#3 Trust Me

The deadly truth...
"It was Anthony who helped me understand what I can do - who showed me that I wasn't crazy. I was only trying to thank him, to help him find what he's been searching for his entire life. But he thinks I've betrayed him. He doesn't understand that the answers I found aren't what either one of us expected - and the truth could hurt me as mush as it hurts him."

Brief Synopsis
Rae has tracked down Anthony's father in the hopes of thanking him for everything he has done. However, much to everyone's dismay, Anthony's father is a murderer in jail. This revelation causes Rae to confess to Anthony that her mother murdered Erika Keaton.

Quotes
- [Rae] should go live in a cave somewhere, survive on berries and nuts. Except that her new little friends, the bunnies and the bluebird and the cute baby deer, they'd start disappearing. Pipe bombs would show up in the tree and-- (pg. 5)

- Whose idea was it to put a ridge down the middle of the chair? It was supposed to fit your butt, but it wasn't like there was one uniform butt size. (pg. 44)

- Rae's stomach started doing oragami when the bus pulled up at the Scott State stop. (pg. 80)

- Anger Management 101--Punching stuff is not the answer to any problem. And it messed up your hand. (pg. 108)

Have a favorite quote from this book? Email me and I'll add it.

Review
Remember! Reading this threatens serious spoiler content. Also, please be prepared: these reviews were written when I was in high school and, as such, read like a high schooler's ramblings. I intend on keeping the reviews as they are, as the opinions of a teenager are probably more relevant to this series than my older perspective.

I liked how Metz opened this book with a little teaser similar to Haunted. With the possible kidnapping of Zack, Metz makes it clear how this "killer" after Rae has really distorted their views on life. It is all consuming, which makes some of the developments easier to understand and believe--like why Rae feels she needs to find Anthony's father.

Trust me does a good job of tying together the feelings of confliction that both Rae and Anthony feel about their parents. I think Rae's character is a little too static--she doesn't change enough. And seeing as she is the main character of the series that is a little frustrating. I think maybe Rae is a little too perfect. She is the epitome of good.

Anthony's character also suffers a little from poor writing, but I think Metz does the best job with his characterization. His thoughts about joining the Sanderson football team are excellent and very realistic. I also think his reaction to finding out about his father is very real. His avoidance and self doubt it great. Finally, we also see a glimpse of Anthony's darker side. He falls back into smoking pot and he agrees to try and rob a house. Up until now, Anthony was written as a very good guy who didn't seem capable of being in need of group therapy. In Trust Me, it is easy to see Anthony as a more troubled kid--what with his home situation and his semi-congenial relationships with people like McGee and Nunan.

I liked the development of Marcus and Rae. Marcus' attempts at getting back together with Rae are well portrayed.

Yana's character is hard to judge. Her feelings are a little hard to decipher. She seems to be cold and harsh to Rae, but Rae still continues to be her friend. That isn't surprising, considering Rae has no friends after her little mental breakdown. Now she has to make do with druggees like Anthony and odd tempered girls like Yana. I do like the vulnerability that Yana reveals when she tells Rae about the garden and making dinner. It's sweet, but it's also a little too convenient. I suppose her characterization makes more sense once the series is finished and her real motives are revealed, but to the patient reader, she seems to be a very off character indeed.

I think the swimming lessons for Rae was a sweet idea. It helped build the relationship between Rae and Anthony, but I am disappointed that it does not come up again in later books with any strong relevance. It is almost as if Metz is foreshadowing how Rae will one day find herself in a swimming mishap (precipitated by her "killer") and Anthony will have indirectly saved her. Metz had this potential to use her characterization for plot development as well, but she didn't take the bait. She seems to do that quite often in this series.

The plot itself was a little mediocre. It's hard to believe that Rae had so much luck in tracking down Anthony's dad. If Anthony really wanted to find him as bad as he did, he could have done exactly what Rae did years ago. So, right from the start, the reader wonders why Anthony never took that initiative. Perhaps if Rae had to do a lot more undercover work to figure out where Tony ended up, it would have been more believable.

While I did like the idea of Anthony agreeing to break into a house, I was a little disappointed in how that situation played out. I thought the way they solved that problem was too little action to really pack a punch.

While I think the plot could have been a little more developed, I liked how the book came together at the end. Metz gave us enough closure with Rae and Anthony and their murderous parents, but she gave us enough mystery to keep us reading more.

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