Small Admissions

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 show more 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. show less

Small Admissions by Amy Poeppel
Source: Overdrive Audio/Public Library
My Rating: 5/5 stars

The Bottom Line: Holy Hannah!! Some people are just bat-sh*t crazy and that is especially true when it comes to getting their kids into the best schools! Kate Pearson has NO idea what she’s getting into when she accepts a job in the Admissions office of the prestigious Hudson Day School. To be fair, her new job is a far, far cry better than what she’s been doing over the past year, and her family and friends are thrilled to see her finally moving on with her life. Over the course of the admissions season, Kate not only gets back on her feet, but learns some valuable lessons about life, finds her confidence again, and discovers the value of true show more friendship. This book takes one on a roller coaster of ride of emotions from the seriously sad, to the utterly unbelievable, to the absolute in ridiculous, to sheer hilarity. I often found myself laughing aloud and, by the end of the read, wishing for a sequel! show less

Small Admissions is a story that weaves in and out of the cutthroat world of private school admissions in NYC (which is fascinating), but the true heart of this tale are the four women who are connected by blood, friendship and one bad boy (ex) boyfriend. Amy Poeppel has an incredible wit and she brings each character to life in a picture-perfect way. I found myself chuckling and cheering all the way through the book.

And I'm one of those people who says, "ciao," which, when I got to that part, made me burst out laughing in a public place, garnering many looks from the people around me! In my defense, I do speak Italian. ;p

Small Admissions is a fun and funny read which I greatly enjoyed.

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 show more 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! show less

Took me a little longer than usual to get into the story of this book, but I'm glad I stuck it out. Some moments of amusement and also insight, such as the picture below from about 3/4 through the book:

"At every meal in Deutschland they ask if you want your water flat or "mit gas." You, my dear, are flat. Kate has gas. We need both kinds. We need loan analysts as well as carbonated people who jazz around. the bubbles may look out of control, but ultimately they know in which direction they're going."

Enjoyable chick lit about Kate Pearson who re-invents her young life from horrible breakup (French Robert), grad school drop out (bio-anthropology) and a year on the couch to become an admissions director at a private NYC school, Hudson Day School. Very 20-something with all these existential issues, but funny and charming and clever. Multiple points of view (Kate's responsible sister Angela who has deviated from the family academic tradition to pursue high-powered career and family; the flighty Pearson parents who are on sabbatical studying native peoples around the globe, Kate's best friends Chloe (who blames herself for Kate's breakup since French Robert is her cousin) and Vicki (who wants Kate to move on so she can put moves on show more Robert). Some wacky private school parents and applicants figure in once Kate gets her new life-changing job and the whole thing is a send-up about over-achieving and trying to create the perfect life. EVERYthing gets tied up very neatly by the end, but also makes this a little longer than necessary. Good escape. show less

While I'm all about quirkiness, this story was not doing it for me. I don't think it had to do with the story itself. It was more that I really did not like the main character. Here's the thing, I don't mind characters that are a little bit bumbling or caught up in their own world. But Kate is a whole different story. Maybe it's because I am an older sister and identified more with the character of Angela (Kate's sister), but I found Kate exasperating. She literally did nothing to help herself, and made everyone else do things for her. I understand that an undergraduate degree does not always lead to the job in the area you want, and doesn't always give you the skills you need to transition into something else ... but you have to have show more some basic common sense! How do you not know how to dress for an interview or even how TO interview?! I get it, she was despondent and depressed ... but it just irked me how she was so confused about everything in life, and literally knows NOTHING about how the world works. Where have you been living for so long, under a rock?! Sorry, I usually don't get so ramped up but it just got too much, so much so that I couldn't really enjoy the story, which was actually kind of funny. There are quite a few people who did enjoy this novel so I might be just an anomaly, but this book really did not work for me. I'm going to have to give this one a 1/5 stars.

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