Mission Manta Ray (R.A.P.T.O.R. #2) by Philip Kavvadias

So when this book is blurbed as being Diary Of A Wimpy Kid meets Alex Rider, they really mean Greg Heffley at his most annoying thrown into a series of near-future spy missions. I’m only hoping that, as in Jeff Kinney’s books, the protagonist starts being a lot less awful starting in Book 3 and moving onward.

That protagonist is Finn, a kid who’s become a junior agent of the globe-trotting R.A.P.T.O.R. program after finding and hatching a microraptor’s egg while on a field trip with his best friend Milo in Book 1 of this series. Finn and Arty the microraptor have become inseparable since he successfully saved her from being abducted and experimented on by Sapient Ex, an evil organization determined to extract maximum profit from the planet, no matter how unsustainable. Now all three of them work with the good guys of R.A.P.T.O.R. in protecting the world.

As Mission Manta Ray begins, Finn, Milo and Arty are headed to the Nausicaa, a research vessel which has recently reported the unusual appearance of a giant octopus swimming up from the ocean depths. There they meet the hyper-competent Tasi, another junior agent whom Finn is almost immediately suspicious of. When disaster strikes and they’re stranded on a desert island, can they figure out a way to work together to get back to safety, all while foiling the plans of old enemies come back to haunt them?

The situations are somewhat outlandish, but I wouldn’t have had so much trouble reading this book if it weren’t for the absolutely bizarre way Finn treats Tasi. Milo thinks it’s just Finn’s low self-esteem talking, but as a hyper-competent woman who’s had to deal with a lifetime of bitchy and incompetent men whining that I’m not being nice enough to them when I’m literally trying to help them, I just wanted to smack the little brat (or leave him to die.) Tasi is a much better person than I am but can we please have actual consequences for men being insecure assholes? Unlike the much more forgiving Tasi, I would have come out of that experience with a “see you never” at the way Finn repeatedly endangered them because of his ego.

I’m not sure if I would be less critical of this middle grade novel if I hadn’t recently had the most exasperating experience of my orchestral life. A fellow cellist I’d just given two hours of free instruction to had the audacity to say to me, “You’re really nice one on one, but I think you should be nicer to me in rehearsal.”

I was like, “Oh? How do you mean?”

“Well, you’re always quick to shush me when you think I’m making too much noise in rehearsal,” he said.

With blank incredulity, I stared at him and replied, “You’re not supposed to have your bow on the strings when Maestro is talking” because he has the irritating habit of playing while our conductor is trying to direct other sections of our chamber orchestra.

Readers, tell me why this grown ass retired man then had the bare faced cheek to tell me, “It’s not that disruptive.”

And look, I get that this is a privileged white guy (who doesn’t understand why his eldest daughter gets frustrated in conversations with him, lol) who has probably never had anyone beat the shit out of him or otherwise faced any real consequences for being an entitled little twerp. I pointed out that he’s not the only person I shush, at which he said that I, as an authority figure, should be nicer because I “know what’s in his heart.” I had to bite my tongue to stop myself saying, “Bitch, I don’t work for you.”

Gratifyingly, a diverse array of friends has assured me that he was way out of line. But after that particularly egregious exchange, it was difficult for me to see Finn be just as bratty and not get a serious correction. Tasi is literally told to be nicer to him because he has trouble with authority, while she is desperately working to keep them all safe and alive. He, on the other hand, gets to bark out orders in stressful situations because he has zero self-awareness. It pisses me off that women are expected to be “nice” in order to be listened to or appreciated, whereas men get a free pass to behave however they want (and don’t even get me started on the even greater ramifications of this type of misogyny.)

I’m hoping that the Finns of the world get better, even as I have zero hope for some of their elders. I’m a maybe on reading more of this series: Wimpy Kid Greg did get better with time but he’s also a normal kid learning valuable lessons over the course of an ordinary life, not some jerk whose ego could get himself and everyone around him killed. The former can be cringe but fun, whereas the latter just strains the bounds of credulity past the point of any reading enjoyment for me.

Mission Manta Ray (R.A.P.T.O.R. #2) by Philip Kavvadias was published August 25 2026 by Aladdin and is available from all good booksellers, including