I truly enjoyed 3 or 4 of the 8 or 9 stories. The author’s schtick gets pretty tiring pretty quickly though. At first you think it’s great, very novel, but by the end you’ve got a bead on what she’s doing, and it’s not nearly as impressive, just a bunch of tossed-off fantasy ideas that junk up the story.

This is the third volume of Kelly Link's short stories that I have read, and they certainly don't disappoint. They are always surprising, just when you think you have them figured out, they go off in an unexpected direction. These stories are themed around the character getting into some sort of trouble, thus the name of the collection. Usually, the trouble is of their own making, sometimes it unexpectedly finds them. Poor decisions are usually involved, or maybe they are good decisions? It all depends on how the reader views the situation. These sometimes are dreamlike fantasies. Sometimes the stories seem grounded in a gritty reality, but it isn't the reality you are familiar with. The only thing I didn't like about this book is its cover. With so many images from the stories that could have been used, why they selected the ugly graffiti-like text they did is beyond me.

I loved it but if you want laughs u should consider reading jt