Trust Issues

I DID IT!!!  I finished the series!  Didn’t think I would ever make it through.  

So at this point, knowing that I read somewhat fast, you are probably thinking: “Wow, that must have been a long series.”  Nope.  Not at all.  It was 3 books, averaging 250 pages each… that I started in January. 

So often I have a hard time coming up with the “one word to describe these books.”  This time there is only one word to describe them:  PAR-AN-OI-A.  That same word explains why it took me 6 months to read them all.  I read Mind Readers really fast.  It was good, but honestly by halfway through I didn’t trust ANYONE in that book (it was even leaking over a little into real life).  I didn’t even trust Lewis, and for good reason.  Camron may have been falling for him, but I was on to his mind tricks.

So obviously by the end of the book, Aaron was not to be trusted.  On the last page, Lewis redeemed himself some, but I still didn’t really trust him into the second book.  In Mind Thieves, we learn that Camron’s dad is alive.  He wants to see her, but I’m still having trouble trusting anyone.  She is so anxious to please him (yea, she finally has a family) that she believes anything he tells her, but he doesn’t seem all that great to me.  As her memories come back she struggles with still having feelings for Lewis despite what he did at the end of the last book (she was unconscious for the part where he redeemed himself). 

Then we learn that Camron’s dad, John, is a terrible person… duh, saw that coming.  But we also learn that her mom is still alive and not a drug addict like her grandmother has always told her.  So, by this point we know she’s been lied to by her: grandmother, father-figure, boyfriend, real dad, step-mom, and now we learn that her mother did abandon her, but “for her own good.”  Really?  We’re supposed to believe someone by this time?

Halfway through the 3^rd book, Mind Games, is when I gave up the first time.  WAY too stressful!  It did end up having a happy ending when I eventually got back to it, but still not worth it.  I have enough stress in my life.  Reading is supposed to be an escape not cause further stress (that’s why I read YA paranormal… escapism.)

I will say that I did really learn something from this.  Trust is a key to life.  Without trust how do you carry on?  It wasn’t until Camron found some people she could trust that she truly discovered who she was herself.  That can be key not only in me learning to trust others but in making sure that my kids can trust me.  They need to have a soft place to fall so that they can be safe as they learn about themselves and who they were created to be.

I always try to answer one question (whether explicitly or indirectly):  Would I recommend these books?  One these it’s a tough call, actually.  They were well written and had a good plot, but I would have to say… unless you have some Valium to spare for your reading time, I really wouldn’t even get started.