A review by dameofscones
Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz

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.