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Shatter Me #4
Restore Me
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2018)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?
435 pages, Hardcover
First published March 6, 2018
About the author
Tahereh Mafi
55 books57.1k followersTahereh Mafi is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Shatter Me series. She was born in a small city somewhere in Connecticut and currently resides in Santa Monica, California with her husband, fellow author Ransom Riggs. She can usually be found over-caffeinated and stuck in a book. Shatter Me is her first series, with television rights optioned by ABC Signature Studios; Furthermore, her first middle grade novel, is on shelves now, and Whichwood, its darker companion, will be on shelves November 14, 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34,521 reviews
April 3, 2019
TW: panic attacks, transphobia, mentions of racism, gun violence
April 2019
I reread this to annotate it before Defy Me came out and still loved it. It was difficult to annotate because there's a new POV and new characters who i love a lot, so i definitely had a field day putting hearts in the margins. Also I love juliette ferrars so much. SO MUCH.
March 2019
[READ 5--fourth reread]
i reread this spontaneously in preparation for shadow me and that shit HURTED. im thirty times more confused than i was about this book's ending. but the things i enjoyed most about this reread was seeing warner's self-awareness develop and the distinction between different kinds of power and resilience, specifically how juliette has to compartmentalize and separately hone her physical strength and mental strength. loved it as always even though i'm so confused and stressed i could cry
June 2018
[READ 4--third reread]
I really have no updated review for this other than GODDAMN IT, IT STILL ENDED THE SAME WAY AND I NEED ANSWERS. thanks for attending my tedtalk.
March 2018
[READ 3--second reread]
After reading this for a third time and attending Tahereh's instagram livestream q&a, things just kinda settled into place. There's not much I need to add about how much I adore this story. And I have so much faith that the sad or questionable things that happen in this are meaningful and will be expanded upon in the next books. At this point, yeah it's not gonna be rainbows and butterflies during the year we wait for book 5, but I feel so much more eagerness than terror or dread. This story truly grasped characters I loved and somehow helped them grow yet experience new conflicts that are all realistic and complex and natural. I can't wait to see who narrates the next novella. I can't wait to find out more about her parents.
(btw warnette didn't break up they're both just dramatic as hell so everyone pls rest)
(also t confirmed warner and juliette will survive the series)
(also t is literally a goddess so why ya'll worried she won't do these characters right)
[READ 2--first reread]
UMMMM STILL PERFECT I'M SORRY!!!! I still have some issues mainly dealing with plot hole issues that'll probably get sorted out in later books , but really any previous problems I had with characterization or pacing or descriptions fell away during this reread. Like I expected, the more it sinks in and feels like a real book, the better it gets. At this point, half of my review is just Shatter Me 5 predictions, so i'll try and only give my updated thoughts lmao:
-my new favorite scene in the entire series is drunk juliette scene
-warnette angst in this is sSO OOOO GOOD
-i think the best line to describe this book is that juliette is dealing with "the frustration of having so much power, so much power and feeling so utterly, completely powerless" (420-421). Once you realize that, NOTHING juliette does comes off as whiney.
-honestly unfollow me if you think warnette are whiney and weak in this book. catch me dead not supporting realistic, complex characters who aren't perfect 24/7 and still have two books of growth.
-i don't hate adam. i'm sorry. especially with how his power could save peoples' lives in the next books, and he might save the day.
-kenji is.... everything in this book. the BEST companion for juliette, being there for her and letting her rant and providing comic relief. at the same time, telling warner to get his shit together and being the cheerleader for him that he was for juliette in unravel me. you can see the loyalty and trust developing already and im EMO
-juliette's is so powerful and meaningful and my least favorite thing in books is when people but this book broke that trope and i couldn't be more proud and i'm so happy that she's happy and she feels the best about herself and now i can't believe
-my only complaint about this book is just the awkwardness of presence/consistency. lena is present in the book, but her only role is to be the ex-girlfriend and cause us to stereotypically start hating her, and she outs a trans character and is generally horrible and physically/verbally abusive for no real prevailing reason. the side characters from omega point we've learned to love weren't in the book except for literally like 4 mentions and maybe 2 lines of dialogue. some facts are only present in this book for one or two mentions when they should seemingly be more important, like preparing for important events or some parts, like warner's ring or dick tattoo, weren't even referenced at all like they were heavily in the previous trilogy.
-anyway back to good stuff
-CASTLE'S DEAD SONS /?? ?? ?/ 1! !!! ! !!!
-warnette sex scenes? two thumbs up
-things that will never be the same after this book: haircuts, bob dylan, bourbon, the word 'restore', taking anxiety medicine, the ocean, helicopters, lorde, and anyone named ella.
[READ 1--original review]
i'm gonna disclaim right now that when this arrived on my kindle i had such a horrendous panic attack that I thought I would have to delete my twitter and DNF this. I told my friends to spoil me how this ends because I knew I could never stand it otherwise. and i stand by the fact that i would not have made it through this book without knowing what happens. i was so terrified.
but anyway OH MY GOD
i don't have enough characters left in this review to make a list of all the things i loved. there were imperfect parts, and i was wary that i would have to pretend this never happened, but i can only repeat: OH MY GOD
update: fuck it, i'm gonna make a list.
-NAZEERA COULD CHOKE ME WITH HER BARE HANDS AND I WOULD THANK HER FOR IT. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO BLESSED BY A FEMALE FRIENDSHIP. HER CHALLENGING KENJI ABOUT COVERING HER HAIR. HER FLIPPING HIM OFF. HER KINDNESS AND COMPANIONSHIP. I'M UTTERLY DECEASED
-warner and anxiety rep. i like.... it's too soon for me to talk about this seriously but i appreciate it more than words can articulate. my heart actually aches writing this because you can never understand how validating it is for my favorite character to be affected by the same disorder as me. i was floored.
-the diversity and discussion of political/social justice topics was [clap emoji] TOO GOOD. (BUT: *it would be a disservice to not mention that reviewers have pointed out the representation of some newer diverse characters is lacking, particularly how the Argentinian characters don't speak an accurate dialect of Spanish, and how the trans character was first outed so violently by a transphobic character.)
-JULIETTE MOTHERFUCKING FERRARS CAN CHOKE ME I LOVE HER SO MUCH OH MY GOD AN ICON, A QUEEN, A SUPERSTAR, MADAME SUPREME OF MY HEART!!! Her comment to Lena "You can call me supreme commander of North America" ASDFHLJK;DDJD
-james and warner talking to each other ohhhhhh my god
-kenji and warner talking to each other ooohhhhhhh my god
-basically anyone other than juliette having a conversation with warner
-also juliette's conversations with warner
-this discusses insecurity and youth and jealousy and regret and healing and ohijdso;kal;gjfdh IT'S SO GOOD
-WARNER SPEAKING ARABIC AND SPANISH IM....... OK (NO IM NOT)
-warner's inner monologue is......... everything. i mean that both literally because of its weight and meaningfulness, but also his sarcasm is perf
-
-this book takes place in march.... bitch im just sayin they better sort their shit out so i can get a HAPPY warner birthday scene
-warner and kenji talking about girls fiduhljiasdfkjnlkfgsas
-THAT!!!! FRIKIN!!!!! ENDING!!!!!! WHAAAATTTTTT JULIETTE FERRARS DID THAAATTTTTT
i need a nap ok bye
February 2018
Here's the notes I typed up for my second predictions video!
RESTORE ME PREDICTIONS 2
January 2018
So the sampler for Restore Me came out, giving us 31 beautiful pages of content. I filmed a reaction and theories video, but here's my notes about it.
RESTORE ME PREDICTIONS 1
So far, I would rate this five stars if I could. And that's not just because it's a Tahereh Mafi book--trust me, I was worried about this book. But everything so far is done really smartly and anything I'm upset about is almost entirely driven by the fact that it's not matching up with my expectations, which is an entirely unfounded criticism to make, so i'm withholding it and getting over it.
I NEED MOOOOOOOORE!!!!!
April 2017
Well. Here we are again. I missed you, my babies. It's overdue we meet again.
Today I woke up at 10 AM to my friend (hi Olivia) spam texting me my name over and over, and from that moment, I knew. There was Mafi news today. I was thinking maybe a novella. Maybe a rewrite from Warner's POV. Maybe one sequel. But three books added? I didn't hear anything in any of my classes today. I've cried on and off all day. I can't focus on my homework, can't do anything except refresh Twitter. Only five hours after learning the news about the new book, I filmed a reaction and my theories for the sequel, which totaled over an hour of footage.
I've been waiting so long for this. And since i've been so calm throughout the duration of this review, allow me to release my true feelings:
LANJF DKMLWQHJPF 9UWYOE82Y1HUOWJFNWD;LKJ[OEI2UJP982CY1C 070N4 89 YRP928 FEU JWDLJFLDSJHLIUQYNO8713YOR 89PWU0 DHSOUHEIHBLWJKN FLWHYES YES YE SY ESY ESY EYS ESY ESY ESYE SYE SY ESY ESYFHEWUFHIDSJ FOIWJFOEWH OIUYESEEEEESSSS YEEEEESSSSSSSS IM SO HAPPY IM SO HAPPY IM SO RHAPPY HIIM SHAO HPAPYP IOREJF JDLFK DWJOI2JPEIUH2PF9UHRNONFUE20PHF92EHFP9U2JNR3OJFENIUH VYE SU YES AJIEOIJWFLU HAOHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHH <3 <3 <3
April 2019
I reread this to annotate it before Defy Me came out and still loved it. It was difficult to annotate because there's a new POV and new characters who i love a lot, so i definitely had a field day putting hearts in the margins. Also I love juliette ferrars so much. SO MUCH.
March 2019
[READ 5--fourth reread]
i reread this spontaneously in preparation for shadow me and that shit HURTED. im thirty times more confused than i was about this book's ending. but the things i enjoyed most about this reread was seeing warner's self-awareness develop and the distinction between different kinds of power and resilience, specifically how juliette has to compartmentalize and separately hone her physical strength and mental strength. loved it as always even though i'm so confused and stressed i could cry
June 2018
[READ 4--third reread]
I really have no updated review for this other than GODDAMN IT, IT STILL ENDED THE SAME WAY AND I NEED ANSWERS. thanks for attending my tedtalk.
March 2018
[READ 3--second reread]
After reading this for a third time and attending Tahereh's instagram livestream q&a, things just kinda settled into place. There's not much I need to add about how much I adore this story. And I have so much faith that the sad or questionable things that happen in this are meaningful and will be expanded upon in the next books. At this point, yeah it's not gonna be rainbows and butterflies during the year we wait for book 5, but I feel so much more eagerness than terror or dread. This story truly grasped characters I loved and somehow helped them grow yet experience new conflicts that are all realistic and complex and natural. I can't wait to see who narrates the next novella. I can't wait to find out more about her parents.
(btw warnette didn't break up they're both just dramatic as hell so everyone pls rest)
(also t confirmed warner and juliette will survive the series)
(also t is literally a goddess so why ya'll worried she won't do these characters right)
[READ 2--first reread]
UMMMM STILL PERFECT I'M SORRY!!!! I still have some issues mainly dealing with plot hole issues that'll probably get sorted out in later books , but really any previous problems I had with characterization or pacing or descriptions fell away during this reread. Like I expected, the more it sinks in and feels like a real book, the better it gets. At this point, half of my review is just Shatter Me 5 predictions, so i'll try and only give my updated thoughts lmao:
-my new favorite scene in the entire series is drunk juliette scene
-warnette angst in this is sSO OOOO GOOD
-i think the best line to describe this book is that juliette is dealing with "the frustration of having so much power, so much power and feeling so utterly, completely powerless" (420-421). Once you realize that, NOTHING juliette does comes off as whiney.
-honestly unfollow me if you think warnette are whiney and weak in this book. catch me dead not supporting realistic, complex characters who aren't perfect 24/7 and still have two books of growth.
-i don't hate adam. i'm sorry. especially with how his power could save peoples' lives in the next books, and he might save the day.
-kenji is.... everything in this book. the BEST companion for juliette, being there for her and letting her rant and providing comic relief. at the same time, telling warner to get his shit together and being the cheerleader for him that he was for juliette in unravel me. you can see the loyalty and trust developing already and im EMO
-juliette's is so powerful and meaningful and my least favorite thing in books is when people but this book broke that trope and i couldn't be more proud and i'm so happy that she's happy and she feels the best about herself and now i can't believe
-my only complaint about this book is just the awkwardness of presence/consistency. lena is present in the book, but her only role is to be the ex-girlfriend and cause us to stereotypically start hating her, and she outs a trans character and is generally horrible and physically/verbally abusive for no real prevailing reason. the side characters from omega point we've learned to love weren't in the book except for literally like 4 mentions and maybe 2 lines of dialogue. some facts are only present in this book for one or two mentions when they should seemingly be more important, like preparing for important events or some parts, like warner's ring or dick tattoo, weren't even referenced at all like they were heavily in the previous trilogy.
-anyway back to good stuff
-CASTLE'S DEAD SONS /?? ?? ?/ 1! !!! ! !!!
