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Clique Bait
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 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
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
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 28, 2020
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May 5, 2020
This book's blurb describes it as
Pretty Little Liars
meets
Burn for Burn.
I, on the other hand, feel like Gossip Girl on steroids is more spot on.
Clique Bait follows Chloe, a girl going for revenge on popular classmates who did something bad to her friend Monica.
Her friend Monica, who completely ditched her in order to become a part of the mentioned popular crew. A friend who stopped speaking to her and pretended she didn't exist, once she got in.
Totally a friend worth dedicating your life to revenge. *rolls eyes theatrically*
But yes, I did enjoy this book very much. It was fast paced and gripping, a couple of characters actually likable.
As for the "major" plot twist about what the popular kids did to Monica - I figured it out the moment I started guessing it.
The funny part is, I didn't even have a chance to pause and think about it till I was almost halfway through - it was that action packed, full of gossips and intrigues.
Still, it did leave a slightly bitter taste in my mouth, mostly because I thought the glorified Monica wasn't a good person and was to blame for what happened to her, for what Chloe, our MC, blamed others till the very end.
"I needed to accept that she’d made a bad decision, and forgive her for it, but how could I when it was all their fault?"
I, on the other hand, feel like Gossip Girl on steroids is more spot on.
Clique Bait follows Chloe, a girl going for revenge on popular classmates who did something bad to her friend Monica.
Her friend Monica, who completely ditched her in order to become a part of the mentioned popular crew. A friend who stopped speaking to her and pretended she didn't exist, once she got in.
Totally a friend worth dedicating your life to revenge. *rolls eyes theatrically*
But yes, I did enjoy this book very much. It was fast paced and gripping, a couple of characters actually likable.
As for the "major" plot twist about what the popular kids did to Monica - I figured it out the moment I started guessing it.
The funny part is, I didn't even have a chance to pause and think about it till I was almost halfway through - it was that action packed, full of gossips and intrigues.
Still, it did leave a slightly bitter taste in my mouth, mostly because I thought the glorified Monica wasn't a good person and was to blame for what happened to her, for what Chloe, our MC, blamed others till the very end.
"I needed to accept that she’d made a bad decision, and forgive her for it, but how could I when it was all their fault?"
May 4, 2020
Chloe plans to take down the popular kids after her best friend Monica is gone. She doesn’t plan on falling for one of the guys.
CLIQUE BAIT started off strong, with Chloe, clearly pained, wearing her heart on the outside. As the plot continued, the story lagged, Chloe became one of the mean kids, and characters became tropes.
The quality of Ann Valett’s writing is the strongest component of CLIQUE BAIT. I never got a feel for why Chloe and Monica were such close friends and the lure of popularity that seem to cause Monica’s personality change. I never got a feel for any part of Monica that made me care she was gone (which means exactly what you think it does).
The ending quick, tidy and unrealistic ending was the weakest part of the story. CLIQUE BAIT isn’t a bad book, it’s just not very good and lacks payoff of satisfaction at the end.
CLIQUE BAIT started off strong, with Chloe, clearly pained, wearing her heart on the outside. As the plot continued, the story lagged, Chloe became one of the mean kids, and characters became tropes.
The quality of Ann Valett’s writing is the strongest component of CLIQUE BAIT. I never got a feel for why Chloe and Monica were such close friends and the lure of popularity that seem to cause Monica’s personality change. I never got a feel for any part of Monica that made me care she was gone (which means exactly what you think it does).
The ending quick, tidy and unrealistic ending was the weakest part of the story. CLIQUE BAIT isn’t a bad book, it’s just not very good and lacks payoff of satisfaction at the end.
January 7, 2021
I wasn't vibing with this, but I had no big issues. If you want more of PLL or Mean Girls, and like complex, unlikeable characters then I think you might enjoy this. Audio version was very stiff and unenjoyable.
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December 18, 2025
4.45 stars.
- Wattpad version
.my thoughts.
Honestlyyy after a heavy book, I needed a good dose of something lighter. While this book wasn't too light, I still loved it so much!
Chloe Whittaker has taken up a huge responsibility to avenge her best friend, Monica, who's dead by the manipulation and evil deeds of level 1.
Level 1 is the high social status people, they are indeed mean, rich brats that we commonly see in any other books. Yet there is a level of mystery inside the whole group it is threaded together with our fmc's bestfriend Monica.
Chloe Whittaker was an enjoyable character I would give her that. Her acting was impressing yet at the same time she would forget what she was doing for too. I wanted to hit those girls when they made fun of Chloe's insecurity just to defend themselves like go die. She deserves a hug because there's a huge trauma of realising the fact that the best friend you once knew is not there with you anymore, the way you thought of them wasn't the reality too.
William, oh man, he was quite an interesting one. I can understand from where he was coming from, and what he had done for what reasons, but it hurt me so much to think about it. He's still such a cutie and he helped Chloe a lot, from late night stealings to texts. I kind of liked him.
Madeline, I loved her for the fact she kept Chloe first instead of her even when she was being questioned and blackmailed!! Like this is the real girl's girl here even though she thought about it anyone would have yet she took the risk. She was so sweet with Chloe and I loved their friendships so much!
The romance was there, but in the start I hardly thought about it since the plot was so gripping that I didn't mind if the love interests were just friends. But then the love rollercoaster went high above suddenly that I just had to blush at the thought of it.
