Novel Review: Unravel Me (Shatter Me, #2) by Tahereh Mafi

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Genre: YA Paranormal Dystopian Romance

Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins)

Release Date: February, 2013

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Wishlist Thursday. Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

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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.

The Cover:

I absolutely love the covers in this series. They're beautiful, and perfectly fitting. The eye is gorgeous, the symbolism is great, and the meaning behind the surroundings of the eyes is fantastic. I love the ice in this one, the intensity of it. It's just gorgeous.

Quotes:

• "But time is beyond our finite comprehension. It’s endless, it exists outside of us; we cannot run out of it or lose track of it or find a way to hold on to it. Time goes on even when we do not.” (Hardback, pg. 12)
• "I wonder at my incapacity for easy banter, smooth conversation, empty words to fill awkward moments. I don’t have a closet filled with umms and ellipses ready to insert at the beginnings and ends of a sentence. I don’t know how to be a verb, an adverb, any kind of modifier. I’m a noun through and through.” (Pg. 78)
• ·         "...and I see the world and wonder about its people and what it’s become and I think about hope and maybe and possibly and possibility and potential. I think glasses half full and glasses to see the world clearly. I think about sacrifice. And compromise. I think about what will happen if no one fights back. I think about a world where no one stands up to injustice. And I wonder if maybe everyone here is right. If maybe it’s time to fight.” (Pg. 174-175) 
• "'But I mean, why even have a love affair?’ Kenji asks. ‘I never understood that kind of crap. If you’re not happy, just leave. Don’t cheat.’” (Pg. 257) YES!
• ·         "But I see layers, shades of gold and green and a person who’s never been given a chance to be human and I wonder if I’m just as cruel as my own oppressors if I decide that society is right, that some people are too far gone, that sometimes you can’t turn back, that there are people in this world who don’t deserve a second chance and I can’t I can’t I can’t
  I can’t help but disagree.
  I can’t help but think that 19 is too young to give up on someone, that 19 years old is just the beginnings, that it’s too soon to tell anyone they will never amount to anything but evil in this world.” (Pg. 303-304)
• I think there’s something about the impermanence of life these days that makes is necessary to etch ink into our skin,’ he says. ‘It reminds us that we’ve been marked by the world, that we’re still alive. That we’ll never forget.’” (Pg. 325)
  

Review:

I am hugely impressed and in love with this series. I mean, I loved the first one, but this one was possibly even better.

Firstly, I love the writing in this series. It’s beautiful, gorgeous, enter all-other-synonymous-words here. I love the short sentences and paragraphs and spaced words and crossed out thoughts and repetitive thoughts, and all the different ways that Mafi uses the language here. Juliette’s voice is portrayed so well, which really makes me wonder what the writing will be like for a different character. I think the only other time I’ve been this impressed with a writing style is with Maggie Stiefvater’s, but in a completely different way. I am just in love with the writing here.

Second is the world. I’m so intrigued by the world set up here. It’s also a little disturbing to me how easily the dystopia set in, with the people actually voting and cheering for it, only for it to turn back on them. That could happen so easily nowadays, and that makes me uneasy. But so interested!

I completely love the characters. Juliette is one of my absolute favorite heroines at this point. She has problems with her self-worth, but she doesn’t back down, and she’s so good at standing up for herself and anyone she cares about. I love how she stands up to Warner, and then to his father (ohmygod, the scene with his father was the best!).

There are several other great characters as well. James is adorable, and I would have liked to see more of him. There was a lot of Kenji in this one, and I grew really fond of him. He’s funny and strong, and he evens out Juliette rather well. We met a lot of other characters and they were all fun, and I hope they show up more in the next book.

Now, the romance. The romantic element in this series takes up a lot of time, and I love that. It’s very important to Juliette, and it’s very intense and hot and sweet. I love it. I also like how Kenji will point this out to Juliette, as if letting us readers know that she knows this is happening.

Then there are the romantic interests. This is one of the very few books where I’m actually not sure which one I like more. I’ve kind of made up my mind at this point, but at first I wasn’t sure, and I still think I would be satisfied if she chose the other one, at least a little. But the fact that the romance is so well done on both sides really shows me how well this is written, that Juliette can actually feel believably strong emotions for both boys. That doesn’t happen very often for me.

I like Adam, and I have since the beginning. And now I feel really bad for him, because of what’s happening with Juliette. I also really like Warner, and am leaning more toward him, both because I like him and feel that he would be better for Juliette just as much as she’d be good for him.

Warner is very obviously the bad boy, and he’s actually a believable, actual bad boy, who has done a lot of bad things. Juliette’s feelings for him are very intense and honest. And I like that, even though she has romantic feelings for him, she doesn’t forget all the bad things he’s done. In a lot of series, a character will do something bad but very quickly the other characters will forget about it/never mention it again because the other characters like them now, but that hasn’t happened here.

Then there’s his father, who I completely hate. God, that scene with him and Juliette was so good, and the second one is going to lead to some very interesting things. 

I loved this book, and that ending was so good, and makes me want the next one so badly. I cannot wait to get it, and the novella collection so I can finally read Warner’s short story and Adam’s. I’m so excited to see what happens next.