Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

The fictional town of Crystal, Colorado, is the setting for Holsinger's (The Invention of Fire, 2015) biting, astute, immediately engaging novel exploring the means some parents use to push their children up the elite educational ladder. Four couples moved to Crystal about the same time, and now, 10 years later, the wives have become closely knit as their youngest offspring approach middle school. When they get wind of the imminent opening of Crystal Academy, a new public magnet school for exceptional learners, the ties binding the four families begin to unravel. There is a rigorous application process for the limited spots in this gifted school, and while each mother seems to root for all their children to make the cut, behind the scenes a different story unfolds as lies are told and old jealousies surface. Holsinger perceptively portrays how each couple copes with the stress each family faces in addition to the usual money problems, sibling rivalries, and marital difficulties they camouflage. Given recent college-admission scandals, Holsinger's tale about money, connections, and education couldn't be more timely.--Deborah Donovan Copyright 2019 Booklist

Publishers Weekly
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In this sharply entertaining novel from Holsinger (The Invention of Fire), Crystal, Colo., is an affluent community where a new gifted magnet school for grades six through 12 will soon open. With limited spaces available, the competition among parents to get their offspring into the school, called the "Stuyvesant of the Rockies," turns ruthless. Dr. Rose Holland, a pediatric neurologist, uses her position to gather inside information that could be vital for her daughter, Emma Q's, admission. Queen bee Samantha Zeller and her moneyman husband, Kevin, are not above lying about the IQ test results of their daughter, Emma Z. Divorced Azra and Beck are forced to deal with the emotional fallout when the admission process causes friction between their twin sons. And single mother Lauren's daughter, Tessa, recently out of rehab, keeps a video blog that sees through all the adult pretensions around her. As the application process spools out, it pits parent against parent, student against student, and spouse against spouse until relationships are frayed to the breaking point and betrayals build to a shattering climax during an open house at the new school. This depiction of the depths to which some parents will stoop to win social advantage for their offspring makes for a smart, piercing novel, and timely given recent headlines. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Four close friends, their husbands, their children, their housecleanersand one application-only magnet school that will drive them all over the brink.A Boulder-esque town in the Front Range of the Rockies, Crystal, Colorado, is a progressive paradise where four entwined families are raising their children, though death, divorce, and drugs have taken their toll on the group since the moms met at baby swim class years back. The women give each other mugs with friendship quotes each year on the anniversary of that meeting, and they get together every Friday morning for a 4-mile run, "a ritual carved into the flinty stone of their livesshared since they'd first started trimming up again after the births of their children." Beneath the surface, resentments are already simmeringone family is far wealthier than the others; the widowed mom is a neurotic mess; one of the couples didn't make it through elementary school and he's remarried to "a hot young au pair who was great with the twins [and] a willing partner in mindblowing carnality." Then comes the announcement of a public magnet school for exceptional learners, with a standardized test as the first step in separating the wheat from the chaff. The novel's depiction of the ensuing devolution is grounded in acute social observationclass, race, privilege, woke and libertarian politicsthen hits the mark on the details as well. From the bellowing of the dads on the soccer field to the oversharing in the teenager's vlog, down to the names of the kids themselvestwins Aidan and Charlie Unsworth-Chaudhury; best friends Emma Z and Emma Q; nerdy chessmaster Xander FryeHolsinger's (The Invention of Fire, 2015) pitch is close to perfect.The subject of parents charging past every ethical restraint in pursuit of crme de la crme education could not be more timely, and the Big Little Lies treatment creates a deliciously repulsive and eerily current page-turner. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal
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The four young couples at the center of this engaging novel about bad parenting appear to have it all: successful careers, fine homes, healthy young children, and a safe and friendly neighborhood in Colorado. They even live in a town renowned for its breathtaking natural beauty. When a new, highly competitive school for "gifted" children is approved and begins accepting applications, however, things go terribly awry. Competitive instincts rise to the surface, causing friendships to fray and marriages to fall apart. Some parents even resort to shockingly inappropriate behavior to improve the chances of their children being accepted. Holsinger (The Invention of Fire) handles this all with great aplomb, bringing each marriage and family skillfully to life and inviting us to think about what good parenting might actually look like and how we might define "success" for our children. The recent college admissions bribery scandal suggests that these are timely issues, indeed. VERDICT A thoughtful, engaging examination of a subject torn from the headlines: how parents succumb to a kind of temporary insanity as they jockey for position, status, and prestige—for their children and for themselves. Recommended for parents and for fans of literary fiction.—Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT