I can see why this series was so popular. I'm also extremely grateful that I missed it because The Clique was published when I was not too much older than Claire and Massie, and I would have been lost to it. I read a lot back then, but not in contemporary, thank goodness. I'm glad I didn't read this book when I was younger because the "mean girl" trope would have eaten me up.

The book is short. Characters get away with things like trespassing that wouldn't be possible in 2022 (thanks to technology!), but their behavior would have been so much worse if social media was an option at the time of the book. The manipulative bullying is unreal, and it's a miracle that various characters didn't shed more tears. There are all sorts of shaming - fat-shaming, classism, elitism - and every once and a while; I had to step back and remind myself: these are middle schoolers.

So while it's entertaining and an easy read and hooks the reader in quickly... I don't recommend this book. I don't recommend the series. Especially for girls and female-identifying readers in middle school - this sets such a terrible behavioral precedent. Lessons are not learned, not really. In book two, all the characters go back to being nasty to each other. And they do this for a dozen more books. There are better books with more complex characters and storylines out there. ( )

Garotas S.A - Torpedo' mostra um universo cheio de brigas fofocas e confusões entre as adolescentes de uma escola exclusiva para garotas. O livro apresenta o típico universo adolescente e faz a crônica das novas formas de comunicação destes jovens do século XXI - torpedos webmessengers páginas de relacionamento blogs e fotologs são as marcas desta geração que aprendeu a se relacionar através de identidades virtuais. Graças a todos os exageros proporcionados pelo dinheiro e a obsessão pelo luxo e pelas grifes os conflitos a necessidade de afirmação e as angústias de toda jovem ganham contornos fortes e muitas vezes cômicos.

At one point in time, I owned nearly every addition to the series that this book belongs too, and had read every single one. This book is focused around a group of five seventh grade girls, each of which came high/middle-class families. The point of this book is to show readers how hostile and snobbish girls can be when trying to be “popular”, even to the point of ostracizing one another. ( )

I totally forget I read these until I saw that COVER and the nostalgia BOWLED ME OVER
I don't remember how far i got in the series! but it's nice to remember that there was a time as a kid/tween in which i did...actually read :'|

A couple of years ago, I was really in love with the series. I bought just about all the books in the series and read them all.

And now, I come back and read them and I see how truly awful this book series is. I mean, it's so stereotypical and lame. Like someone at the age of 13 would act like that. So distasteful. When I was 13 I was focused on doing my best in school; not dating boys, who has the best clothes, trying to fit into such a stupid clique, back-stabbing my friends, etc.

This book is also a very bad influence on girls in middle school. Who wants to go around acting like a bitch at this time in their life? It's so stupid and pointless. And Claire...I felt so bad for her. I mean, who would want to fit into such a stupid and malicious group of girls, after ALL the stuff they have done to her. It's so brainless to me.

In conclusion, this is a horrible book to me. Reading it will put you in store for a BIG disappointment.
( )