Review: The Mommy Clique by Barbara Altamirano

Barbara Altamirano’s suburban drama The Mommy Clique is a deep dive into the social battlefield that is the school bus stop, where readers can expect a façade of social niceties, a whole lot of backstabbing, knife-twisting, and unwritten alliances held together by fear, hope, desperation, and lies.

Altamarino’s lively novel tracks the story via multiple point-of-view characters, and the shifts between their perspectives are titled just with their social roles: the Queen Bee, the Sidekick, the Informer, the Wannabe, and the Target. Altamarino is highly adept at establishing each character’s private lives and struggles – will Beth, the Target, gain the acceptance she seeks? Will Elise, the Queen Bee, learn a valuable life lesson? Will mutiny occur amongst the Queen Bee’s ranks, and if so, will it be successful?

The plot gets gradually darker while the stakes get higher as Elise gradually feels parts of her stranglehold slipping and Beth gets more deeply involved in the clique’s activities. There are so many gambits and countergambits that anything seems possible, and even the savviest reader will be kept guessing until the end. With such a tangled web of strategy, deceit, betrayal, and shocking revelations, this book certainly earns the coveted descriptor of “page-turner,” as readers will find themselves as invested in the outcomes of individual battles as much as the overall war.

The characterization of the main players in this novel is a clear strong point, and the dialogue – which can be a stumbling block for many first-time authors – is expertly written with well-crafted nuance to deliver the emotional life of each of the very different people involved. Even background characters have distinct personalities once they come to the forefront of the story, setting this work apart from many others in the genre.

Given the constant tension of each of the characters’ motivations and gambles, as well as the depths to which some will sink in pursuit of their goals – not to mention the parallel involvement of their children and the playground nastiness this can entail, there’s a pervasive sense of malaise and casual cruelty that might not be something all readers will enjoy. A lot of authors in the genre veer towards lighter fare, or at least mix together light and dark moments, whereas Altamirano keeps the pressure on a bit more throughout, so readers hoping for lighthearted, feel-good moments are likely to find this scarcer than might be expected from the title. This is not pure chick lit, but a thoughtful look at parenting rivalries – which is not to say without its moments of levity, even laugh-out-loud moments, but the emphasis is on real human interactions and conflict.

Ultimately, The Mommy Clique is a well-written drama that is rich in emotional stakes, and Altamarino does an exemplary job of making the reader feel those stakes along with the characters. Fans of Big Little Lies will certainly devour this novel, but Altamarino has a number of twists of her own to offer, taking readers on a surprisingly intense ride towards a deeply satisfying conclusion.