-warnette sex scenes? two thumbs up
-things that will never be the same after this book: haircuts, bob dylan, bourbon, the word 'restore', taking anxiety medicine, the ocean, helicopters, lorde, and anyone named ella.
[READ 1--original review]
i'm gonna disclaim right now that when this arrived on my kindle i had such a horrendous panic attack that I thought I would have to delete my twitter and DNF this. I told my friends to spoil me how this ends because I knew I could never stand it otherwise. and i stand by the fact that i would not have made it through this book without knowing what happens. i was so terrified.
but anyway OH MY GOD
i don't have enough characters left in this review to make a list of all the things i loved. there were imperfect parts, and i was wary that i would have to pretend this never happened, but i can only repeat: OH MY GOD
update: fuck it, i'm gonna make a list.
-NAZEERA COULD CHOKE ME WITH HER BARE HANDS AND I WOULD THANK HER FOR IT. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO BLESSED BY A FEMALE FRIENDSHIP. HER CHALLENGING KENJI ABOUT COVERING HER HAIR. HER FLIPPING HIM OFF. HER KINDNESS AND COMPANIONSHIP. I'M UTTERLY DECEASED
-warner and anxiety rep. i like.... it's too soon for me to talk about this seriously but i appreciate it more than words can articulate. my heart actually aches writing this because you can never understand how validating it is for my favorite character to be affected by the same disorder as me. i was floored.
-the diversity and discussion of political/social justice topics was [clap emoji] TOO GOOD. (BUT: *it would be a disservice to not mention that reviewers have pointed out the representation of some newer diverse characters is lacking, particularly how the Argentinian characters don't speak an accurate dialect of Spanish, and how the trans character was first outed so violently by a transphobic character.)
-JULIETTE MOTHERFUCKING FERRARS CAN CHOKE ME I LOVE HER SO MUCH OH MY GOD AN ICON, A QUEEN, A SUPERSTAR, MADAME SUPREME OF MY HEART!!! Her comment to Lena "You can call me supreme commander of North America" ASDFHLJK;DDJD
-james and warner talking to each other ohhhhhh my god
-kenji and warner talking to each other ooohhhhhhh my god
-basically anyone other than juliette having a conversation with warner
-also juliette's conversations with warner
-this discusses insecurity and youth and jealousy and regret and healing and ohijdso;kal;gjfdh IT'S SO GOOD
-WARNER SPEAKING ARABIC AND SPANISH IM....... OK (NO IM NOT)
-warner's inner monologue is......... everything. i mean that both literally because of its weight and meaningfulness, but also his sarcasm is perf
-
-this book takes place in march.... bitch im just sayin they better sort their shit out so i can get a HAPPY warner birthday scene
-warner and kenji talking about girls fiduhljiasdfkjnlkfgsas
-THAT!!!! FRIKIN!!!!! ENDING!!!!!! WHAAAATTTTTT JULIETTE FERRARS DID THAAATTTTTT
i need a nap ok bye
February 2018
Here's the notes I typed up for my second predictions video!
RESTORE ME PREDICTIONS 2
January 2018
So the sampler for Restore Me came out, giving us 31 beautiful pages of content. I filmed a reaction and theories video, but here's my notes about it.
RESTORE ME PREDICTIONS 1
So far, I would rate this five stars if I could. And that's not just because it's a Tahereh Mafi book--trust me, I was worried about this book. But everything so far is done really smartly and anything I'm upset about is almost entirely driven by the fact that it's not matching up with my expectations, which is an entirely unfounded criticism to make, so i'm withholding it and getting over it.
I NEED MOOOOOOOORE!!!!!
April 2017
Well. Here we are again. I missed you, my babies. It's overdue we meet again.
Today I woke up at 10 AM to my friend (hi Olivia) spam texting me my name over and over, and from that moment, I knew. There was Mafi news today. I was thinking maybe a novella. Maybe a rewrite from Warner's POV. Maybe one sequel. But three books added? I didn't hear anything in any of my classes today. I've cried on and off all day. I can't focus on my homework, can't do anything except refresh Twitter. Only five hours after learning the news about the new book, I filmed a reaction and my theories for the sequel, which totaled over an hour of footage.
I've been waiting so long for this. And since i've been so calm throughout the duration of this review, allow me to release my true feelings:
LANJF DKMLWQHJPF 9UWYOE82Y1HUOWJFNWD;LKJ[OEI2UJP982CY1C 070N4 89 YRP928 FEU JWDLJFLDSJHLIUQYNO8713YOR 89PWU0 DHSOUHEIHBLWJKN FLWHYES YES YE SY ESY ESY EYS ESY ESY ESYE SYE SY ESY ESYFHEWUFHIDSJ FOIWJFOEWH OIUYESEEEEESSSS YEEEEESSSSSSSS IM SO HAPPY IM SO HAPPY IM SO RHAPPY HIIM SHAO HPAPYP IOREJF JDLFK DWJOI2JPEIUH2PF9UHRNONFUE20PHF92EHFP9U2JNR3OJFENIUH VYE SU YES AJIEOIJWFLU HAOHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHH <3 <3 <3
Read
March 20, 2019okay but YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO END IT THAT WAY MISS TAHEREH MAFI! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE FUTURE? I AM CONFUSION... on a more civil note: I liked this! I did feel it needed a bit more.. structure, if that makes sense? I feel like things felt a little all over the place, but I also understand this book was being used to set the ground work for what's to come. ANYWAY THIS REVIEW WASN'T EVEN REALLY A REVIEW BUT MY MESSY THOUGHTS BYE
August 6, 2022
Bruh started this in the morning and finished it at night it was SO GOOD!!!! These books give me the feeling I had in middle school devouring books and I just LOVED THAT FEELING SO MUCH
March 8, 2018
Real rating: 4.5 stars
I loved this book and I'm so happy that I decided to give the second part of this series a chance.
Right from the beginning, the worldbuilding is finally tackled, which I think is was one of the problems that people had with the first three books. I personally didn't find it a big problem in the books because Juliette was the only POV character and what she didn’t know wasn’t for the reader to know. This is made very clear right from the start of Restore Me, and her ignorance about the world and everything she got herself into is a big catalyst to the story.
However, the fact that there’s a lot more worldbuilding doesn’t take away from the very romance-y feel of the first three books. This book is literally packed with romance and it’s the kind of romance (with its ups and downs) that you can expect from an established relationship. It’s about two people who love each other but have gotten together under extreme circumstances and don’t actually know that much about each other, and they need to work towards this.
Despite me not really having reread the first three books recently, I think both Juliette and Warner felt like the same characters, especially Warner. This was great to see because it would have been too easy (and crappy) to have them both be different people just because they’re in a relationship. Also, the book starts only two weeks after the events of Ignite Me, so it’s not like they could have changed that much in that time anyway.
One of things I was most looking forward to in the book was Warner’s POV. After falling in love with him after like, two pages of the novella Destroy Me, his POV was literally what made me want to continue reading the series despite not being sure whether I would still like it. And I’m so happy to say that his POV was probably the best part of this book. His pain and grief as an abuse survivor was something I deeply related to. I can’t comment on the anxiety rep but it felt much-needed and real.
I also liked that Warnette’s relationship wasn’t the only one addressed here. Some of the other old characters aren’t completely forgotten, even though most of them are in the background, with the exception of Kenji, Adam, James and Castle.
I don’t remember much about Castle in the original trilogy to be completely honest but here he was kind of a central character and he acted as sort of an advisor to both Warner and Juliette. He felt like the archetypical mentor figure of YA that I feel has kind of been lost in the past years’ new releases. I liked that he also tried to not completely overstep his boundaries, even though I found he could have tried to help more.
Adam wasn’t very central to the plot at all but I actually loved the few scenes he had (me, loving Adam scenes? Doesn’t seem possible, yet here I am). Some of the shitty things he did in the original trilogy were addressed and I liked how he and Warner finally started to tentatively form a relationship. Also, James keeps being adorable and precious.
I left Kenji for last because he’s just the best supporting character ever. All I remembered from him is that I loved him, and now my love for him has only grown stronger. I love how supportive of Juliette he was, and he finally got some much needed bonding time with Warner. I had to laugh so much at their interactions, even when things were overall dramatic, but he’s just too fun not to love.
There are obviously also a few new side characters, and one of them I loved most of all: Nazeera is my Wife™ and I’m so happy that Juliette finally has a much needed female friendship. Nazeera is just too iconic and I can’t wait to see more of her in the next book.
This is a very character-driven book but it doesn’t lack amazing plot twists. I have to admit I had guessed the ending’s reveal at around the halfway point of the book, but I was still super invested and there was obviously more to the ending than the *reveal*, and I had to jump up and down while reading the last few chapters because y’alL WHAT WAS THAT.
There’s also the fact that I finished this in just a handful of hours on release date despite this being almost 500 pages long and that hasn’t happened in ages. So it’s safe to say that this totally kept me glued to the page and it felt so nice to have that experience again.
I wish I could end my review here but I can’t in good conscience not mention the one problem I had with this book. The next part will be more of a discussion and it got a bit long so you’re free to consider this review finished. Full list of trigger warnings at the end.
*discussion part*
Trigger warning for mention of transphobia in the next paragraphs:
Towards the 90% mark of the ebook (idk what page that is) a trans character is introduced. That’s great, but I found the way the character was introduced super problematic.
I will say I am a cis person and I don’t want to overstep my boundaries, but this book is just too new at the point in which I’m reviewing it and I haven’t been able to find an ownvoices trans reviewer talk about this. If you find one please send it my way.
Anyway, the trans character literally only gets one or two lines of dialogue, and we wouldn’t know that she’s trans unless another side character pointed it out in a transphobic way, saying the trans character, whose name is Valentina, is “playing pretend”. The chapter where this happens is from Warner’s POV, who already knew about the character being a trans woman, but he doesn’t really do anything to defend her. Instead, Valentina has to defend herself, and then the matter is simply pushed aside to continue with the plot.
I personally found this scene very bad for a few reasons:
• the trans character is essentially outed while her twin brother is introducing her to Juliette, who hasn’t met her before
• she’s not only outed, but also all the comments that are made about her are transphobic ones
• Kenji, who has grown up in the world before the Reestablishment took control, acts confused as if he doesn’t understand what’s going on, AKA even after the character is outed he doesn’t seem to understand that she’s a trans woman. I don’t understand the purpose of his line at all.
• I think this is a weird case of “queer people used for furthering a non-queer person’s narrative”, in the sense that the transphobic comments are used in order to convince the reader that the character who’s speaking, who has previously in the book already been coded as being a generally bad person, is, in fact, a bad person. Even in the best case scenario, this is just poor writing, because there were certainly other and better ways to indicate without a doubt that this character is an asshole.
The thing is, this scene isn’t necessarily unrealistic, but I think when writing any kind of queer representation you have to ask yourself, who are you writing this for? The answer should always be that you are writing this for queer people to see themselves represented. This scene didn’t feel at all like it was written for trans people. Especially since the comments weren’t challenged at all, and it was all so sudden and unexpected that there is no way a trans reader would have time to prepare themselves to see the transphobia coming.
As I said, everything I mentioned above are things I think of as bad because if something similar (outing etc) had happened for a rep I’m ownvoices for I would be livid. Since there are no trigger warnings in the book, in this case I’m choosing not to stay in my lane in the hope to spare a trans person some hurt. I will be happy to link to trans reviewers once more people have read the book, but so far I haven’t really seen anything about this.
End of TW for transphobia
Something else I saw on twitter from an Argentinean reader is that the Spanish that Valentina and her brother speak is not actually the kind of Spanish they speak in Argentina.
Both of these issues make it clear that nobody bothered hiring sensitivity readers for both trans and Argentinean representation, and that’s something that especially big publishers keep doing. I think that’s something that more readers should demand because there’s nothing that hurts more than seeing bad rep.
TWs: mention of paste abuse, mention of alcoholism, alcohol abuse, meds abuse, anxiety, panic attack on page, unchallenged transphobic comments
_____
Pre-read:
Me: I don't know are we really sure that expanding this series is necessary
Book: I'm going to have Juliette and Warner's PoV
Me:
I loved this book and I'm so happy that I decided to give the second part of this series a chance.
Right from the beginning, the worldbuilding is finally tackled, which I think is was one of the problems that people had with the first three books. I personally didn't find it a big problem in the books because Juliette was the only POV character and what she didn’t know wasn’t for the reader to know. This is made very clear right from the start of Restore Me, and her ignorance about the world and everything she got herself into is a big catalyst to the story.
However, the fact that there’s a lot more worldbuilding doesn’t take away from the very romance-y feel of the first three books. This book is literally packed with romance and it’s the kind of romance (with its ups and downs) that you can expect from an established relationship. It’s about two people who love each other but have gotten together under extreme circumstances and don’t actually know that much about each other, and they need to work towards this.
Despite me not really having reread the first three books recently, I think both Juliette and Warner felt like the same characters, especially Warner. This was great to see because it would have been too easy (and crappy) to have them both be different people just because they’re in a relationship. Also, the book starts only two weeks after the events of Ignite Me, so it’s not like they could have changed that much in that time anyway.
