Making Friends: Third Time's a Charm: A Graphic Novel

Making Friends #3

by Kristen Gudsnuk

Dany's sketchbook is at it again, but this time it's not Dany's doing! Dany and Madison are living a new reality. Rather than best friends, the pair now believe they are twins -- and that isn't the only part of their lives that has been completely rewritten. Their mom is a novelist, their dad is a rock star, and Dany has suddenly become a diligent student. Things. Aren't. Adding. Up. Dany and Madison start sleuthing and discover that someone has drastically altered the universe! Can the pair put things back the way they were, or is this magic beyond their control?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Friendship, Comics, Young Adult, Fiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 2021

Reviews

[Emma]

ahhhhhh I love how completely bonkers this series continues to be ~magic!~

Did this just end on a cliffhanger? Did Kristen just do that to me???? (I love this series. The level of detail and cleverness with the world building in background panels is just genius.)

[Lauren]

This instalment was so confusing. And what was that ending?

[Mia]

THE PLOT TWISTS WERE MIND BLOWING
didn’t see it coming. one of the things I love abt this series is its fantasy, but theres a lot of girl power n friend drama. its hard to find a series like this that doesn’t toooootally make me cringe my eyes out. however, this book in particular made me scream bcos I cant stop thinking abt the crazy ending n broooo if the author doesn't make a fourth book and this is how it ends... It made me so sad n mad like the main character has been through sm crazy magic stuff and what happened isnt fair.
Ya thought it was rlly good

[Ellen]

Oof. I only keep reading these so I know what to recommend to my middle-school students, but at this point, I'm throwing in the towel with this series. I think the art will appeal to manga-loving kids, but the story is so disjointed sometimes that I'm not entirely sure what the point is...

[Lexy Twidell]

3.5. The books in this series definitely don't get better as they go on, but I still enjoy reading them. They are light and fun and I don't think they should be taken too seriously. Yes, they might be a little disorganized, and the characters don't always learn from their mistakes, and things get a little chaotic and ridiculous at times - but its a romp and there's always something that makes me laugh. Reading this gives me the same feelings as reading certain one panel comic memes, and that's alright with me. I may even enjoy these more if I were to read them in closer succession instead of having months, or even years, in between each reading.

[Chloe]

Oh, wow. I finished this in about an hour, and let me say what I thought:
The beginning and middle was pretty great, because it gives you a sense of "Wait, what? Why has their reality changed?" and it didn't make me want to stop reading. I liked Amara, and was happy to see Prince Neptune come back (my not-so-secret crush, hah ha). The background jokes were funny as always, but the one thing I didn't like was the ending, as I found it a bit confusing. Now, I won't say too much to people who haven't read the book yet, but for the people who have...You know what I meant. I had to read that last part twice and I still didn't get it.

[Kathleen]

I feel like I missed a volume, even though I've read both the others! This one was kind of confusing. The back blurb says "things aren't adding up," and while they do get explained, they don't get resolved.

[Katie R.]

The others were a little better 😭📚

[charlotte]

this volume was AWESOME. love the return to tons of magic everywhere. the ending is a cliffhanger and makes me so excited to read the next volume.

[Rachael]

I can't wait for book 4!!

[Sierra]

This took me forever to read.
1. IT WAS BORING
2. It made me randomly emotional at parts
3. It made absolutely positively no sense whatsoever at all
4. There was no plot
5. The main character wasn’t even the same character from the other 2 books
6. I really thought Aunt Elma was dead, (wow that was random!)
7. I don’t know why I even bothered to read the rest of the series!
I may read the last book and get real life copies of all the books. Really boring, what a waste of time!!!!!!!!

[Jess]

Buddy Read with 10 year old niece

[Darcy😆😘 Van]

I love this book! I want to read number 4

[Leticia Ribeiro]

Loved it really good.

[Danielle Smith]

great book

Very good and interesting. Would recommend it to anyone. Good good good good good good good good and good it was amazing

[Mary-Anne]

Hard to keep up with the plot, but I know my library students will keep loving this series! The illustrations are awesome and the colors are wonderful. The humor is on point and the friendship here reigns supreme. Cute series!

[Angela]

This was just as fun and witty as the previous books. The plot twists are a doozy!! Dany is such a complex character and there were a few moments in this book where my heart positively ached for her. I don't want to give away spoilers but there are two moments where Dany has mentally given up and I felt that in my soul. Its that feeling of 'I guess no matter what wacky stuff happens I'm never going to be happy'. Sheesh! Anyway, the ending is baffling. Read it and I'm sure you'll agree.

[Arianna]

it was a magical book

[Amy]

Extra wild ride this time, but as usual it was great!

[Jordan]

Possibly the best entry in the series yet, Kristen pushes Making Friends into bold, new directions. Not fully satisfied at it being a humorous, pleasant and fanciful middle grade exploration of awkwardness, foolishness and loneliness, Making Friends (3): Third Time's A Charm starts to unravel the world around Dany and Madison, pulling back the curtain at the way the world really works, revealing them (and in a sense, us all) as minor characters ignorant of a much larger game we're unwittingly playing. Surely the Goodreads reviewers who wanted more back story on the mysterious magical elements at play will be more than satisfied at where the story goes (is going?)

It's a risky move, and the book is full of risks, whether it's the incalculable amount of unbelievably absurd background gags, almost unforgivable character flaws revealing themselves, or an ending so distressing that it just may ruin some poor child's summer. The final lines of dialogue will chill readers of all ages, they haunted me for hours after reading. Making Friends 3 is complex, cleverly meta (both defiantly and self-critically), and still never sacrifices the crucial consistent ingredient: how do you make people like you when you can barely convince yourself you like you?