It could have been a 3-4 stars for me but then I read the bonus chapters and it went straight up! I loved the short novella which contained scenes of Chloe and Will from future 😭🫶 🥹
I would definitely recommend you for the vibes and the enjoyment, the plot went a bit on a roll so I just don't have any much to say without spoiling.
- Wattpad version
.my thoughts.
Honestlyyy after a heavy book, I needed a good dose of something lighter. While this book wasn't too light, I still loved it so much!
Chloe Whittaker has taken up a huge responsibility to avenge her best friend, Monica, who's dead by the manipulation and evil deeds of level 1.
Level 1 is the high social status people, they are indeed mean, rich brats that we commonly see in any other books. Yet there is a level of mystery inside the whole group it is threaded together with our fmc's bestfriend Monica.
Chloe Whittaker was an enjoyable character I would give her that. Her acting was impressing yet at the same time she would forget what she was doing for too. I wanted to hit those girls when they made fun of Chloe's insecurity just to defend themselves like go die. She deserves a hug because there's a huge trauma of realising the fact that the best friend you once knew is not there with you anymore, the way you thought of them wasn't the reality too.
William, oh man, he was quite an interesting one. I can understand from where he was coming from, and what he had done for what reasons, but it hurt me so much to think about it. He's still such a cutie and he helped Chloe a lot, from late night stealings to texts. I kind of liked him.
Madeline, I loved her for the fact she kept Chloe first instead of her even when she was being questioned and blackmailed!! Like this is the real girl's girl here even though she thought about it anyone would have yet she took the risk. She was so sweet with Chloe and I loved their friendships so much!
The romance was there, but in the start I hardly thought about it since the plot was so gripping that I didn't mind if the love interests were just friends. But then the love rollercoaster went high above suddenly that I just had to blush at the thought of it.
It could have been a 3-4 stars for me but then I read the bonus chapters and it went straight up! I loved the short novella which contained scenes of Chloe and Will from future 😭🫶 🥹
I would definitely recommend you for the vibes and the enjoyment, the plot went a bit on a roll so I just don't have any much to say without spoiling.
October 5, 2020
This book was just kinda okay for me. It reminded me a little bit of “These Vengeful Hearts” with the main character trying to get revenge for a loved one from a certain group of people.
I had really hoped this book would hit me harder than it did. It seemed to be pretty well paced which I was happy about, but about halfway through, I began to realize that I didn’t really care how this book ended. I wasn’t completely invested in the characters or their lives so I didn’t really care what happened to them. This sad realization was provoked by a few things.
One, the relationship between Will and Chloe wasn’t great. Chloe kept saying I don’t trust him/he’s the worst and then the next page would be like I’m going to show him a top secret hangout spot of mine...Soooo she didn’t trust him, but she was doing things that showed she trusted him. I would have understood if these things started happening later in the book once she got to know him a little better, but this was right close to the beginning. I was just getting lots of mixed signals about their relationship from her. I think the author was just pushing this relationship a little too much instead of letting it more organically play out.
Another reason I found myself not really caring about the characters had to do with the fact that I didn’t feel emotionally invested in Chloe’s vendetta. I only knew Monica from what she said about her and it didn’t sound like she was a great friend. It made me question why Chloe cared so much about getting revenge for a bad friend. Things became a little more clear at the end of the book, but I was already partially checked out by then.
Overall, I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t love it. I’m happy I read it, but it’s not going to be a memorable read for me.
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I had really hoped this book would hit me harder than it did. It seemed to be pretty well paced which I was happy about, but about halfway through, I began to realize that I didn’t really care how this book ended. I wasn’t completely invested in the characters or their lives so I didn’t really care what happened to them. This sad realization was provoked by a few things.
One, the relationship between Will and Chloe wasn’t great. Chloe kept saying I don’t trust him/he’s the worst and then the next page would be like I’m going to show him a top secret hangout spot of mine...Soooo she didn’t trust him, but she was doing things that showed she trusted him. I would have understood if these things started happening later in the book once she got to know him a little better, but this was right close to the beginning. I was just getting lots of mixed signals about their relationship from her. I think the author was just pushing this relationship a little too much instead of letting it more organically play out.
Another reason I found myself not really caring about the characters had to do with the fact that I didn’t feel emotionally invested in Chloe’s vendetta. I only knew Monica from what she said about her and it didn’t sound like she was a great friend. It made me question why Chloe cared so much about getting revenge for a bad friend. Things became a little more clear at the end of the book, but I was already partially checked out by then.
Overall, I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t love it. I’m happy I read it, but it’s not going to be a memorable read for me.
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July 18, 2023
My favourite part was when it ended.
April 29, 2020
me done, but im underwelmed.😞
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this book bored the heck out of me, and i do get bored easily. how does a revenge book become this forgettable
this plot revolved around the main character, chloe, wanting to get revenge on the popular crowd that contributed to hurting her best friend, monica. anyway, she begins to start “fake dating” William ,and this was a mess. chloe was awful at getting revenge, like how did no one realize she was a snake. she was annoying. there was also William falling for her which didn’t make sense since she wasn’t even a little bit likable. she also got one of her friends, jack, to help get dirt on this crowd so that adds to the chaos.
the popular crowd having “depth.” there wasn’t enough to make it interesting. we find out francis is the worst, as he is abusive towards lola. zach is dating someone from outside of their clique, max. sophie is messing around with a teacher blah blah blah. this friend group was so bland like it was hard to even want to root for their downfall. they just seemed like they needed help.
