Small Admissions

by Amy Poeppel

Despite her innate ambition and Summa Cum Laude smarts, Kate Pearson has turned into a major slacker. After being dumped by her handsome, French "almost fiance," she abandons her grad school plans and spends her days lolling on the couch, leaving her apartment only when a dog-walking gig demands it. Her friends don't know what to do other than pass tissues and hope for a comeback, while her practical sister, Angela, pushes every remedy she can think of, from trapeze class to therapy to job interviews. For reasons no one (least of all Kate) understands, she manages to land a job in the admissions department at the prestigious Hudson Day School. In her new position, Kate learns there's no time for self-pity during the height of the admissions season. Meanwhile, Kate's sister and friends find themselves keeping secrets, hiding boyfriends, dropping bombshells, and fighting each other on how to keep Kate on her feet. On top of it all, her cranky, oddly charming, and irritatingly handsome neighbor is more than he seems.

Through every dishy, page-turning twist, it seems that one person's happiness leads to another's misfortune, and suddenly everyone, including Kate, is looking for a way to turn rejection on its head, using any means necessary-including the truly unexpected.

Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Audiobook, Romance, Humor, Adult

368 pages, Paperback

First published December 27, 2016

About the author

Amy Poeppel is the author of the novels The SWEET SPOT, MUSICAL CHAIRS, LIMELIGHT, and SMALL ADMISSIONS. Originally from Dallas, Texas, she and her husband live in New York City, Litchfield County, CT, and Frankfurt, Germany. Her writing has appeared on The Rumpus, LitHub, The New York Times, Belladonna Comedy, Mock Mom, and Working Mother.

Reviews

[Chelsea Humphrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guilty Pleasure. Those are the two words I’d use to describe this book. I stated in my brief, immediate thoughts after finishing this one how I rarely give Chick Lit 5 stars, but I stand by my opinion that this one is worth every star. It might appear similar to many other fluffy, girly, mindless reads out there; I’m not claiming this to be a deep read, but it is different in quite a few ways which I’ll tackle below. This was the perfect beach read, which is why I went ahead and devoured it now instead of saving it until closer to pub day. Oops.

My favorite surprise to this upbeat read was the fact that it isn’t centered around the main character finding a soul mate. Sure, there is some romance sprinkled in, but it isn’t the main focal point of this story, giving the lead female character much more depth than your stereotypical, recently dumped woman. Instead of solely focusing on dating and our girl pining over multiple men until she finds “Mr. Right”, the story highlights in depth many other relationships, such as growing in the areas of family (parents) and friends/coworkers. It also confronts the issue of tragedy striking in personal and professional areas, and how we have to dig deep to work through and overcome, rather than just giving up on everything good in life.

I also couldn’t believe how dang funny this book was! This wasn’t cheesy, chick lit funnies; this was my type of dry humor that had me snorting out loud and my family wondering if they should have me committed while on vacation. It sure would give them a good excuse to visit the beach more often. The humor and situations involved in the school and specifically the admissions department are nothing short of hilarious, and feel very relatable on what I would expect working with children and their Type-A parents would be like. The letters her parents continually send had me in stitches and also had me thinking I could be BFFs with author Amy Poeppel; I’d love to sit down with her and a coffee to see if she’s as hilarious in person. *Spoiler Alert- I think she is*

If you have trouble finding a breezy read that isn’t totally flakey, you’re not alone. It always seems the Chick Lit I hunt down is either too unbelievably ridiculous or isn’t as care-free of a read that I’m looking for. This story had the perfect balance of “escaping from the pressures of life to just enjoy a fun read” without being “over the top cheesy and vomit worthy in the romantic department”. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys Women’s Fiction/Chick Lit/Contemporary Fiction. I can’t express how shocked I was to love a book like this as much as I did; I thoroughly enjoyed escaping from my own little terrors long enough to enjoy laughing at the fictional parents of the teenagers (read monsters) in this book. I’ll be keeping my eyes glued looking for more work from Ms Poeppel!

*I received my copy via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Many thanks to the author and publisher for your generosity.

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm between 3.5 and 4 stars, so I'll round up.

Sometimes after I've read a few fairly heavy or angsty books, I need to metaphorically cleanse my literary palate by reading something a little lighter. It doesn't necessarily have to be a humor book or utter fluff, but every now and then I like to seek out books that are lighter in tone, more straight-forward, something I can enjoy without having to tax my brain or my psyche too hard.

After the last few books I've read, I turned to Amy Poeppel's Small Admissions as my literary intermezzo of sorts. It was just what I was hoping for—an engaging story with characters I could root for (as well as some I could root against). It even made me laugh more than a few times, which was a pleasant surprise.

The daughter of two college professors, Kate Pearson has always been almost myopically focused on academics, much to the frustration of her friends and her older sister Angela. But when her post-graduate work in a prestigious anthropology program with a noted professor turns disastrous, she makes a characteristically un-Kate decision and plans to move to Paris with her trés handsome boyfriend Richard. Only she doesn't quite get out of the Paris airport, and then she's back in the U.S., nearly catatonic in her depression, never getting out of her pajamas, drinking far too much, and refusing to do anything to fix her situation.

After nearly a year of moping and mourning, Angela feels compelled to do something to save Kate from herself. Angela's chance meeting with the overworked director of admissions for a tony prep school in New York lands Kate an interview. And despite one of the most disastrous job interviews on record, where she dresses inappropriately and says even less appropriate things, Kate is shockingly hired as the assistant director of admissions for the famed Hudson Day School.

