Note the wording in the title: Basically everyone can agree that the series has been on a decline since forever, but lately I think the books have become the worst they’ve ever been. Lately it feels like every book has been varying levels of terrible and I’m rather concerned to see where the series’s future lies. 

Hot Mess tried to do something interesting with the characters, but either half of them did next to nothing (Audra, Gretchen, Gary, Rodrick), or were incredibly frustrating to even see on screen (Susan, Cakey), all while Greg does literally nothing but narrate and barely partakes in any of the events himself until the climax. Also fuck the influencer dog. It’s unfunny and it makes Veronica rarely ever going to family gatherings so much more stupid.

No Brainer is almost completely substanceless. Over half the book is describing in detail that yes, this school does indeed suck! rinse and repeat until the book remembers it has to have the illusion of a plot, so the main conflict of the book doesn’t kick in until the last 40 pages and because this is Modern DOAWK a plot device (Larry Mack Jr.) comes out of nowhere to fix everything that happened so the book can revert back to square one and the series can stagnate even further. Hope you weren’t gonna get to attached to the idea of Greg getting his first ever girlfriend!

 The most recent book Partypooper, is just so NOTHING. This book is easily the biggest case of Greg ranting about nothing to do with anything in series history. Greg always did that, yes, but there weren’t ENITRE PAGES worth of that in the older books! Greg would share random thoughts as a quick aside that would usually take up only a few pages. Meanwhile, in Partypooper there’s a section that is OVER 20 PAGES of Greg sharing his thoughts as the already slow as a snail’s pace grounds to a halt. Sorry Greg I’m not interested in your thoughts on Broccoli Trolls or Heath Healthybody or whatever. When the plot actually does kick in, it’s the same generic mush the series has been forever. Nobody acts like a real person, we get the classic wacky action climax where a deer pops up out of nowhere to ruin the party while a grown man leaves his newlywed to play in a bounce house. And wow, Manny ruined the 3 Eyed Theeble! Didn’t see that coming! Just nothing.

  
Probably a bit silly to get this worked up over fucking Diary of a Wimpy Kid. You don’t have to take these rants as anything other than me spitballing, but idk. I’ve been thinking back to the first 8 books lately and it just makes me sad. Are those books masterpieces? No, not even close, but they told good stories, the characters felt real and human, and they were genuinely funny. They weren’t overly slapsticky and filled with filler. Even when the series was on a decline, wed still get occasional hits like The Meltdown or Diper Överlöde, later DOAWK books that I do genuinely really like, but lately it seems like we don’t even get those anymore, and I’m worried the series is just going to fall into consistent, pure mediocrity forever.

  
at least Spooky Stories 2 was alright?

Anyone else feel the series has gotten in a rut in the last few years?