A review by sliverphish
I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President by Josh Lieb
2.0
While reading this I kept wondering if this was the story of a kid who is being bullied and kept retreating into the confines of his imagination to come up with a coping mechanism. I kept hoping that Oliver would finally admit to the reader that all these evil schemes were not true. However, everything was supposed to be taken at face value. Oliver was really evil, really powerful, and only pretended to be a moron to the people in his real life. When that never happened, and I realized that Oliver was who he represented himself to be, I didn't like him.
While I understand that the "Oliver" that everyone believes him to be is just a facade, I found very little that I could sympathize with.
I found little redeeming qualities in his story and I don't feel he grows at all.
In the same vein, [b:Diary of a Wimpy Kid|389627|Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, #1)|Jeff Kinney|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255573105s/389627.jpg|2617009]'s Greg Heffley doesn't have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. That is why I don't rate the books very high. However, I can understand the popularity of the series because kids can relate to Greg. I don't think Genius will be popular because no person can relate to Oliver. He's a billionaire, whiny, selfish glutton who could have friends if he stopped acting like a baby.
While I understand that the "Oliver" that everyone believes him to be is just a facade, I found very little that I could sympathize with.
I found little redeeming qualities in his story and I don't feel he grows at all.
In the same vein, [b:Diary of a Wimpy Kid|389627|Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, #1)|Jeff Kinney|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255573105s/389627.jpg|2617009]'s Greg Heffley doesn't have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. That is why I don't rate the books very high. However, I can understand the popularity of the series because kids can relate to Greg. I don't think Genius will be popular because no person can relate to Oliver. He's a billionaire, whiny, selfish glutton who could have friends if he stopped acting like a baby.