Oh Kylie Scott... the things you do to my heart...
Trust, by Kylie Scott
Publish Date: July 18, 2017
Publisher: self-published
Format: ARC, provided by the author and Inkslinger PR
Genre: young adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Rating: 4.5 STARS
(Synopsis) 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.
The fact that Trust is Kylie Scott's turn at YA contemporary shouldn't discourage you in any way from reading it, especially if you're a fan of her new adult and adult works. Because all the elements that make her books the amazing reads that they are are present - the characters just happen to be teenagers in high school. There's humor and snark and depth and a lot of emotion packed into this powerful story.
At its core, Trust is a pretty heavy book. The first two chapters will make you gnaw off all your fingernails. After the convenience store that she is shopping in is held up and she is taken hostage, high school senior Edie comes away a changed girl. Likewise, the boy who was also in the store with her, John, can point to this event as a game changer in his life.
The most interesting thing about Trust is exactly HOW each of these kids' lives were changed by this traumatic event. While Edie was always the quiet good girl, her new lease on life has given her a YOLO outlook, and she starts to run wild. John has a reputation as his school's resident hot bad boy, and after the hold up, he starts to reevaluate the direction in which his life is going and makes steps to get back on the right path.
As Edie and John deal with the aftermath of the hold up in their own ways, they are also drawn to one another because there's no one else who can understand what they went through better. At first, they are friends - they text when they have nightmares and need to talk, they study together and they give each other rides when needed. But, eventually their feelings for each other change.
I love that Kylie Scott made Edie an atypical heroine. She was quiet, overweight and marched to the beat of her own drum. Although under normal circumstances, one would think that a hottie like John wouldn't normally be drawn to a girl like Edie, I think their shared traumatic experience allowed them both to cut through any preconceived notions and societal bullshit so that they could see each other's hearts. And that's what they fell in love with.
Trust is most definitely in the "mature YA" category. It has its share of bad language and yes, Edie loses her virginity to John, and their times together are not exactly fade-to-black moments. But, honestly, I think this was a pretty realistic look at life as an 18-year-old senior in high school. There's f-bombs and bad language and sex with your boyfriend and mean girls. And Kylie captured all this perfectly and wrapped it up in a story about how one pivotal event can change the course of your life.
“You were going to give it up to Duncan Dickerson?” he sneered. “Are you serious?”
I halted, staring at him. This was not good. “How do you know about that?”
“Anders overheard you and Hang talking.”
“Bastard.”
“Well?” he demanded, acting all authoritarian. Idiot.
“To be fair, I didn’t know his last name was Dickerson,” I said. “That’s unfortunate. Though, I wasn’t actually planning on marrying him, so . . .”
“Not funny.”
I shrugged.
“You barely know the guy.”
“Um, yeah. None of your concern. We’re not talking about this.” How mortifying! My face burned bright. People should just gather around and cook s’mores. “I appreciate that we’re friends. You mean a lot to me. But this is going to have to fall under definitely none of your damn business, so go away please.”
“We’re talking about it.” He advanced a step.
“No we are not.” And I retreated.
“You were going to let a complete stranger touch you.” Advance.
Retreat. “People do it all the time. You do it all the time.”
“But you don’t,” he said, taking the final step, backing me up against the side of his car and getting all in my face. “Edie, this is your first time we’re talking about. Isn’t it?”
“Yes, and it’s going to be messy and painful and probably horribly embarrassing and I just want it over and done with.” I tried to meet his eyes but failed, settling for a spot on his right shoulder. “You’re not a girl; you wouldn’t understand. Also, last time I checked, you’re not the gatekeeper of my hymen, John Cole. So back the fuck off.”
He said nothing.
Deep, calming breaths. “Look, someday I’ll meet someone I really like and we’ll have a deep and meaningful relationship and go at it like bunnies. But I don’t want to be the dumb virgin in that scenario.”
He slowly shook his head.
“Also, I do not want to die a virgin.”
“What? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Hey, you and I both know death can occur at any time.”
“This is crazy.”
“I’m seeing a therapist!” I told his shoulder. “I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m a little bit messed up these days. It’s hard for me to trust people. That’s not going to change anytime soon.”
He screwed up his face at me. “Wha—”
“I’m just trying to be practical.”
“Well, you’re being ridiculous. None of this makes sense.”
“It does to me.”
Again, he said nothing.
In fact, he said nothing for so long that I finally looked him in the eye. The anger had left him, replaced by an emotion I didn’t recognize. Worst of all, he still smelled like summer. A little sweat and the open night air, everything I loved. Liked. I meant liked.
“What?” I said, finally.
He let loose a breath. “I’ll do it."
Links:
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GOODREADS: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6476625.Kylie_Scott
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