Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: (Shatter Me #3)
Published: February 4th 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Categories: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Young Adult
External Links: Book Depository • Goodreads

Summary: 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.

Review: After reading this book, I have one thousand and one thoughts running inside, trying to escape out of my head. And I think it took a while before I processed everything that I have just absorbed. And they were plenty. So many.  As a forewarn though Ignite Me was different from what I expected it to be but in some ways all the same. I’m still reeling everything in to be quite honest. But here I go; I’m going to spill my guts right about now:

The Shatter Me series is for me not really a dystopia novel per se. It’s not about the world they were living in but it’s about this girl, namely Juliette, and her personal journey. And that’s why I wasn’t completely surprised when it ended when things normally should be just starting. In a way it feels like it was halted in the middle of the story but I liked how the author ended where things were about to begin. I think it was clever way to end a story making readers think while leaving glimmer of hope for the characters we all fell in love. Although I think that that build-up was stretched-out and it fast-forwarded the last events. In fact, despite the all too many disclosures there were still questions that were left unanswered. Yes, I would have wanted more but then I realized that it’s not about Anderson and the war. The story always led me back to Juliette. It’s not about the result but it was how she got there.

I really loved reading Juliette’s journey; from this timid little girl who only had pen and paper as an emotional outlet to being this brave girl leading a rebellion. And while I do like how strong and confident she was now, I can’t help but still doubt on how fast she transformed to this new persona of hers. I also do think that she isn’t capable of leading. At least not yet as she’s still didn’t feel whole to me. She isn’t ready, that responsibility is too big for her, even for the new Juliette.

Here’s a revelation that shocked me: I cannot hate Adam. I just can’t. From all of the people in there the only person who I find the most  transparent and vulnerable was Adam. No, I don’t condemn his actions towards Juliette. But really, can you blame him? He was just speaking his mind. He had his emotions on his sleeves; his reaction to Juliette’s changes was acceptable as it was real. I can’t fault him; the guy had a bruised ego and a broken heart. And those made me see him more. In fact, I actually came to like him now as opposed to the two novels. He was so raw in here, so exposed, that I get to glimpse the real Adam amidst this big brouhaha between him, Juliette and Warner.

Is that my cue to tackle my most favorite part of this book? I think I have said everything I need to say in this manifesto. I might tweak it up a bit later on but basically I sort of hit right on the mark. So I don’t think I need to add more. But in the first two books we’ve seen him too closed, expression clipped and emotions contained. But reading about Warner’s vulnerability and struggles were still shocking. So it was delightful to see him, well, happy. I must say the intimate scenes between Warner and Juliette shared were scorching hot. I think I came to a sensory overload. But basically my ship is sailing pretty far to dreamland. I completely and totally satisfied. (You should see my huge grin after those hot scenes. I will never look at a boardroom table the same way ever again. And these honeysuckle soaps, where can I buy them?)

Ah, Kenji. This man is just so awesome beyond words. I couldn’t even count how many times he cracked me up but surprise, surprise when he admitted that he too was broken as everyone else. It also tires him to be this jokester, masking the pain behind his jokes. But I really, really loved his platonic relationship with Juliette. They interact so animatedly, whether they sharing moments on the rooftop or teasing Juliette’s when she kept on ogling Warner while he bench-pressed. It’s not even Warner or Adam who had been there on her mission—it was Kenji. Oh Kenji, you also had me.

I’m bit sad that one of my favorite series had come to an end. It’s always bittersweet to me. Only a few books that got me this overly excited, and definitely this is one of them. I’m still too hang up and I probably will take a while before I completely get these emotions out of my system.  I don’t think I will ever be.

  
Preview Quote: “It’s fine for a little while. You can drink from it and it’ll sustain you. But if it sits too long it goes bad. It grows stale. It becomes toxic.” I shake my head. “I need waves. I need waterfalls. I want rushing currents.” – Juliette