricular & sports and almost perfect test scores which everyone seemed to think would get her into all of her top choices. This scandal seriously hurt the chances every high school senior applying to college last year. Colleges really clamped down and it was harder than ever to secure a spot especially at the Ivy Leagues and the more prestigious colleges out there. I personally think that these parents should be punished because what they did was WRONG and it hurt many others, and if their kids knew what was going on (really, how could they not???), it is really, really sad because all the hardworking, honest seniors from last year really took the brunt of the fall here. I read this book in one day and I highly recommend it to everyone! Buxbaum is an amazing author. I absolutely can not wait to read her next novel.........thanks TONS to NG for the ARC!!!

Admission is indeed inspired by the college admission scandal that has caught actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman in it's grasp. This is the story of Chloe Berringer who opens the door one early morning to find police ready to arrest her mother a popular actress on charges that she went through illegal means to help Chloe get accepted to a prestigious college. While the events in the story are familiar to those who have been following the real life situation, I found that Chloe's voice was the most exciting thing about the novel. I think it was wise of Ms. Buxbaum to ground Chloe (not make her the most beautiful, popular girl in school) and instead have her more of a normal girl (though one of course with privilege). I definitely can see myself recommending this to our teen patrons who love popular culture and want a peek inside of a situation that they have heard about.

Enjoyed this book as it provided me with a different perspective on the cheating scandal and how much parents' poor decisions can affect their children. Raises a lot of interesting questions. Would have liked to have seen more about how the mom's relationship with her best friend played out, but all in all a thought-provoking read that isn't heavy.

I mean someone HAD to write a book about the college admissions scandal, and I'm glad it was Julie Buxbaum. She took an eye-roll worthy news story and turned it into a touching ya novel. Admission focuses on the toll the scandal took on the student at the center. Chloe wasn't privy to every decision her parents made regarding her test scores and admission but suffered the price. I was surprised at how much I enjoy this story. I really liked Chloe! This story could've easily been cheesy and silly but it was a surprisingly heartwarming YA novel about family.

Julie Baxbaum has become a "must read" author for me, and I can see how this book captivated her as a writer. In the introduction, Baxbaum outlines how she started working on this book when halfway through another book because the characters kept calling to her.

Chloe and the rest of the Berringer family called out to me and kept me up way past my bedtime reading about the timely story of a family wrestling with the moral complexities and aftermath of what happens when you push love too far? When Chloe's family gets wrapped up in a college admissions scandal that closely mirrors current headlines, readers are left to wonder how far is too far and what decisions can be forgiven?

Many thanks to Julie Baxbaum, NetGalley, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Let me start off by saying that I love Julie Buxbaum.  I absolutely adore everything I've read of hers.  Tell Me Three Things was an immediate favorite, and I devoured What to Say Next just as quickly.  I thought she could do not wrong. 

But honestly, Admission fell a little flat for me.  Maybe because of the "ripped from the headlines" aspect, I felt like this story has already been told.  I didn't particularly like or dislike Chloe.  I just wasn't that interested and didn't know why I should care what happened to her and the rest of her family.  Was she complicit?  Or did she just turn a blind eye?  Or was she just so sheltered, privileged and naive that it didn't occur to her that this isn't how things are done?  I don't know if any one of those options is better than the others. And really, I just couldn't find a reason to care about Chloe or Shola or Levi.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Julie Buxbaum does it again. She can write a flawed character like nobody's business. This timely story about a girl and her family becoming entangled in a college admissions scandal was intriguing and well-paced.

The flashes between life before and after the scandal provided context and made the characters seem more human. Even though they were wealthy and famous, they were still just a flawed family. Chloe coming to terms with her privilege showed real growth, and I found her character arc touching and believable.

Julie Buxbaum highlights a topic that is relevant today; the college admissions scandal. The main character, Chloe, is daughter of a B-list actress and a mediocre student who attends a private school in LA. Chloe is a likable character, although I went back and forth between feeling empathy towards her and being annoyed at her naivety. As someone who has followed the real-life college admissions scandal from the beginning, this novel gave me a different perspective on the situation.

I enjoyed Buxbaum’s writing style and the alternating timeline of the story (partially “now” after the scandal and partially told “then” prior to the scandal).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of Admission in exchange for an honest review.

A very timely novel revolving around a rich family who are involved in the college admission scandal. It was interesting to see the impact of this scandal from the perspective of a teen at the center of it as well as her close friends and little sister. With the recent scandal plastered all over the media, the teens' stories haven't been heard. This novel takes a hard look at entitlement and culpability. Another great read from Julie Buxbaum. Loved the nameless nod to Felicity Huffman. :-)

This book! What a fun, quick ride. I loved the parallels with the real life admissions scandal going on right now. The author threw in so many little Easter eggs and it was so much fun to find them!

The pacing of the story was perfect. I really ended up loving the main character despite her flaws. I loved the powerful message at the end. All in all, I learned more than I thought I would from this.

3.75 stars rounded up to 4. Thanks for the chance to read this early. I’ll be posting a full review on my IG account closer to pub date.