chloe was the worst CHARACTER to read from. like her pov SUCKED. she wasn’t interesting nor complex nor had anything going for her. she was just a lonely girl that held her friend to a higher standard and didn’t want to confront that nobody is perfect. she was disgusting. disgusting.
it was really obvious monica was dead. we find out that, at a party, as a trick, she jumped into the shallow end and died. chloe had really been getting revenge for a friend that didn’t care for her and that’s what fell flat. it felt more like chloe was stuck in the past and wanted revenge when she couldn’t see that monica was flawed, and it was just… you can tell the clique was impacted by her death.
ending. weak as heck. the confession at the end with lola was so weak like how are we supposed to feel bad when she barely had any one-on-one scenes with chloe and was a jerk the ENTIRE book. she says revenge isn’t the answer and apologizes, sophie and francis have to get a lawyer. this is because the video footage that chloe had found was released with their secrets. jack released it. soph and francis left, sophie was having an affair with the teacher, zach disappeared, maddy apologized and has a yt platform which seemed to actually be decent, and lola just kept to herself.
my thing is I skipped over the entire plot because it was a whole lot of nothing. the “popular” clique was boring, and her relationship with William was boring, and there was just no fun in her plot. I feel like im repeating myself but there was very little of anything redeemable of this. there are better revenge stories than this book.
---------------------
this book bored the heck out of me, and i do get bored easily. how does a revenge book become this forgettable
this plot revolved around the main character, chloe, wanting to get revenge on the popular crowd that contributed to hurting her best friend, monica. anyway, she begins to start “fake dating” William ,and this was a mess. chloe was awful at getting revenge, like how did no one realize she was a snake. she was annoying. there was also William falling for her which didn’t make sense since she wasn’t even a little bit likable. she also got one of her friends, jack, to help get dirt on this crowd so that adds to the chaos.
the popular crowd having “depth.” there wasn’t enough to make it interesting. we find out francis is the worst, as he is abusive towards lola. zach is dating someone from outside of their clique, max. sophie is messing around with a teacher blah blah blah. this friend group was so bland like it was hard to even want to root for their downfall. they just seemed like they needed help.
chloe was the worst CHARACTER to read from. like her pov SUCKED. she wasn’t interesting nor complex nor had anything going for her. she was just a lonely girl that held her friend to a higher standard and didn’t want to confront that nobody is perfect. she was disgusting. disgusting.
it was really obvious monica was dead. we find out that, at a party, as a trick, she jumped into the shallow end and died. chloe had really been getting revenge for a friend that didn’t care for her and that’s what fell flat. it felt more like chloe was stuck in the past and wanted revenge when she couldn’t see that monica was flawed, and it was just… you can tell the clique was impacted by her death.
ending. weak as heck. the confession at the end with lola was so weak like how are we supposed to feel bad when she barely had any one-on-one scenes with chloe and was a jerk the ENTIRE book. she says revenge isn’t the answer and apologizes, sophie and francis have to get a lawyer. this is because the video footage that chloe had found was released with their secrets. jack released it. soph and francis left, sophie was having an affair with the teacher, zach disappeared, maddy apologized and has a yt platform which seemed to actually be decent, and lola just kept to herself.
my thing is I skipped over the entire plot because it was a whole lot of nothing. the “popular” clique was boring, and her relationship with William was boring, and there was just no fun in her plot. I feel like im repeating myself but there was very little of anything redeemable of this. there are better revenge stories than this book.
October 28, 2020
I finished this book in less than 24 hours
I ATE THAT SHIT UP
UGH IM SUCH A TRASH FOR GOSSIP GIRL-ESQUE BOOKS AND I READ THIS LIKE I WAS ON CRACK
I didn’t think it would be good like i thought it would be trashy and dumb but it was trashy and good lmaooo
I honestly needed this contemporary trashy break from all the heavy fantasy books I’ve been reading.
It’s so fun and addicting and I just couldn’t stop reading it
I ATE THAT SHIT UP
UGH IM SUCH A TRASH FOR GOSSIP GIRL-ESQUE BOOKS AND I READ THIS LIKE I WAS ON CRACK
I didn’t think it would be good like i thought it would be trashy and dumb but it was trashy and good lmaooo
I honestly needed this contemporary trashy break from all the heavy fantasy books I’ve been reading.
It’s so fun and addicting and I just couldn’t stop reading it
May 7, 2020
CW: Dealing with grief, loss of loved one, guilt, bullying, drugging of a teenager, excessive drinking
A good high school revenge drama focused on the take-down of the school's elite students. Chloe wants to end the ‘Level Ones’ reign of terror because of the role they played in the loss of her friend Monica. She gains access to the inner sanctum by way of blackmail and forces one of the boys in the group to 'fake date' her. Slowly Chloe uncovers the truth of the dynamics within the group and has to decide how she can use these vulnerabilities to get revenge for her best friend and create more balance in the school's social system.
My main issue was that Monica didn’t seem as invested in the friendship as Chloe was, considering she ditched her on her rise to 'Level Onedom'. Also, I’m not sure what it says about me but I would have liked a bit more eye gouging and hair pulling to be honest. It was an incredibly tame revenge story in comparison to Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin, but still a satisfying read.
A good high school revenge drama focused on the take-down of the school's elite students. Chloe wants to end the ‘Level Ones’ reign of terror because of the role they played in the loss of her friend Monica. She gains access to the inner sanctum by way of blackmail and forces one of the boys in the group to 'fake date' her. Slowly Chloe uncovers the truth of the dynamics within the group and has to decide how she can use these vulnerabilities to get revenge for her best friend and create more balance in the school's social system.
