Thank you to Delacorte Press for sharing a copy in exchange for my honest review!
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? OOF. Let’s do this. Admission, as you may have gathered, is a novelization of the real-life college admissions scandal, uncovered by FBI Operation Varsity Blues (not really relevant information, but I just think the name is fun). Unusually for recent YA, Admission has more basis in fact than fiction. If you recognize the general synopsis, that’s because it’s basically the same chain of events as followed by Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. College admissions is such a tough and emotional world for real-life teens, and I was interested in seeing how Buxbaum would approach centering an unlikeable, maybe-even-culpable protagonist in the novel. I was disappointed at best and saddened at worst by the result. Let’s do positives first, though. The dissonance between the now/then timelines did great things for the book’s atmosphere. Seeing how perfect Chloe thinks her life is before the arrests happen is a tonal clash with her family’s bleary-eyed misery in the aftermath. For readers, knowing what’s coming provides a sense of anticipation and a reason to invest in Chloe’s story. Less of a “rooting for” invest and more of a “Get it TOGETHER, girl! Can you not see this shady stuff happening?” kind of invest, though. In the beginning, Buxbaum did well in humanizing the Berringer family. This became less believable as the book went on though, which I’ll get into later. Part of this is construction, but it’s also partly my bias. I had a hard time finding it in me to feel anything for Chloe’s mother especially—it’s difficult to be reading a book where the outward presentation is that the main characters are protagonists, but I view them as antagonists. This brings us neatly to my next point, where the negatives start. I think Admission should have had a different protagonist. Chloe is maybe supposed to be relatable because of her mediocrity—she’s not that smart and doesn’t have any special talents. Readers are supposed to say, “hey, just like me!” or something. This justifies Chloe's whining about the people in her life with genuine talent or ability, like her sister Isla, boyfriend Levi, and best friend Shola. I found this grating, though, and would have much more easily enjoyed a novel from the perspective of Shola, who might have a more interesting perspective on Chloe’s life. She’s Nigerian, part of a minority at their uber-white private school, and her family isn’t wealthy like Chloe’s—no bribery in Shola’s admissions process, just straight-up achievements. I imagine there were a lot of eye rolls in her house at Chloe’s antics (and I’ll be honest, I’m pretty privileged too, but I recall having done the same at the legit otherworldly privilege and wealth-blindness of some people I know). This is all to say, I get what Buxbaum was trying to do here. As a reader, though, all I wanted to do was scream at Chloe’s occasional classism and racism (which she gets called out on). I was just incapable of believing in her innate goodness when she has to consider whether she was complicit in her mother’s crimes. What level of ignorance is okay to excuse? How much can I, as a reader, allow her to shove under the rug before it stops being a character choice and becomes unforgivable? I decided the answer was “some ignorance,” but Chloe exceeded my expectations there. I mean, some of her choices are truly reprehensible. Getting an ADHD diagnosis for accommodations on the SAT… I mean, sure. That’s actually a pretty common practice amongst wealthy families for a whole host of reasons, which I won’t get into here. (I also won’t get into how it makes life for those of us who actually have ADHD that much harder because we’re already seen as lazy and unmotivated without the added concern of whether we’re “faking it” or not). That’s not something fully under Chloe’s control. All she had to do was accept the word of the psychologist as true, and it’s hard not to trust a psychologist. But picking an application photo where she has a deep tan in order to fake an Argentinian background… WHAT?!?! That’s a conscious decision! It would be so easy to just… not do the terrible thing! At that point, it’s pretty hard to feel anything for Chloe given that I thought she had to have understood that her actions were wrong. I bet by now you’re wondering why I’m giving Admissions four stars. In short, it’s because I can appreciate a book that makes me think. I got to use my brain and consider my own worldview while reading, which I’ve been reticent to do during this pandemic. As you may know, I’ve been gravitating towards comfort reads, and I like that Admissions was able to drag me into thinking critically. So there. 4/5 stars for Admissions, even though I disliked large portions of it. You should read it. I’m curious to see what everyone else will think, so please come back and comment once you do!
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The BaronessHey, I'm Shreya! I love to read, write, travel, and drink tea. Disclosure: I am an affiliate of bookshop.org and I will earn a small commission if you click the above link and make a purchase.
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