This was a very interesting take on a case that had the entire country holding its breath. I vividly remember hearing about the Olivia Jade case, and it’s been rattling around my head this year too as I filled out my numerous college applications.
However, the story takes a very nuanced approach to the fraud. Chloe is far too relatable, to be honest. She is no genius, but she knows her grades could be better if she worked harder. She just isn’t too interested in school, and she doesn’t quite have a passion. She’s come to terms with her averageness at this stage in life, but she’s queasy about the thought of disappointing her parents. Still, she knows that she is loved, and she’s positive that they’ll get over it. Besides, she knows that she’s well-off and her college education doesn’t really matter. Despite all this, her parents have high expectations for her and she doesn’t quite know how to tell them that … she’s not that smart. But when her SAT score jumps 250 points and her dream college accepts her, she chalks it up to luck and moves on with her life.
It’s this simplicity that makes the reader sympathetic to Chloe. We begin to feel her insecurities, surrounded by hard workers and geniuses at one of the most elite high schools in the country. We feel her joy and relief when she doesn’t have to disappoint her friends and parents. But Chloe knows that she didn’t deserve it. She genuinely thinks that something is wrong, she just doesn’t know exactly what it is. She’s a kind and simple soul whose one true love is volunteering to read to younger children. She’s not super woke but she’s honestly trying. She sometimes forgets how privileged she is, but she does her best to be mindful. She’s not perfect, but she never sets out with the intention to do harm. Yet she’s also comfortable. She ignores the warning signs and goes with the flow. She doesn’t stand up for herself. And in that way, she is complicit. Her sorrow that her parents didn’t believe in her strength hurts acutely, as does her shame in having this exact shortcoming broadcasted publicly.
The dual timeline of this novel is also a great way of keeping things from getting boring. Because we know what’s coming, it would be insanely tiring to read the story in chronological order. Still, knowing what Chloe’s life was like before the scandal blew up is important. That’s how we find out exactly how much she knew. That’s how we find out who her friends were, what kind of person she was. That’s how we find out exactly how this entire scam took place under her nose. So the dual timeline serves its purpose very well. We get to find out how Chloe and her family are dealing with the fallout and how the legal process is unfolding, while alternating chapters fill us in on how and why her parents committed this crime.
The characters in this book really help bring it to life. Chloe’s best friend Shola is the African American scholarship student (of course). She keeps Chloe grounded by checking her privilege. Whether it’s educating her about the FAFSA, having to cancel plans because she has to tutor her younger siblings so that they can get into the private school on scholarship, or just spending all her time at Chloe’s house because her house is too crowded, Shola is Chloe’s foil. It might seem like too much at times (does Shola also have to dress differently that everyone else at school??) but I think it speaks to Chloe’s character. She is genuinely a sweetheart, and she chose to be friends with Shola. She genuinely wants to learn from her, to support her, and it’s clear that a lot of Chloe’s growth comes from this relationship. Shola is also a Harvard-bound genius, so she constantly makes Chloe feel even more worthless in comparison. The Before also focuses a lot on Chloe’s crush/boyfriend Levi, and it often devolves into stereotypical teen romantic drama territory. This mainly serves to reveal how uncomplicated Chloe is; she’s just awkward and sweet and not super ambitious. Levi, by the way, is also a Harvard-bound genius, but he’s rich.
No surprise here, but the heavyweight players turn out to be Chloe’s family. The story does a good job of humanizing a famous actress and putting all of her hard work and insecurities on display. Make no mistake; Chloe has a very loving family. The rising star, however, is her younger sister Isla. She is also a—you guessed it—genius. This just makes Chloe feel even worse because she knows that her parents would never feel a need to bribe Isla’s way into college. Chloe mainly brushes her know-it-all, matter-of-fact sister out of the way, but she slowly begins to realize that her sister has struggles of her own as well. The family dynamic of this story becomes more and more important as the case plays out.
Overall, this book really works to show another side of the college admissions scandal. While many people, including me, were absolutely furious when this news broke, Admission helps us empathize. At no point does the book try to defend the fraud. Instead, the story exposes the motivations and systems that pushed people into these crimes. If only for that, it’s a compelling read. Paired with a genuinely amiable protagonist and a gorgeous cover, I’d definitely recommend Admission!

This is a ripped from the headlines story!! Admission is an account of a fictional family facing the fall out. Fast-paced and emotional, this was a story that I didn't want to put down. The characters are well developed, and the stress and pressure that Chloe, her sister, and her friends all feel will definitely resonate with teens. Thank you netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for review.

