Book review: Trouble - The Last Chance

Wendel is fascinating and strong character who has a better understanding of events and situations in life than most adults do.

Adults fail to recognize the seriousness of a situation which kids successfully deal with when their elders simply don’t do anything.

The story tells us about the life of this young boy, trouble personified in other words; he is a naughty boy who pulls pranks on people but what elders don’t know is that his acts are for a good cause.

Yet he makes mistakes and ends up falling in his own trap.

His friends are the ones who come to his rescue at last when he has his back against the wall and cannot even rely on his parents. All the elders realize their mistake when everything had already been done.

The story, though fictional, has a great connection with the reality of our education system, parenting, ignorance of teachers and school authorities, even gender bias that kids, specially boys, face in school. The girls are mostly considered to be harmless and good while boys always have to face the wrath of teachers. 

Also,  the story has two schools. One which is labeled as school for criminals and other is a renowned school.

At the end what readers realize is that the reputed good school fails to give the most important thing to their students- real education, not the bookish one, but the one which stays with a person forever. The one which makes someone a better person, not a better earner of money.

The story is very compact and it is an absolute page-turner.

The story contains almost every element needed to make a story perfect - right amount of thrill, suspense, humor, emotions and last but not the least, love.

It has an interesting open-ending, an end which ends with a question. It leaves the readers wondering that what is going to happen next when Wendel’s life takes the most unexpected turn.

The moment he thinks he made the best decisions, and the readers sigh with relief after the roller-coaster ride they just went through, suddenly the to-be happy ending turns upside down making the impression of the story last in the readers mind even after they have completed reading the story.

In reflection, the story compels us to think that whatever is going on in the schools and education system, is it correct? Is the way that we deal with the children and their problems correct? How many Wendel’s are not given justice every single day?

I would like to rate the book 9.5/10. It is a must read for everyone, not just for a particular type or genre of readers, but simply everyone. I’m sure everyone will be waiting impatiently for a sequel of this book after reading it. It’s one of the best books I’ve read in a while.

(Reviewed by Soumashree Mukherjee)