Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway
Publisher: Amulet Books (a division of Abrams; series website at wimpykid.com)
Date: 2017
Writer: Jeff Kinney
Artist: Jeff Kinney
The Heffley family change up their Christmas plans and book a vacation at a tropical beach resort. As is typical, things begin to go wrong, starting with a luggage mixup and a series of unfortunate encounters with local wildlife.
It's not complete misery, though. It was nice to see a few moments of the family having fun, even if those were few and far between.
I get frustrated with the lack of sympathetic characters in these books, although Kinney does come up with some genuinely funny jokes. The end sequence, which plays on a nice double meaning of the title, was a nice cascade of mayhem.
But I also find that the series has a pervasive low-grade sexism that never seems to go away. Greg's mother is a collection of over-the-top tropes, with the least character development of any of the family members, and a character who is a romantic interest for Roderick isn't even given a name. Their arc also ends in pretty much the most tired cliche imaginable.
I did like this one better than the similarly-themed The Long Haul (reviewed here), only because the scenario rang a bit more true, and there were a few more of those rare moments of joy here. I realize that moments of joy is not exactly the vibe that the series is going for, but I just don't feel invested enough in taking much amusement from seeing the family get their comeuppance for their bad decisions and bad luck
Rating: 4.5/10
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