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Trust Me
When Heather goes on holiday with Andrew she gets more than she bargained for. Not only does he dump her, but when she meets up with him his excuse is that he was coming to terms with being a vampire! Heather does love him, and now he wants them to be together forever. Only he really means forever.
212 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1994
12 people are currently reading
238 people want to read
About the author
Malorie Blackman
156 books4,523 followersAn award-winning children's author, Malorie Blackman was honoured with an OBE in 2008. Her work has been adapted for TV and stage.
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More information available at:
Myspace
British Council: Contemporary Authors
British Council: Encompass Culture
Channel 4 Learning: Book Box
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 4, 2019
I ended up really liking this young adult foray into vampire fiction from the always reliable Malorie Blackman.
The book starts with some teenage melodrama, when 17 year old protagonist Jayna tries to convince her mother that she's mature enough to go away on a backpacking holiday with her boyfriend. This section is not as painful as it sounds and introduces us quickly to Jayna's relationship with her family and with her boyfriend and the racism they faced.
Once on holiday the vampire plot kicks off in earnest and we see some decent character development from Jayna. I have to say the book did surprise me in places and it wasn't the predictable novel I expected. I even enjoyed the abrupt ending.
So in summary, Malorie Blackman does vampires with great success!
The book starts with some teenage melodrama, when 17 year old protagonist Jayna tries to convince her mother that she's mature enough to go away on a backpacking holiday with her boyfriend. This section is not as painful as it sounds and introduces us quickly to Jayna's relationship with her family and with her boyfriend and the racism they faced.
Once on holiday the vampire plot kicks off in earnest and we see some decent character development from Jayna. I have to say the book did surprise me in places and it wasn't the predictable novel I expected. I even enjoyed the abrupt ending.
So in summary, Malorie Blackman does vampires with great success!
August 30, 2016
B is for BLACKMAN! (as part of the a-z book challenge)
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THIS BOOK? I mean, how the hell did this thing get published? Then again, it was published in the 90s, so I guess standards were lower...
Not that today's YA authors are giving readers value for money.
From a fairly enjoyable teen-themed "no-one-understands-me" beginning, Trust Me degenerated into a cliched and below-average read, which slowly sapped any interest or sympathy I'd developed for the love interests: Jayna and Andrew.
Jayna came across as an naive, whiny, stubborn girl, who felt like her mother was being too hard on her, stifling her ability to grow-up. Unusually, Jayna is a black heroine and her boyfriend Andrew is a white dude, so this provided some interest as I was interested to see how Blackman portrayed an interracial relationship. At the beginning, she succeeded in sketching out reasonably realistic portrayals of both teens. They both have difficulties with their families, who they regard as being prejudiced towards their relationship. This was the most interesting part of the story because, instead of trying to gloss over racism and class division, Blackman made some effort to address these issues, however, it only scratched the surface, which was frustrating. I think if she'd focussed more on these themes, instead of turning it into a silly generic "Vampires for Dummies" fantasy, Trust Me would have worked better. Ah well. Missed opportunity.
Andrew's staunchly middle-class parents, the Harrisons, are against his match and are unsupportive of Jayna. His older brother Morgan is a nasty piece of work; he's a racist bigot, who seems to have no limits, and ends up revealing his true cowardly colours later on, but at least, his characterisation is consistent.
Andrew, on the other hand, fares worse than his brother. When Morgan insults his girlfriend, he just puts up with it, he abuses her confidence in him by sharing her worries with his family, his narcissism outrides any capacity for him to make reasonable decisions, his opportunistic when he decides to swoop in on Jayna when she got stood up on a date etc.
This boy would be a nightmare as a boyfriend, let alone a suitable partner to face eternity with, as Jayna's predicament is.
Jayna, herself, is ridiculously stupid and dopey. She definitely isn't the sharpest tack in the box. Her first-person narration didn't exactly make me warm to her, instead of making me relate with her juvenile behaviour and concerns, it made me want to bash her head in.
As for the "sustained plotting", that Blackman is known for, it didn't materialise. Her books don't anything of excitement in them. They're more like sub-par soap scripts.
This was slightly better than Noughts & Crosses, however I'll be avoiding Blackman's books in future. She shows little talent and her awful humour makes me cringe...
You can read the rest of my reviews on my blog: http://theangrybookworm.wordpress.com
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THIS BOOK? I mean, how the hell did this thing get published? Then again, it was published in the 90s, so I guess standards were lower...
Not that today's YA authors are giving readers value for money.
From a fairly enjoyable teen-themed "no-one-understands-me" beginning, Trust Me degenerated into a cliched and below-average read, which slowly sapped any interest or sympathy I'd developed for the love interests: Jayna and Andrew.
Jayna came across as an naive, whiny, stubborn girl, who felt like her mother was being too hard on her, stifling her ability to grow-up. Unusually, Jayna is a black heroine and her boyfriend Andrew is a white dude, so this provided some interest as I was interested to see how Blackman portrayed an interracial relationship. At the beginning, she succeeded in sketching out reasonably realistic portrayals of both teens. They both have difficulties with their families, who they regard as being prejudiced towards their relationship. This was the most interesting part of the story because, instead of trying to gloss over racism and class division, Blackman made some effort to address these issues, however, it only scratched the surface, which was frustrating. I think if she'd focussed more on these themes, instead of turning it into a silly generic "Vampires for Dummies" fantasy, Trust Me would have worked better. Ah well. Missed opportunity.
Andrew's staunchly middle-class parents, the Harrisons, are against his match and are unsupportive of Jayna. His older brother Morgan is a nasty piece of work; he's a racist bigot, who seems to have no limits, and ends up revealing his true cowardly colours later on, but at least, his characterisation is consistent.
Andrew, on the other hand, fares worse than his brother. When Morgan insults his girlfriend, he just puts up with it, he abuses her confidence in him by sharing her worries with his family, his narcissism outrides any capacity for him to make reasonable decisions, his opportunistic when he decides to swoop in on Jayna when she got stood up on a date etc.
This boy would be a nightmare as a boyfriend, let alone a suitable partner to face eternity with, as Jayna's predicament is.
Jayna, herself, is ridiculously stupid and dopey. She definitely isn't the sharpest tack in the box. Her first-person narration didn't exactly make me warm to her, instead of making me relate with her juvenile behaviour and concerns, it made me want to bash her head in.
As for the "sustained plotting", that Blackman is known for, it didn't materialise. Her books don't anything of excitement in them. They're more like sub-par soap scripts.
This was slightly better than Noughts & Crosses, however I'll be avoiding Blackman's books in future. She shows little talent and her awful humour makes me cringe...
You can read the rest of my reviews on my blog: http://theangrybookworm.wordpress.com
April 1, 2011
This must be said before I go on to the review: THIS ISN'T TWILIGHT! In fact, I believe Trust Me was published several years before that waste of trees.
July 13, 2019
First of her name is jayna not heather. And my first impressions of the book is that Jayna is a brat, mothers know best and she is way too young to be going on holiday with her boyfriend. This is not how Malorie Blackman writes, where is the sophistication. Andrew is also very immature. Page 190 annoyed me to no end "living with my boyfriend. I was only seventeen for goodness sake. Far too young to feel this old." YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED, WALK BEFORE YOU RUN. And I also hated how Andrew was acting like he was some sort of vampiric guru.
I thought jayna's dad was gonna turn out to be a vampire tbh. I also wish malaria Blackman made them go to a vampire nightclub again and Andrew cheats on jayna. I shipped her and Pete. Page 224 - they have only been together for a couple of months and saying they love each other smh. I hTe relationships like that where they say I love you offhand. Page 157 "in a little while you will be immortal" but before he was saying they need to eat or they will die, make up yer mind, bloody hell.
I thought jayna's dad was gonna turn out to be a vampire tbh. I also wish malaria Blackman made them go to a vampire nightclub again and Andrew cheats on jayna. I shipped her and Pete. Page 224 - they have only been together for a couple of months and saying they love each other smh. I hTe relationships like that where they say I love you offhand. Page 157 "in a little while you will be immortal" but before he was saying they need to eat or they will die, make up yer mind, bloody hell.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2019
This book is horror/relationship it was a good book it was both sad and scary at different points when heather goes on holiday with Andrew she gets more that she barged for now he quite literally wants them to be together forever!
January 4, 2024
Is there a way to give it negative stars? I have never hated a story so much. I wish I could burn this book from existence.
"BuT i LoVe HiM 🥰🥰🥰❗💯" ugh girl shut up.
It's as if someone with a vampire kink AND mummy issues wrote this story.
"BuT i LoVe HiM 🥰🥰🥰❗💯" ugh girl shut up.
It's as if someone with a vampire kink AND mummy issues wrote this story.
August 3, 2018
Such a plot twist I'm extremely shook
November 19, 2018
3.5 stars
This was a fun albit stereotypical take on teen vampires.
This was a fun albit stereotypical take on teen vampires.
November 27, 2023
This one is getting 2 stars for the sheer audacity that it was ever published. I mean it's truly dreadful. The characters are awful. The writing is awful (and noughts and crosses is one of my favourites I KNOW this woman can write) the story is bloody awful 🤣
Did I enjoy it? Yes.
Am I questioning everything about myself now? Also yes
Did I enjoy it? Yes.
Am I questioning everything about myself now? Also yes
December 31, 2021
Definitely would of given this book a 5 stars, but the ending made me cry, no spoilers here, but it’s a really good vampire book, it’s nothing like twilight, it’s not cringy, it’s very readable, I felt empathy for the characters and where able to read it all in 7 hours.
June 22, 2022
I enjoyed it, and was a really quick read.
December 20, 2023
such a good book and really interesting loved the plot twist and it took a dark turn i loved it
January 3, 2024
It was an okay story, the main character was amicable but the rest of the characters were very annoying. But, the plot was relatively good - it got better as the book went on.
July 18, 2013
Something in this bakes inside you what happens next? It seems like a normal romance at an initial stage however , the story turns a different mode after vacation of Janya and Abdrew, protagonist of this novel.
Andrew loves Janya. Pete missed a date with Janya and tells his friend Andrew to let her know. If I had been , I would have gone for the date, so did Andrew. He twisted story and he finds her for his life. There were problem on parents if either one regarding Janya and Andrew's relationship.
As every year, Janya had to go family vacation. She wanted to go with her family but she preferred to go with her boyfriend, Andrew. Regardless of their parents to disrupt their vacation , they were successful to take their journey of love.
Janya and Andrew had blessed holidays intense with love, care, romance, intimacy and so so.. Janya made her first contact happiest ever. They were travelling as per schedule.
As they were travelling, they made a slight change of plan. That was the beginning to change their life. They went to party as requested by stranger......... In party .... After Party.....
......
At hotel after party.... Andrew began to act weird.... They were asleep at the hotel but early in the morning Janya finds a letter written by Andrew that he's gone home to London. Cold rush of blood , fear, disappointment , astonishment .. for her blend with anger for Andrew. She reaches London at her home where she kept her stuffs and letter. Then she head on to Andrew's home in order to confront about his dismissal from the hotel room. He was going crazy. It wasn't possible fir her to calm down unless there is an appropriate explanation from Andrew.
On contrary, Mrs. Harrison , Andrew's mother behaves her as murderer if his son. Janya was burning if agony and Andrew's mother help it with petrol flame. That was just the beginning.
......
.....
.....
This is how this story was very impulsive and Malorie played the characters in a splendid manner with all those details...
Andrew loves Janya. Pete missed a date with Janya and tells his friend Andrew to let her know. If I had been , I would have gone for the date, so did Andrew. He twisted story and he finds her for his life. There were problem on parents if either one regarding Janya and Andrew's relationship.