My main issue was that Monica didn’t seem as invested in the friendship as Chloe was, considering she ditched her on her rise to 'Level Onedom'. Also, I’m not sure what it says about me but I would have liked a bit more eye gouging and hair pulling to be honest. It was an incredibly tame revenge story in comparison to Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin, but still a satisfying read.
May 23, 2021
This is soooo underrated
I'm not joking
Beginning, middle, and end - I can't pick which part I liked the most
I'm not joking
Beginning, middle, and end - I can't pick which part I liked the most
February 13, 2020
This review was originally posted on The Moonlight Library
Clique Bait by Ann Valett (an Australian author!) is a high school rich mean girls revenge and fake dating story set in an American high school, with a cynical lead vowing to get revenge on the mean kids clique that did something terrible to her ex-best friend. It's full of glitz and glamour, loads of backstabbing and bitches, allegedly some hot guys (I didn't see it, sorry!), so I can definitely see the appeal of that kind of novel. I was originally drawn to it because it came up for review at the same time as The Upside of Falling, a fellow Wattpad novel that started on Episode, so I figured why not give both of these novels a go and see how their origins affect the end product.
This book was originally a Wattpad novel, and unfortunately it still feels like a Wattpad novel. The conflicts are bite sized. The scenes are bite sized. The chapters are short and punchy. And there's not much emotional depth to it. Overall it just feels a little clumsy. I probably would have enjoyed it more if it had been able to give more depth, motivation, background, and emotional intelligence to any of the other characters besides out lead, Chloe.
But that's really not what Wattpad fans are looking for.
I did love how the book was broken into sections depending on Chloe's plan including infiltrating and blackmailing the Clique. The little letters at the beginning of each chapter were a nice choice, too. It made me wonder what happened to Monica and why was it such a mystery: I didn't know if she had changed schools, was in a coma, or if she'd moved to Australia. I only knew that SOMETHING TERRIBLE had happened, but the Clique did such terrible things to each other and the people around them that I just couldn't guess what it was.
I really didn't see the appeal of hot mean guy with a heart of gold, William. I feel like William only liked Chloe due to some kind of guilt over Monica, and I feel like Chloe is only attracted to William because he's alleged hot and definitely rich, and doesn't have any deeper feelings than that. Again, I think this was a failing of this book originating on Wattpad, because young readers don't care about emotional depth or meaningful connections, they only care about sexual tension. And boy, Chloe had a lot of sexual tension. So much that she didn't even recognise it in herself for a looong time.
My biggest problem was that Chloe and Monica had been best friends for years, they attended the same school, and Chloe just expected people to not notice that. She thought she could reinvent herself and the Clique would just have no idea. Yet she was still friends with people from her old life, including inviting them to an exclusive party. She wore an accessory that had famously belonged to her ex-bestie and expected no one to notice. Chloe was supposed to be smart, and she was very good at manipulating, but a lot of what she achieved came down to sheer luck, or someone else's motivations, and I found that frustrating. She wasn't the smart good girl Valett kept telling us she was, and that annoyed me.
That being said, I kind of couldn't stop thinking about this book. I wanted more rich kid drama. I wanted more glitz and glam. I guess that's why the book was so popular! On the flip side, I did feel that this was, like REALLY adult. Like, these are high school kids and they're having sex scandals and underage drink spiking and night clubs and all kinds of stuff that just seemed really grown up. Maybe that was also part of the appeal, because young readers love to read about the misadventures of kids older than themselves.
Overall I did really enjoy reading this book, I just feel like it didn't move on much from its Wattpad days, and older, more experienced readers might have a hard time loving this. Younger kids will probably lap it up, though.
I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Clique Bait by Ann Valett (an Australian author!) is a high school rich mean girls revenge and fake dating story set in an American high school, with a cynical lead vowing to get revenge on the mean kids clique that did something terrible to her ex-best friend. It's full of glitz and glamour, loads of backstabbing and bitches, allegedly some hot guys (I didn't see it, sorry!), so I can definitely see the appeal of that kind of novel. I was originally drawn to it because it came up for review at the same time as The Upside of Falling, a fellow Wattpad novel that started on Episode, so I figured why not give both of these novels a go and see how their origins affect the end product.
This book was originally a Wattpad novel, and unfortunately it still feels like a Wattpad novel. The conflicts are bite sized. The scenes are bite sized. The chapters are short and punchy. And there's not much emotional depth to it. Overall it just feels a little clumsy. I probably would have enjoyed it more if it had been able to give more depth, motivation, background, and emotional intelligence to any of the other characters besides out lead, Chloe.
But that's really not what Wattpad fans are looking for.
I did love how the book was broken into sections depending on Chloe's plan including infiltrating and blackmailing the Clique. The little letters at the beginning of each chapter were a nice choice, too. It made me wonder what happened to Monica and why was it such a mystery: I didn't know if she had changed schools, was in a coma, or if she'd moved to Australia. I only knew that SOMETHING TERRIBLE had happened, but the Clique did such terrible things to each other and the people around them that I just couldn't guess what it was.
I really didn't see the appeal of hot mean guy with a heart of gold, William. I feel like William only liked Chloe due to some kind of guilt over Monica, and I feel like Chloe is only attracted to William because he's alleged hot and definitely rich, and doesn't have any deeper feelings than that. Again, I think this was a failing of this book originating on Wattpad, because young readers don't care about emotional depth or meaningful connections, they only care about sexual tension. And boy, Chloe had a lot of sexual tension. So much that she didn't even recognise it in herself for a looong time.
