Novel Review: Find Me (Shatter Me, #4.5, #5.5) by Tahereh Mafi

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: YA Supernatural Romance

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: October 2019

Spoilers?: No.

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

Calling all fans of Tahereh Mafi’s New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series! This gorgeous paperback bind-up includes Shadow Me and the fourth novella in the series, both in print for the first time ever.

In Shadow Me, Juliette is still reeling from Warner's betrayal, and Kenji is trying to balance his friendship with her with his responsibilities as a leader of the resistance against the Reestablishment. Things get even more interesting when an unexpected person from Omega Point’s past surfaces.

The fourth novella brings readers back to the Shatter Me world one last time before the final novel installment in the series hits shelves in 2020.

The Shatter Me series is perfect for fans who crave action-packed young adult novels with tantalizing romance like Divergent and The Hunger Games. This captivating story was praised as "a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love" by Ransom Riggs, bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

And don’t miss Defy Me, the gripping fifth book in the Shatter Me series!

The Cover:

Ugh, why are these covers so gorgeous? All of them in this series, I love them so much. And in the paperback, there's one cover on the front and the other on the back.

Review:

This features both of the novellas between the books in the second trilogy. Both in Kenji's point of view.

I read Shadow Me when it was first released. It's the time right before Juliette is kidnapped, and largely stars how Kenji is growing closer to Nazeera and how he feels about her. It also shows his immediate reaction and devastation at Juliette's disappearance.

In Reveal Me, we get to see what's happening to Kenji as the fifth book is ending. He's trying to push through and be himself, but also he's seeing things that everyone else isn't, and it's making him think he's crazy for it.

In the second one, we really get to see the bond between Kenji and Juliette. While Kenji is falling for Nazeera, he doesn't trust her and he's having some issues regarding that. But him and Juliette have an incredibly tight bond, they understand each other and they're there for each other on a different level. That's really showcased in this novella, and it's one of my favorite aspects of this series. I love their relationship, so it was sweet to see.

We also get to see a new side of Nazeera here, as she opens herself up to him a little bit more, which he needs from her if they're going to have a relationship.

This was a really nice little tidbit of info and insight, and I truly love Kenji. I can't wait to see how this wraps up next.

Novel Review: Defy Me (Shatter Me, #5) by Tahereh Mafi

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: YA Supernatural Romance

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: April 2019

Spoilers?: Only for previous book.

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

The gripping fifth installment in the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shatter Me series. Will Juliette’s broken heart make her vulnerable to the strengthening darkness within her?

Juliette’s short tenure as the supreme commander of North America has been an utter disaster. When the children of the other world leaders show up on her doorstep, she wants nothing more than to turn to Warner for support and guidance. But he shatters her heart when he reveals that he’s been keeping secrets about her family and her identity from her—secrets that change everything.

Juliette is devastated, and the darkness that’s always dwelled within her threatens to consume her. An explosive encounter with unexpected visitors might be enough to push her over the edge.

The Cover:

I love these covers. I love how they all match and go together, and also are different enough. They're gorgeous, and so eye-catching, and give such a good feel for the series.

Review:

It isn't usually so obvious to me, but this very much felt like a middle book in a series. While there was a lot of stuff happening, there was a lot of time recovering from the previous cliffhanger, and leading up to the new cliffhanger.

Since Juliette has been kidnapped, the characters are separated for most of this book. Juliette has to figure out how to deal with her new situation, learning her new surroundings and the people around her and what they're doing to her. She's still processing everything, when she's taken away from everyone she knows and basically tortured.

I will admit that I love how she recovers from it all. Juliette is kick ass, and she ain't afraid of these people any more, oh no no.

It was interesting how Warner and Kenji dealt with her being missing, and how the group had to come together and figure out how to proceed from their end of things. With Juliette gone, they have to step forward and figure out how to keep their people safe and not lose everything they've done to this point.

Not to mention the surprise characters who show up and potentially ruin everything.

