I have been fascinated with the college admissions scandal since the news first broke, and eagerly awaiting a novel stemming from the debacle. Buxbaum masterfully introduces us to a world that intrigues us. I stayed up way past my bedtime reading this book, and I was sad when I finished it because I love a good dumpster fire.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things comes an of-the-moment novel that peeks inside the private lives of the hypercompetitive and the hyperprivileged and takes on the college admissions bribery scandal that rocked the country.

It's good to be Chloe Wynn Berringer. She's headed off to the college of her dreams. She's going to prom with the boy she's had a crush on since middle school. Her best friend always has her back, and her mom, a B-list Hollywood celebrity, may finally be on her way to the B+ list. It's good to be Chloe Wynn Berringer--at least, it was, until the FBI came knocking on her front door, guns at the ready, and her future went up in smoke. Now her mother is under arrest in a massive college admissions bribery scandal. Chloe, too, might be facing charges, and even time behind bars. The public is furious, the press is rabid, and the US attorney is out for blood.

As she loses everything she's long taken for granted, Chloe must reckon not only with the truth of what happened, but also with the examination of her own guilt. Why did her parents think the only way for her to succeed was to cheat for her? What did she know, and when did she know it? And perhaps most importantly, what does it mean to be complicit?

M Y T H O U G H T S

Chloe Berringer is your average student who is trying to obtain a high SAT score in order to get into a good college. She attends Wood Valley and is super stressed out about the SATs. Chloe's best friend, Shola, has amazing SAT scores and high GPA, which causes Chloe to freak out a bit whether Chloe will succeed in life since she struggles academically.

Admission flips back and forth between the present (now) and past (then) of what is happening now when Chloe's mother is arrested and charged for being apart of an admissions scandal and the past of what events lead to the scandal. Readers see what it's like for being the teenager whose mother is involved in such a scandal. Dealing with the pressure of being a teenager is already hard enough. Now Chloe must endure cyberbullying and doxing as Chloe tries to navigate her life after her mother is arrested.

What hurts even more is Levi, Chloe's boyfriend, doesn't want to talk to her anymore after learning about the scandal. She tries to tell him it's not what he thinks but he blocks her via text. Chloe is devastated so many people hate her. Even Shola refuses to return Chloe's texts. Chloe feels alone and even her lawyer tells her not to talk to anyone. This isolation affects her immensely.

Julie Buxbaum's novel touches upon college admissions bribery scandals that have happening lately involving celebrities. I love how she included text messages involving Shola/Chloe, Levi/Chloe and the encrypted chat Chloe has with other teenagers involved with the admissions scandal. This makes the story plot realistic and current.

Admission includes huge theme about what privilege means including socio-economical privilege and racial privilege. Shola tries to show Chloe what it is like not to be super rich and not to be white. Things are not handed to people on a silver platter. Shola talks about FAFSA and Chloe had know clue what Shola was talking about. Shola tells Chloe that she doesn't have any private tutors or private consultations for appointments. She even tells Chloe how her younger siblings didn't get into Wood Valley and how she didn't get into Southern California College, a college Chloe gains an acceptance letter to. Shola tries to describe what it is like in her shoes when she mentions to Chloe, "Welcome to the real world, Chlo." But instead, Chloe says, "Maybe you guys should move to a better school district." What a slap in the face!

I found Chloe to be a bland in personality. She is always putting herself down and whining about everything. There is nothing interesting about her. Chloe is insensitive and is stuck in this super privileged bubble that she doesn't see the struggles of others. She is super naive. I don't understand how she didn't think it was strange to take a SAT test at another site who doesn't ID SAT test takers, to give her college application login to a random person or to overhear a "donation" for 250k. Chloe didn't even question these random requests. I would love to get to know Shola better in a short story or a companion novel. Reading Shola's journey to success would be a great read and it would be inspiration for many teenagers.

Overall, Admission is a novel for readers who want to read a fictionalized version of the college admissions scandals. I highly suggest readers to pick up Tell Me Three Things, also by Buxbaum, and is also set at Wood Valley.

This was...underwhelming. I loved the concept, but I spent most of the story bored. I love some good morally grey characters, but they at least have to be interesting.

Thank you to Netgalley & Delacorte Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

3 out of 5 stars

Chloe Wynn Berringer lives a pretty great life as the child of a famous actress. She lives in a great house, goes to the best high school, has the boyfriend of her dreams so what else could she need? Well, better grades. Chloe is not as smart as her younger sister Isla but then again she really doesn't work as hard as she should. Chloe's parents hire an admission coach to help her get into the college of her dreams but then things go sideways when one morning the FBI knock on her door.