One of things I was most looking forward to in the book was Warner’s POV. After falling in love with him after like, two pages of the novella Destroy Me, his POV was literally what made me want to continue reading the series despite not being sure whether I would still like it. And I’m so happy to say that his POV was probably the best part of this book. His pain and grief as an abuse survivor was something I deeply related to. I can’t comment on the anxiety rep but it felt much-needed and real.
I also liked that Warnette’s relationship wasn’t the only one addressed here. Some of the other old characters aren’t completely forgotten, even though most of them are in the background, with the exception of Kenji, Adam, James and Castle.
I don’t remember much about Castle in the original trilogy to be completely honest but here he was kind of a central character and he acted as sort of an advisor to both Warner and Juliette. He felt like the archetypical mentor figure of YA that I feel has kind of been lost in the past years’ new releases. I liked that he also tried to not completely overstep his boundaries, even though I found he could have tried to help more.
Adam wasn’t very central to the plot at all but I actually loved the few scenes he had (me, loving Adam scenes? Doesn’t seem possible, yet here I am). Some of the shitty things he did in the original trilogy were addressed and I liked how he and Warner finally started to tentatively form a relationship. Also, James keeps being adorable and precious.
I left Kenji for last because he’s just the best supporting character ever. All I remembered from him is that I loved him, and now my love for him has only grown stronger. I love how supportive of Juliette he was, and he finally got some much needed bonding time with Warner. I had to laugh so much at their interactions, even when things were overall dramatic, but he’s just too fun not to love.
There are obviously also a few new side characters, and one of them I loved most of all: Nazeera is my Wife™ and I’m so happy that Juliette finally has a much needed female friendship. Nazeera is just too iconic and I can’t wait to see more of her in the next book.
This is a very character-driven book but it doesn’t lack amazing plot twists. I have to admit I had guessed the ending’s reveal at around the halfway point of the book, but I was still super invested and there was obviously more to the ending than the *reveal*, and I had to jump up and down while reading the last few chapters because y’alL WHAT WAS THAT.
There’s also the fact that I finished this in just a handful of hours on release date despite this being almost 500 pages long and that hasn’t happened in ages. So it’s safe to say that this totally kept me glued to the page and it felt so nice to have that experience again.
I wish I could end my review here but I can’t in good conscience not mention the one problem I had with this book. The next part will be more of a discussion and it got a bit long so you’re free to consider this review finished. Full list of trigger warnings at the end.
*discussion part*
Trigger warning for mention of transphobia in the next paragraphs:
Towards the 90% mark of the ebook (idk what page that is) a trans character is introduced. That’s great, but I found the way the character was introduced super problematic.
I will say I am a cis person and I don’t want to overstep my boundaries, but this book is just too new at the point in which I’m reviewing it and I haven’t been able to find an ownvoices trans reviewer talk about this. If you find one please send it my way.
Anyway, the trans character literally only gets one or two lines of dialogue, and we wouldn’t know that she’s trans unless another side character pointed it out in a transphobic way, saying the trans character, whose name is Valentina, is “playing pretend”. The chapter where this happens is from Warner’s POV, who already knew about the character being a trans woman, but he doesn’t really do anything to defend her. Instead, Valentina has to defend herself, and then the matter is simply pushed aside to continue with the plot.
I personally found this scene very bad for a few reasons:
• the trans character is essentially outed while her twin brother is introducing her to Juliette, who hasn’t met her before
• she’s not only outed, but also all the comments that are made about her are transphobic ones
• Kenji, who has grown up in the world before the Reestablishment took control, acts confused as if he doesn’t understand what’s going on, AKA even after the character is outed he doesn’t seem to understand that she’s a trans woman. I don’t understand the purpose of his line at all.
• I think this is a weird case of “queer people used for furthering a non-queer person’s narrative”, in the sense that the transphobic comments are used in order to convince the reader that the character who’s speaking, who has previously in the book already been coded as being a generally bad person, is, in fact, a bad person. Even in the best case scenario, this is just poor writing, because there were certainly other and better ways to indicate without a doubt that this character is an asshole.
The thing is, this scene isn’t necessarily unrealistic, but I think when writing any kind of queer representation you have to ask yourself, who are you writing this for? The answer should always be that you are writing this for queer people to see themselves represented. This scene didn’t feel at all like it was written for trans people. Especially since the comments weren’t challenged at all, and it was all so sudden and unexpected that there is no way a trans reader would have time to prepare themselves to see the transphobia coming.
As I said, everything I mentioned above are things I think of as bad because if something similar (outing etc) had happened for a rep I’m ownvoices for I would be livid. Since there are no trigger warnings in the book, in this case I’m choosing not to stay in my lane in the hope to spare a trans person some hurt. I will be happy to link to trans reviewers once more people have read the book, but so far I haven’t really seen anything about this.
End of TW for transphobia
Something else I saw on twitter from an Argentinean reader is that the Spanish that Valentina and her brother speak is not actually the kind of Spanish they speak in Argentina.
Both of these issues make it clear that nobody bothered hiring sensitivity readers for both trans and Argentinean representation, and that’s something that especially big publishers keep doing. I think that’s something that more readers should demand because there’s nothing that hurts more than seeing bad rep.
TWs: mention of paste abuse, mention of alcoholism, alcohol abuse, meds abuse, anxiety, panic attack on page, unchallenged transphobic comments
_____
Pre-read:
Me: I don't know are we really sure that expanding this series is necessary
Book: I'm going to have Juliette and Warner's PoV
Me:
March 12, 2018
I don't know how I'm supposed to react to that ending. To the book as a whole, actually.
I'm just not sure this was what I was expecting. Actually, no. This was definitely not what I was expecting. Despite not being a fan of this series in the beginning, it really started to grow on me as the characters grew and the plot progressed. By the end of the third book, I swear I had to be one of its biggest fans. Beside the obvious reason of my love for the Shatter Me series (Warner in case you're wondering. He is the epitome of BAE), Juliette made this series a stand out as she grew as a person. I mean, she can only improve in everything after that first book, right? Apparently not.
After a while of just sitting here and staring at the wall, I've come to realize that the reason I'm not a fan of Restore Me is because it backpedaled in all the meaningful ways. The strong independent queen that made her presence known in Ignite Me is no where to be found. She is the same insecure petulant little girl that plagued the first book. She's insecure about the way she looks, the way she dresses, the way she talks, her lack of numerous languages spoken, EVEN about her powers!
Which was actually one of my favorite scenes in Ignite me. That moment when she realized she had no reason to be afraid of herself anymore, that she was finally in control of who she was and what she was capable of doing. It's like all her progress flew out the window to make this book longer.
And dear lord, that relationship!?!?!
Talk about sabotage. WHERE ARE YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS?!?!? And honestly I'm rightfully mad because if this had been a constant in their friendship/relationship than it wouldn't have been a shocker. But this lack of communication on the most basic of things was just heartbreaking. Their stand out trait was being able to understand each other, not constantly expect the worst, and share their most intimate thoughts that no one else was privy to but what Mafi did here? I am wholly regretting picking this up for the sole reason of ruining these two characters just to get more page time. Meaningful relationship? Thoughtful conversations?
And Kenji, my dear Kenji. Wherefore art thou Kenji? All he was was an incessant comedic relief. It's like all the strength and resilience he brought to the first few books was no where to be found here. And every other character from the previous books? Who cares!? Cause Mafi sure as hell didn't.
I remember reading a interview of hers a while back, when she first announced she was going to continue the series. She mentioned that when asked questions, she couldn't even remember some of the names. That she had to reread the books to get an idea of everyone. And when diving into Restore Me, that exactly how it felt. Like she wasn't in the same mindset now as when she wrote the previous books. Every single one of them was completely out of tune. Hell if she couldn't remember them, how the heck are they supposed to resemble the characters we've come to know and love?
As for the plot. What a shithole mess. I felt everything was revealed for the shock factor which honestly, didn't shock me at all. It actually did the complete opposite. It felt like a cheap tacky trick. There was this inability to weave the characters and their arcs together to give of an actual semblance of a decent story all leading up to this amateur lackluster end.
I think I'm more than disappointed only because I cared. I wanted this to be as amazing as the rest. Needed it to be. But finding out it was the complete opposite of what I expected... I can't.
_______________________________________
If this is everything I'm hoping for, then this is going to be gold!
April 18, 2019
Enjoyed this, but I feel like it ended mid story. Things were just getting started, so I'm excited to dive into the next one =)
June 27, 2018
By now a few days have passed ever since I finished reading this book, yet my first reaction to “Restore Me” still remains the same.
WHAT THE FREAKING HELL??!!
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??!!
WHAT DID I JUST READ??!!
CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT I JUST READ?!!
And those were only four of the nicer things I thought when I closed the last page of this mind-blowing book! After reading this I’m shook to the core and my feelings are still all over the place! Tahereh Mafi SHATTERED, UNRAVELLED and DESTROYED me with every single line. To read this felt like someone was constantly punching me, hurting my body and my soul!!
Oh god, all those revelations! I can’t even... I’m still thinking about everything that happened in this book, I’m trying to wrap my head around it, I’m trying to understand it, but I just can’t.
This was just too much!!! My brain suffers from an overload of thoughts and feels and I’m desperately trying to recover from all the different blows. They came from every direction and boy did it hurt!! *cries*
TAHEREH HOW DARE YOU TO WRITE SUCH A BOOK AND THEN LET US WAIT FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR?!!!??
I wish I would have never bought this…
I wish I would have never read this…
I wish I wouldn’t have to wait for the next book…
This is pure torture…
“Restore Me”??!! *shakes head*
Are you kidding me Tahereh? You should have named it “Ruin Me”, “Devastate Me” or “Destruct Me”!
Not “Restore Me” why did you name this book like that?!!!
I can’t … I just can’t anymore… *sobs violently*
The plot:
Juliette Ferrars is the new Supreme Commander of America and struggling to maintain a tight grip on her newfound powers and responsibility. There are a lot of things she hasn’t figured out yet and as the days go by she’s trying her best to take one step after the other forcing herself not to crumble under the sheer force of the new role that has been bestowed upon her. Will she be able to deal with the consequences of her actions or will her past cause her to falter?!
The characters:
I’m so going to spoil the hell out of this section because FEELS!!! I can’t keep them in and if you don’t want to be captured in the midst of my raging emotions you better don’t continue to read! You’ve been warned! This is going to be a spoiler FEAST!!!
Juliette:
”I’m not proud that I’ve thought that.
Or that, in the quietest, loneliest hours of the morning I lie awake next to the son Anderson tortured nearly to death and wish that Anderson would return from the dead and take back the burden I stole from his shoulders.”
Where did the brave Juliette from “Ignite Me” go? I mean yeah, I knew she wouldn’t change overnight and that all her actions of the first three books would have some serious consequences, for some reason I really hoped that by now she would have developed more self-confidence though. I mean I get it! There’s a lot of responsibility on her shoulders and all those revelations were hitting her relentlessly, but despite all that some part of me still expected her to be stronger. She’s so powerful, why should she ever be afraid?! Plus even a blind person could see that Warner loves her more than anything else! How can she be so oblivious?! And that moment when she got drunk and shaved her head? This was such a 2007 Britney Spears move. I can understand why she was angry at Warner, I don’t get why she had to push him away so thoroughly though. It’s not like he knew the entire truth. I don’t like what happened to my independent and kick-ass Juliette from “Ignite Me” and I really hope that she’ll regain some of her self-assurance in the next book. Plus can we please talk about the fact that she killed an entire room full of people?! With nothing more than a scream?!! WTF?!!! O_o There’s a lot of explaining to do!!
”She steps forward. She looks suddenly terrifying. There’s a fire in her eyes. A murderous stillness in her movements. “If I ever catch you putting your hands on him again, I will tear open your chest,” she says, “and rip out your heart.”
”Getting angry and going to war, I understand. But patiently playing a confusing game of chess with a bunch of stranger from around the world?
God, I’d so much rather shoot someone.”
”Right now I can see her, this other version of myself, I can see her dragging her dirty fingernails against the chambers of my heart, drawing blood. And if I could reach inside myself and rip her out of me with my own two hands, I would.”
”I’m trying to come to terms with the fact that nothing is going to be the same for me, not ever again, and I have no idea who to trust or how to move forward. So yeah,” I say, nearly shouting the words, “right now I don’t care about anything. Because I don’t know what I’m fighting for anymore. And I don’t know who my friends are. Right now,” I say, “everyone is my enemy, including you.”
Warner:
”I feel old and unsettled, my heart and mind at war.”
My precious boy, my awesomeness on two legs!! Gosh, I love him so much!!! <333 He’s still my no.1 book husband (with Will of course!!!) and I couldn’t get enough of him! I loved that he had his own POV but his thoughts were so damn sad. I just wanted to hug him and tell him that he’s awesome and important and that he has a freaking damn right to grief!!!! Yes, I know everyone hated his father and Warner was certainly no exception to that rule, but this awful tyrant was still his father! No matter how much he hurt him and tortured him, no matter what he did to him, he was still his father and such bonds are hard to break. I hated that he was so alone in his grief and that no one except of Adam seemed to see and to understand it. Adam of all people! And Juliette! Girl, give that boy a break!!! I mean how much time passed after “Ignite Me”? Two weeks? How was Warner supposed to teach her everything he knew in two weeks? I mean it took him his entire life to master and understand the Reestablishment. And he didn’t even know the entire truth!!! He just wanted to protect Juliette, why is that so wrong?! My poor, poor baby!!! Warner didn’t deserve any of the shit he got in this book and I really hope Tahereh isn’t going to hurt him even more!! And what’s with that last Warner chapter?! An empty journal?!! AN EMPTY JOURNAL, TAHEREH???!!! If you put Warner into an asylum cell I’m going to RIOT!!! I’ll freaking riot!!! If he’s even more tortured and abused I’m going to die!!! Really!!! So you better don’t do anything mean to him!! AN EMPTY JOURNAL!!! *has a mental breakdown*
”And it is this, my unrequited affection for my father, that has always been my greatest weakness. So I lie here, marinating in a sorrow I can never speak of, while regret consumes my heart.”
”I have a great fear of drowning in the ocean of my own silence. In the steady thrum that accompanies quiet, my mind is unkind to me. I think too much. I feel, perhaps, far more than I should. It would be only a slight exaggeration to say that my goal in life is to outrun my mind, my memories.
So I have to keep moving.”
“I’m strangled into speechlessness, numb in my bones. I feel nothing but an immense, impossible pressure breaking apart my body. I fall backward, hard. My head is against the wall. I try to calm myself, calm my breathing. I try to be rational.”
”I’ve been undone by emotion, over and over. It was emotion that prompted me to take any job – at any cost – to be near to my mother. It was emotion that led me to find Juliette, to seek her out in search of a cure for my mother. It was emotion that prompted me to fall in love, to get shot and lose my mind, to become a broken boy all over again – one who’d fall to his knees and beg his worthless, monstrous father to spare the girl he loved. It was emotion, my flimsy emotions that cost me everything.
I have no peace. No purpose.
How I wish I’d ripped out this heart from my chest long ago.”
Kenji:
”I mean, I know she’s probably a sociopath. And, like, would definitely murder me in my sleep. But damn she’s, wow,” he says. “She’s, like, batshit pretty. The kind of pretty that makes a man think getting murdered in his sleep might not be a bad way to go.”
I still love and adore Kenji!!! He’s such an awesome best friend and he always brings some fun into the book. I swear if it wouldn’t have been for Kenji this entire book would have been a brooding feast, so thank you Tahereh for inventing that boy!!! *lol* The only thing I’m still missing is a Kenji POV so maybe we’ll finally get that in the next book? XD Ohh, I’d dig a Kenji POV so much!!! Haha! And since my wishes for a girlfriend/love interest were obviously heard the last time this wish might come true as well, right? XD *making huge puppy eyes*
Nazeera & Haider:
I still don’t know what to think about those two. Apparently Nazeera was a close friend of Juliette when they were kids and Haider seems to like Warner a lot, so I’m pretty certain there’ll be a lot of interesting revelations in the next book. Despite the general air of hostility I liked both of their characters though. I mean Nazeera is a strong female character and I always dig them and Haider … Well we didn’t get to see a lot of him but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had some abilities too. ;-P Plus Nazeera and Kenji!!! GOSH! That would be a match made in heaven!!! <333
Castle:
WHO. ARE. YOU?! This Castle was so completely different to the Castle we got to know in the earlier books! Where did all this information come from? How did he know about all the things not even Warner knew about?! Why did he know that Juliette’s parents are still alive? Does he work for them? Is he related to Juliette?! Where is the connection? I don’t get anything anymore. Up until now Castle was always some sort of gentle guide who gave good advice but took a back seat when things got too intense. Not now! Now he was smack in the middle and seemed to know more than anyone else! I have so many questions my head is spinning!!! And I demand answers in the next book!!! I want to know who he is!!!
Adam:
”I was an asshole. I took everything out on her. Blamed her for everything. For walking away from what I thought was one of the few sure things in my life. It’s my own fault, really. My own baggage. I’ve still got a lot of shit to work out,” he says finally. “I’ve got issues with people leaving me behind.”
THIS!!! It took 3 books to finally get this statement out of his mouth but it eventually happened!!!! OMG!!! I never thought I’d live to see the day when Kent admits that he was wrong!!! Ohh that was balm for my soul! XD Thank you Tahereh! I needed to read this so badly! If you think I’ll forgive Kent for everything he did you’re wrong though. I’ll tolerate him from now on, but the things he said to Juliette and Warner… Nope he’ll never be redeemed for that! Sorry! #SorryNotSorry
The friendships & ships:
Juliette & Kenji:
I slap his hand away. “I may not know much about being a supreme commander yet, but I do know that I’m not supposed to be cute.”
Just then, the elevator dings open.
“Who says you can’t be cute and kick ass at the same time?” Kenji winks at me. “I do it every day.”
I still love their friendship! They are so adorable together and they act like siblings would do! *lol* I love that Kenji always tries to help Juliette and that deep down he’s more than just a little protective of her. Not that he’d show it, but it’s obvious whenever they interact with each other. XD Plus I’m glad that there’s at least one person Juliette can trust completely. Kenji would never lie to her and that’s good the way it is! =))
Warner & Kenji:
I smile, big. Lightbulb bright.
Kenji’s eyes widen, surprised, and he laughs. He nods at my face and says, “Aw, you’ve got dimples. I didn’t know that. That’s cute.”
I. SHIP. IT!!! Haha! I know Tahereh might have never intended her fans to ship Kenji and Warner but how couldn’t you?! *lol* Once they actually started to talk and stopped to be so hostile towards each other they were damn freaking cute! XD I loved their honest conversations and it made me happy that Kenji was able to make Warner smile! I mean he made him smile!!! That’s such an accomplishment! *lol* So yeah, I totally dig them! Sorry Tahereh! I can’t help it! ;-P
”I don’t really know man,” Kenji says, and sighs. “I think, this time, you just have to deal with the consequences of your own stupidity.”
I look away, bite back a laugh, and nod several times as I say, “Go to hell, Kishimoto.”
“I’m right behind you, bro.” He winks at me. Just once. And disappears.
Juliette & Warner:
”I miss you,” she says. It’s a whisper I almost don’t catch.
“I’m right here,” I say, gently touching her cheek. “I’m right here, love.”
But she shakes her head. Even as I pull her closer, even as she falls back asleep, she shakes her head.
MY SHIP HAS SUNK!!! *sobs* WHY TAHEREH??!!! Why did you have to do this? This was so damn painful to read!! I mean I understand that both of them had a lot of baggage and that they couldn’t change the way they are, but this?! WHY? So much heartbreak and pain on both of their sides!!! I just wanted them to be happy, to overcome their pain together, but nothing of that happened. Instead they drifted apart and didn’t talk to each other!! What happened to their mutual, strong, respectful and understanding relationship?! I can’t even put into words how much this killed me! You better set this right in the next book! They are my OTP!!! They need to be happy together!!! AND WHAT THE FREAKING HELL WAS THIS LAST CHAPTER?!!! Are you telling me that Warner and Juliette already loved each other when they were children?! That they played together and liked each other?!!! OMG!!! This ending really messed with my mind! I NEED BOOK 5! NOW!!! *faints*
”You will be made to feel lonely. Lost. You will long for validation from those you once admired, agonizing between pleasing old friends and doing what is right.” I look up. I feel my heart swell with pride as I stare at her. “But you must never, ever let the idiots into your head. They will only lead you astray.”
”Haider looks Juliette up and down then, examining her outfit, her hair, her plain, worn tennis shoes; and though he says nothing, I can feel his disapproval, his scepticism and ultimately – his disappointment in her.
It makes me want to throw him in the ocean.”
”Love.
It hits me with a painful force, the reminder. Of just how much I love her. God, I love all of her. Her impossibilities, her exasperations. I love how gentle she is with me when we’re alone. How soft and kind she can be in our quiet moments. How she never hesitates to defend me.
I love her.”
”This, I think, is the way to die.
I could drown in this moment and I’d never regret it. I could catch fire from this kiss and happily turn to ash. I could live here, die here, right here, against his hips, his lips. In the emotion in his eyes as he sinks into me, his heartbeats indistinguishable from mine.
This. Forever. This.“
”It’s a picture of a little boy standing next to a little girl. She’s sitting in a stairwell. He looks at her as she eats a piece of cake.
I flip it over.
Aaron and Ella"
All told, there was a lot about “Restore Me” that I loved, but also so much I hated. I’m really conflicted now and I don’t know if I loved or if I hated the book. After reading the ending I had to supress the sudden urge to throw it against a wall, but I also wanted to cradle it and cry my heart out. Ahhh I just don’t know how to feel about his book. I’m drowning in my emotions here. >_<
All I know is that I’m devastated and that I want to read “Shatter Me 5” asap! Shatter Me 5… there isn’t even a title yet. URGH!!! *dies*
WHAT THE FREAKING HELL??!!
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??!!
WHAT DID I JUST READ??!!
CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT I JUST READ?!!
And those were only four of the nicer things I thought when I closed the last page of this mind-blowing book! After reading this I’m shook to the core and my feelings are still all over the place! Tahereh Mafi SHATTERED, UNRAVELLED and DESTROYED me with every single line. To read this felt like someone was constantly punching me, hurting my body and my soul!!
Oh god, all those revelations! I can’t even... I’m still thinking about everything that happened in this book, I’m trying to wrap my head around it, I’m trying to understand it, but I just can’t.
This was just too much!!! My brain suffers from an overload of thoughts and feels and I’m desperately trying to recover from all the different blows. They came from every direction and boy did it hurt!! *cries*
TAHEREH HOW DARE YOU TO WRITE SUCH A BOOK AND THEN LET US WAIT FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR?!!!??
I wish I would have never bought this…
I wish I would have never read this…
I wish I wouldn’t have to wait for the next book…
This is pure torture…
“Restore Me”??!! *shakes head*
Are you kidding me Tahereh? You should have named it “Ruin Me”, “Devastate Me” or “Destruct Me”!
Not “Restore Me” why did you name this book like that?!!!
I can’t … I just can’t anymore… *sobs violently*
The plot:
Juliette Ferrars is the new Supreme Commander of America and struggling to maintain a tight grip on her newfound powers and responsibility. There are a lot of things she hasn’t figured out yet and as the days go by she’s trying her best to take one step after the other forcing herself not to crumble under the sheer force of the new role that has been bestowed upon her. Will she be able to deal with the consequences of her actions or will her past cause her to falter?!
The characters:
I’m so going to spoil the hell out of this section because FEELS!!! I can’t keep them in and if you don’t want to be captured in the midst of my raging emotions you better don’t continue to read! You’ve been warned! This is going to be a spoiler FEAST!!!
Juliette:
”I’m not proud that I’ve thought that.
Or that, in the quietest, loneliest hours of the morning I lie awake next to the son Anderson tortured nearly to death and wish that Anderson would return from the dead and take back the burden I stole from his shoulders.”
Where did the brave Juliette from “Ignite Me” go? I mean yeah, I knew she wouldn’t change overnight and that all her actions of the first three books would have some serious consequences, for some reason I really hoped that by now she would have developed more self-confidence though. I mean I get it! There’s a lot of responsibility on her shoulders and all those revelations were hitting her relentlessly, but despite all that some part of me still expected her to be stronger. She’s so powerful, why should she ever be afraid?! Plus even a blind person could see that Warner loves her more than anything else! How can she be so oblivious?! And that moment when she got drunk and shaved her head? This was such a 2007 Britney Spears move. I can understand why she was angry at Warner, I don’t get why she had to push him away so thoroughly though. It’s not like he knew the entire truth. I don’t like what happened to my independent and kick-ass Juliette from “Ignite Me” and I really hope that she’ll regain some of her self-assurance in the next book. Plus can we please talk about the fact that she killed an entire room full of people?! With nothing more than a scream?!! WTF?!!! O_o There’s a lot of explaining to do!!
”She steps forward. She looks suddenly terrifying. There’s a fire in her eyes. A murderous stillness in her movements. “If I ever catch you putting your hands on him again, I will tear open your chest,” she says, “and rip out your heart.”
”Getting angry and going to war, I understand. But patiently playing a confusing game of chess with a bunch of stranger from around the world?
God, I’d so much rather shoot someone.”
”Right now I can see her, this other version of myself, I can see her dragging her dirty fingernails against the chambers of my heart, drawing blood. And if I could reach inside myself and rip her out of me with my own two hands, I would.”
”I’m trying to come to terms with the fact that nothing is going to be the same for me, not ever again, and I have no idea who to trust or how to move forward. So yeah,” I say, nearly shouting the words, “right now I don’t care about anything. Because I don’t know what I’m fighting for anymore. And I don’t know who my friends are. Right now,” I say, “everyone is my enemy, including you.”
Warner:
”I feel old and unsettled, my heart and mind at war.”
