Review: Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publisher: HarperCollins

Page Count: 408 Pages, International Paperback

Date Published: February 4th, 2014

Find it on Goodreads: Ignite Me

Source: Purchased

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"
Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she'll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew-about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam-was wrong.
In Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi created a captivating and original story that combined the best of dystopian and paranormal and was praised by Publishers Weekly as "a gripping read from an author who's not afraid to take risks." The sequel, Unravel Me, blew readers away with heart-racing twists and turns, and New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia said it was "dangerous, sexy, romantic, and intense." Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and climactic end.

*No real spoilers, but I put anything I thought could be considered spoilery in white,BLUE BECAUSE MY BACKGROUND IS BLUE SUPPOSEDLY so just highlight if you want to see!*

So... the time has come. The Shatter Me series has come to and end and um.... 

This trilogy is one of my absolute favourite book series...  it's up there with Harry Potter. Yeah. That's right. I said it. 

I was so scared to start this, afraid that it would be disappointing and that I wouldn't like it, but well, that didn't happen. Of course, there were some issues I had with it, but overall I really loved it and am happy with how it ended... Kind of. I mean, I really wish there were a couple of things that went differently, especially with Adam, but at the same time I understood why it happened and what needed to be. I wasn't really on a specific team coming out of Unravel Me, so going into this one my heart was kind of free for the taking, in a sense. And wow. It was taken, that's for sure. 

becoming such a jerk and all,

I guess I won't say much more about that, because I wouldn't want to spoil anything for those who haven't read it, but I will say this: I thought Juliette's character development was absolutely beautiful. Seeing her transform from a frail girl who was scared of her own shadow to this strong, independent woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it was inspiring and exceptionally well done. Juliette is a character that I have always felt very close to, so to see her grow so much in this last book was amazing. I loved it. 

The only thing I guess I didn't really love was the ending. It felt too rushed, or maybe that's just because I didn't want it to end, I don't know. But I thought it could have gone on a few more chapters, but nevertheless I did really love the book as a whole and cannot wait to reread with everything that happens in mind... I have not loved a set of characters in a trilogy like this ever... I feel so many different things about each of them and my emotions conflict with each other constantly. All I know is this: 

And with that, I will say to all of those people who have yet to read Tahereh Mafi's brilliant Shatter Me series... WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GO READ THEM NOW!!! (or you know, if they're not your thing, no biggie, but um, they're like, really good.)

Happy reading!

~Kristy

Review: Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publisher: HarperCollins

Page Count: 469 pages, Paperback

Date Published: February 5th 2013

Find it on Goodreads: Unravel Me

Source: Purchased

 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: There are SPOILERS in the review below for those who have not read Shatter Me.
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Tahereh Mafi.....

 WHY????????


Ahem.... I'll try and write this in the most orderly fashion that I am capable of...

After finishing Unravel Me I sat on my bed with my chin rested on my knees, staring at nothing for a good 5-7 minutes. Thinking. Just thinking. Because, well.... Tahereh Mafi is a freaking artist.

I loved Shatter Me. Loved it, loved it, loved it. It was one of my favourite books I read last year. I loved the story, the protagonist, the love interest, and everything else. Adam and Juliette were on my top 5 OTP list (How do you like that oxymoron?) and I loved Juliette's mind and Tahereh's writing and it was beautiful. So waiting for Unravel Me was PAINFUL. It came out while I was in Ottawa and so when we stopped in the airport in Edmonton I looked in every place they had books and when I finally found it at Indigo I FREAKED OUT... My friend was actually kind of scared, I think. Anyways, I finally found it and waited until I got home to read it so that I could enjoy it, and boy did I enjoy it!

Tahereh Mafi's style of writing may not be for everyone, but I personally think it's beautiful. She's a poet.... An artist. The way Mafi write Juliette's thought process is magnificent and it connected me to Juliette in a way that I don't experience often. There are more than a few ways that I relate to Juliette, (no I can't kill people with my touch :P) and she is one of my favourite protagonists/heroines. Yes she does things that irritate me, but she also does things that I admire and appreciate. She's like a good friend, in a way. Juliette grows a lot in Unravel Me, learning about her powers and gaining confidence in who she is and what she can do and how she can do it.

