I Do Not Trust You

by Laura J Burns and Melinda Metz

Memphis 'M' Engel is stubborn to a fault, graced with an almost absurd knowledge of long lost languages and cultures, and a heck of an opponent in a fight. In short: she's awesome.

Ashwin “Ash” Sood is a little too posh for M's tastes, a little too good looking, and has way too many secrets. He desperately wants the ancient map M inherited from her archeologist father, believing it will lead him to a relic with the power to destroy the world. M obviously can't trust him.

Equally desperate to find the relic for reasons of her own, M forms an uneasy partnership with Ash. From the catacombs of Paris, to a sacred forest in Norway, to the ruins of a submerged temple in Egypt, together they crisscross the globe in their search. But through it all, M can never be sure: Is she traveling with a friend or enemy?

With Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz's signature plot twists, and uneasy, ever-changing alliances, I Do Not Trust You is a thrilling journey at every turn that asks - what would you do to save the ones you love?

• ISBN10: 1250052300
• ISBN13: 9781250052308
• Publish Date: 1 October 2018 (first published 11 September 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 10 July 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

My Rating: 4.5 stars

I Do Not Trust You was a book I knew I had to read as soon as I read the summary. A teenage girl who has a lot of knowledge about history and artifacts, and is now traveling the world following a map that hardly anyone knows how to translate. Sign me up because that sounds a lot like Indian Jones who I love. Plus I have been waiting a very long time for a female version of him.

See reviews first on my Blog

In I Do Not Trust You we get to see things from both M's point of view and Ash's point of view.



Memphis who goes by 'M' is a character I really liked. She is feisty and knows how to hold her own in multiple ways of life, while also being extremely unsure about other things. She has recently become an orphan and because of that is now feeling rather isolated because of who she is now living with. She cannot wait until she is done with high school and can move away to college where she will be with people who knew her parents better.



Ashwin who goes by 'Ash' is a character I was really unsure of at first. I really felt like M does for most of the book and even towards the end, I didn't fully trust him. I did find him fascinating though, and I loved his parts of the story. I think having his point of view really does help make it easier to understand what is happening and how these things are happening. He is in a cult so that added a different element to the story, and was fascinating to me to learn about.



We do get to see a lot of different places from the rainforest, to bigger cities like New Orleans, a convent and so many more places. We get to see Ash and M follow the secret map as the look for pieces of an 'ancient mythical being'. Throughout this journey, we get to learn more about both of their childhoods and what has given them the abilities to interpret the map and the hieroglyphics.

This was the part I really liked learning about Ash as he has had very specific training in the past few years through his cult which was really rather intense and a bit much at times like all cults are. While with M she grew up around it because of her parents so she has a lot of connections, but also had a storyline we are more used to seeing (Indiana Jones).



Overall I really liked this book. The history and adventure part of it were great. Seeing all the different places and how they were able to decipher the hieroglyphics they found in all the places was truly an adventure. From the two different cult's we get to see and learn about, to the little side stories of both the characters I couldn't get enough honestly. I truly enjoyed this book so much and I really hope we get to continue on with these characters!


P.S. I would love to see this get made into a movie or web series or something like that. It would be a great way for so many people to learn things about different cultures.

[chymerra]

I Do Not Trust You reminded me of National Treasure. You know, the movie with Nicolas Cage where he goes on a treasure hunt to find a treasure hidden hundred of years ago. All the clues were on national monuments and he had to get creative in getting them. It also reminded me of the Indiana Jones movies. Mainly when Ash and M were trying to get to the clues. But this book fell short for me. As much as I enjoyed reading about Ash and M’s antics around the world, it got repetitive towards the end. The plotline seemed like it was going in circles. I wasn’t engaged. The end of the book did pull me back in because of what happened. If it wasn’t for that battle scene, the book would have been a wash.

I liked M but couldn’t connect with her. I couldn’t wrap my head around a teenager who was an expert in long-lost languages and ancient cultures. She also acted so much older than what she was. If I didn’t know that she was underage, I would have pegged her for at least 20-21. I did like her moves with the bo staff. It came in handy keeping away unwanted advances from boys and taking enemies out. I also liked how she took Ash under her wing.

