I'll admit it. I got caught up in the drama.

This book is loosely based on the recent scandal involving celebs/very rich people buying and bribing their kids' way into college. I followed the real life scandal for a day or two before I grew tired of it. But this book did a great job of showing the story from a different point of view.

This does not mean it made apologies for or tried to justify the fact that people cheat their way into an acceptance letter. All it did was show the fall out that this fictional family dealt with. And while the main character, Chloe, started out as pretty unlikable, she definitely grew and became less awful by the end. Still a little terrible, but so much better than the beginning.

I did love her sister, Isla, and her best friend, Shola. Both of these girls made Chloe open her eyes to see that, while she didn't actively take a role in the crime, she definitely didn't do anything to stop it. They were good people to have in her life.

*I just saw that this title was pushed back to December from the original May publish date*

This book is the first for me by this author Julie Buxbaum and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher I received this ARC copy!

Chloe is a senior and is studying her butt off for the SAT’s. She’s also the daughter of a Hollywood actress, so she has to have good scores to go to an “elite” college. Having a genius sister doesn’t help, because she’s younger and they don’t really hang out.
And she’s also a friend to Shola and Levi who are both geniuses. The pressure is on!

But Chloe doesn’t want to go to a big college. She’s already in the bottom ranks with her grades in high school and doesn’t like learning. Even the counselor in school told her she shouldn’t aim for the big ones. This is her first big challenge.

Her parents want only the best, so money is spent, a new medical condition is fabricated and the SAT score is altered.

But in one moment she has it all (a great family, an awesome best friend, a boyfriend she’s been crushing on since 7th grade and the college admission her parents wanted for her) and in the next it’s all over.

In the NOW parts of the book, you can tell what’s going on and where her friends are. The THEN flashbacks are a bit “boring”, so I skipped some parts.

All in all it was an interesting read and what maybe some families went through during this time and that maybe some kids where clueless or didn’t actually have a say.

This was really interesting. I have seen the college admissions scandal, but I didn't think about the children of the adults who lied, how they maybe didn't know what was going on and the ways they've been affected by this. I liked that they story jumped back and forth between now, when the scandal breaks, and before when Chloe was taking her SAT and started to see that something wasn't quite right.

Chloe has lived a privileged life, with no challenges or hardships until now. She doesn't try in school and doesn't have the grades or SAT score to get into an elite college. That's not a problem for Chloe, she's fine with going to a less prestigious school, but for her parents it's unacceptable. Chloe doesn't have the guts to stand up to her parents. so she goes along with the college advisor they hire, even when she suspects something shady is happening.

This is a good commentary on privilege, wealth, and how biased the education system is. Why is it legal to buy a building to get your child into college and take someone else's spot? Is prison the best punishment for a crime like this instead of paying a debt to society in the form of community service and fines? Also, at what point does a child stand up to their parents instead of believing that mom and dad know best?

This read quickly and I liked the characters, especially Isla who seemed like the only level headed person in the whole story. Chloe had to grow up and realize that parents make mistakes and you need to decide for yourself how your future will play out.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book.