Then there's the secondary characters. We get to see a lot more of Kenji (YAY!) and he's becoming a favourite of mine! He really pushes Juliette to see the bigger picture and teaches her to become stronger and helps her with her growth. He opens her eyes to a lot. We learn more about his background and his importance at Omega Point, but I want to know MORE! We learn a tiny bit more about James, but don't see a ton from him which is kind of sad, but what we do is a delight, because well, it's James. And then..... Adam. And Warner.

 

 I. Hate. Warner. That's what I have to keep telling myself, because this stupid beautiful book possibly made me love hate Warner. LOVE HATE him. The  character that I absolutely despised with every fiber in my bone in Shatter Me has won his way into my heart somehow... GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I'm so conflicted..........
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...
In Shatter Me I LOVED Adam. He was one of my all time favourite heroes/love interests. And I hated Warner. He was one of the best villains I'd ever read, because I literally just HATED him. He was so.... Awful! And then, the brilliant Tahereh Mafi has to go and MESS UP MY EMOTIONS.

We learn so much more about Warner and his past and his family and what he's capable of and ughhhhhh I hate the fact that I can sympathize with him because he's supposed to be an awful, despicable human being, right? But no. NO. He isn't. He's a mega-hot, mega-hurt 19 year old kid who seems to be in love with a girl who is in love with a guy he hates. I DON'T KNOW. I'M SORRY BUT CAPSLOCK IS NECESSARY. I CANNOT EVEN FIGURE OUT MY EMOTIONS THAT INVOLVE WARNER. BAH.

And then there's Adam. Oh, Adam. Of course, because it's a second book in a dystopian trilogy, there's some force keeping Adam and Juliette from being happy together and everything well in the world. THIS CAUSED ME MAJOR SADNESS. Because this conflict just messed up everything. And Juliette was upset  and Adam was upset and she was crying and he was passionately fighting for her and she was trying to protect him and ya-da-ya-da-ya-da you get the story.

So Juliette has Warner who has confessed his love to her and is actually reaching in and showing human emotions but is still that person who made her do terrible things and then there's Adam who is still totally in love with her but obviously there's another force that is keeping them from being together. No wonder she's freaking out.


I'm sorry for this very informal, very crazily written review, for those of you who prefer straight-forward reviews. I just couldn't give this book a normal review. While  Unravel Me stressed out my emotions, I loved it to bits. Tahereh Mafi, once again, you are a beautiful, talented, amazing artist who has now written two books that make me think about things that I have always been scared about thinking of. I truly appreciate that. I love Tahereh's style of writing... She paints her words on the paper that is her canvas and I am living in Juliette's world for a long time after I close the book. There is so much more to this story than a crazy love-triangle, and I adore every aspect of it. Spectacular follow-up.

Have a great day/night everyone!
~Kristy

TGIF: Some More New Covers!

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! There have been so many cover reveals this past week and although I'm sure a lot of you have seen them already, I still wanted to share in case you haven't!

 Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi

OK, so I'm really not sure what to think of this... I mean, I know that the first book's cover has been changed to match this one, but I still don't really get the whole icy eyelashes. I think I still have to warm up to the covers! But I am of course, super excited for the cover!

Echo (Soul Seekers #2) by Alyson Noel 

I haven't read Fated yet, but I'm hoping to this summer. The covers on both books are absolutely gorgeous. I love the wintery theme to this one... So pretty!

Rise (Eve #3) by Anna Carey

 Ok, as much as Eve disappointed me, I am getting really excited for Once and this cover is making the suspense even worse! I'm not a huge fan of the covers of this series, but I do still love the font of the titles. Plus, this one looks very... Mysterious. Hmmm....

 Blood-Kissed Sky (Darkness Before Dawn #2) by J.A. London

I haven't read the first book in the series yet, but I'm really looking forward to it! The covers are so dark and beautiful and the font of the title is so great. I love the birds in the background, and her dress is simply amazing. 

Everbound (Everneath #2) by Brodi Ashton

SO GORGEOUS! I loved the cover of Everneath so much and I was worried how they were going to do this one. I love it! I'm so glad they stuck with the dark cloudy mist and the flowy dress. 

