Trouble

We Could Be Heroes

De: Janelle Brown

Narrado por: January LaVoy

What does it take to be a good mother? A good neighbor? Straight answers are hard to find in this keenly observed short story by New York Times bestselling author Janelle Brown.

Polly’s fourth-grade daughter has been spending a lot of time with her classmate Sylvie—maybe too much. Sylvie’s clothes are a little…flashy…and her phone (a ten-year-old with a phone!) doesn’t seem to have any parental controls. It seems that Sylvie’s mother, with her vape pens and her too-high heels, may not be making good choices. As Polly tries to exert a positive influence, she discovers just how little anyone can tell about a family from the outside.

Janelle Brown’s Trouble is part of We Could Be Heroes, a darkly inquisitive collection of short stories that examines heroic intentions versus their real-life consequences. Read or listen to each in a single sitting.

©2023 Janelle Brown. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Meh

Meh. This story was told from only one perspective which I always find to be so limiting. There was so much build up... jumping to conclusions, misunderstanding actions, manipulation, and differences in parenting styles... all for a lackluster ending.
Part of the Kindle Unlimited catalog.

Great short story

I’m loving this short story series. This one definitely left me wanting more! Hoping for another part for sure! Great characters and storyline.

Short

I just finished this … I really didn’t like Polly. , I felt like she was too judgemental. But overall it was a great short story.

I enjoyed the narrator

This was probably my least favorite of this collection of stories in the "We could be heroes" anthology. Not that it was bad, because it wasn't, but it was the one that I had a couple of issues with.

The story is based on a stressed out mother of two who seems to do nothing but apologize for the fact that her family is well off while at the same time, she looks down on others for certain attributes that she deems inappropriate. Her husband does something in the film industry and is out of town for most of this story.

The story arc focuses on a certain new young child (age 10) who is a new student at her daughters private school. The girl is obviously not up to the "standards" that the other children obviously are, and to add to that her mother's appearance calls into question what her occupation might be. This girl dresses in ways that cause concern for the mothers, talks about things they deem inappropriate and has a brand new iPhone - able to watch TikTok and be on social media without supervision. All things that the school mothers have banded together on the same page to set parameters (way in the future) for these items - such as social media access.

The story revolves around manipulation. But who is manipulating who? It attempts to be somewhat of a psychological thriller and does work for the most part. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to fully create any level of investment on the part of the reader. And, most importantly, I never really liked the main female MC. She comes across as arrogant at times, weak at others and condescending most of the time.

The ending which I think was supposed to be a shocker was just more of an "okay". At least for me.

Narrator seem to call the character, poly and Holly at different times

Poly made some wrong assumptions, but was convinced she was right good twist at the end