The Clique is SO BACK

EHMAGAWD! THE CLIQUE is coming back! Ellen Marlow, who plays Cuh-laire, announced on TikTok that Lisi Harrison has a revival in the works. Believe me when I tell you that these books raised me. This book series taught me that it's perfectly fine to treat school and life like a fashion show. And that the devil is always in the details. Massie's meticulous outfits were so inspirational, and Harrison's writing really made her fashion choices come alive.

According to Harrison, the girls will now be 27. Our girls are now women! I wonder what route she'll take. Will it take the 'Gossip Girl' route: the power, money, and raunchy escapades? Or will it lean heavily on girlhood in a 'Sex and the City' kind of way? Or both?

I remember these books garnering a lot of controversy, while some critiques were valid, I felt that it was a bit overkill. Many felt that it perpetuated materialistic values amongst girls and encouraged/fueled mean girl behavior. But I see it as satire, just like Gossip Girl. Both are about affluent, school-aged youth in New York. And both are about tumultuous friend groups dealing with issues surrounding power, class, gender, and sexuality. The point is that they're not good people, and we see the effects of their abysmal character. In the Clique books, Massie is the alpha (queen bee) of her group, but at a cost. Her best friend Alicia is constantly scheming to usurp her of her title in the group, a direct consequence of placing her friends into a hierarchy. Massie has to constantly look over her shoulder. She literally writes her 'Current State of the Unions' on her computer because, according to her diary pages can fall into enemy hands.

Overall, Massie's role as alpha isn't glamorous; if readers truly pay attention, she works constantly to keep her friends' favor. Her alpha title clearly makes her paranoid and distrusting. But their character development is rarely acknowledged, conveniently. In the first book, turned movie, Massie, in the end, accepts Claire into the group (Florida and all) and even confides in her throughout the series. Readers are meant to look past the glamour to understand that the book isn't glorifying their behavior outright. I also find some of these critiques inappropriate, comparing Massie to the likes of Genghis Khan is wildly inappropriate and wrong. These are seventh graders at the end of the day.

Regardless, I'm so excited and SAT for this revival. BRB, downloading the entire series onto my iPad!