I know some people don't like that this series continued (this is a common feeling for a lot of series), but I'm all for it. I'm really into this series still, and am finding these new developments really interesting, and very hard to put down, honestly. I can't wait to see how this all wraps up in the next and final book.

Novel Review: Restore Me (Shatter Me, #4) by Tahereh Mafi

Rating (Out of 5): ~4-4.5

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: March 2018

Spoilers?: No.

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

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Juliette Ferrars thought she'd won. She took over Sector 45, was named the new Supreme Commander, and now has Warner by her side. But she's still the girl with the ability to kill with a single touch—and now she's got the whole world in the palm of her hand. When tragedy hits, who will she become? Will she be able to control the power she wields and use it for good?

The Cover:

I absolutely love the covers of this series. They're gorgeous, and simple and eye-catching, without being embarrassing or typical young adult paranormal romance at all. Each one is very similar, but the colors are different enough, and they each depict something else. I love the beauty in the details of them.

Review:

It has been such a long time since the original trilogy ended, that I had forgotten some of the main plot points, and how it ended. But that didn't really hinder me in any way, as this book just starts it right back up.

Juliette is now in charge, and she's learning the responsibilities and what that entails. Warner is coming to terms with his new position, and the fact that his father is dead, and that he has siblings now. It's all very complicated.

And then the kids of the other world leaders show up to meet Juliette, with supposedly innocent reasons, but we all know this isn't true. Warner is keeping things from Juliette. And Juliette is trying to be a leader on her own, without Warner, who never wanted that position anyway.

And then we discover that Juliette can do more damage than anyone ever suspected, and we get thrown an even bigger curveball than I could have seen coming.

I still absolutely love the writing style in this series. I love the characters—Juliette and Warner and Kenji are my favorites, and I'm quite intrigued by Nazeera and Haider.

There are so many bombs dropped in this book, though. Juliette is told more about herself than she wanted to know, I think. And then that ending. That ending was awful, and leaves so many questions and so many things left open. I have a hard time processing it, and I am not okay. I am not okay with it.

I'm kind of glad I waited to read this, because it's not too long till the next book is out, thankfully. Because I need to know what happens next. As soon as possible.

Teaser Tuesday[268]: Restore Me (Shatter Me, #4) by Tahereh Mafi

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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Restore Me (Shatter Me, #4) by Tahereh Mafi

Genre: YA Supernatural Romance

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: March 6, 2018

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

Juliette Ferrars thought she'd won. She took over Sector 45, was named the new Supreme Commander, and now has Warner by her side. But she's still the girl with the ability to kill with a single touch—and now she's got the whole world in the palm of her hand. When tragedy hits, who will she become? Will she be able to control the power she wields and use it for good?

Excerpt:

“Castle's revelation left me in a daze.” (Hardback, pg. 117)

What are you reading right now?

Teaser Tuesday[223]: Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

--------------------------------------------

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Genre: MG Paranormal

Publisher: Dutton (Penguin Random House)

Release Date: August 30, 2016

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

Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The bestselling author of the Shatter Me series takes readers beyond the limits of their imagination in this captivating new middle grade adventure where color is currency, adventure is inevitable, and friendship is found in the most unexpected places.

There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn't miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it's been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she's about to embark on one to find the other.

But bringing Father home is no small matter. In order to find him she'll have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. Her only companion is a boy named Oliver whose own magical ability is based in lies and deceit--and with a liar by her side in a land where nothing is as it seems, it will take all of Alice's wits (and every limb she's got) to find Father and return home to Ferenwood in one piece. On her quest to find Father, Alice must first find herself--and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of loss.

Excerpt:

“They would all perform. All eighty-six of them.” (Hardback, pg. 90)

What are you reading?

