tick, tick, tick, tick, tick 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.
it’s almost
time for war.
Disclaimer: As a review of the second book in the Shatter Me trilogy, there is the potential for spoilers. Proceed at your own risk. For my review of Shatter Me click on the title.
Tahereh Mafi has done it again. She’s completely captivated, entranced, and frustrated me with her gorgeous prose and delightfully complicated characters. I’ll be honest, part of me hated where she took the story and what certain characters went through. I was more conflicted about how to rate this book than I have been about any other book I’ve ever read because I wanted to scream and rage over certain aspects. I equally wanted to hug the book and sing it’s praises but at the same time throw it up against a wall. Yet the more I thought about it and the absolutely perfect delivery of her complex narrative, the more I realized she is a genius. She made me feel exactly what she wanted me to feel about this installment of her work. I was supposed to feel conflicted. I was supposed to rage and cry and cheer. I was supposed to want to shake Juliette and at the same time want to hug her…despite the fact that hugging her could kill me. ;o)
The world: I really love the world Tahereh’s built in this series. It’s so complicated and yet familiar. We get to learn more about the infrastructure and corruption of the government as well as the innerworkings of the society Castle has developed. We learn more about the characters and their abilities as well as the back stories of several key players. It’s really rather intricate and very well done.
The plot: This series is definitely character driven which typically I like. I was a bit annoyed at times in this book though. It felt like it fizzled out several times before picking back up again and therefore it lost a little momentum which had to keep getting rebuilt throughout. But in the end, the story moved forward.
The characters:
Juliette: She frustrated me to no end in this book. I wanted to hug her and strangle her at the same time. Her self-destructive, self-loathing personality really made me annoyed at times. Her secrets and flat-out lies or half-truths irritated. She’s broken and needs to put herself back together and I felt like she resisted every effort to do so. The character I loved so much in Shatter Me was still there underneath it all and she does move forward in some ways but she’s conflicted and the genius part of it is that I was made to feel everything she felt in such a dramatic way that I couldn’t stop thinking about it long after I finished the book.
Warner: If you’ve read Destroy Me you know what a complicated character Warner is. Let’s just say he gets more complicated, if that’s possible, in Unravel Me. I really don’t want to like him, no love him, as much as I do. I enjoy reading about him and I feel a lot of compassion for him but that doesn’t mean I want him and Juliette to be together. Just because I feel empathy for his daddy issues doesn’t mean I want to switch teams. Besides, I have a theory about his interactions with Juliette and I am so not cool with it. I’d be happy to discuss my theory with anyone who’s read it but I’m not going to bring it up here because I don’t want to spoil things.
Adam: I felt like Adam was reduced to a backdrop for the Juliette/Warner drama and I hated it. In Shatter Me, I was absolutely captivated by his character’s development, so I really missed him in this book. I get why he had to be moved to the background. I know Juliette needs to learn to stand on her own. However, he was severely missed, by me at least. =)
Kenji: That guy. I love him. He has some serious snark. He voiced everything I wanted to say. When I was annoyed with Juliette or Warner or whoever, he would come along and say what I was thinking. Yay Kenji!
Castle: I want to hug that man. The pressure, the compassion, the responsibility he has. Too much for any one person to endure.
James: Oh dear, how I love that little boy! Adam’s little brother had me won over completely in Shatter Me and only added to my love for him in this book. He’s a complicated mix of innocence and intuition, childishness and maturity. I totally adored him. =)
Overall: Unravel Me was beautifully delivered and made me absolutely crave the next book. Still, Team Adam. ;o)
Author: Tahereh Mafi Title: Unravel Me Series: Shatter Me #2 Published: February 5th, 2013 by HarperCollins Format: 465 pages Hardcover; Paperback; Kindle; Nook; Kobo; Smashwords Website: Taherah Mafi Source: ARC provided through an independent blog tour My rating:
Happy Reading!
Alright, I’m a little sad to hear about Adam.. But I feared this when I realized how much Mafi loves Warner and how he seems to be such a loved villain…. I love Adam!!!!!
Anyways, I am exited to finally get it to read!
I know. I was super sad. But Warner is super interesting too. Enjoy it!
I’m about to start reading Destroy Me because I absolutely enjoyed Shatter Me. Also, I cannot wait to get my hands on Unravel Me it looks so good!! Personally, I lean a little towards Adam but can’t help but like Warner 😀 Great review
Well, I’ll be interested to see what you think after Destroy Me and Unravel Me! =)
Juliette was very frustrating in this book! I agree! I have a soft spot for Warner and have loved him from the beginning. Glad you enjoyed. Great review!
Oh good, glad I wasn’t the only one to feel that way. I have a soft spot for Warner too. I always thought he was a very sympathetic villain. But I don’t want him with Juliette 😉 Thanks so much for stopping by!
Great review! Although I have a love-hate relationship with Warner, which is awesome, I agree with what you said about Adam. He was definitely on the sidelines for this book and it was a real bummer.. because that first scene in the book with him and Juliette was HOT and AWESOME! I wanted more of that..
Thanks! Yes, I was hoping for more Adam. We’ll see what happens in the next book!
Another Team Adam? Yes. I don’t like how they tried to turn him from a Villian to a love interest.
I’m sorry.. I just can’t get behind someone who wanted to use her for power, kill her boyfriend and friends.
I just can’t.
Plus, in my heart… I still feel Adam and Juliette will end up together. They now have this forbidden love thing they have to conquer.
Warner, was okay. I even read Destroy Me, but obviously didn’t really feel what others did. It still doesn’t make sense to me how or why he decided he loved her.
Plus, I still feel throughout the book did demonstrated how Adam and Juliette are IT for one another.
I’m a firm believer in redemption and I really would like to see Warner turn “to the good side.” I just don’t trust what’s going on between them. It seems more like obsession than love. But we’ll see. REALLY hoping Juliette ends up with Adam in the end. =)