Unravel Me: Tahereh Mafi: 2 (Shatter Me) Paperback – 30 Dec. 2013

Tahereh Mafi’s writing style is so utterly captivating you can’t help but find yourself drawn to it. She could be writing about the most horrific thing in the world and still find a way to make it seem beautiful. Okay so maybe her world building isn’t up to scratch but that doesn’t matter. The writing is that good you wont care!If you’ve read my review for Shatter Me you will know how much I loved that book, I don’t think I’ve ever gushed so much in my life. Unravel Me was no different. Heck I’m still finding it hard to put my thoughts into sentences and I finished reading this nearly 6 days ago now.I think everyone who’s read this book will agree that Juliette was very irritating during the first few chapters. I found Juliette to be quite whiny, bitchy and downright rude. I understand that she was going through a lot but at times I thought shed gone too far. Alas the wonderful Kenji was there to pull her head out of her ass and bring Juliette back to reality. Needless to say Kenji was my favourite character throughout the whole of this series. Everything about him is so likeable and it’s a joy to read the scenes with him in.I’m so glad that Juliette pulled herself together as we really got to see her character grow throughout this book. She finally comes to terms with the fact that she’ll never be a “normal” teenager and embraces the powers that she’s been graced with. It was interesting to see her learn to not only utilise them but also control them, especially as it didn’t come easily to her. This resulted in some amusing scenes between Juliette and Kenji as she was stressing out.At the end of Shatter Me we see Adam and Juliette arrive at Omega Point, I wasn’t too sure how I felt about this, as it seemed wrong. I thought that they were stupid for trusting a bunch of people that they didn’t even know. I’m glad they decided to stay there as we learn that Juliette isn’t the only one with powers. In Unravel Me Tahereh spoils us with an array of new characters that have some supercool powers. This only got me even more excited to see what would come of the war between The Reestablishment and mankind.Adam or Warner? A no brainer for me but a mind-boggling question for Juliette. Let me put this out there; I have been on team Warner since day one. I don’t know what it is about him but wow. He gets me hot and bothered, you will know what I mean when you read Chapter 62, holy smokes that chapter was incredible. I almost feel like a pervert for saying that. Note to self: He’s a fictional character but so damn gorgeous. You know what I like about this love triangle? It could go anywhere. As a reader you don’t know who will end up together and at times it can be frustrating but you still want more! Juliettes feelings towards both males are so conflicted, I almost feel sorry for the girl, she just doesn’t know what she wants! Throughout a lot of this book I found myself sitting with a smug smile plastered on my face. Lets just say Adam lets his cool slip and in comes King of the douchebags.So if you thought Shatter Me was good then believe me, you haven’t seen nothing yet. While reading this book I was constantly updating my status on Goodreads and reading back on some of my reactions is quite amusing. This series has well and truly grabbed my heart; I’m looking forward to seeing more from Mafi in the future, as she really is a poetic author. I ended up marathoning Unravel Me and Ignite Me so stayed tuned for my review on the final book; it really was a terrific ending to an enchanting series.

A great second installment to this series, enjoying the character growth & where the story's going. Excited to start book 3.

Quality was okay, book was awesome, great for teens

Despite having some issues with the first book in this series, Shatter Me, I enjoyed it enough (particularly the last few chapters) to immediately pick up this sequel. I’m glad I did, because the things that made the earlier instalment good are present and correct and in many cases improved and most of the things I was less keen on – notably the wilder excesses of flowery language and the ultra-convenient plot points – have been resolved. There were still some strikethroughs and some strange metaphors, but partly due to an in-book calming of Juliette’s mental state and partly (I suspect) to an out of book maturing of the author’s style) they are much more restrained, and as a result, much more powerful when they do occur.Plotwise, there are two key differences between this volume and the first, both of which should be obvious to anyone whose read Shatter Me.Firstly, for most of the novel, the action moves to Omega Point, the rebel stronghold, and safe house for people with abilities like Juliette’s. Sadly, we’re seeing this amazing place through Juliette’s eyes, and initially at least, she mostly sulks in her room, so we don’t learn much about its ways or its inhabitants. I understood her fears and thought her behaviour was actually more believable than this traumatised girl suddenly been a happy part of a team, but it still made for a frustrating read.Secondly, while still maintaining most of his role as primary antagonist, Warner makes clearer his true feelings for Juliette, and starts to feel like a viable love interest. Fair warning – this does all basically descend into full-blown love triangle territory. Personally, despite the fact it’s been horribly overdone recently, I still enjoy a good love triangle when it’s done well, and this is one of the best I’ve seen, particularly in this volume. But I know many people really dislike them, so if that’s you, I’d steer clear, as despite all of Omega Point’s plotting and a climactic battle towards the end, the romance is still centre stage here.As a further warning, I’d strongly suggest that you read the novella Destroy Me before this, as it really explains his personality, demonstrates that his feelings for Juliette are genuine, and cast a different light on some of the seemingly indefensible things he does in Book One. Unless you really, really love genuine villains, I think you’d struggle to see him as an acceptable love interest if you haven’t got this background – however hot someone is, you probably shouldn’t get steamy with them if they previously made you torture a toddler.Warner is an exceptionally strong character here, moving from the compelling but rather one-dimensional villain of the first novel to someone gloriously nuanced and conflicted, but still ultimately fun to read about and terribly sexy. His scenes with Juliette are a masterclass in sexual tension, surging emotions, and on her part at least, a desperate attempt not to give into forbidden love.That’s not to say that there weren’t other strong characters or that nothing else interested me in the novel. I enjoyed some of the twists the plot took, and there were some great dramatic moments. James, Adam’s little ten year old brother, was utterly adorable and pretty funny, while Kenji, who I’d found infuriating in book one, trod a neat line between comic relief and voice of wisdom. And it was great to see a female character have a straight, platonic male friend for once. But at the same time, whenever Warner was offscreen for too long, some of my attention started to wane. This was particularly striking in the first fifth or quarter, where he doesn’t make an appearance at all, and nothing much else of note happens either. But from then on, things get very good very quickly, and overall, while it still had faults, I absolutely loved this, would highly recommend it, and went straight onto book three.