This was an adorable read! I loved how it touched on being yourself and being ok with being yourself at a young-ish age. It's a great example of being tempted to hide your interests, but learning not to. Plus I always enjoy some gamer rep, whether it be people getting into gaming or people who already love it. This is a great book for younger readers who are gamers themselves, or any that might be struggling with navigating friendships and such. All in all a fun read!

This was a really cute book all about being true to yourself. I really enjoyed reading about Natalie and her friends. I related to her gaming since I'm also a gamer girl. I liked that in the end she was able to be herself with her friends. I think that this teaches a great lesson to kids about being true to yourself and loving your hobbies even though not everyone is going to get it.

Read this with my 8 year old son who is always happy to see girls get highlighted in areas they're usually not. We read the second in the series first so had some idea of what we'd find in Gnat vs. Spyder. All around it was an enjoyable read with a great story of friendship and overcoming anxieties facing middle grade kids.

We are looking forward to the series continuing.

Gnat vs. Spyder was very cute and fun! It was pretty fast-paced which I would consider good for a middle-grade book so that it keeps their attention. I loved the gamer girl aspect and I feel like this is a niche that has more people in it than material to choose from so a book simply being about gaming will give it bonus points for me. I appreciate that this book has background diversity that is just the norm for Natalie. as an older sister, the side plot where her older sister finds an apartment was sad to me. Still, I appreciate that the older sister was able to keep Natalie in her life. Overall, 4.5 out of 5 stars, would definitely recommend it to any middle grader!

Thirteen year old Natalie has a secret, she is a gamer and regurlarly streams her favourite game, Alienlord, where she is known as Gnat112. But after a bad run in with some of the bad seeds of gaming, she keeps her identity a secret from her friends. But when a new girl moves in next door, her secret is about to be revealed once and for all.


As a lifelong casual gamer myself I really enjoyed reading this one, its a hard world out there especially as a young girl in the gaming world. I would recommend this to anyone interested in gaming and graphic novels. I would say this is a great read for children between 9-13. The characters were nicely written with their own strenghts, characteristics and flaws, and adds a lot of diversity.

Thank you to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC!

Thirteen-year-old Natalie lives a double life. By day, she's an average eighth grader at Golden Trails Middle. At night, she's Gnat112, a streamer for her favorite video game, Alienlord. But when the new girl moves in next door, will Natalie's double life be revealed?

This book is the perfect book for 9-12 year olds to read. Natalie the main character is very flawed in the way that a normal 13 year old would be. Her other friends also feel like real people, they all had their own personalities that made them stand out. There is a lot of diversity in the book but it never once felt like it was put there to check off any boxes.

I really enjoyed this book, even though I’m much older than the target demographic and I am excited to get copies of it for the kids in my life!