This is the perfect summer read, a straight ripped the headlines take on the Admissions scandal. Enjoyed every moment of the book, even with the incorporations of flashbacks.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press Publishing for letting me read and review this intriguing story.
This was a first for me by this author, Julie Buxbaum, and she was great. This was pretty well written and pulled from the headlines with the recent ongoing college admissions scandal that was in the news.
It was a different and unique story using that scandal in the news as inspiration about what it might have been like for those involved in the real-life scandal or what it could be like for those involved in that type of scandal. It talks about and addresses the difference between the rich and the average or poor and how they might react and handle this kind of scandal differently. There were a lot of different issues mentioned and addressed with this story between the MC, Chloe, and her best friend, Shola, and the differences in their lifestyles, access to things, white/rich privilege, and race especially between the two best friends.
There were a lot of things that I hadn't thought about as far as everything this could entail in a person's life if they were involved in this kind of scandal and how it might affect them as an individual, their family, their friends. It was very intriguing and interesting to look at things from a different perspective of what might have or could have been for the daughter of the mother who bribed someone for the daughter to get into college much like what happened in the news recently.
There is a lot examined and shown from different points of view with the characters in the family with how they might feel especially how the daughter might feel finding out her parents had bought her way into college. How this kind of thing could affect the family, their relationships with each other and their friends/boyfriends, and so forth.
It was a lot to cover and it was covered well and caused me to stop and think what would I have done if I was the mother - would there be anything that would make me want to buy my child's way into college, which I can't think of anything that would make me want to buy my child's way in, how would I feel if my parents had bought my way into college - thankfully they didn't because that would have been very hard to take or deal with had my parents done something like that when I was applying to college in the past.
Anyway, I digress, suffice it to say this is a thought-provoking and well-written story that causes you to reflect, think, and consider how you might feel or what you might do or what you might have done. How it would be different for the rich compared to the rest of us to even be able to consider let alone do something like this and how someone might have to reflect and decide on their feelings with if they were being complicit in the situation and where their moral compass was at in regards to this kind of situation as well.
If you've been intrigued by this college admissions scandal that was recently in the news, or like this author, or anything, this is a book not to be missed. It's cerebral and a bit deeper than you might think after getting into it but it's very interesting to read and think about what could have or might have happened the way she spins it with her characters experiencing the scandal in this story.

Admission is pulled right from the headlines and I loved every minute of it. Chloe wakes up to a knock on the door only to find the FBI ready to take her B list mother into custody. The novel flips back and forth between present day and months leading up to the public event. Chloe learns about her families role in a large college admission scandal and is not sure how much she really knew.

Issues of race/class are addressed throughout the book between Chloe and her best friend. Chloe learns of the difficulties her friend has had to endure even though she has a stronger admission application.

This is a great YA book that brings up issues in going on in high schools and families right now.

Chloe Berringer, the privileged daughter of a B-list actress, has lived a life of wealth, comfort and ease. Now that she is in her senior year of high school, the expectations for her to continue her education at a prestigious school are high. Chloe, however, wants to kick back and enjoy her senior year, plus there is also the fact that she really doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. After odd comments from her parents that do not really register, a meeting with a new "college advisor," and getting a fake ADHD diagnosis so that she can be allowed extra time on the SAT, Chloe realizes something is up, but chooses to stay behind the shield of ambivalence and the power her parents' wealth and notoriety bring and enjoy that she was finally admitted to the school of her dreams. Then the FBI arrived to arrest her mother.

This book is a fictional account of "Operation Varsity Blues," the recent college admissions scandal. The story seems modeled on Lori Loughlin's family and closely follows events that really happened.

What I liked best about this book is Chloe's growth and realization that she is very sheltered and life has not been hard on her. She also begins to realize how much she has taken her lifestyle for granted. Several times she stated that she never really had an event in her life that was difficult or had an experience in which she had to overcome adversity. Chloe further begins to understand how far reaching the affects of her privileged advantages are on others when her best friend, Shola, a financial aid student at their elite private school, is wait-listed for schools she should clearly have received early admission for based on her scholarship and extra-curricular activities. Her spot conceivably went to Chloe or other privileged kids, who cheated their way into being admitted to the schools.

At first, Chloe and her family do not understand how their actions were wrong, not just morally and ethically, but also legally. They couldn't figure out how it was ok for families to "buy a building" or bestow a hefty endowment to a school to secure admission for a child was any different than fudging test scores, sports achievements or other accomplishments that would place them at the top of the admission stack. The validity of this defense is easy to agree with, and it is unfortunate that our legal system has many open loopholes. This book also makes very clear that in America, the expectation for the children of wealthy, privileged families is that they continue their wealthy, privileged lives simply because of wealth and privilege while the ones who have to work harder for success also need a bit of plain and simple luck to get ahead. Sometimes it feels like the American way has become being born into your advantages and disadvantages and hard work no longer changes that. This book and the real college admission scandal underscores the unfairness of this reality.

I enjoyed this story and was intrigued as I have followed the real life ongoing of the college admissions scandal. Julie Buxbaum is a new author to me and I will be reading more from her. I thought the writing was well paced and kept me interested in the story. I thought the characters were unlikeable, but I expected that with this particular storyline. I just wanted a little more connection and emotion from the story. However, I loved the idea behind this story and I look forward to more from this author.