My precious boy, my awesomeness on two legs!! Gosh, I love him so much!!! <333 He’s still my no.1 book husband (with Will of course!!!) and I couldn’t get enough of him! I loved that he had his own POV but his thoughts were so damn sad. I just wanted to hug him and tell him that he’s awesome and important and that he has a freaking damn right to grief!!!! Yes, I know everyone hated his father and Warner was certainly no exception to that rule, but this awful tyrant was still his father! No matter how much he hurt him and tortured him, no matter what he did to him, he was still his father and such bonds are hard to break. I hated that he was so alone in his grief and that no one except of Adam seemed to see and to understand it. Adam of all people! And Juliette! Girl, give that boy a break!!! I mean how much time passed after “Ignite Me”? Two weeks? How was Warner supposed to teach her everything he knew in two weeks? I mean it took him his entire life to master and understand the Reestablishment. And he didn’t even know the entire truth!!! He just wanted to protect Juliette, why is that so wrong?! My poor, poor baby!!! Warner didn’t deserve any of the shit he got in this book and I really hope Tahereh isn’t going to hurt him even more!! And what’s with that last Warner chapter?! An empty journal?!! AN EMPTY JOURNAL, TAHEREH???!!! If you put Warner into an asylum cell I’m going to RIOT!!! I’ll freaking riot!!! If he’s even more tortured and abused I’m going to die!!! Really!!! So you better don’t do anything mean to him!! AN EMPTY JOURNAL!!! *has a mental breakdown*
”And it is this, my unrequited affection for my father, that has always been my greatest weakness. So I lie here, marinating in a sorrow I can never speak of, while regret consumes my heart.”
”I have a great fear of drowning in the ocean of my own silence. In the steady thrum that accompanies quiet, my mind is unkind to me. I think too much. I feel, perhaps, far more than I should. It would be only a slight exaggeration to say that my goal in life is to outrun my mind, my memories.
So I have to keep moving.”
“I’m strangled into speechlessness, numb in my bones. I feel nothing but an immense, impossible pressure breaking apart my body. I fall backward, hard. My head is against the wall. I try to calm myself, calm my breathing. I try to be rational.”
”I’ve been undone by emotion, over and over. It was emotion that prompted me to take any job – at any cost – to be near to my mother. It was emotion that led me to find Juliette, to seek her out in search of a cure for my mother. It was emotion that prompted me to fall in love, to get shot and lose my mind, to become a broken boy all over again – one who’d fall to his knees and beg his worthless, monstrous father to spare the girl he loved. It was emotion, my flimsy emotions that cost me everything.
I have no peace. No purpose.
How I wish I’d ripped out this heart from my chest long ago.”
Kenji:
”I mean, I know she’s probably a sociopath. And, like, would definitely murder me in my sleep. But damn she’s, wow,” he says. “She’s, like, batshit pretty. The kind of pretty that makes a man think getting murdered in his sleep might not be a bad way to go.”
I still love and adore Kenji!!! He’s such an awesome best friend and he always brings some fun into the book. I swear if it wouldn’t have been for Kenji this entire book would have been a brooding feast, so thank you Tahereh for inventing that boy!!! *lol* The only thing I’m still missing is a Kenji POV so maybe we’ll finally get that in the next book? XD Ohh, I’d dig a Kenji POV so much!!! Haha! And since my wishes for a girlfriend/love interest were obviously heard the last time this wish might come true as well, right? XD *making huge puppy eyes*
Nazeera & Haider:
I still don’t know what to think about those two. Apparently Nazeera was a close friend of Juliette when they were kids and Haider seems to like Warner a lot, so I’m pretty certain there’ll be a lot of interesting revelations in the next book. Despite the general air of hostility I liked both of their characters though. I mean Nazeera is a strong female character and I always dig them and Haider … Well we didn’t get to see a lot of him but I wouldn’t be surprised if he had some abilities too. ;-P Plus Nazeera and Kenji!!! GOSH! That would be a match made in heaven!!! <333
Castle:
WHO. ARE. YOU?! This Castle was so completely different to the Castle we got to know in the earlier books! Where did all this information come from? How did he know about all the things not even Warner knew about?! Why did he know that Juliette’s parents are still alive? Does he work for them? Is he related to Juliette?! Where is the connection? I don’t get anything anymore. Up until now Castle was always some sort of gentle guide who gave good advice but took a back seat when things got too intense. Not now! Now he was smack in the middle and seemed to know more than anyone else! I have so many questions my head is spinning!!! And I demand answers in the next book!!! I want to know who he is!!!
Adam:
”I was an asshole. I took everything out on her. Blamed her for everything. For walking away from what I thought was one of the few sure things in my life. It’s my own fault, really. My own baggage. I’ve still got a lot of shit to work out,” he says finally. “I’ve got issues with people leaving me behind.”
THIS!!! It took 3 books to finally get this statement out of his mouth but it eventually happened!!!! OMG!!! I never thought I’d live to see the day when Kent admits that he was wrong!!! Ohh that was balm for my soul! XD Thank you Tahereh! I needed to read this so badly! If you think I’ll forgive Kent for everything he did you’re wrong though. I’ll tolerate him from now on, but the things he said to Juliette and Warner… Nope he’ll never be redeemed for that! Sorry! #SorryNotSorry
The friendships & ships:
Juliette & Kenji:
I slap his hand away. “I may not know much about being a supreme commander yet, but I do know that I’m not supposed to be cute.”
Just then, the elevator dings open.
“Who says you can’t be cute and kick ass at the same time?” Kenji winks at me. “I do it every day.”
I still love their friendship! They are so adorable together and they act like siblings would do! *lol* I love that Kenji always tries to help Juliette and that deep down he’s more than just a little protective of her. Not that he’d show it, but it’s obvious whenever they interact with each other. XD Plus I’m glad that there’s at least one person Juliette can trust completely. Kenji would never lie to her and that’s good the way it is! =))
Warner & Kenji:
I smile, big. Lightbulb bright.
Kenji’s eyes widen, surprised, and he laughs. He nods at my face and says, “Aw, you’ve got dimples. I didn’t know that. That’s cute.”
I. SHIP. IT!!! Haha! I know Tahereh might have never intended her fans to ship Kenji and Warner but how couldn’t you?! *lol* Once they actually started to talk and stopped to be so hostile towards each other they were damn freaking cute! XD I loved their honest conversations and it made me happy that Kenji was able to make Warner smile! I mean he made him smile!!! That’s such an accomplishment! *lol* So yeah, I totally dig them! Sorry Tahereh! I can’t help it! ;-P
”I don’t really know man,” Kenji says, and sighs. “I think, this time, you just have to deal with the consequences of your own stupidity.”
I look away, bite back a laugh, and nod several times as I say, “Go to hell, Kishimoto.”
“I’m right behind you, bro.” He winks at me. Just once. And disappears.
Juliette & Warner:
”I miss you,” she says. It’s a whisper I almost don’t catch.
“I’m right here,” I say, gently touching her cheek. “I’m right here, love.”
But she shakes her head. Even as I pull her closer, even as she falls back asleep, she shakes her head.
MY SHIP HAS SUNK!!! *sobs* WHY TAHEREH??!!! Why did you have to do this? This was so damn painful to read!! I mean I understand that both of them had a lot of baggage and that they couldn’t change the way they are, but this?! WHY? So much heartbreak and pain on both of their sides!!! I just wanted them to be happy, to overcome their pain together, but nothing of that happened. Instead they drifted apart and didn’t talk to each other!! What happened to their mutual, strong, respectful and understanding relationship?! I can’t even put into words how much this killed me! You better set this right in the next book! They are my OTP!!! They need to be happy together!!! AND WHAT THE FREAKING HELL WAS THIS LAST CHAPTER?!!! Are you telling me that Warner and Juliette already loved each other when they were children?! That they played together and liked each other?!!! OMG!!! This ending really messed with my mind! I NEED BOOK 5! NOW!!! *faints*
”You will be made to feel lonely. Lost. You will long for validation from those you once admired, agonizing between pleasing old friends and doing what is right.” I look up. I feel my heart swell with pride as I stare at her. “But you must never, ever let the idiots into your head. They will only lead you astray.”
”Haider looks Juliette up and down then, examining her outfit, her hair, her plain, worn tennis shoes; and though he says nothing, I can feel his disapproval, his scepticism and ultimately – his disappointment in her.
It makes me want to throw him in the ocean.”
”Love.
It hits me with a painful force, the reminder. Of just how much I love her. God, I love all of her. Her impossibilities, her exasperations. I love how gentle she is with me when we’re alone. How soft and kind she can be in our quiet moments. How she never hesitates to defend me.
I love her.”
”This, I think, is the way to die.
I could drown in this moment and I’d never regret it. I could catch fire from this kiss and happily turn to ash. I could live here, die here, right here, against his hips, his lips. In the emotion in his eyes as he sinks into me, his heartbeats indistinguishable from mine.
This. Forever. This.“
”It’s a picture of a little boy standing next to a little girl. She’s sitting in a stairwell. He looks at her as she eats a piece of cake.
I flip it over.
Aaron and Ella"
All told, there was a lot about “Restore Me” that I loved, but also so much I hated. I’m really conflicted now and I don’t know if I loved or if I hated the book. After reading the ending I had to supress the sudden urge to throw it against a wall, but I also wanted to cradle it and cry my heart out. Ahhh I just don’t know how to feel about his book. I’m drowning in my emotions here. >_<
All I know is that I’m devastated and that I want to read “Shatter Me 5” asap! Shatter Me 5… there isn’t even a title yet. URGH!!! *dies*
August 22, 2023
This book was wilddddd! Especially the ending. Just when I was wondering, 'is there going to be enough plot to fill the rest of the books in this series 🤔', Tahereh Mafi hit us with SO MANY crazy reveals and plot twists. So many unexpected plot points that my little brain could've never imagined.
I have a feeling I will be DEVOURING the rest of the series.
I have a feeling I will be DEVOURING the rest of the series.
April 12, 2018
I missed this characters.
BUT SHIT JUST GOT REAL OMG.
BUT SHIT JUST GOT REAL OMG.
April 6, 2023
someone tell me I'm close to being done pls
February 11, 2024
2.5 stars ✨
After Ignite Me, this was a big let down. The whole vibe and dynamic of this book was dull and boring. The fault is mine partly, as I had high expectations.
Firstly, Juliette did not fit into her new role. She was and remains a naive girl who doesn't even understand what questions to ask or simply ask for help. She frustrated me so much in this book. As a leading figure, I expected her to at least be a little sharper and someone who would be learning but nothing happens. All she did was whine, panic, cry and had no desire to fix issues. She is a runner, running from problems. And don't even get me started on her actions towards the end. Like wtf 👁️👄👁️
Aaron and Kenji tried to save this book but even with them, I appreciated Kenji more. I liked learning about his past, his banter with Nazeera was interesting and of course I loved the humor. Aaron, my love, I felt sorry for him. He was going through stuff and even though he admitted and took accountability of his past, I felt sorry for the way he was treated at the end. Nazeera was interesting, but due to a poorly written book, I don't really have much of an opinion on her. The whole friendship thing happened too soon and suspiciously.
Aaron and Juliette together? Were boring here. Also, all they needed to do was COMMUNICATE!!! But of course it didn't happen. I found myself missing Adam and his issues. And I'll say something controversial here, Lena brought in some life to this book and fire to Aaron and Juliette's issues- I actually liked the drama. There. I said it.
The whole thing with the sister? Meh. Wasn't really needed but I'll go along with it. The end reveal? Predictable, saw it coming miles ago (which Tanu can attest to 😂).
Anyhoo, I need a break from this series for a short while. Thank you Tanu for buddy reading with me, had a great time ☺💗
After Ignite Me, this was a big let down. The whole vibe and dynamic of this book was dull and boring. The fault is mine partly, as I had high expectations.
Firstly, Juliette did not fit into her new role. She was and remains a naive girl who doesn't even understand what questions to ask or simply ask for help. She frustrated me so much in this book. As a leading figure, I expected her to at least be a little sharper and someone who would be learning but nothing happens. All she did was whine, panic, cry and had no desire to fix issues. She is a runner, running from problems. And don't even get me started on her actions towards the end. Like wtf 👁️👄👁️
Aaron and Kenji tried to save this book but even with them, I appreciated Kenji more. I liked learning about his past, his banter with Nazeera was interesting and of course I loved the humor. Aaron, my love, I felt sorry for him. He was going through stuff and even though he admitted and took accountability of his past, I felt sorry for the way he was treated at the end. Nazeera was interesting, but due to a poorly written book, I don't really have much of an opinion on her. The whole friendship thing happened too soon and suspiciously.
Aaron and Juliette together? Were boring here. Also, all they needed to do was COMMUNICATE!!! But of course it didn't happen. I found myself missing Adam and his issues. And I'll say something controversial here, Lena brought in some life to this book and fire to Aaron and Juliette's issues- I actually liked the drama. There. I said it.
The whole thing with the sister? Meh. Wasn't really needed but I'll go along with it. The end reveal? Predictable, saw it coming miles ago (which Tanu can attest to 😂).
