Trust by Kylie Scott

Title: Trust
Author: Kylie Scott
Date of Publication: 18th July 2017
Source: Review copy

Summary:

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.

Review:

Kylie Scott is known for her hot adult romances, and Trust marks her first foray into the YA market. I read and really enjoyed her Stage Dive series, in which she creates characters who are warm and funny, and others who are damaged and in need of love, but what they all have in common is that they are real. Trust is no different in that regard.

The initial incident that brings Edie and John to each others attention is a robbery at a convenience store. It's gritty, realistic and horrifying. I was instantly hooked. No longer willing to put up with stares and bullying at her private school, Edie transfers to the local state school. Her mother isn't happy about it, nor is her controlling grandmother, but it's what she needs to do, and so she makes it happen.

On the first day of school she's confronted with memories of the robbery, and the reality of John being at the school. At first the two regard each other with a certain level of aloofness, but it becomes clear that as the only ones who can understand what they went through that night, they share a bond.

Things I particularly loved:

Body positivity - Edie describes herself as a bigger girl, and while she's self conscious at times, there's never any sense that she needs to lose weight to be attractive or to be loved. Those who do fat shame her are called out on it. 

Sex positive - Having come close to death, Edie wants to do things she's never done before, which includes having sex. There is no judgment (apart from who she might choose to do that with), no slut shaming of anyone in the book. There's also an acknowledgement of the fact that just because you've done it once, doesn't mean you have to do it again if you're not ready for it, or just don't feel like it. Also, the sex isn't idealised. It's awkward and messy and uncomfortable, just like in real life.

The violent opening and sexual content mean this is a book for more mature teen readers, but it's definitely a welcome addition to the YA romance genre. Once I started reading, I could not put it down, and when it ended, I wanted more.