A strong 3.5 stars. I love Julie’s books and was intrigued by the personal understanding that it gave me in regards to the current college admissions scandal, but it moved a bit slow for me. I didn’t crave it, but I did enjoy the experience.

Great story about privilege and being white and navigating the college system. Slight romance and loved the family. I loved that it showed the real things that happened. I love Isla and her half brother and his addiction. Great story and loved that it showed the real people in this real controversy. It almost seemed that the mother was like aunt Becky but she made the better choice.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy/

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Full Review Coming Closer to Release Date.

I really enjoyed this book. I've been fascinated by the college admissions scandal and I think this book used it as a really effective plotline. I thought all the characters were well-developed and intriguing.

I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Chloe and Isla and I think the book explained how Chloe could simply not know that this was happening. I also like that it doesn't really have a happy ending. She lost her best friend and her boyfriend. She realizes that she's privileged and oblivious and it isn't a victim-less crime.

This was really one of the better YA books I've ever read. It tackles a current issue. It studies it from a teen perspective. It does so with depth, understanding and humor and it doesn't make light of the situation. It was really good.

"Under all this lies the terrible quicksand of fear. What if they are right? What if it's true that we are terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad people? If I allow myself to dip my toes into that idea, that I am not actually the hero of my own story but a villain, I quickly find myself neck deep."

This YA novel imagines what it would be like to be a kid whose parents cheated and broke the law to get you into college. Told in the first person through 17-year-old Chloe's eyes, we bounce back and forth in the timeline: Then and Now.

Do Chloe's parents think she's too stupid to get into college without their actions? What were they thinking? What's the fallout of cheating on your SATs and pretending to be a champion pole vaulter?

We get that and some additional extremely privileged teen stress in this book as Chloe comes to realize just how ridiculously good she has it, even when her life hits rock bottom.

Fans of Buxbaum's other YA work will enjoy some cameo appearances from characters from Tell Me Three Things and some references to things from her other books.

Buxbaum realizes that it's going to be tough for the reader to like or care about Chloe and her family. She uses a teacher discussing Crime and Punishment to tell us, "...we know Raskolnikov's capable of monstrous things. We don't have to like him. People forget that about novels. It's not our job to like our main character. It's our job to try to understand them. Let's be honest, most people are deeply unlikable."

I didn't quite like Chloe, but I did come to understand her and her parents a bit more. I wish the book included more of her friend, Shola, and perhaps explored her perspective a bit more (Shloa comes from a different, far less privileged background and calls Chloe on her BS regularly).

If you're wanting to get in the head of a rich white girl and imagine what being at the center of the college admissions scandal might be like, you might enjoy this one. There was a bit of schadenfreude on my part, I'll...admit...to that. I read this while on vacation, and I think it makes a good beach read.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's for providing me with an electronic review copy in exchange for my review.

Just finished Julie Buxbaum’s latest book Admission, and while it was not my favorite of JB’s books (Tell me Three things will always reign supreme,) it was still an enjoyable book.
Admission tells the story all of us who have been fascinated with the college admissions scandal want to hear, but from the inside. The book starts off at the beginning when Chloe Wynn Berringer gets an wakeup call with the arrest of her mother, who apparently has paid a lot of money to get Chloe into the college of her dreams…or at least the college Chloe thinks is her dream. The best part of this book is that Chloe is written like every other teenage girl in that she is ordinary. She doesn’t have some master skill or breathtaking beauty that makes all of her flaws seem ok. She is just like everyone else, she doesn’t know what the heck she wants to do with her life, she doesn’t even know what she should want to do, but she does know that she doesn’t want to disappoint her parents. Julie Buxbaum does a great job of helping you relate to a character that for most of us everyday people cannot relate to. She is spoiled, entitled (not intentionally so), and just coasting through life hoping that her future will just land in her lap. Chloe is generally a relatable and likeable character because she is kind, generous and a normal kid whose mother just happens to be famous. The book does a great job of walking you through Chloe’s feelings and thought processes through what has got to be one of the most world shaking moments of her life. She asks herself questions that, you dear reader, are asking yourself like. “How could you not know?” “Are you really that dumb to not figure it out?” “What are you going to do?” and the doozy “Can deliberate ignorance really be bliss?”
I always judge a book based on how much the desire to read the book pulls me from my everyday life. Is it so good that my family is fending for themselves and eating pizza for dinner? Well this book was good, very good, but it was more of an “I want to finish my book, but I will heat up some leftovers in the microwave for you, while I continue to read”. The writing was great, the book flowed really well, and at no point did I check my percentage read to see how much I had left to read. I give this book a 4 out of 5 and would recommend to anyone who loves Julie Buxbaum’s previous books or YA in general.

#admissions #JulieBuxbaum #reader #books #bibliophile

This story is based off the college admission that rocked Hollywood recently. Admission is based on Chloe, a high school senior, who is applying for colleges. The story is told in then, as she is taking the SATs and applying for college, and now, as her mother has been arrested and she faces the fallout of the scandal. I did like how this story focused on the high schooler and what she experienced throughout this process.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of this text in exchange for an honest review.