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sh3llr3ads's review against another edition
4.0
Reviewed for YA Books Central
A wild ride.
The Story:
Chloe is after revenge for what happened the year before to her best friend. She blames the popular clique at school for her friend's fall from grace and will do anything to take them down, even become one of them. Enter Will, the boy who is a part of the group but not like the rest of them, a boy with vulnerabilities. A little blackmail and a lot of questions behavior later and Chloe has gotten close enough to unravel the secrets these kids hold.
What I loved:
The themes in this book. There's this prevailing lesson that nothing is black and white. No one is all good or all bad. Anyone can make themselves do anything to fit in, even if they know it's wrong. This is no more evident in Will, the boy who feels immense guilt for everything, but goes along anyway, and Chloe, the girl wanting to ruin her new friends for the actions she's now taking part in herself.
The writing has an easy flow that turns this into an unputdownable story.
What was just okay:
The ending. I won't spoil it, but throughout the book, we're supposed to see the level ones as the enemy, the morally bankrupt characters. Yet, Chloe becomes no different from them. I wanted to see her learn her lesson.
I didn't understand all of Will's actions. There are some in particular that made it hard to root for the love story.
Final Verdict:
A one sitting read you won't be able to put down with intriguing characters and a fast-paced storyline that grips you until the very end.
A wild ride.
The Story:
Chloe is after revenge for what happened the year before to her best friend. She blames the popular clique at school for her friend's fall from grace and will do anything to take them down, even become one of them. Enter Will, the boy who is a part of the group but not like the rest of them, a boy with vulnerabilities. A little blackmail and a lot of questions behavior later and Chloe has gotten close enough to unravel the secrets these kids hold.
What I loved:
The themes in this book. There's this prevailing lesson that nothing is black and white. No one is all good or all bad. Anyone can make themselves do anything to fit in, even if they know it's wrong. This is no more evident in Will, the boy who feels immense guilt for everything, but goes along anyway, and Chloe, the girl wanting to ruin her new friends for the actions she's now taking part in herself.
The writing has an easy flow that turns this into an unputdownable story.
What was just okay:
The ending. I won't spoil it, but throughout the book, we're supposed to see the level ones as the enemy, the morally bankrupt characters. Yet, Chloe becomes no different from them. I wanted to see her learn her lesson.
I didn't understand all of Will's actions. There are some in particular that made it hard to root for the love story.
Final Verdict:
A one sitting read you won't be able to put down with intriguing characters and a fast-paced storyline that grips you until the very end.
lottie1803's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
jennapreble's review against another edition
3.0
I added this based on a tiktok. It was okay. It was a book.
mindallbooks's review against another edition
2.0
Audiobook: your general not in depth young adult mean girls esq book not bad just easy listening / reading.
drizzleandhurricanebooks's review against another edition
4.0
Trigger warnings:
Diversity: POC side characters, queer side character.
Real Rating: 4,5 stars.
I had SO much fun with this one. It was such an entertaining read I wanted to devour it all. I liked the fake-dating romance and how it slowly developed, I liked the determined main character and yeah, I had a lot of fun with that one and would definitely recommend it for fans of all the drama.
Read my full review of Clique Bait on the blog!
Thank you to the publisher for the e-ARC of this book. This did not, in any way, influenced my thoughts and rating.
My Blog - Drizzle & Hurricane Books - Twitter - Bloglovin'
Spoiler
blackmail, drinking, ableist words used, throwing up, cheating, fatshaming, bullying, death, drowning, peer pressure, abusive relationship.Diversity: POC side characters, queer side character.
Real Rating: 4,5 stars.
I had SO much fun with this one. It was such an entertaining read I wanted to devour it all. I liked the fake-dating romance and how it slowly developed, I liked the determined main character and yeah, I had a lot of fun with that one and would definitely recommend it for fans of all the drama.
Read my full review of Clique Bait on the blog!
