Pretty Little Liars meets Burn for Burn in this thrilling debut from Wattpad star Ann Valett. 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 … 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
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Really amazing book that shows a little bit of behind the curtain of what “Popular life” is really like.
Clique Bait is the typical revenge story, but that is not to say that it is terrible or even mediocre. Ann Valett’s debut novel is perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars and is incredibly popular on Wattpad. It certainly is a good read, and some things set it apart from similar revenge stories.
First, the structure of the Clique Bait deserves recognition. Valett separates the novel into parts of Chloe’s revenge plan. It guides the readers, giving them some semblance of the progression of the premise. It lures the reader in and keeps them engaged, eager to see how Chloe’s plan is coming along.
What is also clever on Valett’s part is the way she opens each chapter. Each chapter opens with a letter from Chloe to her friend Monica, whose life was ruined by the elite group of students. It is a great way to build a relationship between two characters, especially when one of them is nonexistent. It also gives the story some much-needed history to build up this high school hierarchy and how it works.
As for the story itself, the premise is not wholly unique, but it does have a level of realism attached to the story. Chloe is a pretty headstrong character who comes from a privileged family. If she wanted to, she could have easily been a part of the popular crowd. However, Chloe chose to remain invisible instead of succumbing to the popular clichés. Her dedication and drive, and the ways she develops her plan is grounded in realism which allows the reader to remain grounded in the story.
Now, the characters themselves, this group of elite seniors, while their cruelty verges on the unrealistic at times, they still have a semblance of humanity to them. Lola especially has a dramatic shift in her personality allowing the reader to see the complexities of what it means to keep up her happy façade. Valett creates complexities with these characters, especially after what happened with Monica. All the characters have something complex about them, highlighting how human they are.
Clique Bait is an engaging story as it tackles this revenge story realistically, it just is not unique enough, no matter how well written it is.
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!!