While "Admission" is a fictional story, as a reader I could not read this book without picturing some of the main players who inspired this tale through their real-life actions. Chloe Wynn Berringer is your average teenager, but in a town that breeds exceptional, average just won't do. Buxbaum does a great job helping the reader experience the stress of the culture-induced college admission process through the lens of both the student and the parents. If everyone is doing it, you should be too. And are you really a good parent if you're not? If you have the finances to do something for your child, should you? Even if it means cheating on top of the less fortunate to achieve it? It's a scandal you'll be familiar with, however "Admission" will make you think about what the true role of a parent is.

This book is about the college admissions scandal. Chloe’s got it all. She’s got rich parents, the boyfriend of her dreams, and she was admitted to the university of her choice.

As she answers the door one day, she’s greeted by the FBI who have come to arrest her mother for paying to get her into college.

Chloe is stunned. Didn’t know this was going on although she thought some of the things the college counselor her parents hired wanted were sort of “off”.

She loses her boyfriend and best friend and her life is turned upside down. Very good book!

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

Admission was an interesting book. I wont lie to you at one point I was a bit bored with everything. Especially when it came to the little flashbacks because this point.. all of Chloe's "friends" ghosted the shit out of her or left her completely alone. So yeah, I didn't really care about her crush and how things were kind of going her way.. when they really weren't.

Other than that, Chloe was an okay character. Not the brightest person out there but it also didn't feel like she even tried at school. I get that studying is hard and not everyone can do it correctly but that's why the world has tutors and studying habits. Also her dream college where all she wanted to do was going to parties, meet people, and possibly lose her virginity aren't great reasons to go to any college.

At some point, Chloe started to think something was wrong. Especially when it came to her SAT scores. It also didn't help that her parents were acting weird and suspicious throughout most of the book. Heck, I even agreed with how Shola was feeling/acting when everyone was acting over-privileged. Yet, I don't agree with how Shola handled their friendship.

Again, here friends weren't the best because of how they handled things. Yeah, her parents screwed up - a lot of parents did. It sucks.. but they shouldn't place the blame on her. The whole thing was kind of sucky and I felt bad for Chloe.

In the end, it was an okay book with a bittersweet ending.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This one was interesting for me, being as though I've just recently gone through the college admissions process with my own daughter. Ms. Buxbaum obviously received inspiration from the recent admissions scandal that rocked the USA, and flipped it in a YA fiction that probably has more than a little basis in fact.

I don't normally do YA, I'm a pretty big fan of romance and this was definitely a different read for me. However, I enjoyed it all the same, the characters weren't all likeable and it felt more real for it. I was held in this interesting state of feeling sorry for the main character of Chloe, while trying to figure if she was complicit in her ordeal...or just privileged and entitled.

The author has a well-flowing nature to her writing style that enabled me to pretty much fly right through the book in an afternoon. Well done. 4 stars

I am really sad that the pub date for this book got pushed back because it so good and timely and juicy and perfect for summer reading! I am sure that it will also be great in December, and I am thrilled I got an early copy! Buxbaum took the story right out the headlines and added voice to the drama. College admission scandal dramatic writing at its very best! As soon as it's available, I am putting it on my shelf!

I became so invested in this smart drama filled family scandal. Admission follows high school senior Chloe as she starts the process of applying for colleges. With an amazing bestfriend, cute new boyfriend and a loving family it seems like Chloe has it all until the FBI show up on her front doorstep. Chloe’s mom, a B list actress has been arrested in her role in the College Admissions Scandal.

Admission is told in the present during the fallout from the scandal, and in the past as Chloe starts the application process for college. I started this the night before Lori Loughlin’s guilty plea. I was so engaged the entire way through. As a previous college athlete I was glued to news when the scandal broke. I loved getting a story based from the viewpoint of a kid of one of the parents who was charged. A gripping sad story filled with love and greed told from the other side of the public eye.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Admission by Julie Buxbaum was captivating and told a different story. We’d seen the headlines when the college admission scandal story broke, the parents being arrested out of their homes and their kids in the middle of it. Buxbaum brought this back to life in this upcoming YA novel through the voice of Chloe, seventeen year old in the middle, who lost her acceptance letter to her dream school because of this scandal. Incredibly well done, strong voice, and great details. Really enjoyed this story and enjoyed YA—which has become an ever changing book audience. Don’t miss this coming soon!

