Ignite Me ~Tahereh Mafi

With Omega Point destroyed, Juliette doesn't know if the rebels, her friends, or even Adam are alive. But that won't keep her from trying to take down The Reestablishment once and for all. Now she must rely on Warner, the handsome commander of Sector 45. The one person she never thought she could trust. The same person who saved her life. He promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world . . . but that's not all he wants with her.

Book Review:

The concluding novel to the Shatter Me trilogy was definitely not a disappointment. When I opened up to the first page, I just wanted to know how it was going to end, but as I continued, I never wanted it to end. I have fallen in love with these characters and this society. Mafi's writing makes you really believe that you have lived through the series with those characters, that they are your friends. I'm very upset that it is over. Every time I finish a series that I have invested so much into, I feel like a lost a part of myself, and I feel like that right now.

The beginning was great but the middle kind of dragged on I thought. I feel like more could have been done in the middle than was. In all reality there were scenes in the middle, that needed to happen, but more often than not, they were just page fillers.  

I probably would have given this book a 4.5 but because of how it ends, I'm giving it a 5. The love triangle that has been a main focus since the first book, ended perfectly. Juliette ends up with the right person, in my opinion anyway. He understands her and he put up with a lot while she was trying to figure out her own feelings. 

More explained in the discussion.

Pages: 416                                                                                                                                   Rate: 5

Book Discussion: SPOILERS:

So at the beginning, when Juliette wakes up, I was so scared of how she was going to handle it. I wasn't sure if she would retaliate before Warner could fill her in on what happened or not. At that point, I was mainly terrified for Warner. Thankfully, she listened to him, skeptically. That's when I started to realize how much she liked him. Mafi hinted at Juliette having feelings for Warner in the second book, but I wasn't sure how far that was going to go after he took off from Omega Point. 

When Kenji finds she and Warner at the sight of what used to be Omega Point?!!? Did anyone else want to scream and cry at the same time. I was so excited!! Their entire friendship was just so incredible throughout the entire series. They may have annoyed each other to no end sometimes but they were always friends first and last. That was another thing that I really loved about this novel in particular. We see so much more of their friendship than before. 

Adam, was an asshole in this novel. I understand that he had a right to be upset. She was falling for his half-brother, but they weren't really together anymore. Juliette kept pushing Adam away because she was scared of hurting him and I felt that their relationship ended a while before she started to like Warner, even as a friend. And she faught her feelings for Warner, for a very long time, because she didn't want to hurt Adam; yet, Adam responded like a completely different person than we had ever seen him be before. His initial reaction, though overly dramatic, I kind of expected, but how he acted afterward made me hate him. 

The end... Juliette finally kills Warner's, Adam's father. She finally takes over the Reestablishment. The world can finally go back to normal. But then I got scared again... everyone is dragging themselves out of the Battlefield so Juliette can see them, but Warner is no where to be seen. After everything that it took to get those two together, I was about ready to throw the book, and just then, he climbs up to where she is standing. I about died. 

Favorite Quote:

“I am no longer afraid of fear, and I will not let it rule me. Fear will learn to fear me.”

Unravel Me ~ Tahereh Mafi

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

Book Review:

I find this trilogy and it's novellas to be so intriguing. This world is very dystopian  but when you throw in the gifts that some of these people have, it's very fantasy.  It reminds me of a mix of the Divergent series and any Marvel series ever. 

The characters in this book developed so much more, especially Juliette who finds a strength in herself but is still so very vulnerable and Warner towards the end when we learn more of his back story. Also some of the secrets that come out in this book are just unreal!!!

The only downside is that I wish we got to see more of the brotherly love between Adam and his little brother, like we did in the Shatter Me. I felt that without that, I kind of lost touch with Adam in a way.

Pages: 480                                                                           Rate: 4/5

Book Discussion: SPOILERS:

I need to finish this series for a few reasons:

1) I need to know what is going on with this strange love triangle.

2) WHO DOES JULIETTE END UP WITH?

3) Does Adam ever tell Warner that they are half brothers?

4) What is that story? Is his little brother Warner's half brother too?

5) Can someone please finally kill Anderson?

So as mentioned, this whole half brother thing is really taking me for a loop. Just, WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK!?!?! Oh and if that isn't enough, Juliette has feelings for both of them! This entire situation is just screwed up!

Destroy Me ~ Tahereh Mafi

Set after Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me and before Unravel Me, the spellbinding sequel, Destroy Me is a novella told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

In Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner - and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she'll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of...

Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner's father, the Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son's mistakes, it's clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.

Book Review:

 Destroy Me has made me even more excited for Unravel Me. 

Even though this novella is supposed to make you feel sympathy for Warner, I just cant. I hate Warner. I still can't get passed how he treated Juliette and his soldiers in Shatter Me. Even though we learn of his childhood, I can't feel for him. The only person in this series so far that I hate more than Warner is his father who I hate as much as Umbridge (nasty, rude, feline loving monstrosity, worse than the villain of the series, Voldemort) in the Harry Potter series. 

I really enjoyed that this novel was told from Warner's perspective though. I enjoyed seeing what is going on at Sector 45 since Juliette has escaped. I also enjoyed the fact that Warner's life was so completely disrupted because as I said before I hate him, and therefore like to see him lose control and struggle. What I really enjoyed about this is that he is feeling something that he has never experienced before and his reaction to it is king of laughable.

Pages: 109                                                                                                  Rate: 4/5

Book Discussion: SPOILERS:

How can Warner be in love with Juliette? She has only ever expressed hatred, fear, and anger in his presence. To really be in love with someone don't you have to see them experience joy and love themselves. Plus she has blatantly told him that she hates him and all that he stands for. Also, before this he was an unfeeling bastard.

I do feel bad that Warner was abused emotionally and physically as a child by his parents, that he didn't have a loving home but neither did Juliette and she would never purposefully do anything to hurt anyone. That would be like saying all children of abuse grow up to be abusers. That simply isn't true. And I am so glad that Mafi made that distinction in her own way,  with her story. 

Now Warner's father is a complete ass. He is a horrible human being. He killed a women and her three children because her husband and their father was a traitor. What kind of person does that?! He's always played mind games with his son and those below him. And he blatantly tells his son, who almost died, that he is a disappointment. I HATE HIM!!

Favorite Quote:

  "And I've fallen.

So hard.

I've hit the ground. Gone right through it. Never in my life have I felt this. Nothing like this. I've felt shame and cowardice, weakness and strength. I've known terror and indifference, self-hate and general disgust. I've seen things that cannot be unseen. 

And yet I've known nothing like this terrible, horrible, paralyzing feeling. I feel crippled. Desperate and out of control. And it keeps getting worse. Every day I feel sick. Empty and somehow aching.

Love is a heartless bastard."

  

Shatter Me ~ Tahereh Mafi

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: BE A WEAPON OR BE A WARRIOR.

Book Review:

I started Shatter Me last night and finished it this afternoon because it was so amazing. Mafi's words in this novel are just riveting and captivating and beautiful. The plot is so intriguing, you just want to know what everything means and what is going to happen next. Juliette's thoughts are gorgeously expressed and I love how she crosses her thoughts out as we do before we speak; we think one thing but say something completely different. 

The entire book was full of twists and turns. There was also a romantic element dispersed throughout the whole "running for their lives" thing. Juliette, though she has this unwanted power of a touch that can kill, was really just like every other 17 year old girl. She wants to have relations with people, she wants to fall in love, she wants to be accepted. Adam was just this amazingly brave 17 year old boy who will do anything to keep his 10 year old brother, James, and Juliette safe. 

The world that this story is set in, seems to be more futuristic, close to the end of the word type thing. Everything is dying off, oxygen is depleted, and there are no real  seasons. It is just so interesting and I love that Mafi doesn't really explain it because it gives you room to imagine and re-imagine as new information is presented to you. 

I'm excited to read the rest of the series along with the novellas. I will be reading the novellas in the places that they are supposed to be read. So I will be reading the first novella, Destroy Me, before reading the next book in the trilogy, Unravel Me.

Pages: 338                                                                             Rate: 5/5

Book Discussion: SPOILERS:

The story is kind of hard to explain to someone who hasn't read the novel without giving away absolutely everything. It's one of those books that when you talk about it you have to say everything otherwise you are going to completely lose the person in the process. So, if this makes no sense, blame the wonderful writings of Tahereh Mafi.

When Juliette touches people, she puts them in serious pain but they can't pull away because she has to be the one to separate them. There are some days where I could really use that power but I don't think that I would be able to live with it. Could you live your everyday life without human contact, without being able to hug the ones you love, kiss your significant other, pet your dog? I know that I wouldn't be able to do that. 

Adam is a boy that Juliette knew before she was locked away. They never talked but she has always loved him. And years after she was locked away they are reunited and we learn that he is immune to her touch. Their relationship is pure beauty. They would give up anything and everything to be together. 

James, Adam's 10 year old brother, has been living on his own since Adam joined the Army. Adam set him up in an orphanage compound with his own room and an older woman, Benny, checks in on him for Adam. But this kid has seen and experienced more than we even know and it shows when he is reunited with Adam. 

Warner is an asshole. That's all I will even say about him because I hate him so much. He disgusts me. 

I loved the ending. So far I love the compound that they are at and that there are other people with powers, none like Juliette's, but powers nonetheless. 

Favorite Quote:

 "My face is in his hands and my lips are at his lips and he's kissing me and I'm oxygen and he's dying to breathe."

I love the passion of their relationship.