I wanted to really like this novel more but honestly I just didn't care for anyone except for the youngest daughter Isla and Chloe's best friend Shola. Maybe this was written a bit to close to the actual scandal.

I ENJOYED…
☂️
- I was so curious and eager to read Admission : a story about a college bribery scandal with a Hollywood celebrity seemed exactly the kind of story I’d love and I was right. If this seems familiar to you, it may be: this was inspired by a real life scandal with real life Hollywood celebrities (like Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman).
- I was hooked right from the first page into this family scandal and drama. The author’s compelling voice and her main character, clueless and a little bit of an egoistic mess at first, let’s face it, won me over and I was so compelled to read on to see what would happen next.
- It’s kind of funny, really: Admission doesn’t have a very likeable family, yet you’re still carried away by it all. They’re rich and incredibly privileged and it really shows.
- I found the main character, Chloe, clueless, very selfish and wanted to slap some sense into her more than once. Yet I was compelled to read on and me tell you: I’m so glad I did. Chloe’s growth through the story was lovely to follow.
- Another character I really fell for in this story was Isla, Chloe’s younger sister. She’s down to earth and kind of the ‘taking matters into your own hands’ kind of person and I appreciated her so much. I just wanted MORE of her. I loved seeing her and Chloe’s relationship grow through the story and seeing them protect and care for each other so much despite their differences made me so happy.
- Admission examines privilege and self-entitlement in a brilliant way, without sugarcoating things or making amends for the family’s wrong doings or giving us a happy ending when it’s clearly not earned or deserved, either.

I HAD A HARD TIME WITH…
☂️
- I’m kind of really sad and a little annoyed about how some of the side characters were explored and used in the story. I feel like they weren’t as three-dimensional as they could have been and, I don’t know, I wanted more from them.
- Chloe, the main character, isn’t the most likeable character and… it was okay, I kind of expected her not to be, but still. Sometimes, her cluelessness annoyed me a little bit while reading.

OVERALL
☂️
If you’re into young adult contemporaries exploring family dramas and scandals, you should love Admission. Despite its little flaws, this book was still highly entertaining and fast-paced and I had a lot of fun reading it.

I love Julie Buxbaum so I was so excited to get this. This story is definitely different from her others.

It was a ripped from the headlines kind of tale. It gave me a different side to every story vibe. I appreciated our main girls growth through out, I do feel like she has a lot more to go. I liked the different perspectives for the situation.

I did enjoy this story but it was a little slow.

This was just as fascinating as the scandal it was based on. It’s so interesting to get inside the mind of the teenager- how much did she really know? Buxbaum did a great job of turning this into a great piece of fiction. She makes the celebrities into “real” people with these captivating characters.

Wow! I started this book multiple times and never actually finished it until I got it checked out from my public library and was really shocked by it! Admission by Julie Buxbaum is her newest novel that came out this month and I fell in love with her books this past year. I first read Tell Me Three Things last year and then ever since then I bought all of her books and loved each and everyone of them.
No doubt I loved this Admission. This if u can't tell by the cover and summary is about a college scandel that happened rececntly and despite me knowning nothing about this one I loved the short chapters in here. All these pop culture refernces. This is another contemporary novel I read this month that had a family mattered in here and I love a family ceneter story!
Chole was a really good character and one that didn't annoy me at all. She was brave when no one else in the family was and she went through a lot because her mom put a fake letter into her dream college and then shit happens from there!
If u liked Julie's other book u should totally read this one because this one is my newest favorite by her!
If u can't tell I give this book a 5/5 stars and will totally be buying this book for me in the New Year's!(:

I was curious to see how Buxbaum would spin a story out of one of the biggest scandals to hit this year, and I was honestly pretty disappointed. As to be expected of people willing to cheat the system and be, in general, horrible people... the characters were all vapid. There were not any redeeming qualities for a single one of them. Even the sister who was supposed to be more in touch with reality was removed. The only person who came remotely close to being “woke” to all the bs involved in the drama was the best friend Shola and she only had a tiny role as the token diverse character. Idk. Maybe I’m judging too harshly. I just didn’t really care for this book as much as I’d hoped to. 2.5-3⭐️ The extra half star because I’ve read something by this author before and really liked it, so I feel like this one was a fluke.