"...she didn't like children particularly. Didn't know any other than her niece, didn't want to. Didn't know anything about schools in New York City, either, obviously. Or schools anywhere. Or the admissions process. Or administrative anything. She would be expected to answer people's questions, and she wouldn't have the answers because—to get right down to it—she didn't know anything."

After her initial fear that her boss will discover he accidentally hired the wrong girl, or that she'll screw everything up, abates, Kate starts to settle into her job. Before long she's interviewing prospective students—smart, driven children programmed by their parents; clueless children wondering why they're even there other than because their parents are making them; and the rare child who actually deserves to go to Hudson. Kate is far from a traditional interviewer, and as crazy as her interviews with the kids are, some of the parents are even crazier! (While a subplot featuring two feuding parents seems tired, there's a terrifically funny payoff.)

Meanwhile, as Kate is getting fully immersed in the whole admissions process, Angela constantly worries that Kate will suddenly backslide and tries to take control of her life prematurely, and Kate's two best friends from college are dealing with their own secrets, while one of them, Chloe, tries to find Kate another boyfriend, mostly out of guilt, since Richard is her cousin. It's all fodder for more chaos than any one person can handle, but Kate surprises them all by taking it in stride. Mostly.

Was this book fairly predictable? Absolutely, but that didn't lessen its appeal for me. I would have enjoyed the book more without the tired (and annoying) subplot about Kate's jealous friend, because Kate and her work in admissions made for a pretty enjoyable book on its own. I worried the book would lose its way diving into her romantic life, but fortunately Poeppel didn't hamper the book with turning the plot into total chick-lit. I thought Poeppel has a great ear for dialogue and a knack for crazily outlandish conversations that you can absolutely see someone getting nervous and saying.

Small Admissions was fun, lighthearted, and it didn't take itself too seriously. It was exactly the type of book I was looking for, and if you want something to read that you'll enjoy without getting agitated or depressed, or having to really decipher the plot, definitely pick this up.

See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo..., and see my list of the best books I read in 2016 at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2016.html.

[Suzanne Leopold (Suzy Approved Book Reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Pearson quits graduate school to live in Paris with her French boyfriend, Robert. She is blindsided by Robert as he quickly breaks off the relationship and she ends up moving back to New York City. Kate spends a good part of the year living on her sister’s couch, watching television and barely functioning. Her two friends from college and her sister were doing everything they could to get Kate back on her feet. They eventually find her an apartment to sublet and a dog walking job, in the hopes that she can pull herself together.

She eventually lands a job interview at an admissions office for a small
Manhattan private school. Kate leaves the interview feeling that she botched it the because of her inappropriate answers to questions and her profuse sweating. Surprising herself, Kate gets the job and enters into the competitive world of admissions. Although feeling unqualified, she slowly begins to settle into her job and with her two co-workers. She interviews a multitude of children, deciphers essays and meets with stressed out parents.

While Kate seems to be progressing with her newfound career, her sister is still greatly concerned. She micromanages her with unsolicited advice amid worries that she will regress back into depression. Her friends continue to stay in contact with her but have ulterior motives.

The dialogue during parent and student interviews was very humorous and I laughed out loud a few times. This book was fun and entertaining and I look forward to future works from Amy Poeppel.

giving away 2 paperback copies releasing 7/11 away with tote bags on my blog until 6/25 https://www.facebook.com/suzyapproved...

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Small Admissions is an easy read, by turns occasionally smartly observed and amusing, but also thin, never penetrating far beneath the surface layers of its characters and situations. The novel centers around Kate, pulling herself from the despondency caused by a tough break up and academic failure. Kate is the fulcrum, and we orbit around her and the lives of her sister and college friends, and as she accepts a position in admissions at Hudson Day School, the lives of the privileged New York parents and children jockeying for position and status in the rigorous application process for 6th grade.

I'm not sure whether it's the writing or the characterization, but the main adults whose lives we're peeking into never really rose to become characters I cared about or was even truly interested in - this despite the fact that I am in a personally similar situation to Kate's at the beginning of the novel. Kate is a bit of a cipher: awkward, intelligent (though mostly told that and only sometimes shown that), beautiful without trying, you never really feel her despair enough in the beginning to truly root for her to succeed, in part because it already feels like a foregone conclusion that she will find herself and (probably) find a new, better fit man for her. Vicki is the ambitious, gorgeous, shallow striver who gives tough love and breaks girl code and ultimately amounts to little more than a beautiful cold bitch stereotype (although at least her ambition is made clear, even if it is presented as a double edge sword). Chloe is the one we could be most interested in since she has the most amount of emotion and thought (and is the more plain one of the three deliberately), but Poeppel shifts her perspective to first person with her parts, and she's mostly on the outside of the entire proceedings even though we have small opportunities to get directly in her head.

Amy Poeppel has a knack for good observation, even if some of the sketches of characters can feel a bit banal at times: telegraphing personality by what one wears, the erudite and eccentric anthropologist parents of Kate, the workaholic verbally abusive father, the housewife growing increasingly delusional and drugged out, the charming commitment proof French Lothario who ensnared and rejected Kate and then begins things with Vicki. Her writing style is just fine, good for her observations, but doesn't necessarily excel at capturing and showing mood or emotion. It also switches from first to third person, and from straight narrative to occasionally epistolary with emails between characters, and I don't feel these style changes added much to the overall, even if the emails could occasionally be funny.

