- Illustrated Chapter Books
- Ages 8–11
- Comedy
Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Ruling the World
Book 3 of 5 in Loki: A Bad God's GuideView the full series
A cursed ring, a school play and a nagging little voice tempt Loki to give in to his darkest desires and finally play the villain everyone already thinks he is. The third doodle-packed diary asks whether a bad god can ever choose to be good.
- Best for8–11
- FormatIllustrated
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Comedic
- Conversational
- Epistolary
Tone
- Funny
- Irreverent
- Exciting
- Silly
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
The trickster god Loki is still stuck as a peevish eleven-year-old, and now he has to work out whether he's the hero or the villain, both in his school play and in his mortal life. When Thor and Loki's 'parents' clear off on holiday, Odin sends Balder, Thor's insufferably wonderful half-brother and the god of making Loki look bad, to babysit. Naturally Thor is cast as the noble prince in the play while Loki is stuck as the villain, despite his obvious acting genius (it's basically lying, after all). Then Loki finds a cool ring that looks suspiciously like the cursed ring of Andvari. When he wears it everyone adores him the way they adore Balder, and a new voice starts whispering that he should give in to his deepest, darkest desires. What, Loki wonders, is the point of being good if everyone's already decided you're bad? Drama, doodles and hilarity abound in a myth-soaked diary comedy for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
Pitched at 8-11s reading independently, with heavy illustration supporting confident readers from about 7. The comedy carries well aloud, and the hero-or-villain thread gives older readers something to chew on beyond the jokes.
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- Best fit · 8–11
- Read aloud · 7–10
- Independent · 8–11
Prose load
Light
Visual support
High
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Funny diary
- Norse mythology
- Reluctant readers
- Laugh out loud comedy
Avoid if
- Wants gentle bedtime
- Prefers prose only
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
A cursed ring, a school play Loki is desperate to win, and a sneaky voice egging him on to be bad make this the funniest, most tempting adventure yet. Watching Loki wrestle with whether to just embrace being a villain is brilliantly relatable chaos.
- Trickery and cleverness
- Magic powers
- Being understood finally
- Proving yourself
- Having a nemesis
Why parents love it
Under the doodles and gags is a genuinely thoughtful question about labels and self-fulfilling prophecies, as Loki asks why he should be good if everyone's decided he's bad. It's funny to read aloud and easy to hand to a reluctant reader.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
In the series
Loki: A Bad God's Guide.
5 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Louie Stowell.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