I have thoroughly enjoyed Julie Buxbaum's other books, but this one is the best one yet. Reading that Buxbaum came up with the idea based on the present-day college scandal made it that much more interesting. I could not put the book down and felt like I was watching E! News the whole time. This story, which is one we have all seen, tells you it from a different perspective. With that being said, it comes with many lessons that I will be thinking about continuously. Great read and quick read!

What a relevant novel after the recent scandal made national headlines last year. I really enjoyed that this was done through the student's perspective to give an idea of how the students/children may be handling the situation. This whole topic is something that needs to continue to be brought to the spotlight so we can hopefully see major changes. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank NetGalley, Random House Children’s and author Julie Buxbaum for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

What an important and relevant novel! This is an awesome take on the most recent college admissions scandal involving Full House star Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. This story was well developed and it was interesting to be able to see the child’s point of view. As with the most recent publicized scandal, you really only get to see the parent’s point of view. In Admission, we get to see Chloe’s take on everything. I also enjoyed the dual timelines; we get to see what happens before the scandal breaks and then what happens afterwards. This was totally different from what I normally read, and I really enjoyed it. I found the perspective enlightening and educational.

Thank you to those named above for allowing me to read and review this ARC!

This book was a good look into the child’s side of this issue. It had to be a hard place to sit for many of these children, but I think it reflected the position (of some of the students at least) really well. Buxbaum did not disappoint.

Admission, Julie Buxbaum’s upcoming novel, is an exciting take on the college admissions scandal that exploded only a year ago, when Lori Loughlin, Felicity Huffman, and others were charged with conspiracy to alter the college admissions decisions process. Buxbaum reportedly stopped working on another book, and immediately felt inspired by the scandal to begin work on this story instead - and I’m so glad she did!

When the scandal broke last year, I was fascinated by it and so reading this version of it, from the side of the children who were negatively affected by their parents’ actions, was compelling. Once I started reading about Chloe, I was hooked, and couldn’t put this one down. The story is told in two different timelines - from before the scandal broke, to after Chloe’s mom was arrested by the FBI. It was well-developed and writing the story from the perspective of a high schooler was a smart move on Buxbaum’s part. This story is unlike some of her other work in that everything is not perfectly wrapped up at the end, and I appreciated that she tried to keep it as realistic as possible.

I can’t wait for this one to be published in December of this year and to recommend it to all of my students this fall!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s Delacorte Press for the free electronic ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this title before its release date.

Admission tells a fictionalized take on a very true event: the 2019 College Admissions Scandal was everywhere in the news in early last year, with celebrities like Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin caught up in the scheme. In this story Buxbaum has gone inside what it must be like for a student whose parents paid thousands of dollars to cheat them into college.

You might not immediately think that is a viewpoint you care to read from but it gives an opportunity for our main character Chloe to recognize her own privilege and learn from her and her family's mistakes. This was a pretty good read and I enjoyed what the conversations it had about family, wealth, privilege, the college admissions process, the judicial system, etc. It's not my favorite from Buxbaum but it's a decent read. I think a lot of younger readers will enjoy this one!

I received a copy of ADMISSION on NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to the publisher and author.

Five stars and here’s why:

I love it. I was so excited to receive a copy of this book because Julie Buxbaum is one of my favorite YA authors. I believe students will really connect with this story because it handles the issue of college and the admission process with significant insight into the idea of how race, class, and the inequities of the current system. What works in this book is that the author makes the reader truly feel for all of the characters in the story, and does so with such skill, the reader doesn’t feel like there’s a sermon or moral to the story. It is what it is and that’s life. I totally recommended this book to a lot of students and friends who have kids in high school Highly recommend people read it.

Not all YA books are created equal. I like some but don’t enjoy most. This one, however, is good.
It is about a college admission scandal of a tv star and her daughter, told from the daughter’s perspective. The tone of the book is lighter (aka easy to read) but it looks at this situation with real insight on privilege and celebrity.
I’ve read a few of her other books but this one is the best so far. I really loved the foreword the author wrote that when this scandal hit the news, she was in the middle of another book that she put down because this book came pouring our of her. I love hearing the inspiration for books and it made me go into this book liking its perspective even more.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy.