Thank you to the publisher for the e-ARC of this book. This did not, in any way, influenced my thoughts and rating.
My Blog - Drizzle & Hurricane Books - Twitter - Bloglovin'
bookly68's review against another edition
4.0
How did I feel reading this book? Frustrated. Lol. I actually really liked the book. Especially the fake dating between Chloe and Will...sigh. Chloe wanting to get revenge on the “Level One”, as she calls it, clique of rich kids who control the school and bully and mess with peoples lives...that frustrated me. I get her wanting revenge for what they did to her friend, but she was actually becoming no better than them by the way she went about things. She was losing herself. That’s what kept frustrating me. Will was her guiding voice in many ways, always trying to make her see. He protected her and was there for her. You can’t help but love Will. I really enjoyed the story and definitely recommend it as a fun read!!
ash6775's review against another edition
3.0
The beginning and middle was good but the ending ruined it for me.
joswiththebooks's review against another edition
5.0
A read that didn’t keep me on the edge of me seat but was fun! Usually read thrillers and romance so this was a good little happy medium that reminded me a lot of my time in a small town high school.
laurenbookishtwins's review against another edition
4.0
I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you kindly to HarperTeen for my review copy.
Means Girls meets [b:Get Even|16005219|Get Even (Don't Get Mad, #1)|Gretchen McNeil|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392042939l/16005219._SY75_.jpg|21769471], Clique Bait follows Chloe's path for revenge against the most popular students at her rich prep school after her best friends life, Monica, was destroyed. She's traded in her thrift fashion for designer labels, deep cleansed her social media, and carefully devised a plan to infiltrate the group, collect their dirty secrets, and release them to the world, toppling their carefully constructed social hierarchy. But her plan begins to go amiss when she falls for one of the very people she's vowed to take down.
I’m a sucker for revenge stories, and Clique Bait was addictive and a highly entertaining one for sure. If you like books with a lot of drama, Clique Bait will appeal to you.
What I liked about Clique Bait was how it portrayed the Level One’s. It showed that there was a lot more complexity than what you realised and there was a lot of insecurity behind the surface (although some of them were just ass-holes), but it also never excused what they did.
Chloe was probably not the most engaging character, and there was probably not as much depth to any of the characters to form any sort of emotional attachment, but it was a fun read nonetheless.
There is a romance between Chloe and one of the Level One’s, a guy called William. It is fake-dating AND enemies-to-lovers, and I love both. I think the romance was definitely what made this a four-star read.
Overall, a decent YA revenge story for fans of books with drama and some slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance.
Means Girls meets [b:Get Even|16005219|Get Even (Don't Get Mad, #1)|Gretchen McNeil|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392042939l/16005219._SY75_.jpg|21769471], Clique Bait follows Chloe's path for revenge against the most popular students at her rich prep school after her best friends life, Monica, was destroyed. She's traded in her thrift fashion for designer labels, deep cleansed her social media, and carefully devised a plan to infiltrate the group, collect their dirty secrets, and release them to the world, toppling their carefully constructed social hierarchy. But her plan begins to go amiss when she falls for one of the very people she's vowed to take down.
I’m a sucker for revenge stories, and Clique Bait was addictive and a highly entertaining one for sure. If you like books with a lot of drama, Clique Bait will appeal to you.
What I liked about Clique Bait was how it portrayed the Level One’s. It showed that there was a lot more complexity than what you realised and there was a lot of insecurity behind the surface (although some of them were just ass-holes), but it also never excused what they did.
Chloe was probably not the most engaging character, and there was probably not as much depth to any of the characters to form any sort of emotional attachment, but it was a fun read nonetheless.
There is a romance between Chloe and one of the Level One’s, a guy called William. It is fake-dating AND enemies-to-lovers, and I love both. I think the romance was definitely what made this a four-star read.
Overall, a decent YA revenge story for fans of books with drama and some slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance.
readingtobesane's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5