Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End is the 15th book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney. It was published on October 27, 2020.

Plot
Greg Heffley and his family hit the road for a cross-country camping trip, ready for the adventure of a lifetime. But things take an unexpected turn, and they find themselves stranded at an RV park that’s not exactly a summertime paradise. When the skies open up and the water starts to rise, the Heffleys wonder if they can save their vacation—or if they’re already in too deep.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The book is very unrelatable, almost as unrelatable as Old School. This wouldn't be a problem if it were a fiction-based series, but previous books have been much more relatable, and this book is basically a collection of wacky mishaps, and they stretch past the limit of realism to the point that it barely feels anything like a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.  If Jeff Kinney wanted to get away from the slice of life stories, he should have just ended the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and made a new series because the newer genres of the books don't match the original Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.  This would have been fine if it was a one off, but when it has been multiple times, it just feels so boring.
 * 2) It is an obvious rehash of both The Long Haul and The Getaway, as it features the Heffleys running into trouble on the road, and it also features them getting into trouble at a resort. Plus, it is just another plain "Trip Gone Wrong" book, which the series already has enough of.
 * 3) * Initially, it also uses the same reason for the trip as all the other travel-based books: Susan wants family bonding time. You'd think she'd have learned from the past experiences, but she either somehow forgets or thinks by some chance this one will be different.
 * 4) * They go to their destination and they have a good time at first, but then the trip ends up going downhill.
 * 5) * Juicebox is just a retread of Mr Beardo from the Long Haul and the Fun Director from the Getaway.
 * 6) It also uses the cliche of Susan disliking Greg and Rodrick being on their phones, and she, per usual, takes them away and tries to make everything pointlessly educational.
 * 7) Some filler, as there are some pages that didn't really need to be, such as the scene where the family realized they parked the trailer in a baseball training camp, and Juicebox leading the camp counselor to a hunt to find Greg.
 * 8) The hunt for Greg is pointless as they give up very quickly, and isn't even mentioned again after the storm is introduced, and is never brought up again at any point, and it also makes the group he hangs out with was pointless.
 * 9) Juicebox is an unlikeable character, as he threw Greg under the bus just to protect his own hide, even though he was the one who came up with the idea of attacking back at the teenagers in the first place.
 * 10) * Not only that, he also has a tendency to break his own rules, such as the aforementioned betrayal when he has a rule against snitching.
 * 11) It's way too dramatic and introduces tension that didn't really need to happen, such as the storm breaking the bridge the cars came from, and Greg being separated from the family, and getting lost.
 * 12) Some mean-spirited moments, such as Juicebox blaming Greg for a water gun attack, the Heffleys getting kicked out of the first camp they go to, or teenagers throwing melons at the Heffleys for no reason.
 * 13) Like most Wimpy Kid books after The Long Haul, this book has an unrealistic climax which makes part of the book unrelatable. In this case, the Heffley family drives the RV into a river and flows towards the stream, and then Manny somehow drives the RV into a different position that makes it connect to the broken bridge like a piece in a puzzle, making the RV serve as part of the bridge. The main problem is that Manny is way too short to be able to reach the pedals, so how did he drive the car?
 * 14) Some gross-out parts, such as the skunk spraying on Greg's family, adding to the unrealistic parts of these newer diaries that have been seen since the Long Haul.

Good Qualities

 * 1) There are some funny moments, such as the Noah's ark joke.
 * 2) The part where everyone goes crazy due to the bridge breaking in the storm and trying to find quarters could be funny to some people due to the fast-paced insaneness.
 * 3) Good artwork, per usual.
 * 4) Good ending where everyone is able to leave, and the Heffleys can finally enjoy the camp.
 * 5) Most of the Heffley Family (like Frank Heffley, Greg's dad) had the best character development, according to the pages.

Video
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