- Chapter Books
- Ages 9–12
- Adventure
The Trouble with Perfect
Book 2 of 3 in A Place Called PerfectView the full series
The darker, twistier sequel to A Place Called Perfect: with the town rebuilding, things start going missing, children begin to disappear, and Violet's friend Boy is wrongly blamed — forcing her to face old secrets and a gruesome new monster.
- Best for9–12
- FormatChapter
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
Tone
- Suspenseful
- Dark
- Exciting
- Bittersweet
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
The town that was once Perfect is trying to find a new normal — but the calm doesn't last. Objects start vanishing, then children begin to disappear, and suspicion falls on Violet's best friend, Boy. As the town turns on him, Violet refuses to believe he's guilty and sets out to find the real culprit, uncovering buried secrets from Perfect's past and confronting a gruesome, monstrous threat along the way. Helena Duggan's second Perfect adventure is noticeably darker than the first, leaning into creepy set-pieces and real jeopardy while keeping its short, page-turning chapters. At its centre is a sharp story about acceptance and scapegoating — how quickly a community can decide someone ‘different’ is to blame — and a friendship tested under real pressure. Creepy, fast and emotionally weightier than book one.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
Best for confident 9-12s who enjoyed book one; noticeably darker, with a gruesome monster and children in peril, so it suits readers who like a genuine scare rather than the most sensitive. Reads aloud well for the same age with an adult nearby.
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- Best fit · 9–12
- Read aloud · 9–11
- Independent · 9–12
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
None
Reluctant-reader friendly
Workable
Read-aloud quality
Workable
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: scary imagery, violence.
Bedtime suitability
1 / 5 · Wide awake
Sensitive-child
2 / 5 · Use judgement
Graphic intensity
3 / 5 · Some
Best for
- Creepy adventure
- Mystery fans
- Series continuation
- Wants a scare
Avoid if
- Wants gentle bedtime
- Frightened easily
- Disturbed by monsters
Particularly good for children who are…
- Being bullied
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The town that used to be Perfect turns on Violet's best friend, and only she believes he's innocent. Kids race with her to solve who's really taking people, brave a gruesome monster and stand up for a friend when everyone else has turned against him.
- Being a detective
- Surviving danger
- Secret world
- The underdog winning
- Friendship and belonging
Why parents love it
The sequel raises the stakes and the creep factor, but earns it with a real theme: how fast a community scapegoats someone ‘different’, and what loyalty costs. Fast, gripping chapters make it easy to keep reading, though it's a notch scarier than book one.
- Conversation starter
- Indie gem discovery
In the series
A Place Called Perfect.
3 books · open the series →
About the author
Helena Duggan.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
