Author: Tahereh Mafi
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Paranormal Fantasy
Source: Allen & Unwin Australia. Thank you!
Goodreads rating: 4.52 out of 5.00 (7,600+ ratings)
Goodreads | The Reading Room
The exciting and chilling conclusion to the internationally successful Juliette Chronicles series. With Omega Point destroyed, Juliette doesn’t know if the rebels 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. He promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world … but that’s not all he wants with her.Review by Nara
I really think that whether you like this book, and therefore perhaps the series on the whole, depends solely on one thing: are you Team Adam or are you Team Warner?
Maybe it's wrong that one's enjoyment of the series stems pretty much only from the romance, but considering the actual story, I feel like it's actually a reasonable assumption to make. The Shatter Me series is very much centred on Juliette and her development as a character. I mean, for pretty much the whole books of Shatter Me and Unravel Me, we don't actually see much action. Juliette doesn't really care about what's happening in the world around her and therefore as the reader, we aren't allowed to see what's really going on. Which of course was frustrating as hell, because Juliette was so dang weak and it was like GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF WOMAN.
I can definitely say that I was really happy with Juliette's character development in Ignite Me. FINALLY she accepts her powers. FINALLY she accepts that she's freaking badass. And FINALLY we get some decisiveness in terms of the love triangle. Who does she end up with? Well, clearly I'm not going to tell you because #nospoilers. Read it for yo'selves people.
Mafi's writing is so dang beautiful. Seriously, this series contains some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read. Like this:
Words are like seeds, I think, planted into our hearts at a tender age. They take root in us as we grow, settling deep into our souls. The good words plant well. They flourish and find homes in our hearts. They build trunks around our spines, steadying us when we’re feeling most flimsy; planting our feet firmly when we’re feeling most unsure. But the bad words grow poorly. Our trunks infest and spoil until we are hollow and housing the interests of others and not our own. We are forced to eat the fruit those words have borne, held hostage by the branches growing arms around our necks, suffocating us to death, one word at a time.And this:
And we are quotation marks, inverted and upside down, clinging to one another at the end of this life sentence. Trapped by lives we did not choose.And okay I'll stop there before I violate any copyright laws. But seriously, if you haven't started this series yet, you NEED to. STAT. And if you have read this series and haven't bought a copy of Unite Me, it needs to be done. Juliette's journal omg. SO BEAUTIFUL.
While I really really want to talk about the two love interests, Adam and Warner, I feel like anything I say about them will be super spoilery, so I'll leave that to a book discussion post instead. So yes, if you'd like to read my thoughts about the love triangle, you'll have to wait for that post. Although Chantelle and I also did do a post discussing the love triangle last July (so before the release of Ignite Me) if you'd like to read that.
Honestly, I'm congratulating myself on writing a review that isn't a complete gushing mess, so hopefully you can forgive me for not writing a proper concluding paragraph. Let me leave you with this: #Chapter55 ;)
Incredible
Favourite
Panacea Candidate
Ratings
Overall: 10/10
Plot: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 1/5 (AUS) 5/5 (US)