As every year, Janya had to go family vacation. She wanted to go with her family but she preferred to go with her boyfriend, Andrew. Regardless of their parents to disrupt their vacation , they were successful to take their journey of love.
Janya and Andrew had blessed holidays intense with love, care, romance, intimacy and so so.. Janya made her first contact happiest ever. They were travelling as per schedule.
As they were travelling, they made a slight change of plan. That was the beginning to change their life. They went to party as requested by stranger......... In party .... After Party.....
......
At hotel after party.... Andrew began to act weird.... They were asleep at the hotel but early in the morning Janya finds a letter written by Andrew that he's gone home to London. Cold rush of blood , fear, disappointment , astonishment .. for her blend with anger for Andrew. She reaches London at her home where she kept her stuffs and letter. Then she head on to Andrew's home in order to confront about his dismissal from the hotel room. He was going crazy. It wasn't possible fir her to calm down unless there is an appropriate explanation from Andrew.
On contrary, Mrs. Harrison , Andrew's mother behaves her as murderer if his son. Janya was burning if agony and Andrew's mother help it with petrol flame. That was just the beginning.
......
.....
.....
This is how this story was very impulsive and Malorie played the characters in a splendid manner with all those details...
August 17, 2015
The author tries to portray two teenagers who are madly in love and would do anything to be together, forever. Like turn the other into a vampire. However, there was a lack of chemistry and evidence of such love.
It all seemed a little bit rushed to be honest, especially the ending. The book started off okay but I found the lack of trusting from Andrew to Jayna when he suddenly decided to side with his evil brother Morgan and believe Jayna tried to murder his mother was so far fetched. I mean yeah you would be angry and confused, but Andrew didn't even allow Jayna to explain what really happened. And then suddenly he was trying to kill her, not exactly true love is it. And the irony is that the book is called 'Trust Me'. Andrew says "trust me" repeatedly when turning Jayna into a vampire yet suddenly can't return the favour. Oh and then when Jayna finally kills Andrew (with only one silver bullet may I add), he then proclaimed his love for her again before he dies. Yawn.
Blurgh. The whole thing is just so unrealistic and a poor attempt at a young adult paranormal romance which lacks any depth to the characters. This annoys me as I really wanted to like it since it's by a British author and set in the UK which is refreshing and makes a nice change but still. Maybe if I was 14 again I'd give his a higher rating but to be honest, I found the characters so annoying and immature considering they are meant to be 17 and 18 yet have the mental capacity of 14 year olds. My one praise for this book is that it tried to tackle the issue of multi racial relationships and the stereotypes of the black community. Besides this, I would not recommend putting this on your reading list unless you are seriously bored or have nothing else to read.
It all seemed a little bit rushed to be honest, especially the ending. The book started off okay but I found the lack of trusting from Andrew to Jayna when he suddenly decided to side with his evil brother Morgan and believe Jayna tried to murder his mother was so far fetched. I mean yeah you would be angry and confused, but Andrew didn't even allow Jayna to explain what really happened. And then suddenly he was trying to kill her, not exactly true love is it. And the irony is that the book is called 'Trust Me'. Andrew says "trust me" repeatedly when turning Jayna into a vampire yet suddenly can't return the favour. Oh and then when Jayna finally kills Andrew (with only one silver bullet may I add), he then proclaimed his love for her again before he dies. Yawn.
Blurgh. The whole thing is just so unrealistic and a poor attempt at a young adult paranormal romance which lacks any depth to the characters. This annoys me as I really wanted to like it since it's by a British author and set in the UK which is refreshing and makes a nice change but still. Maybe if I was 14 again I'd give his a higher rating but to be honest, I found the characters so annoying and immature considering they are meant to be 17 and 18 yet have the mental capacity of 14 year olds. My one praise for this book is that it tried to tackle the issue of multi racial relationships and the stereotypes of the black community. Besides this, I would not recommend putting this on your reading list unless you are seriously bored or have nothing else to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2013
I reviewed this on my blog as part of Malorie Blackman month- during March 2013 reviews are of books by her- click here for them all- you can see the GIF's that aren't included in the review there!