There's some snark and moments of humor (but nothing I laughed out loud at) and interesting ideas, but the whole reads somewhat flat to me. These aren't characters or situations that were made to be interesting (because anything can be interesting and well written). And even as a New Yorker who did attend private school at various points of my childhood, none of the observations or characters were new or surprising to me. I could see fans of Prep or The Admissions being interested in this title, and again, it's a very easy read. But I found it just ok and ultimately unmemorable.

[Regina · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded down. I just could not get onboard with the structure of this book. It was so jumpy and disjointed, mixing style and tense. The majority was in the third person, with a secondary character having first person narration here and there. And the secondary characters seemed so obsessed with the novel's heroine (using that label makes my eyes roll), that I was almost embarrassed to be part of such a nosy and gossipy gender.

I think the book would have been more successful for me had it been simply focused on Kate's POV and life in the admissions department.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Who the flying fuck even are these people? Everyone involved is the absolute worst or flattened by the absolute worst or precious in a nauseating absolute worst way. It’s one of those status-and-clothes-substituting-for-meaningful character-development books that I hate hate hate and have written too many essays about why I hate to subject you to them again once more but I haaaattteeeee. This doesn’t even pass for a witty satire “but oh so true!” of the Upper East Side, because the writing isn’t good enough half the time and the other half it isn’t quite as cute as it thinks or nearly as insightful/in the know as it was likely sold to be. Like omg did you know that rich guys marry younger women and rich couples are entitled and rich little kids have trouble seeing outside their privilege? Ugh it’s all so boring and childish and if I were the kind of person to call a book’s imaginary world/worldview #basic, I would. Why did it have to be the boy candidate she interviews who was into sports and bullying people and the girl who was a “scary” rehearsed perfectionist? Wtf even with that French guy’s accent? What year is this? I’ve worked in the environments in this book, y’all and the truth is always more complicated than the stereotype and don’t even @ me with “turn your brain off, it’s fun!”

It’s really not.

Why is this popular again? I can’t imagine anyone seeing themselves in this with any satisfaction. It’s not quite smart enough to make people who hate these people be satisfied either. So like... again, why?

That’ll teach me to go in the Amazon store.

[Olivia-Savannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going in for when I decided to read and review Small Admissions. But I was pretty pleased and satisfied by the time I finished reading this book. Although it is centered around a school and the admissions process, it really is about family. Friendships, love, break ups, recovering from a funk… this book really covers it all.

What I had to like most about this novel was the brilliant character development we get to see from Kate. At the beginning, we really see her as someone who is hopeless and helpless. I have to admit – I criticized her a bit for wallowing so much when it came to a break up. A whole year is a really long time! But we steadily get to see a bit more of the bigger picture and what truly went on as we get further into the story. I started to blame Kate less and less. It helped that we were getting to see her beautiful transformation as well.


I also really liked how present the secondary characters were in this novel. We see things from all of their perspectives, and really get to see their story going in tandems with Kate, even though it might not really have to do with her story directly. I’m someone who really thinks minor characters all play their own role, and we really get to see this in the book. Because indirectly, things that the minor characters do, eventually end up effecting Kate’s journey and life in certain ways. So it was pretty nice to see that reflected in the story.

The style of writing was pretty nice and easy to read. At times some of the story is told through letters, emails and correspondence which was a nice change. I didn’t feel anything particular for that in either way. There was also quite a lot of point of view switching, which worked at times and didn’t work at others for me. I really liked to see all the different perspectives, but it was also a bit of brainwork trying to figure out whose perspective we were seeing things from after a chapter break.


I was expecting to not be able to appreciate any of the parts which had to do with the school. I know a bit about running a school because my mum is a head mistress, so I was prepared. But the author actually managed to make it interesting, and I found myself strangely invested in what was happening there. Yeah, it surprised me.

I have to admit though, in the middle the story dragged a bit. Not because it was boring, necessarily, but because I think Kate reached a plateau moment in her life and that slowed down the story. It’s the reason I couldn’t give the book five stars.


Most of all, this book make me think about what it means to leave things in life behind. Let go, move on. It made me think about rejection – in the sense of school admissions and from other people. And it also made me really think about whether there are really bad people in the world, or just bad mistakes or bad situations that some people can’t handle…

This review can be found at Olivia's Catastrophe: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/20...

[Aditi · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.”

----Steve Maraboli


Amy Poeppel, an American author, has penned a terrific and extremely entertaining debut contemporary fiction novel, Small Admissions that revolves around a fresh young graduate, who after a messy breakup goes into the caveman zone on her couch and with her sweatpants, bags a job offer to work as an admission administrator in a posh private school, but little did this young and intelligent graduate knew that the parents and the students who come for the admission procedure would go at any lengths to just to get a mere admission in such a posh school.


Synopsis:

For fans of The Nanny Diaries and Sophie Kinsella comes a whip-smart and deliciously funny debut novel about Kate, a young woman unexpectedly thrust into the cutthroat world of New York City private school admissions as she attempts to understand city life, human nature, and falling in love.

Despite her innate ambition and Summa Cum Laude smarts, Kate Pearson has turned into a major slacker. After being unceremoniously dumped by her handsome, French “almost fiancé,” she abandons her grad school plans and instead spends her days lolling on the couch, watching reruns of Sex and the City, and leaving her apartment only when a dog-walking gig demands it. Her friends don’t know what to do other than pass tissues and hope for a comeback, while her practical sister, Angela, pushes every remedy she can think of, from trapeze class to therapy to job interviews.