I am usually a huge fan of this author but this book fell a bit short for me. I liked the beginning but the whole admission scandal just didn't interest me. I didn't feel for the main character or care that this happened because she didn't really care either.
I don't know it just wasn't my favorite.

Admission is a story about a high school senior named Chloe. Chloe has a somewhat famous mother, a great dad, and is living her best life in a lot of ways. She finally has the attention of her long time crush, and she has a great best friend. If it wasn’t for the pressure of her college applications, she’d have it made.

Chloe isn’t the best student, and it looks like all of her dream schools are out of reach. Her mom hires an admission coach to help her get into the college of her dreams. Well, it works because Chloe gets in. But then, the unthinkable happens. Her mom is arrested in a college admissions scam and Chloe’s life is over.


This book navigates Chloe’s before life, and Chloe’s now life. It shows everything leading up to her college acceptance and we get to find out if Chloe knew what was going on all along, or if she’s as innocent as she seems.

Admission was an interesting read and definitely unique from what I normally read. There were things I liked about it, but I never felt completely invested in Chloe’s story. I understood where her family was coming from and why they did the things they did, but I found it difficult to be empathetic for them. Overall, this wasn’t my favorite Julie Buxbaum book but it was still well written and I think a lot of people will love it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED this book! YA is usually hit-or-miss for me, but I was intrigued by its plot line centered around the recent college admissions scandal, and it did not disappoint. I also love it when YA books don't have a romance at their core (don't get me wrong, there is still some romance here, but it's not the focus of the book). I highly recommend this to everyone, teens and adult readers alike!

Review posted on Goodreads on April 21, 2020.

Thanks to partner NetGalley for the digital ARC of Julie Buxbaum’s Admission in exchange for an honest review. The book releases Tuesday, December 1.

“Even villains are allowed nuance” (loc. 3772).

The college admissions scandal of 2019 inspired Julie Buxbaum’s Admission, which focuses on high school senior Chloe, the daughter of television star Joy Fields. Chloe and Isla, her younger sister, have grown up with wealth providing everything they needed, but Chloe is now dealing with the realization that her academics will not gain her admission to the college of her dreams.

Chloe–mostly–accepts this truth . . . but her parents do not. They are accustomed to being able to give Chloe and Isla everything they need or even begin to want. And so they reach out to Joy’s long-time friend Candy, who has recommended an admissions consultant who helped her son.

The novel, told in alternating past and present chapters, moves compellingly through Chloe’s story. As a high school teacher of juniors and seniors, I found Chloe to be quite realistic. She’s not sure what she wants to be, WHO she wants to be, which is not unusual. In her school and her social group, however, this kind of uncertainty is not the norm. Instead, Chloe is an underachiever whose only real, authentic interests are tutoring with Cesar, the young son of an undocumented immigrant; enjoying a beautiful friendship with her brilliant friend Shola; and nurturing a long-time crush on her good friend Levi.

The shifts in time allow us to see both the progression of the admissions scheme and Chloe’s reflection while looking back on it. As she shares her story, she’s constantly pushing herself, questioning what she knew, what she should have known, and how much she is at fault, all while she’s dealing with a multiple of horrible potential futures for her parents, her sister, and herself. I found Chloe to be a wonderful, well-developed, and nuanced character. She’s a character who has been spoiled, and while she’s aware of that fact, there is definitely a level of privilege that she has taken for granted. Her recognition of all that she didn’t see is powerful. I also had not considered the impact of feeling that one’s college possibilities are so dire that they require expensive, and illegal, maneuvers to overcome one’s shortcomings. Chloe’s reflection makes clear that the incredible machinations of her parents have a definite effect on how she views herself.

The secondary characters are also strong: Chloe’s parents clearly are guilty, and yet Buxbaum does a great job in building a family who we come to love. Chloe and her sister Isla aren’t close, but as they deal with the crisis and the fact that so many superficial “friends” have abandoned them, they come to understand and love each other even more.

At the beginning of the book, Buxbaum includes a letter to the reader. She says, “I felt that the scandal was a story about teenagers and their parents, about families, about how the expectations of one generation shape the next. . . . Reading fiction is often an act of empathy–as is writing it” (loc. 3). Buxbaum does an excellent job igniting the reader’s empathy, in helping us to understand–though not to excuse–the actions of each of these characters.

