Trust: Book Review

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Trust, by Molly Evangeline, continues the story begun in Truth and Courage. Many of the loose ends, plots, and characters mentioned in the first two books become central to the plot of this one. One might wonder how, with the conclusion in Courage regarding the struggle of good and evil, Trust could continue the story – but there is certainly no lack of plot, drama, and tension in Trust!

This book is not a repeat of the other two. The plot is entirely fresh and new; the evil is different; the methods of fighting against it are different. We are again reunited with favorite characters and introduced to some new ones. Many chapters end with cliffhangers, encouraging the reader to press on to find out what happens. In addition, multiple plotlines are working simultaneously as various characters have separate adventures that later become intertwined – and the author’s shifting between the situations leaves the reader wondering what happened in each instance. Of course, the conflict is later explained. This style of writing truly makes the book interesting and enjoyable.

The theme of Trust is indeed trust. The complex plots, the sudden appearances of characters both new and old, the contradictions in character’s behaviors – indeed, whom can Makilien and her friends trust? Can anyone be trusted? Can they even trust each other? How can they know?

This book has a more modern feel than the previous books which had a stronger medieval feel. The strategies are more advanced and developed; the humans are the central focus. Other species do not appear as much as they did in the other books. Additionally, the violence is greater. Evil creatures simply battle and war; evil humans are much more sinister in their approaches to dealing with their enemies. Still, the painful scenes are not overdone and most people should be able to stomach the book just fine.

The greatest overarching themes in the book are the themes of loyalty/sacrifice (“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”) and the incredible workings of Elohim who uses every evil occurrence to bring about good and avert otherwise unavoidable disaster. Indeed, with the examples of how everything in life serves Elohim’s purposes, as is laid out in the story, how can one fail to trust Him for everything? Being a witness to how He uses all things – bad situations as well as good situations – for good strengthens the knowledge that we can indeed trust Him.