The Clique, by Lisi Harrison, is the first book in the Clique Series and it also happens to be one of my all time favorite books. A couple of weeks ago, I made a reference to something that Dylan said in one of the books and I realized that the last time I read The Clique was in 2010, my freshman year of high school and the last time I read a clique book was when the last one came out in 2011. Needless to say, it was long past time for me to spend some time with Massie, Kristen, Dylan, Alicia and Claire.
Massie Block has everything that she could ever need in life. She has the best designer clothes, she lives in a mansion, She’s the most popular girl in the 7th grade at OCD, and of course, she has the bestest friends in the whole world, Kristen, Dylan and Alicia. When Claire Lyons and her family move in to the guest house on the Block estate, Massie’s parents expect her to become friends with Claire. But how can Massie be friends with Claire? She wears keds, jeans from the gap, eats gummy feet and not to mention she’s all around ah-nnoying.
Look, I know the summary I just gave of this book above make it look super shallow but it’s not. I’ve read this book so many times that I can’t summarize it without telling the whole story. (Maybe the summary on the goodreads page will help you out better) The Clique is a story about friendship. At the root of everything, Massie is insecure and while she’ll never admit it, she’s threatened by Claire. Claire wants more than anything to make friends and to be accepted by Massie.
What I loved most about this book when I was in middle school is still the very same thing I love most about this book today. It shows you that even when someone has it all, money, designer clothes, popularity and friends, that they’re still insecure. Even though I’m nothing like Massie, I related to her as when I was her age reading these books and I still relate to her now because of her insecurities.
The Clique has often been criticized for being shallow, teaching girls to be mean to each other but anyone who has read the series knows this is not the case. The Clique is about wanting to be accepted. I mean, as humans, isn’t that what we all want?
I loved reading this book again as an adult. I’d actually forgotten a lot of the minor details of what happens but as I was reading the words, I remembered exactly. It was like knowing all the words to a song you hadn’t heard in a really long time. I loved all the one liners. Lisi Harrison is the queen of one liners. I loved picking up on some things that I never picked up on as a kid. I loved picking up on the writing style, and how Lisi used the duel points of view from Massie and Claire not only show things about the person whose perspective but things about the other character too. I realized how much I actually learned about Massie from Claire’s point of view and vice versa. My favorite thing I picked up on was Vince, the art teacher being “very special friends” with the hot coma guy on all my children. I can’t believe that I never picked up on that before. Mostly, I loved falling in love with Massie and Claire all over again. When I was younger, I always liked Massie more but this time around, I loved them equally. I guess you can say I fell in love with Claire.
I know I will never be able to say enough nice things about this book to do it justice. You know how most people talk about the Harry Potter books meaning so much to them? That’s me with not only just this book but this whole series. I will never not love this book. I will never not love Lisi Harrison. Did you guys know that I named this blog as a reference to The Clique series? The purple color of the website is a reference/ tribute to Massie because her favorite color is purple because she once read that it is the color of royalty. These books were the first books that I was ever really excited about reading. These are the books that made me go from someone who likes reading to a reader. These books are everything to me.
You guys have no idea how tempted I am to just binge read the whole series. If I didn’t have so many books on my shelf that I hadn’t read, I probably would. I can tell you this for sure, It won’t be so long before I pick up the second book in the series, Best Friends for Never, for a reread. The who am I kidding, i’m gonna read Revenge of the Wannabes right after that because that’s my favorite one in the whole series.
Much Love,
Kate
Book Alphas 