My biggest problem was that Chloe and Monica had been best friends for years, they attended the same school, and Chloe just expected people to not notice that. She thought she could reinvent herself and the Clique would just have no idea. Yet she was still friends with people from her old life, including inviting them to an exclusive party. She wore an accessory that had famously belonged to her ex-bestie and expected no one to notice. Chloe was supposed to be smart, and she was very good at manipulating, but a lot of what she achieved came down to sheer luck, or someone else's motivations, and I found that frustrating. She wasn't the smart good girl Valett kept telling us she was, and that annoyed me.
That being said, I kind of couldn't stop thinking about this book. I wanted more rich kid drama. I wanted more glitz and glam. I guess that's why the book was so popular! On the flip side, I did feel that this was, like REALLY adult. Like, these are high school kids and they're having sex scandals and underage drink spiking and night clubs and all kinds of stuff that just seemed really grown up. Maybe that was also part of the appeal, because young readers love to read about the misadventures of kids older than themselves.
Overall I did really enjoy reading this book, I just feel like it didn't move on much from its Wattpad days, and older, more experienced readers might have a hard time loving this. Younger kids will probably lap it up, though.
I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
April 6, 2021
I read this in one sitting (yes, without getting up even once). I had only planned to read half of it and then go to sleep, but I was so invested, I ended up reading until 4 am.
I love the play on words in the title and how the chapters were divided into their 8 respective stages of revenge. If you like Gossip Girl, the fake dating troupe and revenge, you should definitely check this book out.
Some scene were a little to short for my liking and we never get to learn in depth about the minor characters. Even the main characters are still a bit of a mystery. I would have liked to learn a bit more about WIll’s home life as well as Chloe. After all the things we hear about her father, we never actually meet him.
As far as the revenge goes, it was executed perfectly but the motive was bland.
I heard that the Wattpad ending differs from the physical book’s ending so I 100% plan on reading that one as well.
I love the play on words in the title and how the chapters were divided into their 8 respective stages of revenge. If you like Gossip Girl, the fake dating troupe and revenge, you should definitely check this book out.
Some scene were a little to short for my liking and we never get to learn in depth about the minor characters. Even the main characters are still a bit of a mystery. I would have liked to learn a bit more about WIll’s home life as well as Chloe. After all the things we hear about her father, we never actually meet him.
As far as the revenge goes, it was executed perfectly but the motive was bland.
I heard that the Wattpad ending differs from the physical book’s ending so I 100% plan on reading that one as well.
January 17, 2021
you can take the book from Wattpad, but you can’t take the Wattpad out of the book
1.5☆: While this was clearly meant to be a young adult/teen book, it reads like a middle grade written from the perspective of someone whose only knowledge of high school is Mean Girls and Pretty Little Liars. It’s a very predictable revenge fantasy plot and the “twists” were able to be seen from a mile away.
Pros: The only reason this is a 1.5 star is that I can’t in good conscious rate something I spent 3 hours on as a 1.
Cons: The entire revenge plot was driven by Chloe’s need to avenge Monica which would make sense if we ACTUALLY got to see what Monica was like pre-level one. Chloe never does a good job of explaining Monica’s true character so it becomes difficult to empathize. She goes as far as to constantly glorify her instead of taking a hard look at the facts. Also, the love interest is so bland that he could literally be one of those y/n protagonists. I’m not actually sure if Monica’s death was supposed to be a twist since it was so easy to see with the set up and the past tense vs present tense clashes, but even the manner of it was so underwhelming that I had no idea why the book was hyping it up to be a conspiracy of sorts.
Final thoughts: While I suppose I do fit the target demographic (teenage girl, reads some high school mysteries/dramas) there’s a far difference between this and Mean Girls or One of Us is Lying. I’ve seen a lot of people compare it to Pretty Little Liars which I don’t really see because
1. That series drags on and on and on
2. Chloe isn’t really solving a mystery so there’s no randomly pointing fingers at people
3. Despite how chaotic it was it still managed to be interesting whereas this just fell so flat
1.5☆: While this was clearly meant to be a young adult/teen book, it reads like a middle grade written from the perspective of someone whose only knowledge of high school is Mean Girls and Pretty Little Liars. It’s a very predictable revenge fantasy plot and the “twists” were able to be seen from a mile away.
Pros: The only reason this is a 1.5 star is that I can’t in good conscious rate something I spent 3 hours on as a 1.
Cons: The entire revenge plot was driven by Chloe’s need to avenge Monica which would make sense if we ACTUALLY got to see what Monica was like pre-level one. Chloe never does a good job of explaining Monica’s true character so it becomes difficult to empathize. She goes as far as to constantly glorify her instead of taking a hard look at the facts. Also, the love interest is so bland that he could literally be one of those y/n protagonists. I’m not actually sure if Monica’s death was supposed to be a twist since it was so easy to see with the set up and the past tense vs present tense clashes, but even the manner of it was so underwhelming that I had no idea why the book was hyping it up to be a conspiracy of sorts.