Admission by Julie Buxbaum tells the fictional story of Chloe whose mom and dad buy their daughters acceptance into a prestigious University. The book has alternating chapters of "Now" and "Then". The book begins in the "Now" with Chloe opening the door to the FBI and other officers there to arrest her mother for bribery among other things. From this point you get Chloe's point of view of life after the arrest. What she knew or didn't know and exactly what her parents did. The story closely parallels the College Bribery scandal that has been on TV in the recent past. But for me the story seemed to be just that, a recital of things that we all saw on TV. I enjoyed the book, but I thought it could have been more developed. However I did enjoy how the author laid out the book and I would love to read more from her. 3⭐

I'd like to start off by saying that I really liked the way this was written. The dual timelines did a lot for helping to build Chloe's character and let audiences really see who she was. I don't think this would have been successfully achieved had it not been written with the dual timelines.

This book is obviously based on the real admissions scandal and I started out this book really disliking Chloe and having very little sympathy for her. But I applaud Buxbaum because by the end I really was hoping everything would eventually turn out okay for her since it seemed like she really had learned something along the way.

Thank you Netgalley & Penguin Random House for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I have not been interested in reading this genre lately but this was good.

I was shocked a lot throughout this. I never suspected anything or anyone.

4.5 stars to this amazing take on the college admission scandal! After hearing about this book, I knew I had to have it. It was one of my most anticipated of the year, and it truly lived up to my expectations.

Chloe has everything going for her. Her mom is a TV star, her dad is in finance. She lives in a great house, with a pool, and has everything she could ever want. If only she could get into her dream college, SCC.

This book shows two timelines - then and now. 'Then' was interesting, and I understand why it needed to be told for the story. However, I couldn't wait to get to the 'now' sections. They were so riveting. I had to see what was going to happen to Chloe and her parents. Who would go to jail? Who would be charged? How much - if anything - did Chloe really know???

I loved all the characters in this book. Yes, Chloe was flawed, but she was still real and likable. She went through things all teens go through. I loved the way her relationship with Isla, her sister, grew. I loved both her parents, even though they did bad things. Shola, her best friend, was probably my favorite though. She was so sassy and I loved it.

There were a couple of references that made me squee! When she talked about listening to podcasts and wanting to free Adnan Syed, I was like YES!! #FreeAdnan Kid is innocent.
Also, she talked about hating the patriots. Same, girl. Same.

If you want a good family drama, with teen angst, set around a college scandal, read this! It was so intriguing. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars, was because about 30-40% it started dragging, but it picked up and I couldn't put it down!

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had a great time reading Admission! This is such an interesting take on the real-life admission scandal.

Read my full review of the audiobook here: https://booksteahealthyme.home.blog/2020/12/19/audiobook-review-admission/

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of the print book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars. Though the synopsis didn’t really interest me, I absolutely love all the author’s previous books so gave this one a try. It was definitely a unique perspective to have the MC be the daughter of the accused. Chloe goes through life not realizing the extent that white privilege affects her life. It’s not even that she takes it for granted but that she’s so clueless to it, even though her best friend is an African American girl on scholarship. At first I didn’t really care for Chloe, but she grows a lot throughout the book and I appreciated the end product.

Leaving reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

I really like this writer's style. In Admission, she tells the story of Chloe and how her life turned upside down after her mother was accused of buying Chloe's entrance to the college of her dreams.

Alternating past and present, she presents how everything happened and the motivations, showing her and her friends and the famous family. Chloe is a normal girl with longings and desires who knows that it will be very difficult to enter the college she wants because of her average grades.

What I liked most is that Julie Buxbaum shows how people are able to criticize and judge but it is these people who also use other subterfuges that are apparently legal but that also privilege their children.

I also liked that in a light way, Julie shows all the interactions of the family during the whole process, I thought it was fantastic how it all ends and I believe that this book should be a mandatory reading for every teenager and their parents.

5/5 stars

When the real college admissions scandal broke, I was shocked. Of all the things to do, people were actually doing things like this? As if they weren’t getting the world handed to them anyway. I was shocked and appalled and really just upset by the whole thing. I didn’t watch anything about it. With that being said, I have no reason why I liked this as much as I did when I didn’t care for the actual real thing.


Chloe has just gotten into the college of her dreams after a tough senior year. She has a wonderful new boyfriend whom she’s going to prom with, her best friend is awesome, and her mom’s a celebrity. Nothing can get better than this. And unfortunately she’s right. Just when everything is amazing, the FBI comes and crushes her perfect dream. Her mother is being arrested for a college admission scandal where she’s at the center. How can things go from so good to so messed up so fast?


I think the main thing I liked about this was the fact it made me feel for Chloe. Don’t get me wrong, she played her part in this, but at the same time, she was “aggressively oblivious” for the most part. I firmly believe she didn’t know anything 100% until the end. And the way she was so scared that she thought her parents thought she couldn’t do it on her own made me so sad. And of course, her being scared of their disappointment was very much like real life. I’m scared of people’s disappointment my own self nowadays and I’m an adult. I really felt bad for her. Her parents on the other hand, not even a little bit.