I’m a big fan of Buxbaum’s previous novels, particularly Tell Me Three Things, and Admission is a strong addition to her collection. This book is compelling, compassionate, and thought provoking, asking each of us to consider our complicity in building a system of values that pushes families to act in these ways. Admission made me question my own reactions to the admissions scandal, my own lack of empathy for the teenagers and parents at its center, and the values I’m sharing with my own children. I highly recommend Julie Buxbaum’s Admission for both young adults AND their parents.

Julie Buxbaum is my favorite YA author and she did it once again!!! Admission explores the college admission scandal and did so with tremendous insight. Buxbaum explored themes of race, class, and the inequality in our education system and did so without ever feeling preachy. She explores both sides of the scandal and the reader is able to understand the choices that the parents made - what insight and empathy! Buxbaum knows how teens think and shows their motivations so well.

I have always thought that fiction is a great way to deal with serious, real-life issues - and that is what this story does. Taking the college-admissions scandal and giving life to it, Julie Buxbaum explores the many sides of this issue. While the crime of the parents was wrong, this story imagined what life must be like for the students who cheated into college - whether they knew it or not.

I was provided this book in exchange for my views, the views expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you Random House Children’s And Netgalley for the eARC of Admission!
I love the way Julie Buxbaum writes her characters they feel very real, like people I could’ve met at school. I’ve been very interested in the admissions scandal, and I loved reading this fictionalization- the characters were multifaceted and I ended up being able to see other sides of the story (not just my own outrage).
I also read this right at the beginning of the Stay at Home order, and while Chloe was missing out on senior year for a much different reason, it really helped me sympathize with all the feelings my senior students are feeling.

My favorite BuxBook yet! The story of Chloe, her family, her friends, and the college scandal had me flying through the chapters. Without giving anything away, I loved watching the character arcs in this one. Very well done. A lovely read. 10/10 would recommend. 5 stars all the way.

Having followed Operation Varsity Blues with great interest, I was curious how Buxbaum would approach a YA version of the tabloid tale. Nearly none of the real-life players are at all sympathetic. But man, did Buxbaum knock it out of the park. So often YA characters are all about their goals: they want to go to this college or pursue this career. It was refreshing to sit with a character who genuinely had no idea what she wanted, because I think that's how a lot of teens really are. And Buxbaum hit the perfect balance when it came to complicity. Chloe isn't blameless; both Chloe and readers recognize the role privilege played. But Chloe also wasn't some odious spoiled brat. She was just, as she says, aggressively oblivious and pathologically misunderstood by her parents. This book was funny and heartbreaking and I loved it.

Thanks to netgalley for an early review copy.

This book gave me some serious mixed feelings and had me really thinking about our society’s attitude towards college.

First a quick summary:

Chloe is a senior in high school who as her sister says “is not the brightest bulb in the sea” 😂 and school is a real struggle for her. Her father has a great job and her mother is a B-list tv show celebrity. This has given Chloe and her younger sister Isla all the advantages growing up but now Chloe is about to see the reality of one of those advantage’s consequences.

Chloe’s parents hired people to bribe Chloe’s way into SSC for college. They changed her ethnicity, gave her a sport advantage which was one she had never even tried, had someone write her college admissions essay and even perk up her SAT scores for a higher score.

Chloe seems very naive but is a good person in general. She is somewhat aware something weird is going on but does not understand the full capacity of what is happening until it is basically done already.

I did like this story because not too long ago we had this happen with some tv celebrities and their kids so it was interesting to see it from the kids’ point of view. This was something I never even considered. On the other hand I have to say it didn’t really bother me that much because rich people are always buying their way into certain places. I kind of expected it to be honest. I also did not try to get into any of those top schools so seeing it from someone else’s POV who had worked years to get into that school was interesting.

The thing that really bothered me about this book was Chloe’s best friend Shola. She was honestly a jealous bitchy girl who Chloe was always making excuses for. This is just how I felt so other people might have interpreted this differently. I felt like Chloe always had to put herself down to not offend Shola. After the scandal Shola never talked to Chloe again and this reallu bothered me. Chloe was raised differently and she was oblivious to alot and I don’t think that was her fault. I can understand why Shola would have been upset but honestly you would drop your best friend? Someone who has always been there and supported you over something her parents did? Chloe throughout the story mentioned to certain people that something didn’t feel right and no one said anything seemed sketchy to them.

I also loved the chapters going back and forth between “now” and “then”. The “then” unltimately leads up the opening part of the book. It was a fun concept.

I do love this author and would always be open to reading anything from her! And i recommend this too!