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: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Title: Across the Universe
Author: Beth Revis
Publisher: Razorbill
Published: January 11th 2011
Series: Across the Universe #1
Source: hardcover (borrowed)

Goodreads | Amazon

Summary: A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Review:  This book is similar to the recent movie Prometheus, there are so many similarities! I loved the movie so I had such high hopes for Across the Universe. I am so glad I read this! I can't think of anything I didn't like about this book other than the romance which was a little too slow for my taste. :P And probably the length of the book, it was a bit too long.

The characters were all amazing! Can't imagine what the rest of the series would be like since this was Beth Revis's debut novel. I loved, Amy, Elder, Harley etc. I found myself relating to all the characters, I could imagine myself in their shoes and understand why they did what they did. It was really amazing because I am only usually able to relate to one or two characters in the book. Amy was such a realistic character, I think Beth Revis really did a great job for this one. Elder took a little more to understand and I was so so so glad that he came clean to Amy in the end. I would really hate it if he kept that secret forever. :/

The pacing was also done really well. I didn't feel bored, although the setting did get a little boring after awhile since they were in a spaceship... It really added to the whole tone of the book though. Really makes you think about how crazy it is to live your entire life in a metal container, going to the same old places over and over again until you die. There is also a dystopian element to Across the Universe and I am really hoping that it doesn't play such a huge part in the sequel: A Million Suns. I guess I am getting really sick of the whole cookie cutter dystopian books.

The twists and lies really worked and they were done so well, this was definitely a page-turner! I highly recommend everyone to read this!!! :D This is a new favourite, can't wait to get my hands on  A Million Suns!

My rating: 
Recommended for anyone who enjoys space sci-fi or just a good book!!

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Review: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Pretties
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: May 3rd 2011
Series: Uglies #2
Source: paperback (borrowed)

Goodreads | Amazon

Summary: Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.

But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.

Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.

Review:  This review is going to be a short one because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read Uglies, the first in the series. You can read my review of Uglies here. 

Pretties was actually a lot better than Uglies for me, mainly because we could dive straight into the plot without having to worry about world building. Also, I already felt so familiar with the world that Scott Westerfeld has built that it was comfortable immersing myself in it for the next few hours. This is why I love reading series!

I actually liked Tally in Pretties a lot more because she was braver and was willing to take her chances. It was exciting to read about her adventures and I felt like I could really connect with her. She was so much more complex. I also enjoyed her relationship with Zane, it felt a lot more real than her relationship with David. Not sure which ship I am on right now, tbh. 

The storyline was amazing with all the twists and even the predictable parts didn't feel old and boring. I honestly could not put the book down for more than 5 minutes without thinking about it and picking it right back up again. I was a little disappointed with the ending though. That has to happen after all she has been through? :( It just seems kind of sad. Another thing I enjoyed about Pretties was all the new characters being introduced and the addition of new elements into the story. It kept things fresh and not stale with the same old characters.

There was one thing that I really did not appreciate. THE SLANG. It really bugged the hell out of me for the first half of the book. I just didn't like how overused it was. I understand that it has to be used during Tally's POV but when it was the third-party POV, it is honestly not necessary. It just makes it so much more unbearable. 'Bubbly' was used at least twice every page, something-making was also used every chapter and EVERYTHING was Bogus. ugh just no.

Either way, the plot and pacing really made up for my annoyance with the language and I can't wait to read Specials that is just sitting on my shelf. :)

My rating:

Recommended for dystopian, adventure lovers and anyone that read Uglies! 

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