Book Review: Clique Bait

Author: Ann Valett

Genre: YA Contemporary

Release Date: 04.28.20

Publisher: HarperTeen

Source: Book Box

My Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis: “Chloe Whittaker is out for revenge.

Last year her best friend Monica’s life was unceremoniously ruined by the most popular students at their high school, so this year Chloe plans to take each and every one of them down. She’s traded in her jeans and T-shirts for the latest designer clothes, erased anything on social media that would tie her to Monica (and blow her cover), and carefully figured out how she will befriend the members of the clique, find out their deepest and darkest secrets, and reveal them to the world.

Chloe has the perfect plan . . . but there’s one thing she didn’t prepare for. And that’s falling for someone she’s determined to destroy. The closer she gets to uncovering the secrets the in-crowd is determined to cover up, the more she realizes that she is going to have to choose between betraying her oldest friend or the boy who’s captured her heart”

It’s been a while since I got hooked onto a dramatic high school revenge story, and this book absolutely crushed it.

In Clique Bait, Monica has a plan for revenge. She wants to take down the popular kids in her school by becoming one of them, and destroying them from the inside. She has the perfect plan, except for the boy she wasn’t preparing for. 

I was addicted to this book from the first chapter. The writing is immersive, dramatic, atmospheric, and keeps you wanting more. That, mixed with the drama, makes Clique Bait a dangerous story that’s guaranteed to keep you up at night. I was awake until about 3am one night desperate to finish this book. The way the story is built kept my attention and left me needing answers.

Now, I feel this book is hard to talk about without getting too much into it. It’s the type of story that you go best into blindly. Read the synopsis and dive in. It’s a dramatic ride best taken if you have no real idea what you’re getting into. So… here a few of my other notes, but written vaguely. I swear, I could talk about this book for hours but I don’t want to ruin the experience of it for anyone who hasn’t started it yet.

• The drama in this book was amazing, like something out of Gossip Girl but darker.
• The fake-dating romance trope is there and oh my goshhhh. It’s so good.
• There’s a bit of a mystery aspect that’s addictive.
• Then, finally, the characters are super interesting!

So, overall I really loved this book. I’d highly recommend it to anyone. I’d also, again, really mention that if you’re gonna read this book you should go into it as blind as possible! It’ll make the experience of reading it a lot more fun as you navigate the twists and turns of Clique Bait.