A review by housedesignerking
Deep Trouble by R.L. Stine

challenging emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

*Contains some spoilers* To be honest, this was another Goosebumps book that I've been hesitant to read. There are many dangers in the water, but I wasn't sure how R.L. Stine was going to apply some of his typical formulas to this one. He actually didn't. This is unlike any Goosebumps book that I've ever read (and I've read most of the original 62). Billy and Sheena Deep, brother and sister, in something of a mirror to book 5, have gone on vacation to meet their Uncle George. At least that's his real name. Professionally, he's known as Dr. Deep. To those closer to him, he's known by a nickname that did not age well: Dr. D.

You read that right.

A colleague of their Uncle's (I can't keep typing Dr. D.) named Alexander stays with him on his ship known as <i>The Cassandra</i>. Alexander also serves as the cook who seems to only wanna cook things from the sea that Billy and Sheena would never wanna eat (Nor I, for that matter. No offense, but you couldn't get me to eat squid or live octopus.) Before long, a man and a woman appear on the ship to speak to their Uncle. They want him to find the mermaid that fishermen keep claiming to see. To be honest, I never thought this book was about mermaids. There's a mention at the start of the book that their Uncle gets really grouchy if he's not living on the water and doing research unless he's taking a bath with boats (which was a little... interesting for a fully grown adult. Right on, I suppose, but still... interesting). It made me think the half-human, half-fish creature was probably their Uncle.

I had three issues with this book. First: Punctuation and grammar do not necessarily make or break a book, but Stine and his editors are usually really good at these things. On page 32, one of the things someone says is missing proper punctuation. More specifically, the quotation marks at the end of what someone says are missing and it was overlooked. Careless?

My second issue with this book is that I have <i>never</i> met a twelve year old that would shout or scream the word "Yay." I know I certainly never would've. Again, I find myself mentioning how some adults really forget what it's like being a child. The word 'yay' is something you may use sarcastically, otherwise <i>only</i> for really little children. I'm talking under 6 years old.

My third issue is that Stine decided to make the mermaid's incapable of speaking. I thought it was relatively canon that mermaids could speak human languages? Didn't burbling and squeaking mermaids go out of style when Disney's "The Little Mermaid" came out? I mean, even the dark Mermaids in 'Harry Potter' could speak human languages. *shrugs* Just saying.

I will say, however, since Billy's, Sheena's, and George's last name is 'Deep,' the title is a bit clever.

3 stars.