Anyhoo, I need a break from this series for a short while. Thank you Tanu for buddy reading with me, had a great time ☺💗
March 10, 2019
"How did I think people ruled the world? Did I really imagine it would be so simple? That I might control the fabric of society from the comfort of my boyfriend's bedroom?"
1) Shatter me ★★★★☆
2) Unravel me ★★★★★
3) Ignite me ★★★★★
This was painful and perfect at the same time and I think Tahereh did the right thing by adding new books to the original trilogy. With just one book she gave the story, the world and the characters so much more depth!
I mean, Ignite me is one of my all time favorite books but - like 99% of its readers - right after finishing it I was full of questions and doubts like how could a 17 years old who's been kept in an asylum rule North America?
How will the rest of the world react to her revolution?
So that's it? No more world-building?
Where the fuck are Juliette's parents?
So we're never gonna know Kenji's backstory?
Do I really have to go on a fanfiction quest to read more Warnette scenes?
And guess what, Tahereh answered all of these questions and gave us more Warnette, bless her soul
But hey, it was painful to read sometimes, way too painful Tahereh don't you dare rob me of my Warnette (and Kenji) happy ending!
And don't go into Restore me expecting a lot of fighting and action because you're going to be disappointed. Restore me, like the rest of the series, is a character driven book and yes, there's some action (the ending omg) but it's mostly politics and characters trying to fight their own demons and finding their happiness.
1) Shatter me ★★★★☆
2) Unravel me ★★★★★
3) Ignite me ★★★★★
This was painful and perfect at the same time and I think Tahereh did the right thing by adding new books to the original trilogy. With just one book she gave the story, the world and the characters so much more depth!
I mean, Ignite me is one of my all time favorite books but - like 99% of its readers - right after finishing it I was full of questions and doubts like how could a 17 years old who's been kept in an asylum rule North America?
How will the rest of the world react to her revolution?
So that's it? No more world-building?
Where the fuck are Juliette's parents?
So we're never gonna know Kenji's backstory?
Do I really have to go on a fanfiction quest to read more Warnette scenes?
And guess what, Tahereh answered all of these questions and gave us more Warnette, bless her soul
But hey, it was painful to read sometimes, way too painful Tahereh don't you dare rob me of my Warnette (and Kenji) happy ending!
And don't go into Restore me expecting a lot of fighting and action because you're going to be disappointed. Restore me, like the rest of the series, is a character driven book and yes, there's some action (the ending omg) but it's mostly politics and characters trying to fight their own demons and finding their happiness.
Read
April 26, 2017SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY. ALL OF IT!!!!
February 12, 2024
”idiots are highly flammable, love.
let them all burn in hell.”
firstly, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ENDING?? i’m literally shook rn lmaoo.
— i did not love this book compared to ignite me. this story was slow and pretty boring right up to the last 20% and the plot was lacking, but still let me say all the secrets and lies in this book had me gripped!!
THE MISCOMMUNICATION IN THIS BOOK HURTS, IT LITERALLY STRESSED ME TF OUT. literally all the conflicts in this book was from miscommunication or from the lack of communication, it was infuriating.
idk what happened to the confident and strong juliette i grew to love—her character development completely backtracked in this book and i was so disappointed!!
juliette, has just become supreme commander despite knowing nothing abt politics, she is clueless on what to do with all this given power and keeps doubting her ability to rule her nation. she appears to be more insecure in this story and would make dumb decisions but i support women’s wrongs <33
“if i ever catch you putting your hands on him again, i will tear open your chest and rip out your heart.”
this was so hot of her
— as always i loved kenji. i love how he is the supportive friend to juliette, their scenes always made me laugh.
i love how he and warner bonded—they both made an effort to get along for juliette, and their scenes did not disappoint. it shows just how much they both care for her.
and his love interest nazeera, I AM SO HERE FOR IT. she is a bad bitch and i would die for her!!
”who says you can’t be cute and kick ass at the same time?” kenji winks at me. “i do it every day.”
— warner, the loml. we see warner at his most vulnerable. we finally got warner’s POV and it was KILLING me. i love how he addresses his anxiety and panic attacks in this story. we get to see a bit of his past and my god did he have a traumatising childhood, it’s so sad, give this man a break and a big hug pls.
but let’s talk about how he literally ate a cookie with a knife and fork…TRULY psycho of him but i still love him 💗💓💕
— warner’s love for juliette is so DISGUSTINGLY CUTE; he is without a doubt juliette’s #1 fan—just want someone to love me the way warner loves juliette, he was living in constant agony over her.
”i wonder if she knows that i will do anything for her.”
April 26, 2019
"I cannot let the broken girl inside of me inhale all that I've become. I cannot revert back to another version of myself. I will not shatter, not again, in the wake of an emotional earthquake."
NoNoNoNONO that can't be it, I need more.
SOMEONE GIVE ME THE NEXT BOOK RIGHT NOW.
Finally I'm back in this world. I have been waiting for this moment since this book was announced. I was really excited to see how Tahereh Mafi would continue this series after the ending of Ignite Me and this book definitely took the turn I was expecting when I first read the blurb.
I was ecstatic about the fact that I would see Warner, Juliette, and Kenji after so long but believe me when I say that this book in no way portrays even a relatively easy life for these characters. I definitely feel like this book has a darker feel to it compared to any of the 3 previous books. In the first 3 books, we see Juliette struggle with her powers and she is relatively new to the uprising but now that she has control over her powers it was interesting to see if her character arcs in the book.
Juliette has taken over as Supreme Commander of the 45 Sector and the job is nothing like she expected or wanted. I have never really been a fan of Juliette's personality but I continue to enjoy reading from her perspective alongside Warner's. We also see some of the entries in Juliette's diary when she was at the asylum and the entries allow us to see her darker more vengeful side but also how helpless and trapped she felt in her own life.
After reading this book it became very clear to why this book can be considered a part of the second trilogy in the series and not a direct extension of the first. The first 3 books clearly share the same kind of ambiance but this book definitely branches off to another part of their lives and has a different air surrounding it. I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait for the next two.
The characters have grown a lot since the last book, Juliette definitely among them, and a few more deadly secrets are revealed. This book introduces a new direction for the series while still maintaining the integrity of the previous books. There are a few explosions and power outbreaks, if you can call it that, and the relationship between different characters changes, grows, or develops.
In this fourth installment loyalties will be questioned and trust is broken. Our characters will experience pain like they never have before. I can’t wait to see where these characters are headed, given the eye opening ending, and I think there is nothing more to do then hope for the best and hope or hearts are not torn out of our chests.
NoNoNoNONO that can't be it, I need more.
SOMEONE GIVE ME THE NEXT BOOK RIGHT NOW.
Finally I'm back in this world. I have been waiting for this moment since this book was announced. I was really excited to see how Tahereh Mafi would continue this series after the ending of Ignite Me and this book definitely took the turn I was expecting when I first read the blurb.
I was ecstatic about the fact that I would see Warner, Juliette, and Kenji after so long but believe me when I say that this book in no way portrays even a relatively easy life for these characters. I definitely feel like this book has a darker feel to it compared to any of the 3 previous books. In the first 3 books, we see Juliette struggle with her powers and she is relatively new to the uprising but now that she has control over her powers it was interesting to see if her character arcs in the book.
Juliette has taken over as Supreme Commander of the 45 Sector and the job is nothing like she expected or wanted. I have never really been a fan of Juliette's personality but I continue to enjoy reading from her perspective alongside Warner's. We also see some of the entries in Juliette's diary when she was at the asylum and the entries allow us to see her darker more vengeful side but also how helpless and trapped she felt in her own life.
After reading this book it became very clear to why this book can be considered a part of the second trilogy in the series and not a direct extension of the first. The first 3 books clearly share the same kind of ambiance but this book definitely branches off to another part of their lives and has a different air surrounding it. I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait for the next two.
The characters have grown a lot since the last book, Juliette definitely among them, and a few more deadly secrets are revealed. This book introduces a new direction for the series while still maintaining the integrity of the previous books. There are a few explosions and power outbreaks, if you can call it that, and the relationship between different characters changes, grows, or develops.
In this fourth installment loyalties will be questioned and trust is broken. Our characters will experience pain like they never have before. I can’t wait to see where these characters are headed, given the eye opening ending, and I think there is nothing more to do then hope for the best and hope or hearts are not torn out of our chests.
August 29, 2020
Yeah I read this book like super freaking fast!
I wish I could give this book a million stars ✨ , because 5 is not enough.
This book just fucked with my mind in the best and worst way possible.
I’m happy about it, don’t get me wrong, but also pissed 😤 you know?
The story keeps getting better and better and crazier then ever.
So much happened that I had at least 5 heart-attacks.
I’m absolutely more in love with this series then I was before. I’m so excited and sad at the same time for the sequel, because it will be more close to the end and because of the ending of this book (like what that hell was that?), but I also need more of this beautiful, breathtaking story and freaking bloody answers.
I had thought about what happen being possible but I didn’t thought IT WAS ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!!!!!
Give me the next book right this fucking minute.
I’M LOST IN FEELINGS THAT I DON’T LIKE!!!!!!!!!
But this book was fucking awesome😎 but WTF?
What that hell was that ending?
I adore literally everything that happened, even though it was shit (good and bad shit).
But like, we don’t have a release date for the next book, which means NO FUCKING ANSWERS UNTIL THEN. And how I am supposed to want to live after this end? Like NOOOO!.!.!
GIVE ME THE SEQUEL RIGHT NOW.
[image error]
WTF HAPPEN IN THIS BOOK?
I wish I could give this book a million stars ✨ , because 5 is not enough.
This book just fucked with my mind in the best and worst way possible.
I’m happy about it, don’t get me wrong, but also pissed 😤 you know?
The story keeps getting better and better and crazier then ever.
So much happened that I had at least 5 heart-attacks.
I’m absolutely more in love with this series then I was before. I’m so excited and sad at the same time for the sequel, because it will be more close to the end and because of the ending of this book (like what that hell was that?), but I also need more of this beautiful, breathtaking story and freaking bloody answers.
I had thought about what happen being possible but I didn’t thought IT WAS ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!!!!!
Give me the next book right this fucking minute.
I’M LOST IN FEELINGS THAT I DON’T LIKE!!!!!!!!!
But this book was fucking awesome😎 but WTF?
What that hell was that ending?
I adore literally everything that happened, even though it was shit (good and bad shit).
But like, we don’t have a release date for the next book, which means NO FUCKING ANSWERS UNTIL THEN. And how I am supposed to want to live after this end? Like NOOOO!.!.!
GIVE ME THE SEQUEL RIGHT NOW.
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March 15, 2018
ill just die (this book ended the entire YA genre but yah)
full thoughts:
people are idiots, love. their opinions are worthless.
i wasn’t going to a write anything out here but seeing as people are [warner voice] idiots i feel something should be said.
it’s so clear when people give this book a low rating that they truly never understood what these books were about and don’t understand...idk...how character development works...how relationship development works. people wanted a book where warner and juliette just have sex all the time and juliette conveniently rules an entire nation no problems 100% their childhood traumas completely forgotten and everything is happy and peaceful.
because that’s how real life works, right.
these books are a commentary on our world NOW. despite it being dystopian fiction, the book takes on issues that are central to our current political climate. there’s discussion of gun violence, racism, misogyny, transphobia, etc etc which is SO IMPORTANT because this universe is supposed to be in a bleak future, but it parallels to our world (at the very least, the US) now.
what else, it takes on character and relationship development realistically. juliette and warner have spent their entire lives mostly isolated, abused, hated, misunderstood. warner has never had the ability to talk about his feelings, and he instead has bottled everything in and internalized his pain. so of course there’s going to be miscommunication issues. he doesn’t know how to talk about his grief over his own abusive father in fear of juliette being repulsed. juliette is a 17 year old girl who has been locked up and is now taking on a country, you think she’s going to be all strong and powerful and fun all the time? not likely. she’s frustrated and understandably so. she feels dumb and naive and inferior to everyone around her, especially the boy she loves who was built for this job. people in love go through hurdles, that’s just how it is. especially two teenagers that have never had real relationships before? if you can’t handle that, go read fanfiction because there’s tons out there of them cuddling in bed instead of taking on their problems.
the especially frustrating thing to me is people calling warner and juliette whiny. warner is more developed and shaped to us than ever but people wanted him to be this macho brooding bad boy instead of a hurting person. it hurts for me personally that his anxiety is a “turnoff” for readers, that he isn’t considered strong because he has it. it was so important to me that one of my all time favorite characters has anxiety like me. it made me connect to him in a way i hadn’t before, and it made me feel less inferior because of my anxiety. it was especially interesting to me that a male lead character has anxiety, something i never see in YA fiction. people consider anxiety a “woman’s mental illness” which is far from true, and i’m so happy tahereh wrote it the way she did. if you find warner whiny after this book, i suggest searching internally on why you can’t handle male characters/love interests with mental illness. and that being said, juliette is called whiny every book she expresses her feelings. she was considered whiny in book 1 because she was locked up and sad and depressed, she was considered whiny in book 2 for the same reasons, now she’s considered whiny because she’s confused and her world has been turned upside down, and she reacted naturally to it.
