I am a long time Wimpy kid fan and I enjoy them, but my one complaint with nearly all of them is that Greg stays a one-note two-dimensional sociopath. In this book, there is evidence to the fact that Greg genuinely cares about his family, which is really satisfying. Rodrick and Manny are also far better characters in this book, as Rodrick gains some kind of character development, and is actually a good big brother in this book. Manny becomes really cool as well, with his quick thinking saving the family on multiple occasions. All in all, in this book the characters have developed more than just 2-dimensional sociopaths and actually feel like a real (dysfunctional) but loving family.