Miraculously, and for reasons no one (least of all Kate) understands, she manages to land a job in the admissions department at the prestigious Hudson Day School. In her new position, Kate learns there’s no time for self-pity or nonsense during the height of the admissions season, or what her colleagues refer to as “the dark time.” As the process revs up, Kate meets smart kids who are unlikable, likeable kids who aren’t very smart, and Park Avenue parents who refuse to take no for an answer.

Meanwhile, Kate’s sister and her closest friends find themselves keeping secrets, hiding boyfriends, dropping bombshells, and fighting each other on how to keep Kate on her feet. On top of it all, her cranky, oddly charming, and irritatingly handsome downstairs neighbor is more than he seems. Through every dishy, page-turning twist, it seems that one person’s happiness leads to another’s misfortune, and suddenly everyone, including Kate, is looking for a way to turn rejection on its head, using any means necessary—including the truly unexpected.


Kate is the prodigy child of her parents who have excelled in their field of research and are highly intellects, unfortunately she fails to follow into the footsteps of her parents, when a messy break up with a tattered heart leaves her clueless, jobless and purposeless on her couch with some sweaty pants. A worried elder sister, Angela with a perfect Manhattan lifestyle, devises a plan to get her sister, Kate up from the couch and to push her to face the reality that her sister can't forever take care of her, neither her two on-off best friends, Chloe and Vicki and that she needs to get a job to support herself financially as well as mentally. Angela's dream comes true, when Kate bags a job at an upscale New York elite private school, where Kate is appointments as the assistant director for admissions who is responsible to handle the admission procedure during its season for the middle graders. But little did Kate had any idea about the world of admissions and how much crazy the NewYorkite parents could be and how pretentious and snobbish their spoilt brats could be, and eventually Kate actually gets tangles up into the messy world of admission process that finally become fatal for her existence.

This book penned by a first time author tool me by surprise, as the story is so delectable and uproariously funny. And it would be a crime to give this book a miss, especially by those who fancy the genre of contemporary fiction. The book is so much more than just a love story or a story about three girlfriends, it is full of life, laughter and love, after all everything in this book happened for love. So love kind of played a supporting role in this book and never once losing its prime focus from the crazy drama of admissions into a private school. It is obvious that the author, who has prior experience of working in the admissions department of a private school, has depicted this unknown universe with thorough insight and vividness that the readers will be instantly drawn into its depth and will find themselves turning the pages of this book frantically.

The author's writing style is polished and laced well with humor that holds the power to crack up even a serious and no-nonsense reader. The narrative is amusing to the very core, even though the book deals with some heavy issues like abandonment and heart break, yet the dialogues never once lost it sassy charm, thereby making the story one hell of an absorbing read for its readers. The pacing is fast, with an articulate prose. As for me, the only disappointment lies in the fact that the good ol' New Yorkite charm and aura is missing from the story line, thus I failed to capture the back drop of the story that paints a faint and dull portrait of the city of the Big Apple.

The characters are well developed, but there are few handful of characters who actually stole the show, namely Kate and her colleagues and the quirky and the weird lot of money-minded parents and their equally haughty kids. Kate is charming, initially she comes across as a loser and stupid with a big fat brain that she is wasting recklessly over her heartbreak. Gradually Kate matures as well as grows up quickly while adapting in the relentless universe of admissions. Kate has a laid back demeanor but her dedication towards her job makes her an inspiring character, who is bit challenging to handle yet very thoughtful.

Unfortunately her friends, Chloe, who is secretive about her love life yet protective about Kate and Vicki, who is extremely ambitious and hates Kate from her very core, aren't well portrayed through their differences and the readers might feel a bit dissapointed as they could have made the story one notch sassier. Angela comes across as someone bossy yet emotional and loving towards her younger sister, but then again her life story could have been developed with more depth.

In a nutshell, the story is brilliantly hilarious and a must read for all those who enjoy a light hearted chick lit drama with lots of edge, unpredictable plot twists yet full of cliches.

Verdict: Riveting, sassy, dramatic and vivacious chick-lit.

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Amy Poeppel for giving me the opportunity to read and review her book.

[Danielle (The Blonde Likes Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

After her boyfriend breaks up with her, Kate is a mess. She rarely leaves the couch and is doing nothing productive with her life. Her friends are frustrated with how much she’s let herself wallow in the breakup, and want her to get her life back on track. Kate eventually manages to get herself a job interview at a prestigious private school in Manhattan for elementary school aged children.

She ends up getting hired, and her new job is working in admissions. What Kate thinks will be an easy job ends up being much harder than she thought. Not only does she have to make decisions as to which children will be accepted into the school, she has to deal with the parents that will do anything to make sure their child is on the list of accepted students.

We follow Kate as she navigates her new job and her relationships with her friends and parents, and are able to see the ups and downs of her life as she recovers from her heartbreak.


Overall, I thought Small Admissions was just okay. I really wanted to love this one, because chick-lit is a genre I generally enjoy, and this one (shockingly) seemed like it wouldn’t be focused on Kate finding a new man (and it wasn’t). Although those things were true, I felt like the execution of the book kept me from loving it as much as I wanted to. There were chapters that bounced around between different characters, but it wasn’t always clear when that happened, so sometimes I’d be listening to the audiobook and the next chapter would be from a different character, but there was no warning. When I was reading the hard copy, the chapters who weren’t told by Kate were italicized, but even then, without having a character name as the chapter title, it was a little tricky to navigate. Additionally, there were some parts of the book that were told through email, however in many cases, we only saw Kate’s side of the email and not the email she was responding to, so that was a little weird to me. Generally I love when a book has emails/IMs/texts included in the story, but this one didn’t work super well for me.

