Book Review; Trouble by Non Pratt

Summary:
In this dazzling debut novel, a pregnant teen learns the meaning of friendship—from the boy who pretends to be her baby’s father.

When the entire high school finds out that Hannah Shepard is pregnant via her ex-best friend, she has a full-on meltdown in her backyard. The one witness (besides the rest of the world): Aaron Tyler, a transfer student and the only boy who doesn’t seem to want to get into Hannah’s pants. Confused and scared, Hannah needs someone to be on her side. Wishing to make up for his own past mistakes, Aaron does the unthinkable and offers to pretend to be the father of Hannah’s unborn baby. Even more unbelievable, Hannah hears herself saying “yes.”

Told in alternating perspectives between Hannah and Aaron, Trouble is the story of two teenagers helping each other to move forward in the wake of tragedy and devastating choices. As you read about their year of loss, regret, and hope, you’ll remember your first, real best friend—and how they were like a first love.

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What Is On

I should have read this book a year ago. I had ample opportunity too but other books and life just got in the way. However, I am very glad that I finally got around to reading this book as I really enjoyed it – which was something I was worried I wouldn’t do! This book had a lovely, heart-warming feel to it that I couldn’t help but savour as I read it. There were moments of hilarity and moments of sadness, all of which created a wonderful and entertaining book.

The Surface

Essentially I both love and was fearful of the topic of this book when I heard about it but Non executed it incredibly well and made it all feel very realistic. While I didn’t personally know anyone who got pregnant during school, I did know of one girl who did so after she dropped out. I was initially expecting the book to be set with more lower-class characters, like those I grew up with, as it may have felt more believable but I actually really liked that Non didn’t do this – and was glad it worked so well. The best thing about this book is that it wasn’t just about the pregnancy.

Is Rarely

What made this book work so well was the characters. It can be so hard not to write stereotypical characters in a story like this but fortunately Non has managed to avoid this. At first, I didn’t particularly like Hannah but I could see that she was troubled and likely to grow on me, which she did. By the end of the book, I loved her. Aaron, on the other hand, I loved straight away. There’s something mysterious about him and he’s also really kind and decent, caring and protective. He has a secret but that just makes him more interesting. I loved getting to read about both Hannah and Aaron.

The Whole Story

Overall, Trouble was an entertaining read that I found both funny and sad. It was full of engaging and lovable characters, fantastic plots and subplots and was just a book that really pulled me in. I guessed the twists but still thought they were very interesting and really added to the story. Non truly fleshes out her characters and plot lines. Basically, I did really like this book, think you should read it, and am definitely going to read more from Non Pratt in the future.