Final thoughts: While I suppose I do fit the target demographic (teenage girl, reads some high school mysteries/dramas) there’s a far difference between this and Mean Girls or One of Us is Lying. I’ve seen a lot of people compare it to Pretty Little Liars which I don’t really see because
1. That series drags on and on and on
2. Chloe isn’t really solving a mystery so there’s no randomly pointing fingers at people
3. Despite how chaotic it was it still managed to be interesting whereas this just fell so flat
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2019
Being a reviewer has its perks like getting advanced copies of books just like Clique Bait by Ann Valett which isn't released till April 2020. The upside of this book was that it doesn't end on a cliffhanger which means I don't have to wait a whole year for a sequel as I have in the past with situations like this. Just like Anna Todd was picked up for her story on Wattpad, Ann Valett has too for Clique Bait. This story starts off with Chloe planning to get revenge for her friend Monica who has died tragically before Summer break. Chloe blames the "Level Ones" - the popular crowd for Monica's death and has devised a plan to get revenge and ruin them all as in her mind they have to pay for what they did to Monica and for taking away Chloe's best friend. Unlike Monica, Chloe never really cared about popularity but in order to get an "in" with the Level One's she is going to have to channel Monica and use what Monica taught her over the years. As Chloe gets in with the Level Ones, she starts to discover everything isn't rosy in their world and that they are definitely putting up facades. As Chloe goes along with her plan, can she get them to drop their facades for just a minute so she can expose them for the evil bullies they are and ruin their hierarchy pyramid? During the book Chloe will be opened to the going-on's from secret trysts to sleeping with the teachers. Can Chloe bring down the Level Ones before she finds herself turning into one of them? Will her friend Jack bring her back to earth and ground her?
Find out in this fun revenge YA high school novel "Clique Bait" by Ann Valett releasing during April 2020.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 9, 2020
this was so predictable and stupid that it transcended itself and became High Art. getting one more star than it deserves because I respect the hustle
it is, however, UNHINGED that Chloe is written Like That and I'm supposed to believe she's straight??? ma'am.
it is, however, UNHINGED that Chloe is written Like That and I'm supposed to believe she's straight??? ma'am.
April 10, 2024
This was truly entertaining!! Would make a great teen movie. <3
December 30, 2022
My coworkers made me do it, for obvious reasons. In fact, I think we took out every copy in the system so I'm sure librarians are scratching their heads wondering why This book suddenly got so popular. Spoiler alert: the book is terrible. Badly plotted, full of mean girl drama without any real payoff, and everyone is a terrible person. It also stressed me out a fair bit, though I'm incredibly glad I'm no longer in high school. I felt this was worth two stars only because I did manage to get through it, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. A real slog though, to nobody's surprise.
March 3, 2020
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'
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'
May 25, 2019
This story was unique and very well-written. I thoroughly enjoyed it for its realistic depiction of relationships in High School and the harsh reality of dealing with things like revenge. With a little mystery trickled in there and an immense desire to know what happens in the next chapter, I couldn't put the story down. This is my review of the online version. I'll extend once I read the published copy!
UPDATE: read the published version. The story was as great as I remember. Changed to 4/5 stars. The only thing I had an issue with was I'm not sure if I missed that the first time I read, or if it was changed, but that's just something that left a bad taste in my mouth this time around. Other than that, it was an enjoyable read.
UPDATE: read the published version. The story was as great as I remember. Changed to 4/5 stars. The only thing I had an issue with was I'm not sure if I missed that the first time I read, or if it was changed, but that's just something that left a bad taste in my mouth this time around. Other than that, it was an enjoyable read.
January 28, 2020
Review to come!
January 7, 2023
I thought this would be another high school revenge book that would be entertaining but forgotten. I was wrong. This author took the clichés and breathed life into them. I loved this and I hope I can read more of her writing. I loved the ‘good’ characters, and even in the end I loved the ‘bad’ ones. I hope if you try the book that you’ll like it too. Entertaining and endearing. Loved this.
<3
<3
March 9, 2020
Not gonna lie, reading Foul Is Fair might have ruined me for other revenge stories. IT WAS THAT GOOD.
Anyways..
Well, I can see the appeal.
Click Bait is definitely compulsively readable. It is just so easy to fall into the story, I finished it in two days flat.
HOWEVER, there are still things that could have been further developed, and the plot twist was kind of weak.
One of the highlights of Clique Bait was the relationship between Chloe and William. It actually snuck up on me. At first they are only together because Chloe makes William help her due to black mail, but eventually you can actually see a real connection developing between the characters. I thought we could have used some insight into William's home life, as it was discussed but never really shown. In fact, this is true for Chloe as well. We never get to actually see the relationship between her father and mother, it is only told to us. We never see her father actually. It is just one of those things that could have brought these characters closer together and developed the story further, making it a lot more complex.
I did like how the overall situation is not so black and white; Chloe's enemies are painted as more than just villains, after all they are kids. The bad thing about this is that we don't get this vulnerability until the very end of the book, which is good that we got it, but kind of disappointed it took so long. We also don't get some confrontations I was looking forward to seeing, specially when it came to the only "bad" girl who seemed to turn over a new leaf a little past midway of the story.
I will admit that the reason that Chloe is going for the "level ones", the ones she swears are responsible for her ex-best friend leaving her behind, is a tad weak. Scratch that, it is hella weak. Ultimately it is Monica's choices that led her path (though, to be honest it did feel like Chloe's revenge stemmed less from the final break up and more from the level one's allure and power to pull Monica away from Chloe--though I don't think even Chloe realizes herself how super jealous she is). That was crunchy, and I enjoyed it.
The plot twist I saw coming from the very beginning of the novel. If anything, it kept me from enjoying the novel more because it was just so obvious and kind of cliche. I would have liked exploring Monica's character through the book, maybe getting a little of what was going through her head as she climbed up the "Level One" ladder.