if you wanted a happy ending with no realistic turmoil, you shouldn’t have picked up a book in what you know is going to be a trilogy where development takes place. if you wanted a series where the characters have sex all the time, remain static, have no problems at all there’s dozens of sarah j maas books that exist and i hear she’s publishing a novella that has a lengthy wall sex scene because...idk y’all are weird as fuck
tahereh mafi is an amazing author who takes risks and does what the story needs. she develops flawed characters and a flawed reality and is going to make an even stronger second trilogy than the first. this book deserves 10/5 stars tysm
(wrote this in 3 minutes so sorry it doesn’t make sense but all the 1, 2, 3 star reviews also don’t make any sense so hmmm we’re equal)
full thoughts:
people are idiots, love. their opinions are worthless.
i wasn’t going to a write anything out here but seeing as people are [warner voice] idiots i feel something should be said.
it’s so clear when people give this book a low rating that they truly never understood what these books were about and don’t understand...idk...how character development works...how relationship development works. people wanted a book where warner and juliette just have sex all the time and juliette conveniently rules an entire nation no problems 100% their childhood traumas completely forgotten and everything is happy and peaceful.
because that’s how real life works, right.
these books are a commentary on our world NOW. despite it being dystopian fiction, the book takes on issues that are central to our current political climate. there’s discussion of gun violence, racism, misogyny, transphobia, etc etc which is SO IMPORTANT because this universe is supposed to be in a bleak future, but it parallels to our world (at the very least, the US) now.
what else, it takes on character and relationship development realistically. juliette and warner have spent their entire lives mostly isolated, abused, hated, misunderstood. warner has never had the ability to talk about his feelings, and he instead has bottled everything in and internalized his pain. so of course there’s going to be miscommunication issues. he doesn’t know how to talk about his grief over his own abusive father in fear of juliette being repulsed. juliette is a 17 year old girl who has been locked up and is now taking on a country, you think she’s going to be all strong and powerful and fun all the time? not likely. she’s frustrated and understandably so. she feels dumb and naive and inferior to everyone around her, especially the boy she loves who was built for this job. people in love go through hurdles, that’s just how it is. especially two teenagers that have never had real relationships before? if you can’t handle that, go read fanfiction because there’s tons out there of them cuddling in bed instead of taking on their problems.
the especially frustrating thing to me is people calling warner and juliette whiny. warner is more developed and shaped to us than ever but people wanted him to be this macho brooding bad boy instead of a hurting person. it hurts for me personally that his anxiety is a “turnoff” for readers, that he isn’t considered strong because he has it. it was so important to me that one of my all time favorite characters has anxiety like me. it made me connect to him in a way i hadn’t before, and it made me feel less inferior because of my anxiety. it was especially interesting to me that a male lead character has anxiety, something i never see in YA fiction. people consider anxiety a “woman’s mental illness” which is far from true, and i’m so happy tahereh wrote it the way she did. if you find warner whiny after this book, i suggest searching internally on why you can’t handle male characters/love interests with mental illness. and that being said, juliette is called whiny every book she expresses her feelings. she was considered whiny in book 1 because she was locked up and sad and depressed, she was considered whiny in book 2 for the same reasons, now she’s considered whiny because she’s confused and her world has been turned upside down, and she reacted naturally to it.
if you wanted a happy ending with no realistic turmoil, you shouldn’t have picked up a book in what you know is going to be a trilogy where development takes place. if you wanted a series where the characters have sex all the time, remain static, have no problems at all there’s dozens of sarah j maas books that exist and i hear she’s publishing a novella that has a lengthy wall sex scene because...idk y’all are weird as fuck
tahereh mafi is an amazing author who takes risks and does what the story needs. she develops flawed characters and a flawed reality and is going to make an even stronger second trilogy than the first. this book deserves 10/5 stars tysm
(wrote this in 3 minutes so sorry it doesn’t make sense but all the 1, 2, 3 star reviews also don’t make any sense so hmmm we’re equal)
September 18, 2021
Why Restore Me is Unrecyclable Trash Reason #1: Juliette is stunningly, magnificently incompetent at her job
The ending of Ignite Me is shit, alright? Juliette becomes Supreme Commander of an entire country in the name of “feminism” DESPITE her having received no proper education or training. Restore Me simply highlights how terrible that decision was.
I mean, look at this crap:
Juliette is boggled out of her tiny mind that Warner can speak seven languages, even though it should be common sense given that he was the commander's son. At one point, she wistfully wishes Anderson, the evil dictator she killed, were alive so he could take governance off her hands. Oh, she also calls him talented.
The scenario reminds me of my experience with Wandavision. Everyone was sobbing their eyes out and bumping Wanda up to their favorite Avenger, while I had no sympathy for her at all. She held an entire town hostage and forced its residents to relive her nightmares nightly. All the good characters talk about how hard Wanda had it and how her actions are understandable—indirectly telling the audience to sympathize with Wanda. In the end, when normalcy is restored, the townspeople see Wanda off with unforgiving eyes and the special agent says to Wanda, "They will never know what you sacrificed for them." As if Wanda, not the poor people she terrorized, is the victim here.
Maybe some people sympathize with Juliette. I imagine that must be the case, given how astounding popular this series is. She's a teenager with great potential struggling to do her best. On a certain level, I sympathize with her. But my sympathy does not stretch beyond my concern for the populace. I sure as fuck wouldn't want Juliette as my president. I wouldn't trust her to run a bake sale, let alone the shattered remains of a dictatorship. It's lunacy to parade placing an incompetent woman in a position of power as feminism.
Why Restore Me is Unrecyclable Trash Reason #2: The Soap Opera Continues
In the original trilogy, we found out Warner and Adam are brothers. Now we discover Juliette’s parents weren’t her real parents and her real ones might still be alive. And she has an older sister??
Why Restore Me is Unrecyclable Trash Reason #3: There is No Plot
Half the book is Juliette finding out she is shit at her job. Then two people show up from another country, Juliette gets shot (don't worry, it has very little impact on anything), she finds out secrets about her past, and for the grand finale,
Why Restore Me is Unrecyclable Trash Reason #4: Juliette and Warner's Romance is Bullshit
That quote seems pretty self-explanatory. They are the classic YA power couple: soulmates despite minimum interaction.
I maintain that Warner is an abusive fuck, but even if we ignore that, these hormonal teenagers know next to nothing about each other.
The thing is, she whines that Warner and Castle are keeping secrets from her, but the instant she finds out any type of impactful information (like Warner's ex), she has a mental breakdown. Kinda hard to blame them for hiding things.
Juliette and Warner's sex scenes are nauseatingly perfect too. There are common descriptions of heated skin to keep it age-appropriate. I actually wonder if they break into fever every time they fuck. And, of course, they orgasm together in perfect symphony.
Why Restore Me is Unrecyclable Trash Reason #5: Juliette's Thick-Ass Plot Armor
You can rest assured nothing bad will ever happen to Juliette. Her plot armor is so thick, it'd stop a dozen machetes. She’s never seriously injured and everyone kisses up to her. She never suffers consequences in her personal relationships due to her actions. It’s always the other person's fault and they’re always, ALWAYS, panting to make it up to her.
Even when Juliette force Kenji and Warner to spend time together. Even when she makes Kenji wait two hours for her because she was fucking her boyfriend. She prettily apologizes, they forgive her, and the world moves on, orbiting Juliette, the center of the universe.
My review of Shatter Me
My review of Destroy Me
My review of Unravel Me
My review of Fracture Me
My review of Ignite Me
The ending of Ignite Me is shit, alright? Juliette becomes Supreme Commander of an entire country in the name of “feminism” DESPITE her having received no proper education or training. Restore Me simply highlights how terrible that decision was.
I mean, look at this crap:
“Why did I think I’d be capable of running a entire continent? How did I allow myself to imagine that a supernatural ability to kill things with my skin would suddenly grant me a comprehensive understanding of political science?”
"I did not think it would be easy to be a leader exactly, but I do think I thought it would be easier than this"
“What do you mean, my quarters? I have quarters?”
Juliette is boggled out of her tiny mind that Warner can speak seven languages, even though it should be common sense given that he was the commander's son. At one point, she wistfully wishes Anderson, the evil dictator she killed, were alive so he could take governance off her hands. Oh, she also calls him talented.
The scenario reminds me of my experience with Wandavision. Everyone was sobbing their eyes out and bumping Wanda up to their favorite Avenger, while I had no sympathy for her at all. She held an entire town hostage and forced its residents to relive her nightmares nightly. All the good characters talk about how hard Wanda had it and how her actions are understandable—indirectly telling the audience to sympathize with Wanda. In the end, when normalcy is restored, the townspeople see Wanda off with unforgiving eyes and the special agent says to Wanda, "They will never know what you sacrificed for them." As if Wanda, not the poor people she terrorized, is the victim here.
Maybe some people sympathize with Juliette. I imagine that must be the case, given how astounding popular this series is. She's a teenager with great potential struggling to do her best. On a certain level, I sympathize with her. But my sympathy does not stretch beyond my concern for the populace. I sure as fuck wouldn't want Juliette as my president. I wouldn't trust her to run a bake sale, let alone the shattered remains of a dictatorship. It's lunacy to parade placing an incompetent woman in a position of power as feminism.
Why Restore Me is Unrecyclable Trash Reason #2: The Soap Opera Continues
In the original trilogy, we found out Warner and Adam are brothers. Now we discover Juliette’s parents weren’t her real parents and her real ones might still be alive. And she has an older sister??
Why Restore Me is Unrecyclable Trash Reason #3: There is No Plot
Half the book is Juliette finding out she is shit at her job. Then two people show up from another country, Juliette gets shot (don't worry, it has very little impact on anything), she finds out secrets about her past, and for the grand finale,
Why Restore Me is Unrecyclable Trash Reason #4: Juliette and Warner's Romance is Bullshit
“If Juliette has been supreme commander for seventeen days now, she and I have only been in a relationship for two days longer than that."
That quote seems pretty self-explanatory. They are the classic YA power couple: soulmates despite minimum interaction.
I maintain that Warner is an abusive fuck, but even if we ignore that, these hormonal teenagers know next to nothing about each other.
"I know he loves me--I can feel, in our every interaction, how deeply he cares for me--but even so, he's only ever offered me the vaguest information about his life."
The thing is, she whines that Warner and Castle are keeping secrets from her, but the instant she finds out any type of impactful information (like Warner's ex), she has a mental breakdown. Kinda hard to blame them for hiding things.
Juliette and Warner's sex scenes are nauseatingly perfect too. There are common descriptions of heated skin to keep it age-appropriate. I actually wonder if they break into fever every time they fuck. And, of course, they orgasm together in perfect symphony.
Why Restore Me is Unrecyclable Trash Reason #5: Juliette's Thick-Ass Plot Armor
You can rest assured nothing bad will ever happen to Juliette. Her plot armor is so thick, it'd stop a dozen machetes. She’s never seriously injured and everyone kisses up to her. She never suffers consequences in her personal relationships due to her actions. It’s always the other person's fault and they’re always, ALWAYS, panting to make it up to her.
Even when Juliette force Kenji and Warner to spend time together. Even when she makes Kenji wait two hours for her because she was fucking her boyfriend. She prettily apologizes, they forgive her, and the world moves on, orbiting Juliette, the center of the universe.
My review of Shatter Me
My review of Destroy Me
My review of Unravel Me
My review of Fracture Me
My review of Ignite Me
June 28, 2023
the way aaron warner had a panic attack when juliette broke up with him. I love my men who are utterly pathetic and desperate 🤭
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2018
Full review HERE!
Here’s a list of things you will NOT expect from Restore Me:
-Any of the plot twists, seriously, not one
-Having your chest ripped open while Tahereh Mafi stands over you manually pumping your heart for you and letting you know that at a moments notice she can ruin your life and end you
Because she really did just do that, she really left us with one of the most devastating cliffhanger I’ve ever read. Tahereh, also said she didn’t think this book ended on a sad note and I want to know WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF SAD?! BECAUSE I MEAN I’M BARELY BREATHING OVER HERE.
SON OF A CLIFF HANGER.
SON OF A FUCKING CLIFF HANGER.
Tahereh, when I said pls don’t break my heart I also meant pls don’t shatter it into a million pieces and leave me lost, nervous, and confused FOR A YEAR. Who told you you could toy with my emotions like that, leave me hanging like that, RUIN MY LIFE LIKE THAT?!
Goodbye everyone. It was nice knowing you all.
Blog | Twitter | Instagram
Here’s a list of things you will NOT expect from Restore Me:
-Any of the plot twists, seriously, not one
-Having your chest ripped open while Tahereh Mafi stands over you manually pumping your heart for you and letting you know that at a moments notice she can ruin your life and end you
Because she really did just do that, she really left us with one of the most devastating cliffhanger I’ve ever read. Tahereh, also said she didn’t think this book ended on a sad note and I want to know WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF SAD?! BECAUSE I MEAN I’M BARELY BREATHING OVER HERE.
SON OF A CLIFF HANGER.
SON OF A FUCKING CLIFF HANGER.
