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angkniery5's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book and am curious to see the movie. If is not what I would think of as a comedy. A smart well written book about a Princeton Admissions officer who in midlife finds herself examining her life after years of existing only through her job. This book is an interesting take on the college admission process, especially since I am close to entering that journey with my oldest child.
ampersandread's review against another edition
4.0
The blurb on the back of this book doesn't sound like something particularly exciting, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was difficult to put down. Having (somewhat) recently gone through the college application process myself (although my experience was not quite as rigorous as required by the Ivy League), it was fascinating to see the other side of the application process, with a fictional spin to it. I particularly liked the paragraphs detailing certain Princeton applicants scattered throughout the novel. It added great color to moments in the story that might be plodding or boring. However, I could never get a clear picture of Portia herself. She mentions maybe twice that she has curly hair, but the author never suggests she is noticeably attractive, overweight, quirky, or truly memorable. Towards the end of this rather weighty book, however, I found myself getting a bit incredulous. What, truly, are the odds of Portia finding her son so serendipitously? And while her actions in helping Jeremiah at the novel's conclusion are truly selfless, it was all wrapped up a bit too fast for my taste. Those, however, are the only parts of this great books that prevent me from giving it a solid, well-deserved 5.
flutey78's review against another edition
3.0
I liked a lot about this book but I wanted it to be better. I found it very slow in certain sections and sometimes tough to read.
carpentd's review against another edition
2.0
This book needed an editor. Badly. It repeated itself and rambled on. It could have been better at half the words.
meags1's review against another edition
3.0
This is a very hard book to rate. Not very much actually happens within the plot stream of the book, and a lot of the stuff that is relevant happens offscreen/told through flashbacks. And the main character makes bad decisions. But I guess that doesn't mean it wasn't good.
bookworm_mommy's review against another edition
I really enjoyed this book. It took 3 - 4 chapters to get into it, but then I didn't want to put it down.\n\nI loved the word play on 'Admission.' Portia worked in the Admission department at Princeton and was in charge of deciding who got admitted into the university. But in this pivotal year, she is due for some admissions of her own.\n\nThere was some sex and language I could do without.\n\nBut I truly enjoyed seeing Portia's character develop and come to terms with what has been while sorting out what is to come.
gglazer's review against another edition
3.0
Getting inside the head of a Princeton admissions officer is fascinating, and Korelitz did a great job of presenting the overarching philosophical questions involved in passing judgment on thousands of talented young people...
... the first 3 or 4 times she talked about it. By the end of the book, I felt like I could recite the back-and-forth going on in Portia's head verbatim; Korelitz needed some serious editing that she didn't get, and the philosophical angle became way too heavy-handed. Still, I enjoyed the book a lot and was impressed with the ending, and I'd go back for more.
... the first 3 or 4 times she talked about it. By the end of the book, I felt like I could recite the back-and-forth going on in Portia's head verbatim; Korelitz needed some serious editing that she didn't get, and the philosophical angle became way too heavy-handed. Still, I enjoyed the book a lot and was impressed with the ending, and I'd go back for more.
elisability's review against another edition
4.0
Portia Nathan is an admissions officer for Princeton. She is 38 years old, in a committed, albeit a bit dull and safe, relationship, has issues with her mother, few friends… And then, when the new admissions season rolls around, her life breaks apart and she has to cope with things happening in her present, as well as things she thought buried in the past suddenly coming up to haunt her.
The first thing I thought after finishing this book was “man, I’m glad I don’t live in the States!” The process for applying to an Ivy League University is absolutely crazy! Reading it while knowing very little about it was super interesting, so if you’ve been through it, it must be even cooler to see it from “behind.”
It was very interesting, but I have to admit it did become a tad repetitive at some point. After the umpteenth argument she has with a minor character about the fairness of the admission process, you kind of know her arguments by heart and it doesn’t add anything new. This is why I gave 4 stars and not five.
The other story (stories), however, in Portia’s personal life, were awesome. Well paced, realistic, funny and sweet, it was a pleasure to read. I don’t think there was a single character I disliked.
I sped through it, mainly because I had four days left in my vacation and I knew the movie was on the plane, but it was perfect for that, not too heavy, so I could easily go through a hundred pages a day. I needn’t have bothered though; the movie barely has anything to do with the book. The ending is completely different, the romance aspect is also different, the back story from the book doesn’t even exist… This was clearly a case of book > movie.
The first thing I thought after finishing this book was “man, I’m glad I don’t live in the States!” The process for applying to an Ivy League University is absolutely crazy! Reading it while knowing very little about it was super interesting, so if you’ve been through it, it must be even cooler to see it from “behind.”
It was very interesting, but I have to admit it did become a tad repetitive at some point. After the umpteenth argument she has with a minor character about the fairness of the admission process, you kind of know her arguments by heart and it doesn’t add anything new. This is why I gave 4 stars and not five.
The other story (stories), however, in Portia’s personal life, were awesome. Well paced, realistic, funny and sweet, it was a pleasure to read. I don’t think there was a single character I disliked.
I sped through it, mainly because I had four days left in my vacation and I knew the movie was on the plane, but it was perfect for that, not too heavy, so I could easily go through a hundred pages a day. I needn’t have bothered though; the movie barely has anything to do with the book. The ending is completely different, the romance aspect is also different, the back story from the book doesn’t even exist… This was clearly a case of book > movie.
stephsz's review against another edition
3.0
Since I haven't seen the movie, I was able to read the book just as a book, and found it enjoyable. That said, knowing that they cast Tina Fey and Paul Rudd for the movie definitely colored my reading of the book (but more in the, "why would they do that?" sort of way).
jcargabr's review against another edition
2.0
Not so enthralled so far. And the movie must be radically different from the book to have cast Tina fey and Paul Rudd. finished. Meh. A lot preachy and a little soap operatic. Not for me.