I also had a hard time with a lot of the characters. While I liked Kate for the most part, and understand very well what a breakup feels like, I felt like she took her reaction to the extreme. She completely let her self-worth become wrapped up in her ex-boyfriend, and it was all she could talk about or focus on, which was hard to read. Without spoiling anything, I will say that one of her “friends” was completely horrible and treated her like crap, which pissed me off too. I hated reading the chapters told from her point of view, and had no idea why anyone would want to be friends with that particular character. Lastly, the children and parents. Holy crap, were they awful. The sad part is that I 100% believe that there are parents in the world who act that nuts over their child getting accepted or rejected to a certain school, etc. The parents were selfish, overbearing, condescending, and rude, and the children did exactly what their parents told them to, so their admissions essays and interviews were clearly rehearsed. Those parts were hard for me to read too, even though they seemed realistic!

That all said, the book was fast paced and I had an easy time reading it. There were parts that made me laugh, and overall I did like Kate. This was a 3.5 star book for me, but I rounded down to 3 stars on Goodreads because of the issues I mentioned above. If you’re looking for a light chick lit book that isn’t centered too much on finding a soulmate, this may be a good option for you.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, frothy confection and lightning-fast read, this is ChickLit at its finest. This isn't a book that will likely stick with you for the ages, but neither will you regret the time you've spent with it. And neither will you be distracted by stilted prose here; Poeppel is a fluent, witty writer whose experience as a playwright shows through her lively dialogue, which at times reminded me of an episode of Gilmore Girls mixed with HBO's Girls. The author incorporates emails, texts, and student essays to good and humorous effect, and there is plenty of fodder here for readers who enjoy any of the following popular topics: elite school admissions processes, shenanigans of high school and academia, "problems" of elite Manhattanites, and millennials-finding-themselves drama. In all, a big-hearted, good-natured romp for fans of books like Eligible, Big Little Lies, Modern Lovers, and the happy, tidy endings of Jane Austen and Shakespearean comedies.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're in a January slump because of gray skies and rainy weather, or any other reason, get this book in any form. It will brighten your mood, make you laugh out loud, and you'll even shake your head. My library's ebook list was too long so I put a hold on the audio. Wha-la, two days later I received book and it's great! Three friends finishing college, the quiet, studious one meets the handsome, French cousin of one of the other girls, and falls hopelessly in love. So in love, she gives up her grad school plans and flys to Paris to be with him. (Wait, did he ask her to?!) She gets there, but never gets out of the airport.
Yep, she flys back to NYC and spends the next year wallowing on the couch while her older sister, and college friends try to help her get back to a real person. Fun and hilarity ensue, especially when she goes for the job interview in the admissions dept at the private school in Manhattan. From there, the book just takes off.
It's smart, thoughtful and gives a real perspective of young adult life, overreaching parents, and friendship. All done with humor.

[Jenni Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I implore you, pour yourself a glass of wine and curl up with this book. Around 10% in is where I started snort laughing into my glass, and probably burned through hundreds of calories smiling and laughing throughout the book. The realizations of the cast of characters, as they each face their own drama, are done so well and each stream of consciousness is simply hysterical. And, my goodness does this book have rhythm. I found myself flying through the pages, reading passages aloud to my husband, who kept reminding me he was reading his own book. Definitely recommend!

[Grace {Rebel Mommy Book Blog} · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review
This book started off a bit rocky for me. It was in the third person which I am not that big of a fan and it was just flat out a little confusing. I am so glad I stuck with it though because I really loved it!

After a devastating break-up, Kate hasn't been able to move on or well, move off her couch. The once smart motivated Summa Cum Laude has taken to Sex and the City reruns and not much else. Her friends and family are at a loss of what to do until her sister helps her get a job in the admissions department of a prestigious school. While Kate is in her busy time at work and slowly getting her life together, her sister and friends are tangled in lots of secrets and fights that Kate has no clue about.

Man Kate was a mess and I felt bad for her. I understood why her sister wanted her to get on with her life but then she almost did like that she got on with her life without keeping her up to date. They definitely had a complex relationship which I found interesting and realistic. I loved how all the characters' - mainly Kate, her sister and her two friends -  stories all kind of intertwined and unfolded.

My favorite part was the growth of Kate and just how self-aware she was about herself and the past. A lot of that had to do with the new job she had gotten in admissions. I loved the look into that world. Her co-workers were great and the interviews with potential students were interesting and pretty funny at times.

There is a bit of romance but not much. It really focuses on Kate and her journey as well as her dynamic with her sister and friends really. I loved that it was quirky and an engrossing read. There were some small issues here and there but I honestly just enjoyed it so much I overlooked some of them. Definitely a read for those fans of lighter, quirky women's fiction read.

ORDER: Amazon // Barnes & Noble // Books-a-Million // IndieBound // Apple // Blio // Google // Kobo

GIVEAWAY

Click here for Rafflecopter Giveaway This review was originally posted on Rebel Mommy Book Blog

[Theresa Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate has been in a slump since her boyfriend unceremoniously dumped her at the airport in Paris. Instead a new life in a new country, she returns to New York and becomes one with her couch and her sweatpants.

With the encouragement of her sister, Angela, Kate manages to get a job in the admissions office of a private elementary school.