Rating: 4/5 Stars


Admission is a story of privilege, finding your place in the world, recognizing the lines you have crossed and the mistakes you have made, taking responsibility, and, most importantly, learning what it means to grow up. It was a beautiful book full of self-discovery, in characters both young and old, and discussed what it means to truly love someone more than anything.

I personally didn’t have a lot of experience or information on the college admission scandals that have gone on recently, but I loved learning about them through this book. The perspective that Julie Baxbaum chose to tell the story through was honestly amazing. It would have been really easy to write about how wrong everybody was, or even that they weren’t wrong at all. Baxbaum instead chose to take a stance in the middle: they were wrong, but here’s why you can sympathize. At no point was the story sugarcoated or made to seem undeserving of punishment. It was told through a lens of brutal honesty that I adored.

I think my favorite aspect of the book was the grappling all of the characters had to do with the harsh truth of what happened. In reality, it’s extremely hard to accept that you yourself or someone you love is capable of committing such a crime. This was a main topic of the book, and I loved getting to see how they all handled it in different and realistic ways.

I absolutely loved this book, I simply couldn’t put it down once I had started it. It was truly a story that I would describe as beautiful, both in writing and in message.

Special thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's for the Advanced Readers Copy of this book!

Great story line! Perfect YA for summer. Super interesting read following the real life college admissions scandals!

Chloe is overwhelmed. As her senior year is underway, she is worried about getting into a great college. As the privileged daughter of a TV actress and invest banker, she is expected to go somewhere big in the fall. No state school for her. The problem is that Chloe needs a higher SAT score. Chloe is an average girl expected to get into an exceptional school. Enter mom, dad, their money, and an "admissions counselor", which when combined, makes up a recipe for disaster. Loosely based on recent events of the famous college admissions scandal of the rich and wealthy, Admission tells the story of what it's like to be that girl whose parents buy her way into a school. And the first she knows about it is when the FBI is knocking on their door at six in the morning.

I really enjoyed this book! It was easy to read and hard to put down. I loved the characters, especially Chloe, her sister, Isla, and Chloe's best friend Shola. Author Julie Buxbaum has a knack for writing characters that are smart, cool, and relatable. Admission examines the privilege that comes to the wealthy and powerful, and reminds us that oftentimes, privilege for some cheats others out of what they have earned.

I would recommend this book to any high school or college-aged girl, anyone who follows entertainment current events, and those interested in the legal system or court cases. Middle school girls may enjoy this as well, although there are a few references made to more mature content.

Thank you to Random House Children's for the advanced reader's copy of this book.

This book was compulsively readable. A (fictional) inside look at the college admissions scandal, Admission is a story that takes a close look at the themes of culpability, ignorance, and privilege. The story begins with the main character Chloe opening the door to the FBI, who have arrived to take her mother into custody for the crime of bribery regarding Chloe's college application process. What follows is an examination on Chloe's part of how much she really knew, how much she should have known, and how much she can blame on being "aggressively oblivious". The book rotates between "then" and "now", giving us a lens into Chloe's process of coming to new knowledge about her parents, her sister, and herself.

I really appreciated how this book treats the issue of taking responsibility, without coming to conclusions that feel too neat and tidy. I think this book is an important addition to the YA canon, and am glad to have had the opportunity to read it.

This book starts with the FBI storming Chloe's house to arrest her B-list-actress-mother for bribing her way into California State College and paying for a better SAT score than she could earn on her own. Chloe is startled and spends the story shifting between NOW and THEN trying to figure out what happened, what she knew, and where things went wrong in what she thought was a near-perfect life, suddenly gone awry. Not only is her mom in legal trouble, but there's a chance she could go to jail too.

Ripped from the headlines, Admission examines the college cheating scandal not from the perspective of the adults but from the kids who were helped into their "dream' schools and the nightmare that follows in the aftermath of being revealed to friends and classmates who lose all respect for them.