In Too Deep

by Tom Avery

""It's Father," my brother said. "He's in trouble. We've got to get him.""
Prince and Emmanuel are stunned to hear that someone who says she's their mother is looking for them. Can it really be her, after four long years of separation? The boys are scared and suspicious. And then there's another shock - they learn that their father is trapped in Tanzania, blackmailed by gangsters to pay off an impossible debt. The boys make a big decision - somehow they must find the money to get to Africa, bring their father home and reunite their family. Even if it means going back to stealing.".."

Genres: School

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[LN · Rating 2 out of 5]

Representation: Black and Asian characters
Trigger warnings: Physical assault and injury, blood depiction, disappearance of a parent, hostage situation
Score: Five out of ten.
I own this book.
Find this review on The StoryGraph.

In Too Deep by Tom Avery is an example of blackface. I can't support Avery nor can I give In Too Deep three stars because of that. Two is enough for now.

I picked In Too Deep up from a library giveaway. It disappointed me.

It starts with Prince and Emmanuel. They live in England until they discover their mother tried to search for them for four years. Prince and Em discover their father is held hostage in Tanzania. They strategise to rescue and return him to England. In Too Deep is non-linear. The characters missed the mark. I can't judge how accurate the descriptions of places in Africa are.

Prince and Em resort to stealing to achieve their goal. That made me ask: have they done this before? I haven't read the first instalment, Too Much Trouble. Prince and Em reunite with their parents.

[Selan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sequel to Too Much Trouble. I barely remember anything of the first book, since it's been a while since I read it. I couldn't even remember the characters names or anything, but after a while it did all start coming back.

The book focuses on two brothers, Prince and Emmanuel (nicknamed Em). Whilst the first book detailed about how they were kicked out onto the streets and had to fend themselves, including falling in with a bad crowd and stealing for a living, this book focuses more on their life after they are taken in by a foster family.

Now, these two brothers aren't orphans. Their parents are very much alive, but they were separated from them due to the war...I'm not entirely sure which war it is. A pretty violent one. Their father managed to get them out of the country.

The thing is, I don't feel that much happened in this book.

They are reunited with their mother halfway through the book, and she feels like a complete stranger to them. The overall climax of the story is that they find out that their father is in trouble - in debt with some gangster - and they have to get onto a plane and rescue him. Somehow.

That part is pretty tense, actually, because it turns out that their father is also dying from TB. But it really doesn't seem like they thought this through.

They end up stealing fake passports, stealing things to make enough money for the plane tickets...and that's just to get out of the country. Never mind the return journey.

I'll just say here and now that it's a happy ending, everything's resolved in a really fast way which feels a bit hamfisted, and they even have enough money to get back home again. It's like 3 pages right at the end to serve as a conclusion and IMO feels pretty unsatisfying.

We see the boys' thoughts about how their mother seems like a stranger to them, because she hasn't seen them in about 10 years and she's crying every night that their dad's in trouble. The abusive uncle from the first book makes a comeback, too, and now suddenly we're meant to like him. It just feels a bit off.

Oh, and they've got a baby sister now, by the way. I don't know why the book bothered to mention her. The story's so short that there's barely anything said about this baby sister. It really should have been expanded upon...

I mean, come on. The first book was exciting, full of tension and adventure from start to finish. People died. They got shot. The brothers were on the run from the police, constantly running from one place to another, stealing to survive. Now...it just doesn't feel as exciting.

I enjoyed the setting and overall plot, but I feel that this book was lacking nevertheless. Seriously, they could have fleshed out what happened with the family for, um, more than 3 pages? It just ended so fast. I will therefore give it 3/5.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this follow-up to Too Much Trouble, four years have passed, and siblings Prince and Emmanuel have left their lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo far behind. They are living in foster homes and wondering about their parents' whereabouts when their mother finally arrives. She is not the same mother they once knew and is filled with sorrow and worry about her husband who is in Tanzania, betrayed by his own brother and forced to pay off an insurmountable debt. The boys have been on the straight and narrow path since they've been in London, far from the violence of their home country, but now, they must resort to the street skills and criminal activities they learned earlier in order to rescue their father. While some of the things that happen to them and to their father seem over the top and they are surely luckier than most at having a happy ending, the author captures very real emotions and shows how hard it is to do the right things all the time. Although Prince breaks the trust of his foster family, he does so with good intentions and out of desperation. The boys' experiences make readers think about rehabilitation and how hard it is to let go of the past. While readers can enjoy this one without reading its predecessor, it might be helpful to read both together for their emotional impact.