Review: The Friend Thief (Diary of a 5th Grade Outlaw Book 2)

Name -The Friend Thief (Diary of a 5th Grade Outlaw Book 2)

Pages -224

Author -Gina Loveless, Andrea Bell

Genre -Middle-grade

Rating -2.5/5

Source -NetGalley

Review no. -14

Synopsis -

In Book 2 of the Diary of a 5th Grade Outlaw series, life is going great for Robin Loxley—until a friend thief comes along and threatens to ruin everything!After her victory over Nadia, the playground bully, Robin has her old best friend back, plus a whole gang of new friends! But when that Nadia tries to steal away all of the people she holds dear, will Robin be able to keep her band of merry misfits together? Find out in Robin's second illustrated diary—a tell-all about growing up, dealing with bullies, and trying to do what’s right.

Review -

Seriously, it's not difficult to like a children's book with all the cute, colourful illustrations, cover, lively characters and all but this one is just not the one with all the right feels that usually keeps oozing from children's fiction. I feel like the book focuses more on the gossip and bully-talk that's circulating in the school rather than the school activities and the friendship circle. Something is off about the characters. They just couldn't give me the childlike vibes. The plot isn't much and the writing feels a little flat for me and then it tends to get overdramatic now and then. The book gave me some kind of negative things regarding friend circles and school. I wish I was able to enjoy this little book. Hope the next book is better than this.

The book is kind of good (I mean middle-graders would love it). However, the book

 lacks a strong plot. The character-building is good. In short, the novel is fun-filled with colorful illustrations. I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me this wonderful opportunity.