I felt awful for Ash. It looked like he went from one abusive situation to another. There was a twist with him that surprised me. Not only with what he could do but what was done to him. I wanted to smack the heck out of his parents for the years of abuse that they put him through. The things that they said and did to him were awful. All because of what he was. On the other hand, I didn’t think that Patrick from the Eye was any better. Yes, he rescued Ash but he also kept him under strict surveillance. I liked how he got himself back towards the end of the book. He deserved it.

Like I mentioned above, I Do Not Trust You reminded me of a hybrid National Treasure/Indiana Jones. Since I liked both of those movies, I figured would like this book. And I did for the first half of the book. But the second half of the book got repetitive and the plotline lagged. It seemed like it was going in circles and I couldn’t keep my interest in the book.

There is no romance in I Do Not Trust You. Which was amazing and one of the things I liked about the book. I like romance, a lot, but there are certain books where romance shouldn’t be touched. I Do Not Trust you is one of those books. M and Ash’s relationship was a friendship. Loved it!!

The locations where the clues were located were amazing. The one that freaked me out was the Paris Catacombs. I have read about that place and it is creepy. To have M and Ash actually go through them, chilling.

The secondary characters were kind of eh in I Do Not Trust You. Honestly, the only one that I liked was Mike. I was as surprised as Ash when they went to Thailand to see Mike. My reaction was laughter and I thought to myself “I should have known!!”

The end of I Do Not Trust You was amazing. It made up for the rest of the book. I also liked how the author left it open for another book.

What I Liked about I Do Not Trust You:

A) Ash and M’s friendship

B) Interesting start of the book

C) Locations where the book was set

What I disliked about I Do Not Trust You:

A) The book was repetitive in the second half of the book

B) Plotline lagged

C) Plotline seemed like it was going in circles

I gave I Do Not Trust You a 3-star rating. This book was fantastic in the first half of the book. It had an interesting start and the locations caught my interest. Then the plotline both lagged and started going in circles in the second half of the book. It failed to hold my interest. Now saying that the end of the book was able to grab and keep my attention.

I would give I Do Not Trust You an Older Teen rating. There is no sex (or kissing). There is mild violence. There is mild language. I would not recommend anyone under the age of 16 read this book.

I am on the fence about rereading I Do Not Trust You. I am also on the fence about recommending this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review I Do Not Trust You.

All opinions stated in this review of I Do Not Trust You are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

[Charli G.]

When I was asked to review I Do Not Trust You, I was a bit on the skeptical side. I've been having some issues with books that have multiple authors lately - for some reason I just can't seem to get into them or if I do get into them, I can't seem to stay interested in them. But this one? This one was awesome!


Laura J. Burns & Melinda Metz have teamed up before - in fact, one of their previous novels, Sanctuary Bay, is in my TBR pile at this very moment, and might very well be my next read. That alone should have told me that this book would be a winner - because author teams generally don't end up writing more books together unless the previous ones are great.


I love the characters - Memphis (M) and Ashwin (Ash) at least. I'm rather fond of Mike as well and let me tell you, I was as surprised as Ash was when we finally got to meet Mike in person. I definitely wasn't expecting that! The other characters, such as Phillip, Bob, and Liza definitely aren't my favorites but then again, they're not meant to be the readers' favorite characters. They're obnoxious and downright evil in some cases.


I loved the use of the Egyptian mythology as honestly, I love Egyptian mythology - the book actually made me want to brush up on it because it's been a while since I've been able to read up on any of it. I Do Not Trust You is action packed even if it doesn't seem like it would be - believe me, it is. It's difficult to put down once you start reading and frankly, I had to force myself to put it down to do things like eat, sleep, and housework. As for the ending - you will be so amazed!!


This book was so well written and so well edited that I have to give it 5 stars. It's a great book - funny at times, heart-pounding at times, and just absolutely awesome. You won't regret reading this one.