Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Mommy Clique, by Barbara Altaramino {ends 5/18}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

The Target

“I better not regret this.” I glared at Ronnie. I was back where I said I’d never go again. Ronnie had practically begged me to come back, saying she needed a friend with her in the trenches. A friend, she’d actually said. Maybe it was her use of that loaded word that convinced me more than anything else.

Well. There was another reason. But no way was I telling Ronnie about that. I wasn’t that stupid. I had learned a few things.

“You won’t, Trust me.”

Taking mommy drama to the next level. Everyone wants their kids to have a better, easier life than they had. But at what price?

Official synopsis:

Life in suburbia is typical and ordinary—just the same old same old. Only, not in this neighborhood. Here, the impressively large homes and pure green lawns hide a much darker reality that is far from mundane.

When Beth moves back to her hometown in Connecticut to care for her ailing mother, she is forced to confront not only the ghosts of her youth but the other mothers on her street. There is Elise, the queen bee, who determines the fate of everyone and is all-controlling. There is Kelly, Elise's sidekick and most sycophantic supporter, who secretly longs to have a voice and power of her own. There's Ronnie, the informer, who, with her intelligence and investigative skill, digs up dirt on the others in service to the queen. And then there's Gail, the wannabe, who is constantly striving to feel as important and valued as the others.

Looking for some mom friends, Beth seeks a place for herself within this mommy clique. Turns out they do have an available role for her: it's called the target.

The original vibe of the book almost killed it for this reader. Elise is the Queen Bee—a very unpleasant character, and the leader of this mommy group who are at the same bus stop every morning. She calls all the shots—for her sidekick, her informer, and the most recent joining member, the wannabee. They all have first-grade girls, and they all want their daughters to have what they didn’t necessarily have, an accepted role in high school for an easy social life.

When Beth returns to this Connecticut town where she grew up to be closer to her ailing mother, and for her own two children to be closer to their grandmother, she expects some negative memories and reconnections with her high school peers, but no one could be prepared for Elise and her crew. Beth is quickly chosen by Elise to be their new victim, "The Target." But Beth realizes very soon that she does not want to relive high school in a role chosen for her by someone who refuses to grow up.

The whole story started out as essentially a nightmare for moms who crave acceptance and belonging for themselves and their children, but the ending was much more satisfying. This book ended up earning 3 out of 5 stars and could be recommended as an amusing story with an ultimately karmic ending for moms of elementary schoolers, or those who remember being there. 

{click here to purchase on Amazon}

Becki Bayley is almost ready to watch the moms of elementary schoolers in her rearview mirror, but feels somewhat detached already while working outside the home. She feels nothing but love toward her neighborhood moms for their kindness and assistance as a tribe for her and her children. Check out what else she’s been up to on Instagram where she posts as PoshBecki.

GIVEAWAY:

TWO of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Mommy Clique!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Thursday, May 18th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified via email the next day, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

The Mommy Clique, by Barbara Altaramino