On the visual level, Gudsnuk's color palette is as eye-pleasing as ever, and her mastery of ultra-specific (and laugh out loud funny) facial expressions and character acting is fairly unmatched in this genre. The book often feels wildly animated even though they are still drawings. Even an early panel of Dany asleep is full of life and movement, her mouth cartoonishly open (snoring?) and her eyes scrunched in an angry, troubled expression. Kristen seems to be unable to draw a page without the goal of making herself laugh, or surprised.

In short, everything gels. Book 1 was Kristen exploring a new genre for herself, possibly attempting to fit into the Scholastic mold. Book 2 was the hyperactive farce where all the toys are played with and left a mess on the floor, and Book 3 is now the sophisticated, complicated, dark underbelly of it all, and one of Kristen's most personal and best-realized works. What will be in store for Book 4?

[Jennifer]

So, this series is not for me. I got through the first two, and at this point, not sure I'll keep reading. My teen also felt the same way and she's the target demographic.

The story was so disjointed and jumped around, and there really wasn't a linear plot that wove everything together. Too much happening. Too many side plots. No real structure. I almost DNF'd it. But it's a graphic novel, so that seemed pretty harsh.

There also didn't seem to be any consequences for her mom basically disrupting the time continuum and being what I consider to be a really selfish person. I hated her for trying to make her daughter something she wasn't and for making all these changes to benefit herself. She was evil, and no one seemed to care.

[Mary]

I read the first two books in this series so I know what happened previously and yet I still felt like this book started in the middle of a story. I was a bit confused for a while. I didn’t like the way Dani’s mom acted in this one. It was weird and mean. I’m a bit confused by the ending. Was it all a dream? A new reality? Clearly we are let with a lot of questions so I really hope there will be a fourth book. Overall I enjoyed the story, and I love the art.

[ê̶̡̼̪̝̳̖͌̀̅̊͂͝ͅl̴̳̳̻̖̣̠̝̮̼͊̈́̀̎̐͋͐̽̾͘͠l̷̛̦̱̠̝̄̈́͑̔̇͑ͅȉ̵̥̖͍͇̰̥͈̱̞͇̜͙͍̖͕̊͛͑̒͆̆́̚e̴̟̝̱͆̕]

i feel like these books are getting better as they go on! sure, they’re not for everyone. the plot is a bit hard to follow and the art style is a little messy at times, but i think that’s ok. it’s not supposed to be some big, grand, harry potter story. it’s just a fun book about magical girls and space drama, and that’s just fine!

[J.D. Holman]

I couldn't get into this. The first book in the series was delightful. The second, meh. This one?

Confounding.

And the art has deteriorated to the point where I'm turned off. How does someone who makes hand peacocks (page 11) get a multi-book deal?

[Scarlett True]

Ok, so I’ve read this book over and over.
This is one of my favorite series!

But
The end is SO confusing and I still don’t understand it.
If anyone does, please explain
OTHERWISE, love it, 3.5 stars

[T.K]

It took me a bit to like really know what was going on but it did kind of make sense the more I read, I liked the ending but I just didn't really know what happened but I did like it

[Danielle]

Just as bad as the one before if not worse.

[Naomi]

dnf-
ig it was my fault for reading my little sister's book

[Joseline Sanchez-Marquez]

I think its an very interesting book.

[Becky B]

Hang out with sisters Madison and Dany as they head to a new prep school and meet poor little rich girl Amara who is desperate for some friends, especially ones who also believe magic is real. But what is going on? These aren't the Dany and Madison we met before, and something shady is up with Amara's family. Who has the magical notebook now and how are they using it?

This one threw me for a little bit of a loop when I first started reading. You go into it and it acts like everything is normal, but these aren't quite the characters you've met before. And you start wondering if you remember things right or not...and then eventually you realize someone has been using the notebook and it all becomes clear. Well, mostly. There's some threads left dangling I'm guessing will be addressed in a future book. So when I first put it down I was thinking, 'That was just weird.' But on further contemplation I think it is a pretty brilliant way to demonstrate how even the most well-meaning of people wouldn't do a great job running the world without some omniscience. If you or I had the chance to rewrite the world into what you think would be a utopia, we'd probably drop the ball in several respects and end up making a grand mess in many areas, which is basically what has happened in this. So I like this for getting readers thinking about how much control is good for one limited, finite person to hold. And I think you could have some great conversations with a book club about it if you really dug deep. It does take a little time though to get past the weird and see the gems hidden in this, though. Total side note, but as someone living in Asia where bubble tea sightings are an almost daily thing, I found the placing of the boba in the bubble tea in all of the illustrations jarringly wrong. But because it is so consistent (it is drawn with the boba on top instead of on the bottom in every single panel it appears in, and that's about 12 places including on the cover) and because it is so glaringly wrong, I'm wondering if it isn't an art editing miss and possibly was done on purpose to clue readers in quite early that something is off with this world??? I have several middle schoolers who LOVE this series, so I'm sure it will circulate exceedingly well as soon as it hits the shelves. I'll be interested to hear what they think of it.

Notes on content: No language issues that I remember. No sexual content. There's some magical battles and manipulation some of which make people disappear and/or change their personality against their will. There are some parent/child relationships that could use a whole lot of therapy because they aren't healthy and are a lot manipulative.