Publisher's Weekly Review
Dobmeier and Katzman's suspenseful debut, a shrewd comedy of manners, focuses on three women whose daughters attend Seattle's Elliott Bay Academy, a prep school "positioned as a pipeline to elite colleges." Imperious Alicia Stone, "a millionaire many hundreds of times over," is one of the most powerful women in the tech industry. Kelly Vernon makes up for her lower financial status with manic, malice-tinged zeal, which includes posting erroneous information on Twitter. Capable, low-key single-mom Maren Pressley, Alicia's long-time personal assistant, has an academically gifted daughter, Winnie, who's aiming for Stanford, much to the chagrin of the more competitive mothers, whose daughters are also applying to Stanford. When Winnie is seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver, the police refuse to believe Maren's suggestion that the incident might be connected to the aggressive race for acceptance to a top university. After years of silent subservience, Maren decides to tell the police a big lie as part of her campaign to ensure Winnie's safety and her future. The exhilarating narrative speeds along to a satisfying conclusion. This is an unputdownable morality tale for our times. Agent: Carly Watters, P.S. Literary. (Feb.)
Kirkus Review
When Stanford announces it will take only one additional student from the prestigious Elliott Bay Academy, applying to college suddenly becomes very dangerous. Is someone willing to kill for that spot? Winnie Pressley is at the top of her senior class, so when her college counselor tells her she can't apply to Stanford, she's devastated--but her mother, Maren, is suspicious. Are the two other top contenders also being advised to drop out of the race? Or does Winnie's lower socio-economic status mean she's no longer eligible for the school's support? When Winnie lands in the hospital after a hit-and-run, the answers to those questions may imperil Maren, too. As a teenage single mother, Maren had to drop out of college herself, and she's worked hard to support her daughter. Currently, she's the indispensable yet health insurance--free assistant to Alicia Stone, another Elliott Bay mom and the fabulously wealthy CEO of Aspyre, a posh lifestyle technology company. Alicia's daughter, Brooke, has all the financial perks but she's lacking the grades and ambition to be a Cardinal. Not quite as wealthy as Alicia but definitely more privileged than Maren, Kelly Vernon, the third mother in this tale, traffics in information. She knows everyone's secrets (academic, philanthropic, and very personal). Her own daughter, Krissie, is a strong candidate for Stanford--plus she's a double legacy--but her anxiety may get in her way. Toggling among the three mother-daughter pairs, Dobmeier and Katzman deftly capture the madness of college admissions season, from the expert-level parental manipulation of school administrators and the viper dens of parent cocktail parties to the women's tense home lives, riddled with unhealthy coping mechanisms. As secrets unfold, we witness the worst familial behavior; stolen DNA profiles and plagiarized essays are only the tip of the iceberg. Operation Varsity Blues lurks behind this bracingly vicious portrait of entitlement. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
It's college-application season at the elite Elliott Bay Academy. There's only one spot open at Stanford University, and three young women--or their mothers--are determined to seize it. Winnie Pressley is at the top of the senior class, but her tuition is paid by tech mogul Alicia Stone, who could withdraw her financial support to secure the spot for her daughter, Brooke. Kelly Vernon is accustomed to volunteering her way into EBA's in-crowd, and she started setting her daughter, Krissie, up to attend Stanford from birth by engineering a roster of extracurricular activities and college-prep courses. When Winnie is seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident, everyone involved in the cutthroat quest is a suspect, and the investigation reveals even more secrets. Dobmeier and Katzman's timely debut piles twist upon twist and illuminates the many ways young people serve as stand-ins for their parents' dreams of success (and their fear of failure). Fans of domestic suspense about rich people behaving badly--and readers who couldn't look away from the Varsity Blues college-admissions scandal--will devour this one.
Library Journal Review
DEBUT When prestigious Stanford University informs Elliott Bay Academy that it has only one early admissions spot still available, a cutthroat competition begins. Famous CEO Alicia thinks a big donation will ensure her average-at-best daughter Brooke's acceptance. Stay-at-home mom Kelly tries to use her school volunteerism and whatever inside info she can extract to ruin the other girls' chances of taking her anxiety-ridden daughter Krissie's spot. Meanwhile, Maren, Alicia's personal assistant and mother of the academic powerhouse Winnie, tries to convince her daughter to forget Stanford and apply to other schools. Things get scary when one of the girls is in a suspicious accident a few days before the deadline, but it doesn't quell the competition. Which daughter, if any, will prevail, and at what cost? Longtime friends Dobmeier and Katzman team up to pen an unputdownable and wildly entertaining debut full of shocking twists and turns. Whether or not it was inspired by a 2019 scandal involving prominent business figures and celebrity parents, it's similarly compelling. VERDICT Fans of mother/daughter relationship novels won't want to miss this fast-paced take on mama bears and the cubs they will do anything to protect.--Samantha Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY
