Customer Reviews

It's Not Easy Being Mean (Clique Series)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The Pretty Committee thought for sure that they would find the key to the heavenly room, but who could be sure when Losers Beyond Repair (LBRs) like Layne Abeley had gotten one also? The key was to a room that staff did not know about and only Octavian Country Day's eighth grade alphas were given the key. However, Skye Hamilton was the alpha when Massie was in seventh grade, and she made a riddle of finding it so Massie and some LBRs would be competing. Claire Lyons, an ex-clique member, found the key and made it back in to the clique in exchange for the key, which the clique brought to Skye and saw the ahb-viously fantastic room. The whole book led an interesting and intriguing journey to that point, and I wish there were more.

One good thing about It's Not Easy Being Mean was the constant humor, even when Massie was worried sick about the key. She would insult people with witty little jokes that made her look smart and other people look woefully dumb. One morning, Claire was wearing a heavy jacket and looked nothing like the other clique members who were wearing designer names and no jackets, and Massie asked her "Are you a zit?" Of course Claire said "no," and Massie asked "Then why are you all covered up?" Later, when they were deciding how the key would be given to the clique, or "...you must be poor....cuz you're not making any cents." When Dylan dropped a plastic bag on the ground with no regard for the environment, Massie asked her if she was a cat, and when she said no, she inquired "Then what's with the litter?"

I also liked how Claire was always getting embarrassed, like when she was getting ready for an audition and had to wear eyebrow extensions and outrageous black hair for a few days, or when her little brother Todd sold her pajamas with a blueberry stain on the back of the pants to a fan of her stardom in the movie Dial L for Loser. Claire was also embarrassed when the Pretty Committee was rating their outfits and she didn't even want hers rated because of its insufficient level of Designer names and over use of jackets.

The superlative part of the book was how Massie Block, the `alpha' (at least in seventh grade) tried to get someone to like her, even if she was alpha in the eighth grade. When she went to talk to her at her house, she brought mini doughnuts because she knew that Skye liked mini things, and when she had the key, she couldn't just walk up and tell her, she had to prance in front of her seats at the soccer game until she gave up and wrote a note, supposedly from Chris Abeley, to Skye. Massie even admitted to herself that she was covetous of Skye, though Skye and not of Skye's DSL Daters (her clique).

It's Not Easy Being Mean showed the weaknesses of even the "alphas" of middle school, like Massie coveting Skye's reputation and the key and Skye writing a poem about Chris Abeley, which shows that no one is perfect. It showed that you can have innumerable friends even if you have a smaller house (like Skye), and it did all this while telling about a clique of girls that you love to read about because of their ah-mazing lives and Pretty Committee adventures.

-K. Carson

The clique is back at OCD! The new school year brings drama and a treasure hunt. Throughout the years every student at OCD has heard of a secret room that teachers forgot--an urban legend. When a mysterious upperclassman named Skye brings news that the room is real, Massie is instantly intrigued. The legend of the room says that whoever holds the key is the true alpha for their grade at OCD. Massie must have it.

Skye gives them a poem that will lead them to where the key is hidden, but the problem is deciphering it. The poem has been handed out to other girls in Massie's grade and the hunt begins.

With tiresome soccer practice, trips to NYC for agents and auditions, and trips to the mall, the Pretty Committee finds that the time they have must be spent wisely and that they must unite as one, or the alpha-ship will fall into the wrong hands--an LBR.

Lisi Harrison has done it again! This new CLIQUE novel is one you don't want to miss. The girls are sneakier, meaner, and will do anything to get what they want. Lisi Harrison has created a series all will love. Once you pick it up you won't be able to put it down!

Reviewed by: Jeremey

The Clique books are the perfect books I have been looking for. They are cool, lol hilarious and much more. The seventh, was no surprise. The Pretty Comittee have to find a key that unlocks a secret room for alphas. It is under the pillow of a Briarwood boy... but which one?? Also, Claire gets offered a role in Princess Nobody... will she take the role and leave Westchester? This was definetely one of the best in the series and I can't wait for the eighth to come out in August!!!!

It's Not Easy Being Mean is an exciting book. Its filled with juicy gossip and sudden turns. This is the type of book that you don't want to put down. You feel compelled to read it and not put it down till you're done. I would recommend this book and all the other Clique books.

As the years march on, one constant changes in such a fractionally small way as to be imperceptible from one decade to the next: junior high drama. No matter where you are in the country (perhaps the world), the years between ages 12 and 15 are mentally draining for both teenagers and their parents.

The Clique series by Lisi Harrison has always done a fine job of painting the reality of the daily situations encountered by wealthy 12-year-old Massie Block and her group of friends, better known as the Pretty Committee. Harrison's most recent book in the series, IT'S NOT EASY BEING MEAN, keeps up the breakneck gossip-driven pace of Massie and her friends --- Alicia Rivera, Kristen Gregory, Dylan Marvil and the slightly out-of-place Claire Lyons, the newest addition to the Pretty Committee.

As the Pretty Committee prepares for their exit from seventh grade at upscale private school Octavian Country Day (OCD...I'm sure there's hidden meaning there), they encounter the opportunity of a teenage girl's lifetime --- the chance to gain access to "paradise." In this case, paradise is a mythical secret room that only a select group of eighth graders is allowed to know about, let alone enter. Finding the key and gaining entrance to the room pose a series of humorous and well-crafted problems for the spoiled young girls.

While some readers, both young and old, may find the characters in IT'S NOT EASY BEING MEAN artificial and impossibly too mature for their age, it's entirely plausible to imagine their vocal styling and fashion sense to be appropriate for daughters of families whose income puts them firmly in the upper extremes of the economic bell curve. Do seventh grade girls really wear Prada and Gucci while texting on Razr phones and saying things like "ah-dorable" and "ah-mazing"? The answer is a resounding "Ohmygawd, Duh!"

IT'S NOT EASY BEING MEAN will never hold the interest of boys or even girls who have left the hallowed halls of junior high behind on their quest for the even more delicate and debilitating cliques they will experience in high school. But for girls preparing to leave the world of elementary school or currently experiencing the daily chaos of hormones gone awry (aka junior high), the Clique series offers good, safe fun.

Careful thought during the reading should reveal the messages that lie beneath the obvious tales presented in these books, for indeed there is much to be learned about how to lead an exciting life in junior high while avoiding the pitfalls of trying to fit in everywhere with everyone on a daily basis.

--- Reviewed by Simon King

"It's Not Easy Being Mean" to me was by far the best Clique book yet. This book is about one girl's flight to stardom and another's struggle to stay on top. Massie Block has been the leader and alpha of the Clique ever since the group was started, but now, Claire, a newborn star, takes the spotlight from Massie by scoring a movie deal. Massie needs to make herself the one to be around again. As she's thinking, a mysterious video arrives for her from the eighth grade alpha, Skye. The video tells of the room in their school that the teachers forgot about; the room is now a hang out spot for the eighth grade "it" clique. Skye creates a competion for the room between five groups of seventh graders, Massie's Clique being one of them. The game: the key to the room is under one Briarwood Academy boy's bed. The group to find the key gets the room, plain and simple, right? Wrong. The Pretty Committee investigates every clue and with Massie leading the way, and finds themselves in some pretty gross yet facinating plunders. When Massie learns the other teams made of social outcasts are getting closer, she knows she has to crank things up a bit. She fails to realize that Skye's crush just happens to be the older brother of Layne Abeley, a total reject and competitor for the key. Layne, however, takes advantage of her sibling and finds the key under her brother's bed.

Massie will not let Layne get away with the key so she pulls the Pretty Committee and Layne in for a little meeting. Layne presents her wants in exchange for the key, while the Clique listens in awe. With Layne's demands met, she hands the key over to Massie. Massie arranges a meeting with Skye, who leads them to the room. The Pretty Committee stands in the doorway gaping at their future.

I thought this book was fantastic, and I can't wait until the next book comes out. The ending is so intriguing how it leaves you just as the girls first see the room. You don't even get a hint on how the room actually is, but you can tell by the way Lisi Harrison describes the girls' reactions that the room is truely amazing. Perfect for Massie to uphold her high standings and put things back where they belong.

May 5, 2007 Book Review It's Not Easy Being Mean

Imagine that you are the alpha of the seventh grade, and your popularity is put in jeopardy because of a contest. That is what happened to Massie Block in It's Not Easy Being Mean. In this novel, Skye Hamilton, the alpha of the eighth grade, decided to have a contest to decide who the new alpha would be. The eighth grade alpha's got a key to a room that teachers at Octavian Country Day School knew nothing about. Skye made a riddle out of the contest that was between the Pretty Committee, Massie's clique, and Losers Beyond Repair who thought they were cool. Layne Abeley and Claire, a past Pretty Committee member, found the key, and used it to reinstate Claire back into the clique. I recommend this book to anyone who likes great stories.

This was a good book because it was full of suspense. All throughout the book, the different cliques got close to finding the key and then farther away from it. In the book, the Pretty Committee made a list of all the boys that could possibly have the hidden key. At the end of the book, it was interesting because the Pretty Committee was at Claire and Layne's Mercy. It was hard to figure out if the Pretty Committee would let Claire back in.

I also liked this book because Claire had to make a very hard decision. . In the novel, Claire was offered a lead in a major motion picture. Claire couldn't decide if she wanted to do the movie because it would mean leaving her boyfriend Cam and the Pretty Committee forever. In the end, she told her lawyers to go home because she wanted to stay in Westchester with her friends. Claire didn't tell Massie until after Massie admitted that she would miss Claire.

I liked It's Not Easy Being Mean because it was funny. Massie always made funny comments that made everyone else feel stupid. A funny one was, "Kuh-laire, you must be poor cuz you're not making any cents." Also, for Claire's movie audition she had to wear coarse black hair with frayed ends and a 5 inch black eyebrow. When Massie first saw her, she said that she looked like Hairy Potter.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves stories with happy endings. At the end of the book, Claire decided to stay in Westchester. Skye gave Massie and the Pretty Committee the key to the unknown room. They never said what the room looked like. Many people, like me, wished they did because it would've been a better ending

S. Moore

"It's Not Easy Being Mean" to me was by far the best Clique book yet. This book is about one girl's flight to stardom and another's struggle to stay on top. Massie Block has been the leader and alpha of the Clique ever since the group was started, but now, Claire, a newborn star, takes the spotlight from Massie by scoring a movie deal. Massie needs to make herself the one to be around again. As she's thinking, a mysterious video arrives for her from the eighth grade alpha, Skye. The video tells of the room in their school that the teachers forgot about; the room is now a hang out spot for the eighth grade "it" clique. Skye creates a competion for the room between five groups of seventh graders, Massie's Clique being one of them. The game: the key to the room is under one Briarwood Academy boy's bed. The group to find the key gets the room, plain and simple, right? Wrong. The Pretty Committee investigates every clue and with Massie leading the way, and finds themselves in some pretty gross yet facinating plunders. When Massie learns the other teams made of social outcasts are getting closer, she knows she has to crank things up a bit. She fails to realize that Skye's crush just happens to be the older brother of Layne Abeley, a total reject and competitor for the key. Layne, however, takes advantage of her sibling and finds the key under her brother's bed.

Massie will not let Layne get away with the key so she pulls the Pretty Committee and Layne in for a little meeting. Layne presents her wants in exchange for the key, while the Clique listens in awe. With Layne's demands met, she hands the key over to Massie. Massie arranges a meeting with Skye, who leads them to the room. The Pretty Committee stands in the doorway gaping at their future.

I thought this book was fantastic, and I can't wait until the next book comes out. The ending is so intriguing how it leaves you just as the girls first see the room. You don't even get a hint on how the room actually is, but you can tell by the way Lisi Harrison describes the girls' reactions that the room is truely amazing. Perfect for Massie to uphold her high standings and put things back where they belong.

The characters in this book are spiteful, manipulative, and shallow. But even worse than that, I feel sorry for them, and sorry for any girl who feels like she has to be fake in order to have friends. How terrible that people won't like them for who they really are.. and how awful that must feel to think that one wrong move and your best friend is now your worst enemy. The author of these books has glorified being cruel and encouraged young girls to be scared of who they are. What a heartbreaking message to send girls as they try to discover who they are. Being kind, compassionate, funny, adventurous -these are the sorts of things that maintain a friendship. Under all the glam and the glitz, Massie's character seems so lonely. She is afraid to be real with her friends, her family, and herself. Girls thinking of buying this book: you are better than this. Love yourself enough to be proud of who you are and read books that encourage you to be the incredible girl you are! Parents, if you love your daughter, pay her not to read this.

I loved this book so much! This series is my favorite and i can't wait until the next book comes out. For those of you who haven't read this book yet it is about a clique of five girls that live in New York and most of them are very wealthy. There is Claire,Massie,Alicia,Dylan, and Kristen. Massie is basically the leader of the clique and Alicia is considered the prettiest. Dylan is a follower, and Kristen is the sportiest. And Claire has just joined the clique. She has stared in a big movie and is asked to move across the world for another movie offer and leave behind her new wonderful friends, school, and boyfriend. Well the whole story starts when an alpha 8th grader named Skye Hamilton comes to the clique and tells them about a hidden room at their school OCD and tells them that she has hidden the key to it with a boy that she has kissed and that he has it under his matress. And the first group of girls that finds the key will be the new alpha's of 8th grade. Massie is so determined to find the key first and she immediately makes the whole group start researching guys that Skye has kissed or associated with. While Claire is struggling with her new movie offer and is trying to decide if she wants to leave her friends and her boyfriend, Cam behind. It turns out that Claire and her friend Layne find the key first under Layne's brother's matress.The clique is determined to get it from them. So they set up a contract to share the room as long as Layne can use the room too. They all don't really want to but they could care less as long as they have the room. Finally Claire makes her decicion and she decides to stay with all of her friends,as well as her boyfriend. Finally when Skye takes the Clique to the room you don't really know what happens next and i kind-of like how it leaves you hanging but you know that there is a room and it leaves the Clique speechless! Now i really can't wait to read the next book.