This story is told in part from her friend Chloe’s point of view, and in part through letters and emails from parents who are going out of their minds trying to get their kid placed in a prestigious school. It’s also told in part in Kate’s write-ups after meeting the potential students and their parents. The innovative story telling is part of what makes this such a fun book. The dialogue is hilarious and the characters are well-drawn, even the minor characters are given depth and believability.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book. For more reviews, please see http://theresaalan.net/blog/

[heather | booksbyheath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a vibes rating

[MaryannC Victorian Dreamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sometimes quirky read about how a young woman named Kate emotionally checks out after being dumped by her French boyfriend and how she finds redemption as an admissions coordinator.

[Cindy Burnett (Thoughts from a Page) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book. Small Admissons is so clever and at times side-splittingly hysterical. As I read it and even now several weeks later, I remain amazed that this is Amy Poeppel’s debut novel. The book is that good. While I obviously loved every bit of the book, my two favorite things about it were the characters and the format. Kate, her co-workers and those she encounters on the job, and her friends and family are well-developed and highly entertaining. Having just survived the private school application process myself, I really enjoyed reading about the various parents applying to the school where Kate works, particularly the more over the top families. The format Poeppel chose works very well for her plot; in addition to the standard storytelling method, the book unfolds in memos, emails, and other correspondence which really added to the story. I highly recommend this novel and cannot wait for her next book!

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolute delight. It is the story of Kate, a STEM doctoral candidate on the fast track whose life falls apart when she gives it all up to move to Paris with a guy who immediately dumps her. At the Airport. Heartbroken and her promising career in shambles, she is virtually catatonic for a year, having to move into her married sister Angela's Tribeca apartment to be taken care of. When she finally starts showing some signs of life, Angela sets her up both in an apartment and with an interview for a position as assistant director of admissions for one of the most elite Manhattan private schools. Even though Kate is totally unqualified and massively screws up the interview with inappropriate comments and her too-short skirt, she gets the job much to her and the reader’s surprise.

“ I should probably tell you right off the bat-I’ve never actually had a real job before, so I don’t really have many of what you might call skills…for example, I’m trying to become a better judge of character or at least better than I used to be. These days I don’t tend to like anyone.”
Mr. Bigley looked confused.
“What I meant is, I’m discriminating. But I’m not an asshole. I bet that’s a good quality for anyone working in admissions. Right?"….
"You can often glean a thing or two from how people dress. I really didn’t know what to wear today. Everyone said, “Wear a blazer,” but for some reason, I feel totally dykey in a blazer. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a lesbian...I swear-given the choice-you’d rather see me naked than in a suit….It’s like I always say, better a naked lesbian than…me...in a blazer.” What was happening? She shook her head and felt a trickle of sweat run down her back. “Was that out loud?” she asked and fanned herself with a copy of the school newspaper.
"But speaking of apparel,” she said suddenly...."

And on she goes.

Although always a little batty, Kate is as intelligent as they come and realizes this unexpected opportunity could be her salvation. Fully expecting to be fired any minute, she buckles down to learn the job and do it well.
Kate’s journey is told from multiple viewpoints including letters, emails, and messages. It would probably be very confusing listening to it on Audible! Besides her own, told in 3rd person, we hear intermittently from two concerned close friends since college(one in first person), her long-suffering sister, and even the Park Avenue parents who will do anything to get their little darlings into the revered school. Towards the end of the book, another party chimes in out of the blue and tells his side of the story solving the ongoing mystery of why “Kate-tastrophe” was hired to begin with and was able to hang on until she became an indispensable, if always unconventional, member of the close-knit team.

Although at first impatient with her self-indulgent wallowing in her misery and general hopelessness, I grew to love and respect Kate. It was interesting how the stronger she becomes, the more the foibles and flaws are revealed in her supportive supposedly "together" friends and family. We get to know them quite well directly and indirectly. We get a peek into the messed-up lives and relationships of a few select parents who are wrestling with the admissions process. And their good, bad, and misunderstood children. The book is mostly hilarious and told in an imaginative and unusual manner which reveals the layers and differing perspectives of many people and happenings. The humor is comic, wise, dry, and irreverent and the story takes some surprising and sometimes delightful turns. And one is pretty shocking, although, yes, I should have seen it coming. The tangents it sometimes goes out on turned out to be some of my favorite parts and turn out not to be not so tangential after all.
I really liked Limelight by this author, but this book, her first book, I loved. And she has two more. Only two? Hope she is busy coming up with more!

https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings....

[The Lit Bitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello 2017! Even though I read this book in 2016, it’s my first official book review of 2017 and I couldn’t be happier with this new year kick off!

I don’t read a whole lot of chick lit but this book sounded so entertaining and funny that I had to give it a go. I work in education admissions so this book sounded like something I could relate to and I wasn’t wrong. It was cheeky and funny and I really enjoyed Kate as the lead character.

Even though it was told in the third person, I still felt like I could relate to Kate as well as the other characters and enjoy their story. I think what I loved about this story the most was how much I could relate to it because of my job. For teachers, school counselors, and others who have worked in education and had to deal with helicopter and high maintenance parents as well as entitlement issues with parents and students then this book will find a special place in your hearts! Working in a school environment made this book all the more endearing for me.

While I think I loved this book more because of it, I don’t think you need to be a school worker to find humor and charm in this book. Poeppel has a great wit and ability to bring humor to various situations and I loved that about this book. Not to mention it was an easy quick read, just what I needed coming off the holiday season.

There was also a romantic element in the book but it wasn’t overwhelmingly the focus of the book which was nice but on the other hand I kind of wanted it to be. Sometimes in chick lit it’s either all romance or all personal journey stories but this book had a nice mixture of both so I liked that a lot…..even if I did want the whole book to be romance, the way it was written was satisfying.

