Blog Tour: I Do Not Trust You by Laura J. Burns & Melinda Metz

Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review and for hosting this blog tour!

Title: I Do Not Trust You

Authors: Laura J. Burns & Melinda Metz

Pages: 320

Genre: YA Urban fantasy, mythology, action/adventure

Publication Date: September 11, 2018

Publisher: Wednesday Books

My rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Memphis “M” Engle 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 Sood is a little too posh for her tastes, a member of an ancient cult (which she’s pretty sure counts for more than one strike against him), and has just informed Memphis that her father who she thought was dead isn’t and needs her help.

From the catacombs of Paris to lost temples in the sacred forests, together they crisscross the globe, searching for the pieces of the one thing that might save her father. But the closer they come to saving him—and the more they fall for one another—the closer they get to destroying the world.

The Plot & Characters:

I Do Not Trust You completely surprised me in the best of ways. What I initially thought was going to be a YA thriller turned into a fast-paced urban fantasy with supernatural elements. I was loving the action, adventure, and non-stop globe-trotting. This book is seriously an archeology enthusiast’s dream, and would be perfect for fans of The Mummy, Indiana Jones, and the Robert Langdon novels (The Da Vinci Code, Inferno) by Dan Brown.

I Do Not Trust You follows Memphis (“M”), an 18 year-old student living in Boston with her new guardians. M’s father was tragically killed in an accident, and M is still coping with the aftermath of his death. M and her father had a very close relationship. As an archeologist, he and M traveled the world together ever since M could learn how to walk. She joined her father on several digs and expeditions, learning multiple languages and how to read ancient glyphs. M is basically a living and breathing encyclopedia who can tell you everything there is to know about world-wide mythology and cultures. She also knows a thing or two about self-defense.

Everything changes the day Ashwin (Ash) approaches M with some shocking news: Her father is still alive and he needs her help translating a map that could be the key to saving her dad (and, uh, the world.) Ash is part of a cult that worships Horus, the Egyptian god who seeks revenge on Set. But Ash is keeping several secrets of his own and he’s not willing to let M out of his sight.

M is obviously super sketched out by this but she wants nothing more than to get her father back. And so begins a whirl-wind journey of M and Ash traversing the globe to find ancient clues that could help them achieve their own goals (and possibly save the world from total destruction.)

My Thoughts:

Like I said, I was living for the world traveling. You get to read about so many different cultures and places! I won’t give away any of the locations since it would be a bit spoilery, but there were several times when I’d put the book down just so I could google and learn more about the different cities and gods mentioned. Every time M would start getting “in the zone” translating glyphs, my heart was like, “Yasss, girl!”

There are so many important and relevant themes I loved as well, such as family bonds (and found families), loyalty, trust, and science vs. religion. Both M and Ash have polar opposite viewpoints when it comes to faith, and I loved how they both learned and grew from each other’s experiences. I was also loving the Egyptian mythology, and how so many other cultures in the world have similar mythos that intertwine with others.

Overall I Do Not Trust You is a solid YA read with lots of action and a budding romance. I wish there was a bit more in-depth information about each location they visited, because at times I felt things got a little too fast-paced. I also feel the need to mention that there was one line by Ash that bothered me, where he talks about some negative stereotypes about a certain country. But I love that this book is a standalone and everything was wrapped up nicely without a crazy cliffhanger. And I’d be totally for reading a sequel if the authors ever decide to explore this world again!

xx,

Amy