Great reviews! I love them! Here are my thoughts: I don’t think the modern books are super terrible since some criticism can be turned back to the earlier books. I even liked some of them. Yet, these problems have risen. I noticed that kids shows/books introduce a new, baby or puppy, whose only traits are cute and annoying, to boost ratings. One comment on r/dorkdiaries’s book 10 discussion post even asked why everyone has a dog. I don’t think Daisy is a bad character, but without book 10’s story doggy training bringing Brandon and Nikki together, she’s feels sort of pointless. Going back to introducing new characters when the series should have ended earlier, Andre and Tiffany are Brandon and Mackenzie’s clones and don’t appear that much after their introduction. 13 only threw Tiffany in a nonthreatening ending, and the dates with Brandon and Andre are forgotten about. I hope that 15 develops them more along with the other NHH students. Also, Brianna has way too screen time much recently. I’m even surprised that Brianna had less book time in the first book. She’s either a plot device like in 13 or too bratty like in 12. I think Chloe was one of the several characters who was derailed the worst. She went from a energetic, avid romance novel fan girl to “I’m gonna say something unfunny and I love food!” I remember reading this comment on tumblr that wished the series showed more of her insecurity over her braces, and I agree with that. If I talked about Nikki, this comment would be way longer. Brandon’s more immature thanks to Andre, Zoey blends in with Chloe minus the food love, Mackenzie’a growth was thrown away to not lose their main source of drama (13 showed us that the heroes can cause it themselves), and the minor characters are sidelined for newer, 1D characters with little importance. The stories and characters all suffer because of its structure, which was mainly a week or less instead of a month. Everything just feels so crammed, fast, and slow with the filler placed right before the plot actually starts.
Great reviews! I love them!
Here are my thoughts: I don’t think the modern books are super terrible since some criticism can be turned back to the earlier books. I even liked some of them. Yet, these problems have risen.
I noticed that kids shows/books introduce a new, baby or puppy, whose only traits are cute and annoying, to boost ratings. One comment on r/dorkdiaries’s book 10 discussion post even asked why everyone has a dog. I don’t think Daisy is a bad character, but without book 10’s story doggy training bringing Brandon and Nikki together, she’s feels sort of pointless.
Going back to introducing new characters when the series should have ended earlier, Andre and Tiffany are Brandon and Mackenzie’s clones and don’t appear that much after their introduction. 13 only threw Tiffany in a nonthreatening ending, and the dates with Brandon and Andre are forgotten about. I hope that 15 develops them more along with the other NHH students.
Also, Brianna has way too screen time much recently. I’m even surprised that Brianna had less book time in the first book. She’s either a plot device like in 13 or too bratty like in 12.
I think Chloe was one of the several characters who was derailed the worst. She went from a energetic, avid romance novel fan girl to “I’m gonna say something unfunny and I love food!” I remember reading this comment on tumblr that wished the series showed more of her insecurity over her braces, and I agree with that. If I talked about Nikki, this comment would be way longer. Brandon’s more immature thanks to Andre, Zoey blends in with Chloe minus the food love, Mackenzie’a growth was thrown away to not lose their main source of drama (13 showed us that the heroes can cause it themselves), and the minor characters are sidelined for newer, 1D characters with little importance.
The stories and characters all suffer because of its structure, which was mainly a week or less instead of a month. Everything just feels so crammed, fast, and slow with the filler placed right before the plot actually starts.
You make some great points. I’m glad to see a comment like this! Thank you.