Review: The Admissions by Meg Mitchell Moore

The Admissions

by Meg Mitchell Moore

Publisher: Doubleday

Pages: 320

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  The Hawthorne family has it all. Great jobs, a beautiful house in one of the most affluent areas of northern California, and three charming kids with perfectly straight teeth. And then comes their eldest daughter's senior year of high school . . .

Firstborn Angela Hawthorne is a straight-A student and star athlete, with extracurricular activities coming out of her ears and a college application that's not going to write itself. She's set her sights on Harvard, her father's alma mater, and like a dog with a chew toy, Angela won't let up until she's basking in crimson-colored glory. Except her class rank as valedictorian is under attack, she's suddenly losing her edge at cross-country, and she can't help but daydream about the cute baseball player in English class. Of course Angela knows the time put into her schoolgirl crush would be better spent coming up with a subject for her term paper—which, along with her college essay and community service hours has a rapidly approaching deadline. 

Angela's mother, Nora, is similarly stretched to the limit, juggling parent-teacher meetings, carpool, and a real-estate career where she caters to the mega rich and super-picky buyers and sellers of the Bay Area. The youngest daughter, Maya, still can't read at the age of eight; the middle-child, Cecily, is no longer the happy-go-lucky kid she once was; and the dad, Gabe, seems oblivious to the mounting pressures at home because a devastating secret of his own might be exposed. A few ill-advised moves put the Hawthorne family on a heedless collision course that's equal parts achingly real and delightfully screwball.


Kritters Thoughts:  A family drama, but told through almost all of the family members!  Mom, Dad, one daughter and some other outer characters took turns narrating this story and I enjoyed reading from different points of view.  

The main storyline is based around their first born as she is applying to college and hoping to get into her only choice that her dad attended - Harvard.  She has spent years and years prepping her grades and resume to get into this school.  I loved this story because this felt home to me.  Angela was definitely held to a high standard in her house and was expected to make certain grades and compete things at a certain level and I felt like my parents definitely expected a certain level out of me and I could feel for Angela with all the weight on her shoulders.  

I loved that this was a family drama but it had a focus.  The other family members had things going on as well, but having the story focus on the first born and this certain time in her life made this book feel different.


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2015 Challenge: 42 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from BookSparks PR.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.