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.