The setting itself left much to be desired. For this being set on a private school that a bunch of MEGA RICH kids went to it seemed like ANY OTHER HIGH SCHOOL in the USA. Seriously lacked anything special, and we spend half the novel in the high school or at a rich kid's mansion for a party. Really, this could have been at any high school with a couple of kids' whose family had power lording it over everyone else.
But again, it was super readable, and if revenge is your game then I do recommend picking up Clique Bait. Though, if you like your revenge stories a little bloodier I would read Foul Is Fair first and foremost.
Old Update:
The summary is almost exactly like Foul Is Fair (one of my FAVORITE reads this year).
It will be interesting to see how the two novels differ.
PS; I was provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks go to the publisher!
Anyways..
Well, I can see the appeal.
Click Bait is definitely compulsively readable. It is just so easy to fall into the story, I finished it in two days flat.
HOWEVER, there are still things that could have been further developed, and the plot twist was kind of weak.
One of the highlights of Clique Bait was the relationship between Chloe and William. It actually snuck up on me. At first they are only together because Chloe makes William help her due to black mail, but eventually you can actually see a real connection developing between the characters. I thought we could have used some insight into William's home life, as it was discussed but never really shown. In fact, this is true for Chloe as well. We never get to actually see the relationship between her father and mother, it is only told to us. We never see her father actually. It is just one of those things that could have brought these characters closer together and developed the story further, making it a lot more complex.
I did like how the overall situation is not so black and white; Chloe's enemies are painted as more than just villains, after all they are kids. The bad thing about this is that we don't get this vulnerability until the very end of the book, which is good that we got it, but kind of disappointed it took so long. We also don't get some confrontations I was looking forward to seeing, specially when it came to the only "bad" girl who seemed to turn over a new leaf a little past midway of the story.
I will admit that the reason that Chloe is going for the "level ones", the ones she swears are responsible for her ex-best friend leaving her behind, is a tad weak. Scratch that, it is hella weak. Ultimately it is Monica's choices that led her path (though, to be honest it did feel like Chloe's revenge stemmed less from the final break up and more from the level one's allure and power to pull Monica away from Chloe--though I don't think even Chloe realizes herself how super jealous she is). That was crunchy, and I enjoyed it.
The plot twist I saw coming from the very beginning of the novel. If anything, it kept me from enjoying the novel more because it was just so obvious and kind of cliche. I would have liked exploring Monica's character through the book, maybe getting a little of what was going through her head as she climbed up the "Level One" ladder.
The setting itself left much to be desired. For this being set on a private school that a bunch of MEGA RICH kids went to it seemed like ANY OTHER HIGH SCHOOL in the USA. Seriously lacked anything special, and we spend half the novel in the high school or at a rich kid's mansion for a party. Really, this could have been at any high school with a couple of kids' whose family had power lording it over everyone else.
But again, it was super readable, and if revenge is your game then I do recommend picking up Clique Bait. Though, if you like your revenge stories a little bloodier I would read Foul Is Fair first and foremost.
Old Update:
The summary is almost exactly like Foul Is Fair (one of my FAVORITE reads this year).
It will be interesting to see how the two novels differ.
PS; I was provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks go to the publisher!
June 1, 2020
classic privileged girl who does some stupid shit that works out plus a random hot guy in the mix, her revenge stint made no sense what so ever it was all pretty convoluted
July 2, 2020
Dnf @36% . The writing put me off
Edit: so I finally read this for some reason and while I skimmed through most of it wasn't enjoyable in any sense
Edit: so I finally read this for some reason and while I skimmed through most of it wasn't enjoyable in any sense
March 3, 2021
1.5 STARS
Um, this kinda sucked? The story was very formulaic, and the audiobook narration was pretty boring! Sorry!
Um, this kinda sucked? The story was very formulaic, and the audiobook narration was pretty boring! Sorry!
October 8, 2021
the ‘not like the other girls’ and fake dating trope on this book were just not it.
i couldn’t connect with the characters and honestly didn’t care about what happened to them.
i couldn’t connect with the characters and honestly didn’t care about what happened to them.
Read
May 9, 2020Well... this was... interesting... I noticed after finishing that this was originally a wattpad story and that explains so damn much. If I had known I would have just skipped.
Clique Bait is about a girl named Chloe who is out for revenge. After the popular kids at school ruined her best friend Monica's life, Chloe makes a plan to join their ranks and then expose their secrets. To get in she blackmails a boy named William into fake dating her but then real feelings start happening.
I mean I was entertained enough?? I just really needed some mindless trash to pass the time while I played Animal Crossing and this was hella mindless trash. This is very similar to Burn for Burn (which it even mentions on the goodreads summary), honestly probably too similar in a way because it just felt like reading that but not as spicy. This also had Mean Girls vibes but not actually fun or meaningful at all.
I like my revenge stories to involve much more murder (because this had zero and was just petty dumb sex secret shit) and less literally outing gay boys and thinking you really did something. Disgusting and Chloe can choke.
This is a mystery, wat? It's obvious what happened from the very beginning and when it had such a big reveal it didn't live up to the hype. Nothing lived up to the hype the book was giving itself. Chloe is planning some big epic revenge on these popular kids and it's just very small and then the ending happens SO fast and literally nothing mattered at all. Everything wraps up in half a chapter and then it ends like oh, okay I guess.