I know it's a good book when I don't find that chapters are a veil hanging over... When I'm riveted by the very essence of the world and the characters even if most are extremely unlikable! This may be a world where there are another type of Vegetarians* but for once I found myself actually realizing how morally correct that is.
Jayna is completely radiant in her flaws and she makes this book seem a lot more genuine. Trust me is clever as it really helped me to believe in Jayna about as much as you believe in yourself- its as if I can her mental state and not my own. She had a few antagonists and I won't lie, they were VERY censure and I have the urge to give them that 'tude right back!
This book may pluck out your heart strings and only give them back when you've read the last page. Read this very recommended book.
*see blog
I know it's a good book when I don't find that chapters are a veil hanging over... When I'm riveted by the very essence of the world and the characters even if most are extremely unlikable! This may be a world where there are another type of Vegetarians* but for once I found myself actually realizing how morally correct that is.
Jayna is completely radiant in her flaws and she makes this book seem a lot more genuine. Trust me is clever as it really helped me to believe in Jayna about as much as you believe in yourself- its as if I can her mental state and not my own. She had a few antagonists and I won't lie, they were VERY censure and I have the urge to give them that 'tude right back!
This book may pluck out your heart strings and only give them back when you've read the last page. Read this very recommended book.
*see blog
May 14, 2009
After reading Twilight I wanted to read more books about Vampires, and as my favourite books are the Noughts and Crosses series (READ THEM!), you can understand my excitement when I saw that Malorie Blackman wrote a book about Vampires. I went to my library the next day and got them to order it in, and read it in a day because I just couldn't put it down.
What I'm going to say is going to make me sound sadistic but I promise you I'm not, when I go on to explain you'll see I'm not. One of the things I love about Malorie Blackman's writing is that she never tries to write a happy ending if it's unrealistic, she'll write an ending that fits the story even if it's REALLY sad. She did it with Noughts and Crosses and she did it with this one.
This book is definitely worth reading, and I hate that it's out of print, however, it's still avalible in libraries so go read it peeps!!
What I'm going to say is going to make me sound sadistic but I promise you I'm not, when I go on to explain you'll see I'm not. One of the things I love about Malorie Blackman's writing is that she never tries to write a happy ending if it's unrealistic, she'll write an ending that fits the story even if it's REALLY sad. She did it with Noughts and Crosses and she did it with this one.
This book is definitely worth reading, and I hate that it's out of print, however, it's still avalible in libraries so go read it peeps!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2015
I had the honour of meeting Malorie at the first YALC in July 2014 and found her to be a fascinating and lovely lady.
I've heard such great things about the Noughts and Crosses series that I'm definitely going to read them.
In the meantime, this book was withdrawn from stock at the library due to wear and tear. So I decided to give it a go as my introduction to the works of Malorie Blackman.
Was it just my 'adult' perspective, or can every reader see from the start what Jayna doesn't? I guess the story just goes to prove that love is blind. I found myself getting very irritated with her at first, wanting her to wake up to the real world. Then I realized that most young people in love are just as stubborn and naive. Most probably not-so-young lovers too!
Definitely worth a read.
I've heard such great things about the Noughts and Crosses series that I'm definitely going to read them.
In the meantime, this book was withdrawn from stock at the library due to wear and tear. So I decided to give it a go as my introduction to the works of Malorie Blackman.
Was it just my 'adult' perspective, or can every reader see from the start what Jayna doesn't? I guess the story just goes to prove that love is blind. I found myself getting very irritated with her at first, wanting her to wake up to the real world. Then I realized that most young people in love are just as stubborn and naive. Most probably not-so-young lovers too!
Definitely worth a read.
July 31, 2008
At the beginning of this book, i was totally gripped by this novel, with the mystery of the party and Andrew's disappearance and all. But when the story turned to vampires, i thought, 'Is this for real?'
and my view stayed that way, till the end.
