Ignite Me (Shatter Me book #3) by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Ignite Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Published: February 4th 2014, by HarperCollins

Series: Shatter Me book #3

Genre: Dystopian, YA

Stars:4/5

The heart-stopping conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series, which Ransom Riggs, bestselling author of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, called “a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love.”

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.

***THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**

Read my reviews of book 1 here and book 2 here.

Okay, do we all really know that what Ignite Me is really about is the chemistry and romance between Juliette and Warner....and boy is there a lot!

I’m just going to swiftly brush along my opinion of the plot line. Yes, the mission is to defeat Anderson, Sector 45’s Supreme Commander, and who we really only saw at the end of book 2. And yes, Juliette finally, FINALLY, comes to terms with who she is and accepts her destiny. Seriously, it’s taken her two books to get there?! Yada, yada, all that is swell, but the action and defeating Anderson was all very, very, very rushed to me. I mean, after a couple of tumbles against Anderson’s ‘secret weapon’, she just kills him really quickly. His Achilles Heel was if someone (preferably Juliette, since she’s, you know, a tad bit stronger than everyone else), went up to him and just squished his ankles together, making him collapse and wither in pain. Then just get a gun and shoot the terrible person in the head. Bam! All problems solves...well in terms of getting the villain out of the picture. Seriously Juliette, if you just accepted your powers, you could of done that before and saved you a whole LOT of troubles.

But of course, you would not have got to know Warner as well as you did in this book. Literally ¾ of the book was about them, which I just LOVED! We all read it because of them. Don’t lie to me.

So, Juliette finds out about Warner, the real Warner, under that entire facade he puts on. And yes, the author has an answer for every terrible thing that Warner has done. There was always a purpose. It’s like the author wanted us to root for Juliette and Warner (for those who weren’t already or were Team Adam. I mean come on, you should of been rooting for Warner in the beginning anyway, despite his psychotic being at first)!

There were at times when I just wanted to slap Juliette and tell her to get with Warner already and to stop hurting his adorable face. But there were also other times when I was just confused as to why they were playing cat and mouse with each other, or like two magnets, pulling and pushing away from each other. There were some occasions where Juliette resisted Warner and there were other occasions were Warner resisted Juliette.

BUT FINALLY, there came the time when Juliette fully embraced Warner and all was sun and kisses (in terms of their romance).

In terms of other characters, I’ve always loved Kenji and I was glad we got to see another side to him, other than him being funny all the time.

What I didn’t like was the way the author portrayed Adam. I get it, it was the last book, but I think there should have been some hints in the 2^nd book as to the strained relationship that was beginning between him and Juliette, as opposed to just portraying him in a negative light and a person who is just angry ALL.THE.TIME. I mean where did this anger come from?

All in all, it was a good book, mostly because I’m glad majority of the book was dedicated to Juliette and Warner. But I think Team Adam fans out there would obviously beg to differ.

Unravel Me (Shatter Me book #2) by Tahereh Mafi

 Title: Unravel Me

                                                     Author: Tahereh Mafi

                                                     Pages: 461

                                                     Published: February 5th 2013, by HarperCollins

                                                     Series: Shatter Me #2

                                                     Genre: Dystopian, YA

                                                     Stars: 4/5 stars

tick

tick

tick

tick

tick

it's almost

time for war.

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.

***Warning this review will not contain spoilers for the book, but may contain spoilers for those who have not read the 1^st book, Shatter Me***

I really liked ‘Unravel Me’ it was just as what I would have expected.

Unravel Me literally picks up for the last book, Shatter Me. Click here if you want to read the review for the first book; Shatter Me. Juliette is having trouble fitting in as she feels everyone is judging her again and waiting for her to mess up. And to top it off, Adam is acting strangely towards her too.

The whole story is about the war between Omega Point (and its X-Men inhabitants) and the Re-establishment.

Juliette sometimes acted like a child sulking away, claiming that no one will like her. I understand why though, since throughout her life (well before being institutionalised) no one has ever liked her, not even her parents.

I didn’t particularly like Adam in this book purely because throughout most of the book, it seemed like all Adam cared about not being able to do is touch Juliette in some very intimate places. I mean come on! Such a guy thought and he definitely lost some points for me.

Of course Warner is a definitely love for me. *Sigh* he is just perfect! What I really liked is how Tahereh portrayed Warner’s most vulnerable side numerous times in this book. Ahhh, it was written absolutely brilliantly and made me fall in love with him even more! Gosh, I just want to hold him and tell him everything is going to be fine and that I’ll take him, even if Juliette doesn’t. Who cares!

I’ve also liked Kenji and I my opinions about him in this book can only go up. Whilst still keeping his charismatic side (I think every book should have at least one funny person to lighten up the mood) he also took on a bigger role in this book; a somewhat leadership role in the Omega Point and one that everyone admired. He was such a pleasant character and I dare say, I hope nothing bad happens to him in the next book!

Okay, so moving on to the actual plot. I really liked how the story flowed and how it linked with one another. I also like one of the big anti climaxes in the story involving Warner’s father! Dun dun dunnnnnnn! Such a shock! The plot was brilliantly written and I enjoyed reading it from start to finish. I must say though, Unravel Me had my full attention once Warner appeared. Ohhh I really hope he doesn’t die and he gets with Juliette!!!!!

One point that I will like to point out is that sometimes the proses and verses that Juliette was saying about her feelings just did not make sense or was unnecessary. I really think Tahereh could of done without all that extra poetry.

Other than that, I’m looking forward to reading the last book! Eeeike! 

Notable quotes/passages:

“I want to be the friend you fall hopelessly in love with. The one you take into your arms and into your bed and into the private world you keep trapped in your head. I want to be that kind of friend. The one who will memorize the things you say as well as the shape of your lips when you say them. I want to know every curve, every freckle, every shiver of your body. 

I want to know where to touch you, I want to know how to touch you. I want to know convince you to design a smile just for me. Yes, I do want to be your friend. I want to be your best friend in the entire world.” 

“He looks immaculate.
Flawless, especially as he stands here among the dirt and destruction, surrounded by the bleakest colors this landscape has to offer. He's a vision of emerald and onyx, silhouetted in the sunlight in the most deceiving way. He could be glowing. That could be a halo around his head. This could be the world's way of making an example out of irony. Because Warner is beautiful in ways even Adam isn't.” 

Shatter Me by Tehereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me

 Author: Tehereh Mafi

Published: November, 2011 by HarperCollins

Pages: 460

Series:  Series #1

Rating:4/5 stars

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.

I liked loved adored Shatter Me (see what I just did there?). 

Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me is a book that received a buzz; another dystopian book which may or may not be the next Hunger Games, which inevitable spiked my curiosity.  The setup is familiar - a bleak dystopian future, however, it’s safe to safe it very different dystopian book compared to The Hunger Games. Unfortunately, Mafi doesn’t really delve into the intricacies of Juliette’s world.  Instead, the readers are given tiny details about it, mostly due to human waste and pollution, a world that Juliette (the heroine) is now living in.

Juliette starts out as an interesting character. One that is anguished and lost due to being locked up for an insane period of time without having any contact with any humans. She has had a difficult life, to be sure. The frustration, the silent suffering and torment that Juliette is undergoing can be experienced by Tehereh’s unique writing style (I’ll talk about this more after).  Truth be told, it can be annoying at times, but it is a cleaver way for the readers to actually know how Juliette is feeling, her character coming to life. 

I found Juliette to be incredibly endearing and likable, despite the fact that she hasn’t had a normal childhood, let alone any real adolescent experiences. I found her strong willed and a strong female character.  However, what annoyed me (and this applied to numerous other books) is when EVERYONE finds the heroine simply gorgeous and she doesn’t even know it or doesn’t understand why! Oh come onnnnnn, I get that Juliette is probably a stunning girl, but to say it repeatedly so whenever she meets a new male character just gets simply annoying.

One of the male characters; Adam was so sweet and understanding yet strong at the same time. He can relate to Juliette and it’s what makes them a sweet couple.

BUT the real romance and intensity lies between the villain, Warner and Juliette. Call me crazy (I can be sometimes) but I LOVE him and I LOVE their twisted relationship. Warner is both evil and not evil at the same time (if you get what I mean). What he does is truly evil....even psychotic, but he does it for what he thinks is the best solution for the world. Not to mention, he does truly love Juliette, even though she can’t see it and think he wants her for his trophy collection. I must say he is one of the very likeable villains (aside from Cato from The Hunger Games) and I simply fell in love with him. His dashing good looks and strong personality does to help. Safe to say I found myself clutching the book whenever he spoke (actually thinking about it, I might be just as psychotic as Warner, to find him and his character appealing!). However, he has been through a lot, just like Juliette, especially something to do with his mother. We are not told what exactly, but I am sure it will come up somewhere in the books.

The other male character is Kenji who is Adam’s friend and part of the secret society to revolt Warner’s Reestablishment. He was a hilarious character and brought humour to a somewhat serious book.  Even with a bloody nose and bruised leg, he still found some time to crack a few jokes, just to lighten the atmosphere.

The romance between Adam and Juliette was cute (not a very strong adjective, I know) and I liked the way they didn't fall in love at first sight. But as I said before, the real romance lies between Warner and Juliette. The intimacy that they share (even if it was a brief second) was more than enough then the intimacy that she shared with Adam. One can even tell the after that burning kiss that happened between Juliette and Warner, she was slightly confused about her feelings with him.

The plot didn't pick up until a fourth into the book. There are little scenes along the way that make up for it though. However, when it does pick up, it is full of action and suspense. Nevertheless, I do wish more about the past and the Reestablishment was shared with us.

Towards the end though, the plot took a twist and somewhat replicated events from the X-men movies, with a place full of people with other unique abilities.

In terms of writing, as I said before, it is a very unique style that the author used. Especially in the first few crucial chapters of the book, the writing is very disjointed in a sort of free flowing style. It looks like some sort of diary that Juliette is writing in, where her stream of consciousness freely flows. Mafi uses a generous number of crossed out words to illustrate Juliette’s real feelings vs. what she actually verbalizes.

The author also used a lot of metaphors, which helps with the descriptive area of it.

I cannot wait to read the next instalment and the mini novella that is coming out before the second book. Let’s just be honest, what I really want to read is more of that delicious Warner and his hunger for Juliette, especially when he find out that he can touch her. O, the more the merrier. 

See my video review of ‘Shatter Me’:

Notable quotes/passages:

Chapter thirty-nine: “He tastes like peppermint, smells like gardenias. His arms are strong around me, his lips soft, almost sweet against my skin. There’s an electric charge between us I hadn’t anticipated.”.

Book Trailer: