This was a fascinating read, even though it was all truly fictional. Based on the recent college admissions scandals in the worlds of the rich and famous, Julie Buxbaum wrote an engaging story from the perspective of the child of what happens when the rich use money to their advantage. I enjoyed Chloe’s character...her friends, not so much. But all in all, I enjoyed the read!

A very timely read. As with other books by this author, I am looking forward to adding this to my class library.

DNF @ 35%

I can't read anymore of this book. I didn't have super high expectations while going in, but I also didn't expect to be so worked up over a book either. I'm sure the main character Chloe will better understand her privilege and all that by the end of the book, but I'm not interested in that development because a part of me just feels like she should have known. I don't feel bad or empathize with her because what she did to get into the mess she's in was on her. When there were signs, such as getting a 240 point increase on her SAT score, she should have talked to someone about it. I'm not sure if I couldn't relate to the characters because I'm not part of some high class society or a parent, but my parents always preached to me about hard work and learning things to do on my own. Personally, this book was not for me and I couldn't go on reading it.

Thank you for kindly sending me an advanced copy of this book, I hope other readers were able to get more from it than I was.

Although fictional, this was a fascinating look at how having money can jade our view on life. I was angry for most of the novel because of the real-life news scandal of celebrities paying for their children to have guaranteed access to Ivy League schools. The author mentions these stories were the muse of this story. Along the way, I felt some big feelings for the daughter(s) being caught up in their parents actions. I appreciated the diverse characters that were written in for a glimpse at those that work to earn their way.

Thank you to the publisher through Netgalley for an advanced copy.

Admission is a young adult novel that mirrors the admission bribery scandal of overprivileged, rich kids that have everything handed to them by parents who are willing to cheat the system to push their children above everyone else. Chloe Wynn Berringer was thrilled to be going to the perfect school while dating her dream guy. She had a famous mother and strong friendships. Then at a blink of an eye, her entire world comes crashing down and nothing makes sense.

This relevant story shines a light on the characters who played a key role in the unraveling of their lives. It was written in real time and the past until it finally catches up to the current moment that it began. You see the realization of how life can snowball and spiral out of control without paying attention.

I really enjoyed Chloe's character and her evolution as she reflected on what was happening and how life wasn't really what it seemed. Could there be something positive from so much loss?

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's Delacorte Press for allowing me to read this book for an honest review.

4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it.

This books is a fictionalized version of the "Varsity Blues Scandal" that tore through headlines about parents paying for raised test scores and fake athletic abilities to get their kids into great schools.

This novel takes the perspective of a child who didn't know it was happening, and the toll it takes on her life and relationships. It was written in a style that showed before and after the story broke in alternating chapters, showing what was known and perhaps what should have been known. It also shows what this sort of thing can do to relationships within a family and those of friendships and romance once the story broke.

I really enjoyed the book, and I will be looking for other stories from the author in the future.

Thanks to Random House Children's Delacorte Press and NetGalley for this Advanced Readers Copy.

Admission was a great fictionalized version of the college admissions scandal and I would definitely recommend reading it. It took a good look at privilege and what it's like for people with a lot of money. The book also touched a little on white privilege, but it didn't quite reach what I think the intended goal was.

Chloe started off being a sympathetic character, but towards the end, I was a little disappointed with her choices. I did feel for her when she lost pretty much everything that was important to her. The ending itself was good, I liked how things turned out for each of the sisters.

Julie's writing is great, and her characters were diverse (personality-wise). Each character felt wholly developed, and the Now and Then chapters wove together perfectly. Sometimes I'll read books with flashbacks and feel like they're two completely different stories, but Admission wasn't like that at all.

I'd give this book 4.6 stars overall. It was very good, but there's always room for improvement.

LOVED THIS ripped from the headlines story. The inside look into the College admissions Scandal was shocking. I felt bad For and also disgusted by the MC and her family. The best fiction feels like nonfiction and Admission is one of these books.

I enjoyed this book but it was definitely a guilty pleasure read. It pulls on the recent admissions scandal headlines and follows what happens to the protagonist both pre and post scandal.
I am a fan of Julie Bxubaum's other novels but this one felt a little flat in comparison. There were a few loose ends and I didn't think the alternating time line always worked. The characters at times felt underdeveloped but I will say I vacillated between being over Chloe's privilege and empathetic to her struggle to prove her value to her parents. There could have been nuance to her character or had the novel been written in multiple perspectives it would have rounded out the story well.
Overall, I did enjoy this book and would recommend it if you are looking for a quick YA read

I requested this book on NetGalley because I have read other books by this author and loved them. This book is about Chloe, a senior who is applying for college and gets mixed up in a college application scandal, finding out that her parents paid someone to flub her application, essay, and SAT scores.

