This was such a fun middle grade book. Girls can play games too for sure. I love Natalie. I love the friendships. There was a lot of character growth in this one. Natalie learns to be herself and grow up some. I will definitely be reading more in this series. I loved the narration. Thank you to NetGalley and Andrew McMeel Audio for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

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. The audiobook narrations were done very well and I thought the little sound effects and voice effects were adorable and helped make the audiobook more engaging which, again, for a middle grade reader that's an important facet of a good book. Overall, 4.5 out of 5 stars, would definitely recommend it to any middle grader!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was acute book, good for any gamer kids! This is certainly a book aimed at kids of todays age lol

I was excited to listen to this audiobook with my daughter, who is an avid gamer and recently discovered her love of audiobooks on a family road trip. This review includes feedback from both of us.

Gnat vs Spyder is a great audiobook that kept us engaged through the whole book. We really enjoyed the message about being yourself and surrounding yourself with people who value that. It was also fun to see a gamer girl in a main character role that wasn't heavily supported by a male sidekick.

However, we both struggled with the idea of any modern kid hiding that they're a gamer. My daughter's friends are all gamers and spend more time hanging out on Roblox and Minecraft than they do in real life. It took me longer to move past that plot point than it did for my daughter though!

Overall, this is a great read for kids who may be feeling the pressure to choose interests based on a herd mentality and hide parts of themselves, even if it's not gaming. We'll definitely pick up more books in this series in the future!

Omg I loved this!! It’s a middle grade story about gaming, friendship & being yourself. The mc is a secret gamer girl, she spends every night battling her online nemesis at a pvp game but is too scared to tell anyone about her favourite hobby incase they judge her. But when a new girl who also games moves in next door & they start to get close, she soon realises that maybe she doesn’t have to hide it like she thought. Most of the story is her battling with this but the ending was definitely my favourite part.

The whole story was just such an easy and wholesome read. I wish I could’ve had a book like this when I was 13 as it would’ve 100% made me feel less alone. I highly recommend!!

<3 This was quite an enjoyable #audiobooking experience. The cover art got it all wrong IMO, the language was for a more mature audience. The cover led me to believe that this was for grade school kids. I love the #girlpower message and the mentioning of gender identities and smashing the stereotyping of traditional gender roles. The narrator's performance was quite impressive and kept me engaged throughout this after school special drama. I highly recommend it for teen girls but it makes for a quick entertaining and relatable read for any gender or age. <3
#GnatvsSpyder #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Audio, Andrews McMeel Publishing for the audiobook version of this book. Everything I write is of my own personal thoughts, feelings, and opinions. I am in no way affiliated with or compensated for my review.
I listened to this audiobook with my grade school child. This was her first chapter audiobook and she really enjoyed it. She said she wants to listen to it again and again until the next book in the series comes out.
the book is about a group of friends that do not know each other like the world of gaming. Natalie is a really good gamer and is well known in the gaming community. When a new person moves next-door to her she right away calls Natalie out for being this amazing gamer- Natalie doesn't know how to react as she has kept this a secret. Everything works out in the end. It is a good book to teach kids .

Brilliant I loved this audiobook so much it was such a cute read and brilliant for young gamers who want to see themselves represented in books

Thank you so much to Andrews McMeel Publishing for the ARC audiobook.

I first want to say that I feel like the book and audiobook cover could be improved. It's not the most eyecatching and the text is literally but really, actually pixelated. Perhaps its the low image quality? It's just really hard to read if the viewer is not up close.

This was a very light and comfortable read (I finished it in one sitting), though I felt like it was longer than it should be as the whole book only revolved around one major conflict: Natalie not wanting people to know that she is a gamer. Readers could find it dragging and repetitive. I know I kinda did. I would also like to point out that the characters don't feel very... three dimensional? Aside from Natalie I don't really see them evolve. None of them also seem to have flaws and I don't find myself connecting to any of them.

Nevertheless, I do agree that it's important to teach kids, girls especially, that they shouldn't be afraid to have hobbies that don't seem fitting to their gender. Because no hobby is actually 'ungirly' and good friends will never be unsupportive of something you're passionate about.

Additional commendation to Taylor Meskimen. The narration was very good.

As an adult, I like young adult and some kid books from time to time. I like to take a break from some of the in your face serious moments a lot of books have and have a nice kid friendly story filled with lessons to go through. I was excited for that with Gnat Vs Spider but I think it missed the mark on some aspects.

The story is about a girl named Natalie who has an online video game rivalry with a player named Spyder. Natalie is ashamed that she is a gamer and hides it from her friends. This is really where the story lost me. Gaming is absolutely huge with kids. My niece and nephew are always playing games. The same goes for my friend's kids. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Natalie kept referring to it as “her secret”. The way she would say it and the number of times it was said you would think she is talking about something illegal, not just being a gamer.

This was the main story point but even though I did not like or agree with it everything surrounding it was well done. The family values that are expressed, how to be a true friend, and to just to be yourself. All those lessons and plot points hit the mark.

This is the first book in the series called Gamer Girls, while I did not really enjoy this story I would want to see what’s next and where the story takes us.