The Clique #2

Best Friends for Never drops back into the Pretty Committee's ruthless Westchester world as Massie Block schemes to throw OCD's first boy-girl Halloween party while keeping her frenemy Claire on the outside. Lisi Harrison admitted she wanted to expose the ugliness of elite-girl social cruelty — but the glamour treatment of designer brands, exclusion tactics, and mean-girl power plays undercuts that message at nearly every turn. The writing is snappy and the social dynamics feel authentic to middle school life, which is exactly why the series was a phenomenon. The problem is that aspirational packaging around genuinely cruel behavior sends mixed signals to the 10-to-14-year-olds who are the target audience. Parents should read a chapter before handing this one over.