Though it was very exciting and the plot really suprising, it just didn't get to me that this was actually what was happening and the way the story goes. I can imagine others will enjoy it, because the intensity of the shocking beginning carries on until the end, but it just didn't appeal to me.
With the suggestions of what the main character may do next, i think a sequel would work very well.
and my view stayed that way, till the end.
Though it was very exciting and the plot really suprising, it just didn't get to me that this was actually what was happening and the way the story goes. I can imagine others will enjoy it, because the intensity of the shocking beginning carries on until the end, but it just didn't appeal to me.
With the suggestions of what the main character may do next, i think a sequel would work very well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2014
The book was ok. The book starts of as a teenage fiction romance story but then turns into a fantasy at the end. When this girl loves her boyfriend and is willing to do anything to remain together with her boyfriend.
When Andrew asks Jayna to go on holiday with her everything changes, and Jayna wishes she didn't go on holiday with Andrew. This book really had me thinking on how just a small mistake can unravel and turn your life into hell.
This books drastic change had me by surprise but was still a good book, but far from being one of my favourites.
When Andrew asks Jayna to go on holiday with her everything changes, and Jayna wishes she didn't go on holiday with Andrew. This book really had me thinking on how just a small mistake can unravel and turn your life into hell.
This books drastic change had me by surprise but was still a good book, but far from being one of my favourites.
April 30, 2017
I love Marlorie Blackman and I love vampires so when I heard about this I thought it would be the perfect book for me.
I liked this book, it is the story of Janya and her boyfriend Andrew who go on holiday together and the get turned into vampires, it's about the trials and tribulations that come with that, with Marloine other book you have racism as a sub-plot in her too. The story is ok but sometimes felt a bit juvenile and at the younger spectrum of YA, and the ending was a bit abrupt, however not a bad read and I will be reading more of her books.
I liked this book, it is the story of Janya and her boyfriend Andrew who go on holiday together and the get turned into vampires, it's about the trials and tribulations that come with that, with Marloine other book you have racism as a sub-plot in her too. The story is ok but sometimes felt a bit juvenile and at the younger spectrum of YA, and the ending was a bit abrupt, however not a bad read and I will be reading more of her books.
December 30, 2014
I think this is the sort of book I would've appreciated reading three or four years ago, when I was still really into Twilight/other vampire fiction. I enjoyed the ending, and thought it stayed true to the rest of the novel- in fact, I thought the ending was the best part. However, I could not get over the writing style to give this book a higher rating than a 3. For me, the plot seemed all over the place and all of the characters, apart from Jayna, seemed rather 2-dimensional.
March 20, 2014
Some books are praised for being fast-moving, but I think this was too fast-moving. All of the characters made decisions unrealistically quickly, and there was only one likeable character. It was a good idea for a story, but I soon found myself wishing it would finish before it could get any worse.
April 1, 2014
OMG. If you really want to waste your time then certainly this is the book for you!! I felt like this book had no real plot and it was rather confusing. Malorie Blackman made a huge downfall with Trust Me. I don't think any of her books will match the standard of her Noughts and Crosses. Absolutely rubbish :(
October 22, 2019
I really liked this book for one reason. It explores what would happen if a vampire YA couple's relationship goes sour, which is much more interesting than all the love at first sight crap. Also this book is just dumb but some how in a good way
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 25, 2014
Il primo libro che ho comprato in inglese, e l'ho comprato... in Inghilterra! ahem, è un po' l'unico motivo per cui ce l'ho ancora in realtà... non è proprio il più bel libro che abbia mai letto...
March 26, 2013
I only finished this book to see how stupid the ending would be!
just as stupid as the rest of the book!!! laughable
just as stupid as the rest of the book!!! laughable
Currently reading
March 6, 2014Best book ever. Great detail. So realistic. Very good
August 11, 2014
I think her other books like Noughts and Crosses series definitely surpasses this one. This was a letdown. Felt rushed and far fetched.
January 26, 2016
Big bowl of meh
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews