Review: Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Ignite Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Published: February 4th 2014
Source: Hardcover
Pages: 409

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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.

REVIEW

I could not keep this review spoiler free there were just too many things that I have to discuss! You can just skip right down to the 'Verdict' section which is spoiler-free and summarises my opinions. Do check out my spoiler-free review of Shatter Me or Unravel Me if you want to get a feel for the series.

I read this IMMEDIATELY after finishing Unravel Me because Unravel Me was good and it exceeded my expectations! Ignite Me started off really well with 2 plot twists in chapter 4 and it was so amazing! We got to know so much more about Warner and I really enjoyed how he was starting to open up more as a character! At this point I was really excited and glad about his character arc.

However, I started to realise that Adam was essentially getting thrown under the bus so that the readers would hate him and naturally lean towards Warner. I DIDN'T LIKE THIS AT ALL. Adam did a 180 and he became this raving lunatic from Juliette's POV although she did sort of cheat on him in the last book didn't she? Their quarrels/fights were so juvenile and it was so so boring, I fell asleep twice while reading about their pointless quarrelling. We already know where this is going so let's just get on with it. I think Mafi's intentions were clear the moment she turned Adam into an uncaring bastard who wanted Juliette dead.

I still did not like Juliette in this final instalment, she was just too much of a drama queen for my tastes. Why does she suddenly decide that she wants to be the supreme commander? Hello do you even know anything about the world!? Does she think that having this invincible super power is enough to rule the world? Warner known everything about leading and he has the experience that should make him the prime candidate for this. It felt like Mafi was trying too hard to sell Juliette as a heroine. You don't have to be a leader/rule the world to be a heroine (refer to The Hero's Journey). It was quite unrealistic that she suddenly became so ambitious when she had never showed any interest in the rebellion or even leading a group of people, up until now. Unless we get a novella or something that shows how she is doing as a supreme commander, I have serious issues with this convenient ending.

Speaking of the ending, it felt rushed and I barely remember the final 'epic' battle that they were planning and prepping for for the entire book. It was unsatisfactory after slogging through the very slow pace for 3/4 of the book.

I enjoyed Unravel Me for its inconvenience (there were so many obstacles) so it was disappointing to see the 'perfect'/convenient wrap up of the series. I didn't like the direction that this book headed, even Warner lost some of his spunk in the first 2 books. He became so weak and was only capable of obsessing and pining over Juliette, he hardly did anything 'ruler'-related in this instalment. There was too much angst in this one.

To end off on a good note, Mafi's writing remains amazing, if not better and it was the highlight for this book. 

VERDICT

Don't get me wrong, Ignite Me was a very entertaining read and critically I didn't like a lot of aspects of the book but the personality of most of the characters and the amazing writing really held my attention. This was a fun series and I recommend this to anyone looking for a light dystopian that is not too heavy on the world building, focusing more on character development.

If you can't stand it when authors make convenient choices that changes a character completely or when characters do things that are completely out of character for the convenience of the plot then you might want to either skip this series entirely or just stop at book 2.

Plot: 2/5 

Pacing: 2.5/5

Originality: 3/5 

Writing style: 4.5/5

Characters: 3/5 

Feels: 2.5/5

Cover: 4/5

Overall rating:  

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Review: Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Unravel Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Published: February 5th 2013
Series: Shatter Me #2
Source: Hardcover
Pages: 461

Goodreads | Amazon

(This summary has been cut to remove any spoilery content, click on the links above to read the full summary)

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.

* THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE! YAY!*

OMG THIS BOOK!! EVERYTHING WAS ON POINT! I WAS VERY IMPRESSED.

Plot/Pacing
Great great pacing, everything was so well developed and I really enjoyed the longer book compared to Shatter Me. The plot was also amazinggg! I love how we knew more about how their powers worked and stuff (if you recall, I was kinda annoyed that we didn't know much about it in Shatter Me.) And oh god all the plot twists definitely made up for the lack of it in Shatter Me. It was twist after twist after twist, Unravel Me was a page-turner for sure!

All in all I really really liked that Tahereh Mafi didn't make things convenient just to progress the plot. Warner didn't just change into this lovable guy just cause Juliette was in his face about it. She didn't create characters with insane powers just so the good guys could win. Also, there are little to no fillers in this book!! We didn't waste any time (pages) doing/talking about stupid things. Every word, every sentence actually contributed to the plot. Its so refreshing to read a middle book without a middle book syndrome!

Don't even get me start on the writing style!! 
I wanna eat these sentences and digest them so I can use them whenever, wherever! If I were still writing essays for school, I would be memorising and learning these and using them left, right and centre. How does Mafi even come up with these things?? Emotions were conveyed amazingly and I just had all them feels! Also, the make out scenes, holy shit!!! This book definitely had one of the best love scenes I have seen in a YA book, steamy stuff~

Romance
I'm usually not a fan of a girl who thinks she's in love with two guys but somehow this kind of worked for me. I didn't really get the decisions she was making though but that could just be me, I'm too logical for all the crazy drama that people usually get into when it comes to their feelings.

I wasn't really rooting for anyone in particular at first because I wasn't really feeling it. But that changed towards the end for sure! I can't really say much about the romance without spoiling anything. But basically, #teamWarner although I don't really get what he sees in Juliette :P I am rooting for Warner cause I like him, but personally, I think he deserves better.

Character development
And I absolutely loved how Warner is a douchebag that remains douchey throughout. I really appreciate this consistency and loved how he doesn't become super nice or whatever just to get the girl. AMAZING STUFF!! Juliette tries to figure him out but never really succeeds which I think is amazing. Too many books use that as a convenient way to make the character likeable by straight up telling you about all his great qualities and sob stories. Mafi challenges the typical YA romance formula. I like how I don't totally like Warner but at the same time I like him so much as a character! He is so multi-faceted and intriguing, definitely one of the best characters out there! #TeamWarner

And Kenji Kenji Kenji ahhh! I want to be his friend so bad! Loved his humour and his personality so much! We really got to know him a lot better and I really liked how he handled all the situations. I loved loved loved how he was so mature and he was keeping everyone in check :P He is probably my all-time favourite character!

Adam kinda fell flat for me in Unravel Me, I didn't really care for the whiny him. Maybe that's the intention?

I still don't really get Juliette as a character and there wasn't much development in this book, for me she is the typical frustrating YA dystopian female protagonist. A naive and immature little teenager that is trying to save the world/people. The last scene shows great potential in her character arc and I am crossing my fingers that we are gonna get that in Ignite Me!

VERDICT:

I wouldn't say this book was life-changing by any means but it has really good writing, storytelling and character development. This was also a great improvement from Shatter Me! I still stand by my Shatter Me review about how this is more of a guilty-pleasure type of series (think Twilight). If you are looking for a dystopian novel heavy on the romance then this is for you!

My rating: 
Recommended for dystopian lovers!

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Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Published: October 2nd 2012
Series: Shatter Me #1
Source: Hardcover
Pages: 340

Goodreads | Amazon

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 have been putting off reading this book for 2 years because of its previous ugly cover. It looked like the girl's singing was so bad that she was shattering all the glass around her lol. I just couldn't take it seriously :P

That changed quickly after the cover change though, I've seen too many great reviews to continue ignoring this series. AND I AM SO GLAD I GAVE THIS A CHANCE!

I loved the writing style. The prose was amazing and exaggerated in the beginning but I thought it was a very creative reflection of Juliette's sanity. It got a little crazy with all the metaphors and I wanted to throw the book across the room because I was so frustrated that I kept taking the metaphors literally when I read too quickly.

But that was just me being stupid. I got over it quickly once the plot quickened.

Romance was very odd
- Juliette becomes stupid in front of Adam, she doesn't question the escape plan, ask about what is going on etc. It was so annoying.
- Warner is creepily obsessed and in love with her, it seemed kind of psychotic? Insta-love on a whole new level? Or maybe there is something we just don't know yet.
It was very weird and confusing so eventually I just kind of glossed over the 'romantic' bits in my head. I am glad that it didn't really play a huge part in the book though.

Storyline & Character development was alright~
Felt a little short and rushed, a lot of things happened in one book which is usually a good thing but I just wanted to spend more time knowing more about the characters. I am still not sure if I enjoyed the fast pace. It really sucked me in but it felt like character development was sacrificed and the plot could have been a lot more fleshed out. The plot was a little too simple and it felt like I was just watching from the sidelines and was not truly invested in what was happening.

The first portion of the book where Juliette was in the asylum was done amazingly, we could really understand her character, her emotions and the crazy shit that she's going through. But after that, the pace picks up rapidly and we are thrown into a flurry of activities and character development was pretty much forgone. It felt a little superficial and I never really felt like I could understand any of the characters.

Storyline was also pretty unoriginal: girl in distress > 2 boys try to save her > they try not to get caught. I was looking for a shocking twist or two but it never really came so in terms of creativity, this fell a little flat for me. The superpowers were also not very unique and I wanted a better explanation of how her powers worked but well, Juliette never seem to bother finding out. The world that was built was also pretty average, nothing really ground breaking here. (Maybe I've been reading too many dystopians and fantasy but my expectations are pretty high.)

VERDICT:

I get how this wouldn't be for everyone, it is a little cheesy and if you are not a huge fan of dystopians, this might not be your cup of tea. The storyline is not very original or unique but somehow Tahereh Mafi just manages to pull you in and never let you go with her writing. The pacing of the novel probably saved the book a little cause you just didn't want to stop reading to think about the other flaws in the book. I was also hoping for a lot more depth throughout the book after the great first few chapters of delving into Juliette's mind. This is one of those guilty pleasure books where it is very enjoyable and entertaining but does not really deliver in terms of a well-rounded book.

I will be continuing on with this series for sure! :)

My rating:  
Recommended for dystopian lovers!

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