Wishlist Thursday[173]: Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Genre: MG Paranormal

Publisher: Dutton

Release Date: August 30, 2016

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

Goodreads Synopsis:

The bestselling author of the Shatter Me series takes readers beyond the limits of their imagination in this captivating new middle grade adventure where color is currency, adventure is inevitable, and friendship is found in the most unexpected places.

There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn't miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it's been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she's about to embark on one to find the other.

But bringing Father home is no small matter. In order to find him she'll have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. Her only companion is a boy named Oliver whose own magical ability is based in lies and deceit--and with a liar by her side in a land where nothing is as it seems, it will take all of Alice's wits (and every limb she's got) to find Father and return home to Ferenwood in one piece. On her quest to find Father, Alice must first find herself--and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of loss.

Why?:

After reading the Shatter Me series, I very much want to read everything that Mafi writes. I’m expecting this to be very different from that series, plus I rarely read middle grade books, but I’m intrigued by this one. I very much hope that I love it. Plus the cover is just so interesting and pretty to look at.

What’s on your list?

Novel Review: Ignite Me (Shatter Me, #3) by Tahereh Mafi

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5 (solid 5 for the series)

Genre: YA Paranormal Dystopian Romance

Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins)

Release Date: February 4th, 2014

Spoilers?: Yes, for the romantic interests.

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

Wishlist Thursday. Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

The Cover:

I love this cover, along with all of the others in this series. It's beautiful, eye-catching, represents the series so very well. I love all of them, and I'm not sure which one is my favorite, but I particularly love the meaning behind this one--how the birds are coming out and the sun is starting to shine. How it's showing that things are getting better, brightening up.

Quotes:

• "'If you’re going to survive,’ he says to me, ‘You can never be indifferent to your surroundings. You can’t depend on others to take care of you. You cannot presume that someone else with do things right.’” (Hardback, pg. 68)
• "I am no longer afraid of fear, and I will not let it rule me.” (Pg. 103)
• "Words, I think, are such unpredictable creatures. No guns, no sword, no army or king will ever be more powerful than a sentence. Swords may cut and kill, but words will stab and stay, burying themselves in our bones to become corpses we carry into the future, all the time digging and failing to rip their skeletons from our flesh.” (Pg. 121)
• "'This isn’t about Adam or Warner,’ I tell him. ‘This is about me and what I want. This is about me finally understanding where I want to be in ten years. Because I’m going to be alive, Kenji. I will be alive in ten years, and I’m going to be happy. I’m going to be strong. And I don’t need anyone to tell me that anymore. I am enough, and I always will be.’” (Pg. 245)

Review:

I love this series, and am so extremely impressed with it.

I love Juliette. She really grew up in this book, both as a person and in her romantic relationships, and I was impressed with how well that was done, particularly in reference to the previous books. I was really impressed with her. And I really liked how she took a stand near the end, and did what she needed to do.

I love Warner, and how the two of them got to know each other better in this book. And then there are the very hot and steamy moments between them which were incredibly nice. He’s so good to her, and for her, and her for him, and I love that.

Adam, on the other hand, was a complete prick. I couldn’t believe him. And in comparison to how much Juliette matured, he’s even worse. (There’s also the fact that Juliette didn’t end up with the guy she met and liked first, and I really liked that.)

I completely love Kenji. He’s amazing. As a person, and as Juliette’s friend. The two of them together are the best, and I love it. Their interactions, and how they’re there for each other, and how they joke around. I love it. And when Juliette stated outright that he was her best friend, I just wanted to cry and grin at the same time; it made me so happy. And then there’s James, who is still such a sweetheart.

By the end, it seemed like Warner and Adam were getting some closure, and I liked that. And I wanted to see James getting to know Warner better, but the glimpses of their interactions were really nice. 

I completely loved this series. I loved the characters, the progression, the maturing, the writing was beautiful. I didn’t notice in the first books, but the humor is really good, too; it had me laughing a lot throughout this book. I’m in love with this series. Anything else Mafi releases from this point on is going to be an automatic buy for me; and I'm really excited to see what she comes up with next.