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.