On the whole, this was a great book and I loved the humor and journey of the character. I loved Kate and wanted all the best for her in this novel! If you are looking for something entertaining to kick off the holiday season then this is the book for you!

See my full review here

[Eva • All Books Considered · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally posted at All Books Considered: 4 STARS

This book was everything that I had hoped Vinegar Girl would be earlier this year. It is laugh-out-loud funny, witty, charming and just fun to read. I really enjoyed this one and seriously empathized with and understood Kate. She is a complex woman with many facets and I think the author did an amazing job with showing her growth. This book also had a few fun elements akin to one of my 2016 favorite, The Boy Is Back in that certain parts of the story were told with ads, receipts, emails, etc. I definitely recommend this one if the blurb sounds at all interesting to you - this was so well done and well thought out. Also it was really feel good despite going behind the scenes of admission of an exclusive private school in New York City. The school came alive in this fun way but didn't detract from the characters outside of their jobs. Hard to explain, but definitely worth a read!

Picking Dillon up from school was the last thing Silvia planned on doing that day or was fit to manage. She was sprawled out in bed, watching episode after episode of The Real Housewives of Who-gives-a-fuck, having taken an indeterminate amount time off work to rest her tormented mind. That's what the psychiatrist prescribed, rest and calm. And a cocktail of calming meds to take the edge off.

[Stephanie Anze · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a disastrous break-up Kate, the daughter of two professors, abandons her academic path and spends a year wallowing. Stuck in a deep stupor, Kate rarely leaves her pijamas or the house. When Angela, her sister, meets an overwhelmed admissions director for Hudson (a private New York school) that desperately needs to hire an assistant, she arranges an interview. To everyone´s surprise, Kate gets the job and is soon introduced to outstanding children and their crazy parents.

While this novel is not the most substantial or elaborate book, it sure is lots of fun. For that, I can honestly say I enjoyed it quite a bit. Having recently read a number of hefty titles, I wanted something lighthearted and entertaining. Small Admissions delivered on both fronts. Granted, there are a few subplots I could have gone without but I absolutely loved the admissions process. In fact, I wanted more, more of the unbelievable kids and their ever unpredictable parents. Who would have thought that getting into the sixth grade would be so cutthroat? All the situations in the admissions office were downright funny. Kate, too, I found to be quite relatable (I mean who hasn´t lost their path at some point?). If you are looking for an easy and lighthearted read, pick up this book.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story! The characters and the topic were something that I could definitely relate to. It was very true about the challenges of getting into private school and how parents will stop at nothing. A lot of funny moments and an overall good read!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hysterical. Smart. A welcome diversion. Perfect for the summer or if you're looking for something light.

[Caryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun read with added bits of epistolary elements (my fave!). Amy Poeppel adds humor in her dialogue and scenes with such subtlety- can’t think of any other author who does it so well. Yes, some of these characters were completely off the wall, but that just made it more fun. I love stories of admissions departments and can’t wait to read her newest coming this summer.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy chic flic book. I originally picked out the book because I thought it would be a collection of funny admissions essays. But this revolved around the rise and fall and rise of Kate, and her personal life tied into the admissions office somehow. Not very funny.

I was annoyed by the characters most of the time. They all seemed immature and melodramatic, but maybe that was because all the characters were exaggerated. Caricatures. Even the main character, Kate, had a flat character arch until the end. Her heroic act sounded out of place and too good to be true. As for the other characters, I couldn't connect or sympathize with any of them, making them quite bland.

I also didn't like the style of writing. For almost every chapter, the scene would retrospectively talk about an event. Although this technique does build tension and suspense, the overuse of this writing style reduced the excitement by the end. It was like the author couldn't set the scene and write an action scene by itself and constantly needed a retrospective view to describe it.

The book was running two plot lines almost: the admissions season and Kate's messy love life. The book attempted to link both together in parallel, but failed to flesh out the full potential of each story. If only the author had focused on a compilation of admission stories or focused deeply on Kate's life, the book's plot would have improved.

so: really easy read, but I didn't care for the plot or the characters.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A witty, engrossing, entertaining read. Amy Poeppel has a pitch-perfect ear for comedy and pathos -- her heroine, Kate, is (at times) pathetic in the most lovable way, while the children who wander into Kate's interview room are poised, precocious little monsters. The parents are, of course, as forceful, oblivious, and complicated as only New York parents can be. I was reminded a little of books like The Devil Wears Prada and The Nanny Diaries, with a slightly more upmarket/literary tone re the writing voice. All in all, a fun one for sure!

[Rory · Rating 3 out of 5]

More silly and predictable and chicka-a-dee than I thought it was gonna be. Then again, I was following a People Magazine recommendation. The story, which wasn't much of a story, was told by a pointlessly convoluted and toxic group of fake friends. No fun at all.

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read. Not a fan of the cursing - it’s entirely possible to write an excellent book without coarse language. The characters were engaging and the progression of both the plot and the characters was realistic and enjoyable.

[LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions)]

Kate is the child of flighty academics, all set to go off and get her PhD and be part of academia herself (or maybe she'd already gotten her PhD? I wasn't paying close enough attention). She enjoys her research and lab work...and then she meets a handsome French guy named Robert, forgets all her plans and goals in favor of her "almost fiance", and is completely wrecked when he dumps her. She falls into a deep depression and can barely function. Her friends and sister want to help her out of her funk but have different ways of going about it. Chloe, Kate's friend and Robert's cousin (who feels partly responsible for the way Robert wrecked her), sets up a fake dating profile for Kate and goes on dates on her behalf, trying to find the perfect guy for her. Angela, Kate's control freak sister, helps set her up with a place to live, meals, and a dog walking job. If I remember right, she also gets her a job interview for a position in the admissions department of Hudson Day School. Vicki, Kate's elegant and high-powered friend...does something to help, but I can't remember what. Mostly I remember her agreeing to meet with Robert, dressed all sexy while telling herself that she was doing something good for Kate.

This is one of the books I got in a blind bag at Book Bonanza 2019 (I think the bag was labeled "comedy"). This is technically a DNF. I read up to page 160, spending most of that time hating the characters, and then I followed some advice I was given and skipped to the last 50 pages and read those. I missed out on some character relationships (Kate ended up with the guy I was expecting her to end up with, but I didn't see any of their on-page relationship), certain characters apparently took a turn for the likeable (Kate appeared to have become less frustrating), and some big events happened, I didn't feel like I missed enough to go back to page 161 and give the rest of the book another go.

The way the story was told was confusing. It wasn't linear - scenes from the past were mixed in with scenes from the present, and sometimes the progression of time wasn't clear. There were also italicized portions from Chloe's POV and emails from other characters mixed in. Some of this was done, I think, to mask certain information from the reader, but that doesn't negate the fact that the results were a little confusing.

Kate's relationships with Chloe, Vicki, and Angela made me think of a Nora Roberts novel gone wrong. Chloe and Angela clearly wanted to be supportive but came on way too strong (even considering that's potentially what Kate needed, since her depression was bad enough that she had zero desire to take care of herself). Vicki told herself she was being supportive but was actually just awful. I'm not sorry at all that I missed out on her relationship developments with Robert.

I have no idea why Kate was offered the admissions job at Hudson Day School. Maybe it was one of the revelations in the 150 or so pages I skipped. She showed up to her interview completely unprepared and then proceeded to say everything that entered her head, including some things that came across as borderline offensive. She had zero experience working in schools and zero admissions experience. She didn't actually do any research on those topics until after she was offered the job. It felt like some kind of "white woman failing up" storyline, and it really bothered me.

Based on the last 50 pages, yes, at some point Kate became extremely good at her job and did her best to help the more sympathetic characters. I'm sure her relationship with the guy she ended up with was cute (but definitely not the point of the book). It sounded like some of the ways she reacted to Robert (both when she was in a relationship with him and after he dumped her) were due to unrelated things she was working through that she hadn't told anyone else in her life about. That vaguely interested me, but again, not enough for me to go back and reattempt the 150 pages I skipped.

I don't generally rate DNFs, but at around page 160, my gut was going with 2 stars. It didn't necessarily seem like a bad book, but I hated most of the characters too much to want to rate it higher.

[Donna Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance reader’s copy of this darkly amusing novel from Net Galley and Atria Books. It’s funny as hell, and even more amusing to teachers, school counselors, and others that have dealt with high maintenance parents and the aura of entitlement they carry with them. I rate this title 4.5 stars and round upward. It comes out December 27, 2016, just in time to chase away your post-holiday depression.

I sat on this book for more than three months, which is a rare thing for me. I kept starting it, not liking it, and deciding to set it aside and look again with fresh eyes later. Finally November came, and I realized the book was not going to change; I’d given my word to the publisher I’d review it; it was time to suck it up and get the job done. And this is a little ironic all by itself, since that’s the position in which our protagonist found herself, but more on that in a minute.

The issue with the first part of the book is that it reads like a very lengthy introduction, steeped in character introduction and overlong inner narrative. After I had read—and loved—the rest of the book, I went back and reread that 15%. Was it just me? What was wrong with it? And once I had read the book and become familiar with all of the characters, it seemed perfectly fine. In fact, it seemed a lot like the voice-over at the beginning of a movie. Then I read the author’s biography, and discovered that this novel was first written as a play.

Suddenly, it all made sense.

Our protagonist is Kate, and she’s come undone. Her French boyfriend has dumped her:

“When he’d encouraged Kate to follow her heart, he hadn’t meant she should follow it to Paris.”

Meanwhile, upon departure she’s left her position at NYU. She was studying anthropology, and now she isn’t, and her family doesn’t know what to do about it. Enter Angela, her sister, who moves heaven and Earth in order to get Kate’s life going again; once Kate’s out of the woods, Angela can’t stop maneuvering and controlling. She’s good at being a white knight, and she can’t give it up. We have Vicki and Chloe, her friends from college, and the old boyfriend from France lurking offstage.

The fun commences when Kate gets a job in the admissions department of a small, private secondary school. She’s misrepresented her skill set to get it, but she’s determined to give it a try:

“Kate viewed Hudson Day as an unknown culture that required her exploration.”

It’s time to start interviewing and selecting students, managing interviews with demanding, sometimes aggressive parents. I’ve taught honors students in a public secondary school, and I thought my experience took fortitude; Kate’s experience was similar to my own, but on steroids.

There are hilariously dysfunctional parents, kids whose folks don’t have a clue what they can do and what they can’t, and in the midst of it all, relationships among Kate’s nearest and dearest become unstuck and reconfigured in ways that mirror those Kate works with, and even Kate herself. I can’t tell you anymore, because it would ruin it for you, but this snarky romp is not to be missed. It’s cunning, wickedly bold humor at its finest.