Natalie lives in New Jersey with her mother, who is a doctor, her father, who is a baker and does a lot of his work at home, and her much older sister Dylan, who works at an animal shelter and is thinking about moving out of the house. Nat has two good friends, Jess and Celia, but she doesn't tell them about her real passion, gaming. They are in to things like art and sports, and she is afraid to tell them that her ambition is to become a famous game streamer with a huge following. There is a girl in their class, Mel, who used to be Nat's neighbor, who does have a big internet following for her make up channel. Mel and Nat used to be friends, but drifted apart. Lucy moves into Mel's house, and she and Nat hit it off, especially since Lucy is a gamer. Nat still feels too insecure to tell even another gamer about her interests. Nat does introduce Lucy to Celia and Jess, and Lucy wants to show them how to play games. Nat still pretends she's not interested, until her lack of interest causes Lucy to have Celia and Jess over without her. Mel is giving a big party, and Nat and Lucy attend. Lucy brings her gaming console to the party, since it seems to be somewhat of a comfort when she is dealing with social anxiety, and Nat is shocked to see that other friends of Mel's are gamers, and that even people who don't game find the concept interesting. Nat gets up the courage to ask to be included in Lucy's gaming night so she can hang out with all of her friends. Will her cover as a competent gamer be blown?
N.B. This is not a graphic novel. I'm not the only reader who thought it was going to be!
Strengths: Middle school friend drama is always a popular topic, and Natalie's back and forth with her friends was well done. No one was super mean; even Mel was very friendly even though she was a little snooty about her success with her make up channel. There are some misunderstandings, but no fights, which was just a relief to see. I enjoyed the story line with how Nat felt about Dylan wanting to move out of the house, and there is some good representation mentioned briefly; Dylan is described as bisexual, and has a friend who is nonbinary. There are lots of good video game details about a fictional (?) game called Alienlord, and a fun twist about Nat's relationship to other players on the platform that is fun. There's a little social anxiety depicted, but nothing crippling. All in all, this was a fairly positive, fast paced book that had a fair number of fun spot illustrations and a good message about personal identity.
Weaknesses: It seemed odd to me that Nat would not tell her friends that she was a gamer. My students seem to tell everyone everything about themselves, and many of them seem to play video games, so I'm not sure why Nat was so ashamed. The lesson about being "unapologetically themselves" and sharing personal details with friends will resonate with the Kidlit community. Personally, I think telling children to do this is a bad, bad idea. I'm a firm believer that one should keep personal details to oneself. I also hate any kind of game playing. Here's a fun game-- let's see if peple troll me because I'M being unapologetically myself, but it's not a popular opinion.
What I really think: This is available in paperback, so would be a great gift for a gamer in elementary school or 6th grade. Even though Nat is in 8th grade, I'm not sure my actual 8th graders will feel this is old enough for them. It is also available in a Follettbound Glued version, and is the beginning of a series. Books with characters who play video games have been popular, and this will be a great companion to Markell's The Game Master of Garden Place, Schrieber's Game Over, Pete Watson, and all of the Minecraft novels.

Characters

The characters were why I wanted to read this novel. I enjoyed getting to know them, and they all had unique stories to tell. Each of them had their own hobby and passions, but that’s what made the book interesting to me. Together as a friend group, the characters were interesting because they were a mix of personalities. Natalie was my favorite character, but I also really enjoyed Lucy.

Plot

Here’s the thing, I kind of guessed the big twist to the story about halfway through, but I still really enjoyed the end of the book. Gamer Girls: Gnat Vs Spyder followed two gamers who compete when they play a game called Alienlord. Alienlord is a game set in space, and it’s a two-player game where one person is the alien, and the other person is the hunter. Both characters took turns doing both roles as the book progresses. Lucy moves next door to Nat. Judging by context clues, it’s clear that Lucy is Spyder. Another plot element to Gamer Girls: Gnat Vs Spyder is the fact that Nat’s sister Dylan is moving out, and how she deals with that. There’s a friendship in this novel that plays a part in the story which was fun.

Writing

Middle-Grade a whole is filled with writing that is both light and heavy in tone depending on the scene. Gamer Girls: Gnat Vs Spyder has a similar style of storytelling to the rest of the genre. The fun scenes are told with a light and fun tone. Heavier topics, such as keeping things from friends, and hiding your hobbies and passions, are told with passion and care. Andrea Towers is a writer that I will read more from.

Friendship

Friendship plays a role in Gamer Girls: Gnat Vs Spyder, and I loved the journey the group went on. The story started with some tension because Nat was keeping things from her friends, and you could tell that she wanted to tell her friends. She just didn’t know how they would react. Once Lucy moves and joins their group, things become a little better because Lucy is a gamer, who is confident about gaming. By the end of the novel, all four girls know about Nat and her gaming, and they all support each other by letting them all know they support them, and they all play a role in their streams.

Enjoyment/ Recommend for

I really enjoyed this book! It was fun and each of the characters had an interesting story. If you enjoy Middle-Grade Novels, or novels about friendships, and growing, similar to The Baby-Sitters Club, you will enjoy this novel as well. I believe that any fan of gaming and Middle-Grade Novels would enjoy this book just based on the vibes of the story.

Love this new graphic novel series about girl gamers. Add in the usual middle school drama, and this is sure to be a must have for your collection.

I would consider this book as a graphic novel for kids. And a fun one, because Natalie, is a video game streamer. I loved the idea with the video games an I loved that it had illustrations. Although I think that maybe it would need more illustrations. I can't wait for the second book.

Thank you, Andrews McMeel, for the advance reading copy.

Book one! Of a new upcoming series! And that too of gaming! With some amazing, lively characters!

I love how fun this book is. I love the main character (she's so active and actually the one with a good heart!).