The book goes back and forth between what Chloe witnessed and experienced leading up to the FBI knocking on her door, and the aftermath of what happened once her mom gets taken into custody. Her mom is released back home, but it's clear that the legal repercussions are huge.

I remember hearing about the college admissions scandal in real life, but I never understood the situation or did much research into what actually happened. I like how this book took a real event and fictionalized it in such a way that the characters have to come to terms with what they did, while also making the reader understand that they are people, too. The book does touch on some difficult subjects; for example, Chloe's best friend, Shola, works hard to get into the same college that Chloe applies to, but Chloe gets in instead of her black, low income friend. There are a few instances in the novel when Shola points out to Chloe that she has white privilege and is using it without realizing it, and the explosion of their friendship in light of what Chloe's parents did felt very real.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend!

I tried picking up this book several times and just couldn't get through it. The writing was fine, but it was much too similar to the Varsity Blues scandal to be interesting to me. I would have preferred that the story had more differences from the actual events. But this kind of book just isn't my cup of tea.

I like books about cheating rings and college admissions so I've been looking forward to reading the inevitable fictional takes on the recent celebrity college admissions scandal, and this book delivered a satisfying one. I don't anticipate this title having an especially long backlist life, but it was a fun enough read so I would recommend buying for a YA collection.

This is a thought provoking fictionalization based on the recent college admissions scandal. It is told alternating between before the scandal and after. It is a book you will not want to put down.

I loved this book. Like Julie, I was obsessed with the college admission scandal so I really enjoyed this fictional up close and personal account of a similar situation. I liked how she made the MC a flawed character. I hated to put this one down.

I was so excited for this book after loving everything else Julie Buxbaum has written. I wish I had got into it not thinking about her other books, because this one was really nothing like them.

I like Chloe’s relationship with her sister, and I thought the scam seemed interesting at first, and definitely hyped up after the last year or two of real life scandals. But it just didn’t end up seeming that scandalous. It wasn’t exciting to see Chloe’s essay rewritten by an adult, or watching her retake the SATs.
I liked the idea of the plot, but in the end, it was an average book. I didn’t love the jumping between timelines (until the very end, where I thought it worked well). I also think lots of the characters were underdeveloped, including our MC. I thought Chloe’s group chat with the other kids would turn into a major plot point, but I thought it ended up falling flat and not adding anything to the story. The book was also too long. This won’t stop me from reading Julie’s other books in the future, but this won’t be a book I reread.

Incredibly timely, "ripped from the headlines" book. I will very likely add this to my collection when it is published.

This is a story following a fictional version of the real life college admissions scandal that took place recently. It was really interesting to see everything unpacked and to also see what the author predicted for a conclusion to a case that only just closed in the last month or two. This was a fascinating peek into the white privilege that dominates academia and the lengths people will go to in order to ensure the outcomes they want.

Admission was a good read by Julie Buxbaum. Chloe is on her way to the college of her dreams and is the daughter of a B-list Hollywood celebrity. Her life was great until the FBI came knocking and changed her future forever. Her mother is under arrest in a massive college bribery scandal and Chloe could possibly face charges as well. She winds up questioning everything as her life changes drastically. This was a good read and I can't wait to read more by the author.

Can not give a review of this book because I am a member of the Florida Teens Read Committee but I have added it to the "long list" for consideration.

Rating: 4 stars

I love a good scandal, so when I saw this book revolved around the college admittance one, I was sold. Give me that good ol’ celebrity drama!

Truth be told, despite being intrigued by the premise, I really didn’t expect much going into this one. Perhaps it’s good I didn’t, because it was such a pleasant surprise when I realized I was enjoying the novel and the way it handled the subject matter. Watching the story unfold from the eyes of Chloe Berringer, the wealthy, naive 17-year-old daughter of a well-loved B-list celebrity, definitely gave me a perspective of the real-life scandal that I hadn’t really considered. And though I thought I would get annoyed at the chapters for alternating between “then” and “now”, I ultimately thought this was a great choice—I found my own opinion of Chloe and her family shifting as the past reframed the present, and vice versa.

“Admission” doesn’t shy away from the reality of wealth and the influence it has in the US, which was evident in many aspects of the Berringer’s lives but also very much so in Shola and Chloe’s friendship (which was, incidentally, my favorite part of this book). We so often discuss how race, class, and cultural differences can impact our romantic relationships but rarely apply that same logic to our friendships. The problem, of course, wasn’t that the two came from different backgrounds but that Chloe clearly did not fully understand where Shola was coming from and constantly crossed the line because she was oblivious to her own heightened social status. She never batted an eye at the privileges she received daily, despite being surrounded by people who didn’t reap those same benefits.

Altogether, this was a fun, easy read that ended up being more thoughtful than I expected it to be. And again, what’s more fun than a scandal?