 Boundless (Unearthly #3) by Cynthia Hand

 I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO BE PINK!!! I love this cover. These books have some of the prettiest, girly-est covers I've seen. Even though Hallowed left me disappointed, I'm sure Boundless will be great!

Destroy Me (Shatter Me #1.5) by Tahereh Mafi
Ok, yeah, I like this one. I really hope I'll be able to read this, since it's only in ebook format... :/ But YAYY cover reveals!

So, what do you think of all these new covers? Did any disappoint you? Impress you? Let me know your opinions in the comments below! 

Happy Reading!

~Kristy

Giveaway: Signed copy of Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Hello, hello! It's time for a second giveaway! I know I'm not at 350 yet but I honestly can't wait any longer! I loved loved loved loved LOVED the book that is available and  I want to share it with the world! Or at least, one of you... :) So what's up for grabs, you ask? Well, one of you will be able to win a signed paperback copy of Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi!

 Sound good? Oh, and yes this will be another international giveaway. I've been saving up so that I can do these as often as possible, but I don't know how many internationals I'll be able to do in the future. Also, because this is a follower appreciation giveaway, you must be a follower on either GFC, Linky or Networked Blogs.

Contest ends May 22nd!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good luck everyone!
-Kristy

Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publisher: Harper Collins

Page Count: 338 pages, Paperback

Date Published: November 15th 2011

 Goodreads Description:

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.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel

My Rating: 5/5 stars -  I love this book too much to describe!But I'll try!

Shatter Me is one of those books that you either love or hate, because of the style of writing. In my opinion, I loved it. Tahereh Mafi was able to make me feel like I was in Juliette's head. Which I adore! I read mostly to escape from my life, and this book was the perfect thing for that. The book is like Juliette's journal, with cross-outs and (as much as I hate to say it...) run-on sentences. But, they were intentional! (I hope.)

As I said before, while reading this book, it felt like I was in Juliette's head, watching everything she saw through her eyes. As a character, I loved Juliette! She was both likeable and strong. She was not weak, although she was scared of the power she had. The voice was clear and it was enough to make me adore this novel. Speaking a bit more about characters, Adam is probably my favorite guy/hero/love-interest in the many books I have read in a long time! He cared so deeply for Juliette, accepted her for who she was. There were obviously some special circumstances surrounding those two, but I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet! Then there's Warner, who is seriously captain creeps! I could see that he was in 'love' with Juliette, but I honestly believe that he was in love with her powers more than anything. He was bloodthirsty and trigger happy and just plain vicious!

Then, there is the setting. As much of a post-apocaplyptic world it was, I didn't find anything special or different about it as opposed to other recent dystopian-type reads. There was a government taking over, the people were in distress, what else is new? Except for maybe the big emphasis on the military aspect to it, the 'world' wasn't anything super special. But there's something more to it that we learn about at the end, which looks like it will be really interesting. I think that was the only main thing that disappointed me in the entire book, but it was such a small part of the actual story, the outside world I mean, that I don't really care too much about it! Seeing as I don't want to give anything away, I can't say much on what we do learn about it.

It's strange, but as much as I loved this book, I don't actually have too much more to say about it. It's not a book that I can easily explain my thoughts on for some reason. But, what I can say is that what I did absolutely, 100 % love about Shatter Me is that it clearly has a beginning, a middle and an end. Even though it is the first in a trilogy, it is it's own book. I think that the author did a great job in leaving us wanting more, but still satisfied with what we've got.

So, that's it for this book! I know it took a while, and that this came out last year but let's just say that I have a little catching up to do on 2011's TBR list as well as 2012's! Hopefully I can get some more down sooner than later! I'm kind of proud of this review...  it turned out better than I was expecting it to, considering how much I ramble when I love a book this much! I think it's the pressure of knowing that my English teacher now has the link to this blog and she could be reading anything that I write... (Hey, Ms. Johnson! :D) Haha anyways, I'm really hoping to catch up on my little pile of RNN (reviews needed now!) this week and also finish some e-books! They take so much longer for me to read than the actual physical copies of books! Have you noticed how long The Emerald Quest has been up on my currently reading section!? Shame on me, I know, I know. I'm almost done I swear!

Have a great night/day everyone!
~Kristy