I love the school environment and also the other side characters. Somehow it feels nostalgic to read about playing games together (the first Nokia times you know and the first video games we played everywhere!).

Love the first book. However, I am a bit underwhelmed with the illustrations. I hope it turns out better in the physical copy.

Excited for the upcoming sequel!

Natalie is a gamer but because she’s had a bad run-in with live streaming once, she’s kept it a secret while desiring to live stream. Now things are changing in her world. Her ex best friend, Mel has a popular YouTube channel on fashion, her sister is moving out and the new neighbor’s kid is a proud gamer who may just be giving away her long kept secret.

This book is a fast read with multiple images throughout. The writing style is simple and easy to understand. It flows and reads similar to a child’s thoughts or words which is great since it’s written in Natalie’s perspective. Honestly, the cute pixel game styled images were cute and would appeal to a lot of readers. They don’t directly relate to the story but are words from Natalie’s inner thoughts most times. They were interesting additions, however they weren’t consistent in their appearance.

The characters are all very nice in this book. That is to say, there is no real villain, yet it’s an enjoyable read. Natalie is a good character and tried her best at every opportunity to understand the other person and admit her mistakes. Natalie’s social anxiety was relatable on many occasions as well. I liked how it was depicted. Natalie’s friends, Cecilia, Jess and Lucy were also all great including Mel. I liked how each girl was different and they had very different hobbies or interests which made them stand out in their own ways. Their personalities were probably not unique given their interests but that’s pretty typical in most books.

There is also a fair bit of diversity in this book but it’s not expanded or highlighted. The book introduces and interweaves it into the story as if it’s commonplace, like it’s always been that way and there’s no difference. I actually liked it because it felt normal.

I disliked how Natalie didn’t fully address why she was uncomfortable with telling her secret. An event triggered Natalie to keep her gaming a secret from her friends, Cecila and Jess which later causes her issues when Lucy joins their friend cycle. I wish that initial point was discussed or at least noted because it stayed on Natalie’s mind for a long time. Also if Natalie brought it up, it would teach everyone to be careful of their words cause you never know when you might unintentionally hurt someone.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and devoured it fairly quickly. I liked how it was a fast read with a lot of different key areas that would be great for discussions. This is a series so I’m interested to see where we go in the next volume as this was a happy ending!

Good book!!
I love the Illustrations but I prefer if I get more Illustrations. The story itself is so suitable for Kids especially the "gamer" trope

I received a free eARC of this book so I could read and review it. Thank you for the opportunity.

Natalie is a gamer, As Gnat112, she can do anything. Except her first attempt at streaming went badly, and now she’s scared to tell anyone about that second part of her life now.

This one took me a bit to get into because, frankly, the idea of a tween being embarrassed to have her friends find out she’s a gamer just didn’t make sense. It’s such a common activity that it’s almost the other way around-kids are embarrassed if they don’t have a Switch, Xbox or PlayStation.

But, at the same time, Natalie’s social anxiety also rang true in a lot of ways, and I think she will be relatable to middle grade readers. The illustrations help support the story and will also be appealing, and will make the book less imposing to reluctant readers.

I think this is a good start to what is likely to be a popular series. It isn’t a book that I would assign for required reading, but it’s worth including in school and classroom libraries.

I'm a bit disappointed because I thought this is going to be a full-on graphic novel, instead it has more text/words than the beautiful illustrations. Other than that, I find the story of our two main characters to be quite fun and interesting to read as we follow them on their gamer girl life and finding their identity.

As a "Gamer Girl" (aka a Gamer) myself, I really liked this book.

Gnat vs. Spyder by Andrea Towers is the first novel in her new Gamer Girls series, about a girl named Natalie as she and her three BFFs learn to navigate the gamer world together, one girl at a time. This series is a great read for gamers and gamer enthusiasts of all kinds. Plus, there's the occasional middle school drama . . . if only Natalie could battle math teachers like video game aliens!

A great read for middle age kids interested in all things gaming related. I really enjoyed the Bryan O'Malley-esque illustrations throughout, and found the occasional retro-arcade style font usage to be quite endearing.

This was an amazing and high interest read for tweens! It hit the right spot for the age it is qimed at and Nats story was really well thought out. I loved the illustrations and pacing of the book! Such a fun read!