Rowley needs to love himself.

It's no fun reading about how toxic a friend Greg is to Rowley. Greg's never been a saint, but with the focus solely on Rowley, we see how much of a butthole Greg is on a daily basis.

Greg, until you do right by Rowley, nothing's going to work for you.

Also, for a book about Rowley, there's too much Greg in it. On the other hand, who is Rowley without Greg. It might've been more fun if the book explored Rowley begrudgingly listening to his parents and finding other friends before going back to Greg. You know, it's been a while since I read some of the DOAWK books, but I think I remember Rowley becoming great friends with some other boy and Greg was so jealous!

Anyway, this book was by no means terrible, but I didn't enjoy most of it. I did really like Rowley's corny superhero and how much he loved his parents. Rowley's quirky, sweet, and utterly embarrassing, but at least he's not Greg.

Also, I wanted Greg to get more of a comeuppance, and the only time he was seemingly nice is when he stood up for Rowley's grade. But, of course, he had his own ulterior motives. I mean kids aren't perfect, but Greg is just nasty.

-1 for enjoyment

I enjoyed this a lot. At first, I was disappointed that Jaime had to share her narrative with Maya, but that progressed the story smoothly. We see how Jaime reacts to situations and what Maya is thinking when she follows the queen bee's orders.

The artwork is cute, and the story and the characters are relatable. I also liked how Brianna called out Jaime's previous behavior. The message of forgiveness is balanced. You don't have to accept anyone's apology but recognize you would want a second chance too.

One star lost for the cringy "all the feels" comment and "obvies" instead of obvious. I'm joking but that is an obviously trying to appeal to the youth move. Besides that, I'm eager to read more from Terri Libenson. She captures middle-school themes very well. :)

4.5

Superheroes and morality? Yes, please.

3.5