All of the characters and the romance is so tropey and cliché and it was such a joke. I think everyone in this book lives in some weird ass fantasy land because that is not how anything works. The romance was hilariously bad too because it was so fast and they had no chemistry at all. Chloe had more chemistry with the random friend she talked to once in the book.
So I mean if you need some good old dumb high school trash and characters acting like they are all on crack as they drink alcohol like it is water, this is the book for you.
Clique Bait is about a girl named Chloe who is out for revenge. After the popular kids at school ruined her best friend Monica's life, Chloe makes a plan to join their ranks and then expose their secrets. To get in she blackmails a boy named William into fake dating her but then real feelings start happening.
I mean I was entertained enough?? I just really needed some mindless trash to pass the time while I played Animal Crossing and this was hella mindless trash. This is very similar to Burn for Burn (which it even mentions on the goodreads summary), honestly probably too similar in a way because it just felt like reading that but not as spicy. This also had Mean Girls vibes but not actually fun or meaningful at all.
I like my revenge stories to involve much more murder (because this had zero and was just petty dumb sex secret shit) and less literally outing gay boys and thinking you really did something. Disgusting and Chloe can choke.
This is a mystery, wat? It's obvious what happened from the very beginning and when it had such a big reveal it didn't live up to the hype. Nothing lived up to the hype the book was giving itself. Chloe is planning some big epic revenge on these popular kids and it's just very small and then the ending happens SO fast and literally nothing mattered at all. Everything wraps up in half a chapter and then it ends like oh, okay I guess.
All of the characters and the romance is so tropey and cliché and it was such a joke. I think everyone in this book lives in some weird ass fantasy land because that is not how anything works. The romance was hilariously bad too because it was so fast and they had no chemistry at all. Chloe had more chemistry with the random friend she talked to once in the book.
So I mean if you need some good old dumb high school trash and characters acting like they are all on crack as they drink alcohol like it is water, this is the book for you.
January 8, 2021
Clique Bait: ★★★★
*Taylor Swift Readathon Part 4: Red*
Before I review this book, can we all appreciate the unbelievably GENIUS title this book has?
*Immense applause*
Okay, so, I heard about this book right? And obviously being the anti-school-hierarchy gal I am, I was like, yep, that's the one. It showed up on my front door step--and I immediately went to smell the pages--and low and behold, on the spine of this book was the dreaded logo for none other than...
WATTPAD.
I have an enormous fear of Wattpad. I mean obviously I went through my phase (The Last She by HJ Nelson was my LIFE for like a month and a half) but after the mess that was a very particular wattpad book being made into TWO movies (we're not going to talk about it) I gained a phobia in me.
That is until this gem.
*SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!*
Clique Bait has, quite possibly, one of the most interesting protagonists I've read in awhile. I mean, she is, well, kind of insane but you don't really realize that until the end.
No, wait, she wants to ruin a bunch of people's lives. We all know she's crazy.
But there's all sorts of weird stuff that happens and it piqued my interest so, nice. I liked it.
*Taylor Swift Readathon Part 4: Red*
Before I review this book, can we all appreciate the unbelievably GENIUS title this book has?
*Immense applause*
Okay, so, I heard about this book right? And obviously being the anti-school-hierarchy gal I am, I was like, yep, that's the one. It showed up on my front door step--and I immediately went to smell the pages--and low and behold, on the spine of this book was the dreaded logo for none other than...
WATTPAD.
I have an enormous fear of Wattpad. I mean obviously I went through my phase (The Last She by HJ Nelson was my LIFE for like a month and a half) but after the mess that was a very particular wattpad book being made into TWO movies (we're not going to talk about it) I gained a phobia in me.
That is until this gem.
*SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!*
Clique Bait has, quite possibly, one of the most interesting protagonists I've read in awhile. I mean, she is, well, kind of insane but you don't really realize that until the end.
No, wait, she wants to ruin a bunch of people's lives. We all know she's crazy.
But there's all sorts of weird stuff that happens and it piqued my interest so, nice. I liked it.
October 6, 2022
MEH.
Chloe is desperate for revenge after something (we don't know what it is until the end of the book, I hope that's not a spoiler) happened to her best friend. Or ex best friend, because Monica decided to ghost Chloe just to be popular (I would not move a finger for someone like that, much less seek revenge, but whatever).
Chloe is obsessed with Monica. OBSESSED. And so, she leaves everything beside just to execute this plan to hurt Monica's so called friends, who may or may not have something to do with that thing that happened to her.
By the way, why couldn't the author tells us right away what happened? She drags it out so much, that when we actually know what it is this big event, I just couldn't care less.
Chloe is desperate for revenge after something (we don't know what it is until the end of the book, I hope that's not a spoiler) happened to her best friend. Or ex best friend, because Monica decided to ghost Chloe just to be popular (I would not move a finger for someone like that, much less seek revenge, but whatever).
Chloe is obsessed with Monica. OBSESSED. And so, she leaves everything beside just to execute this plan to hurt Monica's so called friends, who may or may not have something to do with that thing that happened to her.
By the way, why couldn't the author tells us right away what happened? She drags it out so much, that when we actually know what it is this big event, I just couldn't care less.
May 1, 2020
I absolutely loved this book ! I couldn’t put it down. I genuinely couldn’t see how it was going to turn out. The plot was unique and I thought it had an amazing mix of TV drama such as Gossip Girls and real life issues that teens face at high school today. Peer pressure. Bullying. Impossible to meet standards. Anxiety. It was fantastic. !
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