Representation: Minor Black characters
Trigger warnings: Self-harm, suicidal thoughts, poverty, death of parents and another person mentioned, pregnancy
Score: Four points out of ten.
Find this review on The StoryGraph.

I've read from James Patterson before when I landed in the middle of a series when I read Hawk--a massive disappointment. I stumbled upon another fictional composition from James Patterson this year: The Runaway's Diary. It initially looked promising until I lowered my expectations after examining the reviews. When I read and finished the book, it underwhelmed me.

It starts with the first person I see, Eleanor, living her typical life somewhere in America when she decides to go off alone to find her long lost sister in Seattle. I could tell from the opening pages that I would not only prefer not to read The Runaway's Diary, but I would abhor it. Unrealistically, another character, Leo, lets Eleanor stay at her house for a few days. Realistically, no one would do that and if a stranger came to a person's house, the latter would expel the former. I didn't like Eleanor as a character as she lies all the time; alluding that it is pathological. If so, she should find the nearest mental service and immediately rectify that. Instead, she continues to get away with lies and telling tall tales, much to my dismay. She tries to find a job, but the employer fired her, and attempts to join a band, but that also didn't pan out well. Eventually, Eleanor returns to her parents and also finds Sam, who ran away due to a relationship issue.

To summarise, I headed in with high expectations when I read The Runaway's Diary, but I regret doing so, considering my last read from James Patterson was dissatisfying. In the end, the author did not improve his writing with The Runaway's Diary, making me enjoy it less than the other fictional composition I read from him last year. ( )

2.5 stars
I love the art style, but I felt like the story was lacking. I realize this is a YA book, but I thought Eleanor's experience was extremely unrealistic; she was incredibly lucky in her experience as well. For the amount of pages and the quality of the art, I had expected a higher quality story, with a little more realism. ( )

Believe it or not, this is the first James Patterson book I've read! I suppose the clichéd tagline for this book could be, "She ran away to find her sister, and found herself." Eleanor runs away to Seattle from some unknown place 500 miles away, to find her sister, who Eleanor herself may or may not have driven away with some unknown act. Eleanor is 15 and alone in the city with little money, but not without personal resources. She is naive, but sort of lucky -- she encounters the kinds of scary situations you'd expect a teenager alone in a big city to encounter, but finds herself in the reluctant protection of others (the human spirit is essentially kind, after all), and sees a little of how other people manage to survive harsh circumstances. A constant monologue runs in her head (and out of her mouth) as she works on coming to terms with her sister's disappearance, and her own role in that event, which is gradually revealed. I both loved and hated the suspense in this graphic novel, wondering if Eleanor will find her sister, whether she will be injured in the process, what she will discover about herself and the world around her. Based on the buildup, the climax is ... unexpected (I will say nothing more than that). But, because I pretty much couldn't put it down from the time I picked it up (except when I really had to go to sleep), this will be my first 5-star book of the year. Maybe I have more James Patterson in my future. ( )

A good graphic novel for middle schoolers. A story about sisterhood and searching for the person who’s missing from your life, along with learning who can trust. Only question I had is, if she had a phone, why didn’t the parents call her? Track her whereabouts. ( )