What would you do if you were dumped by what you thought was your true love in the middle of an airport before heading off to Paris? In Small Admissions, Kate faces this reality and becomes depressed. She loses interest in working, maintaining a social life, and simply, just doing something with her life. This is understandable, especially when she had let go of her aspirations in graduate studies to be with her “true love” in Paris.

So, what does Kate do now that she’s heartbroken and with no job? Fortunately, her sister, Angela, vows to lift her spirits and help her get her life back on track. Angela is a caring and concerned sister; yet, despite her good intentions of helping her sister out, I find her to be too overprotective and judgmental. Kate is on the way of getting her life back on track, and even so, Angela does not trust her and firmly believes that Kate will fall apart at any moment. I find Angela’s untrustworthiness and lack of confidence in her sister disappointing. However, what would have been more disappointing is if Kate didn’t have the confidence in herself, but I’m glad she did and had the determination to succeed in her career.

Personally, I find the scenes with the students and their families applying for a prestigious school to be more exciting than Kate’s personal story. Some of the parents’ behaviour and the lengths they would go to ensure their child goes to the most prestigious school are just astonishing. I find the children to be more mature and honest than their parents, which is disappointing, but at the same time, I am glad that Kate is the one who is able to see the true potential in them and whether or not they belong at her school. Kate’s position in admissions and newfound perspective on her life after heartbreak creates a sense of hope and inspiration in this story, which I hope some of you will find as well. So, grab a copy of Small Admissions and let me know what you think!