Common Sense Media Review
By Terreece Clarke
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Installment in popular series is long on drama, stereotypes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 1 parent review
Based on 24 kid reviews
Kids say that this installment offers an entertaining perspective by showing the mean girl's point of view, which some find refreshing, though many criticize it for promoting negative role models and shallow behavior focused on popularity. While the humor and drama in the story are appealing, the character development and underlying messages leave much to be desired, leading to mixed feelings among readers.
- entertaining perspective
- negative role models
- humor and drama
- shallow behavior
- mixed reviews
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
Nikki's diary -- yes, that one -- has been stolen, and now Nikki's enemy, MacKenzie Hollister, is wrecking Nikki's life bit by bit. She's ruined her friendship with Brandon and may even get her fired (!) from her newspaper column. MacKenzie tells her side of the story in Nikki's diary, of course, and the results are less than dorky.
Is It Any Good?
It feels as if the characters and the story regressed in this latest adventure, which boils down to the typical middle school drama stereotypes we saw in the first few installments. Unfortunately, the opportunity to see inside the "mean-girl mind" was wasted, and we find our heroine back to obsessing over the perfect boy vs. stepping up to stop the cyberbullying of a fellow classmate. There are some bright spots where we see a commonality between two of the main characters, but there isn't enough of that to offset the relatively routine nature of the story.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about cyberbullying. Instead of relishing the viral video of her "enemy," how could Nikki have helped?
How does journaling help you work out your feelings. Have you tried journaling?
How does real-life middle school drama compare with how it's portrayed on TV and in movies? Is school really that polarized, or does the media play up these negative characteristics of school life to get clicks, views, and shares?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Rachel Renee Russell
- Genre : Friendship
- Topics : Book Characters , Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Friendship
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Aladdin
- Publication date : June 2, 2015
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 9 - 13
- Number of pages : 352
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : April 5, 2026
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