Spoilers abound in my review of Trouble Makes a Comeback. If you have NOT read Trouble is a Friend of Mine, DO NOT read this review. Obviously. It will make no sense have have tons and tons of spoilers. A-duh.

Anywho, onto the review! I enjoyed this book, not as much as the first (but come on, the first is always the best), but as a sequel it held my interest very well! The characters are still just as awesome. Grade B.

 

Trouble Makes a Comeback, by Stephanie Tromly

Characters:

  • Princeton is different in this novel — more confident and outspoken. This isn’t a bad change, but I’m used to Princeton from the first novel. As realistic as it is — five months have passed and now she fits in at her HS — it’s a shellshock when you haven’t witnessed the change yourself. But it’s an interesting conflict having her two lives collide when Digby returns. And this time when she chooses to go on these adventures, it’s not because she has nothing else to do. It proves she wants to.
  • Digby is back and apparently a little rusty at first, which is comical. Digby makes the book, once again. His eccentricities remain strong, and it was fun having him live in the house for a bit.
  • The new crew — Princeton’s friends — are all kind of undeveloped duds. And I’m fine with that, because I wouldn’t have had any interest in them had they been more developed. The author didn’t distract us from the characters we love, and I commend her for that.
  • The old crew — at the same time, I wanted to see more of Henry, Sloane, and Felix. We only got tidbits of them, and it made me want more of the crew that went on that crazy adventure during the latter part of book 1. They got together shortly at the end… but hope the third book keeps these guys front and center.

Plot:

  • It was fast paced, and while maybe not as thrilling of a mystery as book 1, still strong and couldn’t put it down. Still comical, not as laugh out loud as book 1, but still comical. I mean, Book 1 made it onto my top shelf, so any book compared to that would be critiqued hard.
  • Rating the book on its own… it was fun, humorous, exciting, easy to read, and overall a fast-paced adventure. If you like book 1, I have trouble seeing why you wouldn’t enjoy book 2.
  • It might suffer from sequel-itis, something I’ve been seeing in books lately. These books lack a cohesive plot that lets it stand on its own. Look at every Harry Potter book and note that while each contributes to the long arc of the tale, each book is its own story. Lately books have been using book 2 to slowly bridge the way to book 3, which leaves you feeling slightly unsastisfied. When reading, I couldn’t tell you whether the most important arc in this book was the steroid scam, Digby’s sister, or Princeton’s inner struggle readjusting to Digby’s return. The steroid scam and the inner struggle, apparently, but again, this was not clear. Didn’t detract from my enjoyment, but looking back at the book, I must point it out. Also, this usually means the third book will be epic, so I will forgive it if that’s the case.

Overall: I give it Grade B, mainly due to the writing style and characters. I love this series, I think the author does a handy job staying true to the characters, and I can’t wait for book 3. I highly recommend!


Confused by my grading scale, click here to find out how the grades relate to star-ratings you’re more used to seeing.