This seemed to be ripped right out of the headlines. I wasn’t one of those that followed this case super closely, so the further I got into this book, I was interested in what was going to happen. I know others already knew, which is probably why this story is written the way it is, but I didn’t care for the back and forth. I found myself being mostly interested in the “Now” chapters because that’s where the drama was. The “Then” chapters held the back story, but since it started with the HUGE incident and had guns blazing (literally lol) those chapters just didn’t do much for me.


The other thing I didn’t care for about this was the chapter towards the end with Hudson. Some of you know I had an aunt and uncle who overdosed and almost caused my unborn cousin to do the same. Reading books with hard drugs and overdoses depicted is hard for me. I would really have appreciated someone putting a TW/CW on this book. As I came up on it, I ended up skimming it until I got past it, so there’s at least a chapter in this book I may have missed. I felt like this would be better than DNF’ing when I was at 88% of the book.


The rest of the story was fine and I actually really liked it. There were Easter Eggs from Buxbaum’s previous books, her writing style was still amazing, and even though it was a story torn straight from the headlines, I was on the edge of my seat while reading. And I can honestly say, I liked the way Buxbaum wrote this out. She showed the entitlement and how those actions effected other people. I know this will make some uncomfortable, but I was glad she went there. Yes it’s basically what happened in the news, but the person in the news was also trying to get people to see her as “just a mom” when in fact the Black mother who was arrested for putting her child in a better school district was doing the exact same thing. I was glad she chose to highlight these things and not shy away from them.


This book was like reading a tabloid, but in a good way. Especially since I hadn’t paid attention to this case before. It’s not my typical read, but I’m glad I read it nonetheless.

I'm torn on whether or not I liked this book. Admission is clearly inspired by the Varsity Blues College Admission Scandal. The characters are almost carbon copies of Lori Loughlin, Olivia Jade, and the rest of the family.

I didn't think the story had much nuance to it. It followed the scandal almost to a T. It was entertaining, and I did find myself pulled in, but I don't think I learned much. I could see how this would be somewhat "educational" for a young reader who might not be familiar with the scandal, but honestly, my guess is everyone knows.

I don't think there's much character development although there's a good effort and trying to make it seem like Chloe has grown.

Thank you Netgalley and Delacorte Press for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ripped from the headlines, Buxbaum tells the story of 17-year-old Chloe as she learns about her parents' part of an admissions scandal in an attempt to gain her admission to her dream college. Chloe is a pretty average teenager leading a nowhere-close-to-average life, which makes things a bit difficult for her. How can life be difficult for a teenager who has every material object at her disposal and every opportunity open to her? Chloe attends a prep school where her friends are all smarter than her, her sister is smarter than her, and Chloe has no idea what she wants to do with her life after high school. She feels inadequate in a community that does not suffer inadequacy. In an attempt to make up for her shortcomings, Chloe's famous parents apparently will cross all sorts of ethical boundaries to get her admitted to college. Even if it means breaking the law. When Chloe finds out about her parents' illegal activities, she's completely shocked. But as the truth comes out, she realizes she may have been more complicit than she thought. Where does the law draw the line between willfully ignorant and unlawfully complicit? Chloe is about to find out...

Thoughts: "Based on a true story" should be the byline for Julie Buxbaum's latest YA novel. Readers will enter the world of the rich and famous in L.A., thrust into the fictionalized story of the admissions scandal that rocked Full House fans around the world. There are several real-life parallels that I can almost picture Buxbaum rubbing her hands together as she was writing. They were a nice touch, I must say. I liked how down-to-earth Chloe was as a character, and I think this will help teen readers to relate to a character that would otherwise be unrelatable for most. Her friendship with Shola is also total #squadgoals, and I liked how her relationship with her younger sister developed as they bonded through this crisis. There is also a lot of soul-searching in this coming-of-age story, especially Chloe's realization of her "aggressive ignorance", as she says. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to sharing it with my high school students.

While I can see how this book is timely and a lot of people will be interested in it simply for the fact that they are invested in the real life college admissions scandal still playing out in the news, I didn't enjoy it much. I have loved of all Buxbaum's other books but I felt dissapointed in this one. I didn't like Chloe and just didn't feel invested in her story. Overall I had a hard time reckoning that she was that clueless. I enjoyed her sister far more and almost wish the story had been more about her. The writing was good, as usual but this one just wasn't for me.