🕵️ Book Review: Trouble by Janelle Brown (Kindle Edition, We Could Be Heroes #3)
A sharply observed, morally gray short story about parenting, judgment, and the limits of “helping”—Janelle Brown delivers a quick but layered read that asks whether good intentions always lead to good outcomes.
🧠 Overview
Published on February 7, 2023 as part of Amazon Original Stories’ We Could Be Heroes collection, Trouble is a 36-page contemporary short that zeroes in on Polly, a mother navigating the tricky waters of friendship, parenting, and neighborly concern.
Polly’s fourth-grade daughter has been spending a lot of time with her classmate Sylvie—a girl whose flashy clothes, unsupervised phone, and vape-pen-carrying mother raise red flags. Convinced she can be a positive influence, Polly edges into Sylvie’s life… only to discover how little we can truly know about another family from the outside.
🔍 Key Themes & Highlights
- 👩👧 Parenting & boundaries: How far should you go to “help” someone else’s child?
- 🏘️ Judgment vs. reality: The danger of assuming you know what’s best for others.
- ⚖️ Heroic intentions: Fits the We Could Be Heroes theme of good motives clashing with messy consequences.
- ✍️ Brown’s style: Tight, observational prose with a knack for revealing character through small details.
“Straight answers are hard to find in this keenly observed short story…”
💬 Reader Reception
- ⭐ Goodreads rating: ~3.77/5 from over 2,300 ratings
- 📖 Readers praise its relatable domestic tension and subtle moral ambiguity.
- 🧾 Some note that, as a short story, it’s more a snapshot than a full arc—but it lingers in the mind after reading.
⚠️ Considerations
- 📄 Short format: Can be read in a single sitting; don’t expect deep backstory or multiple plot threads.
- 📚 Part of a collection: Stands alone, but thematically linked to the other We Could Be Heroes stories.
- 🧠 Ambiguous resolution: Leaves space for the reader to decide who, if anyone, was “right.”
🏁 Final Verdict
Trouble is a quick, thought-provoking domestic drama that captures the fine line between concern and interference. Perfect for readers who enjoy morally complex short fiction with a contemporary suburban setting.
