DNF because I just couldn't manage to care about the plot or the characters. First one was cute, but this one is apparently too repetitive for my brain. ( )

Trouble in Taco Town is the second book in the ‘ABC’s of Spellcraft’ series. It stars the same two MCs as in the first book, Dixon and Yuri. This is again told in alternating first person povs.



I was looking forward to reading this book because I really enjoyed the first one with its mystery and humor. Unfortunately, this story isn’t as good as the first one. It’s not as funny and doesn’t have much mystery in it. The blurb does a good job of explaining what the plot is about. Basically, a postcard comes from Taco Town from Fonzo, Dixon’s black sheep uncle. Dixon and Yuri head over to find Fonzo but instead find a lot of wonky spells that are going wrong. Dixon continues to believe in his uncle’s goodness, but Yuri isn’t convinced, quite the opposite in fact.

The author did a good job of carrying over Dixon’s and Yuri’s same personalities into this book, which I was happy about. The trip provides Yuri a chance to let down his walls a smidgen more around Dixon. But other than that, there isn’t much character growth.

I was hoping there’d be a lot more mystery in this book, but there wasn’t. In fact, it reminded me of a TV series where there’s an overarching mystery that the characters have to solve and it continues from show to show. I’ve never liked those kinds of stories, because it’s similar to ending on a cliff-hanger so the viewer/reader is dragged along into the next book/episode. I prefer a plot to be complete in one book with another adventure in the next one. I likely won’t purchase any more books in this series for this reason unless the books go on sale.

Trouble in Taco Town was a fast, easy read. The characters were consistent with the first book, but the mystery was minimal. I give this book, 3 Stars.


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Short and silly fun. ( )