Being young is all about the experiences: the first time you skip school, the first time you fall in love…the first time someone holds a gun to your head. After being held hostage during a robbery at the local convenience store, seventeen-year-old Edie finds her attitude about life shattered. Unwilling to put up with the snobbery and bullying at her private school, she enrolls at the local public high school, crossing paths with John. The boy who risked his life to save hers. While Edie’s beginning to run wild, however, John’s just starting to settle down. After years of partying and dealing drugs with his older brother, he’s going straight—getting to class on time, and thinking about the future. An unlikely bond grows between the two as John keeps Edie out of trouble and helps her broaden her horizons. But when he helps her out with another first—losing her virginity—their friendship gets complicated. Meanwhile, Edie and John are pulled back into the dangerous world they narrowly escaped. They were lucky to survive the first time, but this time they have more to lose—each other.
So, as it turns out, I think I've somehow read nearly every book by Kylie Scott. I had not realized this until I went to Goodreads after finishing Trust. I admit, this isn't the best forecast for a review, if many of the author's other works did not necessarily stand out. I'd read her Lick series, which is a rock star romance series, as well as at least the first in the Flesh series, about a trio after a zombie apocalypse.
Trust is a standalone novel, somewhere on the cusp of young adult and new adult (Edie and all her friends are in high school, but the language and sex scenes are pretty graphic). It starts with a robbery gone bad that leaves Edie both traumatized and full of rage. It becomes the story of friendships, of two damaged people getting close, of realizing life could be short so you shouldn't live in fear.
Edie is pretty great. She's fierce, she doesn't take anyone's crap. She's a good friend, and she stays away from slut-shaming or mean-girling. She's also fat, and while she sometimes feels anxiety about her body, her trying to lose weight is not a focus of this story. The story is about her growth as a human and becoming well after everything she went through.
The novel starts out in a very dark place, and Edie and John struggle a lot. Despite that, their romance is a very sweet thing, and I loved watching their relationship bloom.
With all of its positives, I've still struggled to figure out what to rate this book. Beyond the suspenseful opening, I found the beginning of the novel kind of slow, and the end is almost too dramatic. I also wish that Edie's we-only-live-once-so-let's-do-exciting-things had been a little better integrated into the story, a little more exciting.
Should you read it? Despite its issues at the beginning (and the end), I blazed through Trust. When I had to put it down, I couldn't wait to get back to it to see how all turned out. It's angsty, hopeful, sweet, and also pretty hot.
4 Stars
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
Published July 18th, 2017
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