Tahereh, when I said pls don’t break my heart I also meant pls don’t shatter it into a million pieces and leave me lost, nervous, and confused FOR A YEAR. Who told you you could toy with my emotions like that, leave me hanging like that, RUIN MY LIFE LIKE THAT?!
Goodbye everyone. It was nice knowing you all.
Blog | Twitter | Instagram
March 13, 2018
“I love that the girl who blushes so easily in my arms is the same one who would kill a man for hurting me.”
I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. Wow! This book left me speechless. Now I'm staring at the wall of my bedroom and keep thinking that I really want to unread Restore Me so bad. I want to do whatever that must be done to bring back the moment before I picked up the book and I'd tell myself to never read this. EVER.
Don't get me wrong. For the most part of it, I really enjoyed how Warner and Juliette deal with their relationships or their problems. Even though I thought they weren't talk to each other that much , kind of miscommunication, I still swooned over when they had relations, yep, that kind of relations on bed.
“Idiots are highly flammable, love. Let them all burn in hell.”
I'm unsure whether I liked Restore Me or hated it even more because when I was halfway through, I almost had a heart attack for that scene. But when I finished it, I wholeheartedly wanted to throw it at the wall and burn it down and ease my memory so that this still was a trilogy that I was absolutely into it.
However, lifes go on and Tahereh Mafi has so many things to tell. The main characters I know all grow up and the worldbuildiing seems so much clearer regarding a lot of explannation and the world expansion beyond the only continent we saw in the first trilogy.
“People are idiots, love. Their opinions are worthless.”
Talking about Warner, he's still swoonworthy but somehow his personalities are a bit off this time. Just OFF. I don't know how I can put them into words except the feeling in my heart that pointed out this wasn't the old Warner that I got to know. And I nearly despised him for his misleading behavior. I wish he ended up like Adam for real. It'd be better for Juliette if she just looked for another man who didn't keep many secrets from her.
“I cannot let the broken girl inside of me inhale all that I've become. I cannot revert back to another version of myself. I will not shatter, not again, in the wake of an emotional earthquake.”
Juliette, my poor girl. She's come such a long way and the past doesn't let her go easily. My sympathy for this character is palpable, trust me. I'm so pround of the way she overcome her fear in Ignite Me and kill those people without any regrets. Yet when it comes to Restore Me, she's going back to the same old Juliette we know in Shatter Me. Her insecurity, her fear drive her to the breaking point that makes her do terrible things. VERY VERY terrible things. But I couldn't even blame her for that.
And I must compliment the author as she can weave words into something more, something valuable having a huge impact on my heart. She's very talanted. So creative. A real artist who has abilities to tell such an outstanding story from just a basic idea about the dystopian world. She expands her world so beautifully, so thoroughly and I was in awe that all of those questions in the first trilogy were answered one by one in this book.
Were you happy
Were you sad
Were you scared
Were you mad
the first time you screamed?
Were you fighting for your life your decency your dignity your humanity
Unfortunately, there're many things that I don't like in Restore Me. And if you want to go on, I must warn you that it might contain some major spoilers of the book, and I bet you don't want me to spoil your mood, right ?
So, this ends up like the I-loved-this-book-but-I-cannot-give-it-more-than-three-star review as I did once to another book that I can't remember.
Anyhow, Mafi's word choices and how she convey the messages did something to me that no author could. I loved it. And now I'm waiting for this year to pass and another book to come.
April 16, 2020
1.) Shatter Me ★★★★
*.) Destroy Me ★★★★
2.) Unravel Me ★★★★.5
*.) Fracture Me ★★★
3.) Ignite Me ★★★★★
4.) Restore Me ★★★★
*.) Shadow Me ★★★
5.) Defy Me ★★★.5
*.) Reveal Me ★★★
6.) Imagine Me ★★
-----------------------------------------------
“Those who do not understand you... will always doubt you.”
representation: characters of colour (Japanese, Black, Iraqi (own voices, I believe), Kenyan, Argentinian & Russian characters), gay side characters, Hijabi side character (own voices), trans side character, anxiety and depression rep.
[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]
★★★★
SPOILERY THOUGHTS
- kenji is literally so funny
- the sexual chemistry/tension between juliette and warner is still on point wow
- omg when they talk about how the world went to shit (and is still going to shit let's be real), it really hit home coz that's what's happening right now
---"But I worry because I know too well that nothing can be done to fix this world if we spend the next several decades at war within it."
"The world I remember was tired and racist and volatile as hell, ripe for a hostile takeover by a shit regime. We were already divided. The conquering was easy."---
- the discussion on warner and adam grieving their asshole father, even tho he was the worst
---"But the fire of true hatred, I realise, cannot exist without the oxygen of affection. I would not hurt so much, or hate so much, if I did not care."---
- how much i related to so many quotes in regards to my anxiety and past agoraphobia was...wow
---"In the steady thrum that accompanies quiet, my mind is unkind to me. I think too much. I feel, perhaps, far more than I should. It would only be a slight exaggeration to say that my goal in life is to outrun my mind."
“I hate how easily I fade in and out of confidence, how I waver between who I was and who I could be. My past still clings to me, skeleton hands holding me back even as I push forward into the light.”
"It's a strange thing, to never know peace. To know that no matter where you go, there is no sanctuary. That the threat of pain is always a whisper away. I'm not safe locked into these 4 walls, I was never safe leaving my house, and I couldn't even feel safe in the 14 years I lived at home." (this quote REALLY hit me)---
- how supportive warner is of juliette and never underestimates her and knows her worth... wow, we stan a supportive bf
- NAZEERA. I LOVE HER. When she said "Men... are always so baffled by womens clothing. So many opinions about a body that does not belong to them." i FELT THAT
- the iconic scene where juliette gets drunk and shaves her head... STILL ICONIC.
- Lena can choke.
- the fact that castle had children... ow
- we learn how TRULY fucked up warner's and juliette's pasts are... wtf is wrong with people
i truly get more and more out of this series the more i reread them. tahereh is an actual genius.
trigger warnings: grief, racism (in the past), death of loved ones (past and present), mentions of gun violence, parental abuse (in the past), description of a panic attack, mentions of depression, suicidal thoughts & self-harm, alcohol, transphobia, suicide ideation.
*.) Destroy Me ★★★★
2.) Unravel Me ★★★★.5
*.) Fracture Me ★★★
3.) Ignite Me ★★★★★
4.) Restore Me ★★★★
*.) Shadow Me ★★★
5.) Defy Me ★★★.5
*.) Reveal Me ★★★
6.) Imagine Me ★★
-----------------------------------------------
“Those who do not understand you... will always doubt you.”
representation: characters of colour (Japanese, Black, Iraqi (own voices, I believe), Kenyan, Argentinian & Russian characters), gay side characters, Hijabi side character (own voices), trans side character, anxiety and depression rep.
[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]
★★★★
SPOILERY THOUGHTS
- kenji is literally so funny
- the sexual chemistry/tension between juliette and warner is still on point wow
- omg when they talk about how the world went to shit (and is still going to shit let's be real), it really hit home coz that's what's happening right now
---"But I worry because I know too well that nothing can be done to fix this world if we spend the next several decades at war within it."
"The world I remember was tired and racist and volatile as hell, ripe for a hostile takeover by a shit regime. We were already divided. The conquering was easy."---
- the discussion on warner and adam grieving their asshole father, even tho he was the worst
---"But the fire of true hatred, I realise, cannot exist without the oxygen of affection. I would not hurt so much, or hate so much, if I did not care."---
- how much i related to so many quotes in regards to my anxiety and past agoraphobia was...wow
---"In the steady thrum that accompanies quiet, my mind is unkind to me. I think too much. I feel, perhaps, far more than I should. It would only be a slight exaggeration to say that my goal in life is to outrun my mind."
“I hate how easily I fade in and out of confidence, how I waver between who I was and who I could be. My past still clings to me, skeleton hands holding me back even as I push forward into the light.”
"It's a strange thing, to never know peace. To know that no matter where you go, there is no sanctuary. That the threat of pain is always a whisper away. I'm not safe locked into these 4 walls, I was never safe leaving my house, and I couldn't even feel safe in the 14 years I lived at home." (this quote REALLY hit me)---
- how supportive warner is of juliette and never underestimates her and knows her worth... wow, we stan a supportive bf
- NAZEERA. I LOVE HER. When she said "Men... are always so baffled by womens clothing. So many opinions about a body that does not belong to them." i FELT THAT
- the iconic scene where juliette gets drunk and shaves her head... STILL ICONIC.
- Lena can choke.
- the fact that castle had children... ow
- we learn how TRULY fucked up warner's and juliette's pasts are... wtf is wrong with people
i truly get more and more out of this series the more i reread them. tahereh is an actual genius.
trigger warnings: grief, racism (in the past), death of loved ones (past and present), mentions of gun violence, parental abuse (in the past), description of a panic attack, mentions of depression, suicidal thoughts & self-harm, alcohol, transphobia, suicide ideation.
May 22, 2019
This review and other non-spoilery reviews can be found @The Book Prescription
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
“Idiots are highly flammable, love. Let them all burn in hell.”
Let's be honest, Restore me by itself is NOT a bad book, Restore me as book 4 in a series is bad!
I say this with a broken heart as I always recommend this series when I am asked about good series and 2 things account for this: The poetic writing style and the character development which is one of the best I have ever read!
I wasn't very happy with Ignite me ending as I wanted more, and the story had more potential for sure which left me reeling with excitement when I saw that we're getting an extension!
I know that Tahereh listened to the fans when she added Warner POV, more Kenji and less poetic writing!
That may not seem bad, right?
It actually is because she had destroyed the whole development that she spent 3 books working on, Juliette is annoying and childish as in book. Warner is not Warner, I think she flipped the whole character to make him softer, once again, not good!
And what about the other secondary characters?! You can't just ignore all of them and mention only glimpses of them...
Even Kenji, one of my all time favorite characters had a little change, the character was a bit off and I can say that because he was so relatable :/ But I still like him and the 2 stars are for him!
The story could have started with the last scene in this book... I don't know what to say.
I only hope that book 5 is better.
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
“Idiots are highly flammable, love. Let them all burn in hell.”
Let's be honest, Restore me by itself is NOT a bad book, Restore me as book 4 in a series is bad!
I say this with a broken heart as I always recommend this series when I am asked about good series and 2 things account for this: The poetic writing style and the character development which is one of the best I have ever read!
I wasn't very happy with Ignite me ending as I wanted more, and the story had more potential for sure which left me reeling with excitement when I saw that we're getting an extension!
I know that Tahereh listened to the fans when she added Warner POV, more Kenji and less poetic writing!
That may not seem bad, right?
It actually is because she had destroyed the whole development that she spent 3 books working on, Juliette is annoying and childish as in book. Warner is not Warner, I think she flipped the whole character to make him softer, once again, not good!
And what about the other secondary characters?! You can't just ignore all of them and mention only glimpses of them...
Even Kenji, one of my all time favorite characters had a little change, the character was a bit off and I can say that because he was so relatable :/ But I still like him and the 2 stars are for him!
The story could have started with the last scene in this book... I don't know what to say.
I only hope that book 5 is better.
September 19, 2019
5 THE PAST WILL NOT FORGET ME ★'s
“I cannot let the broken girl inside of me inhale all that I've become. I cannot revert back to another version of myself. I will not shatter, not again, in the wake of an emotional earthquake.”
“The destruction of the world didn’t happen overnight, and neither will saving it.”
Holy. Fucking. Shit. That was insane! I can't even begin to process what the hell I'm feeling, because there are way, way, way, to many emotions going through me at the moment. My mind is reeling at everything that has just conspired. My strongest emotion throughout reading 'Restore Me' was a deep sadness. Heartache. It was like having a bowling ball sitting on my chest the whole time and I couldn't breathe. It put tears in my eyes in the second chapter...THE SECOND DAMN CHAPTER!!! Witch is in Warner's POV. So now you understand exactly how long I've had this weight on my chest and it's still there. You won't just cry, you will also laugh and smile and swoon (Over Warner). 'Restore Me' was so unbelievably unbearably wonderfully Painful! My heart broke piece by piece until finally, what was left of it just shattered and I don't know how to put it back together. I am equal parts happy and pissed off, but in a good way, if that makes any sense. I devoured this in ONE day! It was so captivating, it had me at the edge of my seat. The world, the plot, the writing and the characters are everything. The best way to describe what happens is this- One bad thing happens after another, revelation after revelation, about the Reestablishment, things about Juliette and Warner's past. I'm still in shock after that ending!! I have no idea how in the hell Tahereh Mafi expects us to wait a WHOLE YEAR to read the next book. When I'm already dying to know what happens! This wait is gonna be the death of me :(
“This, I think, is the way to die.
I could drown in this moment and I’d never regret it. I could catch fire from this kiss and happily turn to ash. I could live here, die here, right here, against his hips, his lips. In the emotion in his eyes as he sinks into me, his heartbeats indistinguishable from mine.
This. Forever. This.”
“It hits me with a painful force, the reminder. Of just how much I love her. God, I love all of her. Her impossibilities, her exasperations. I love how gentle she is with me when we’re alone. How soft and kind she can be in our quiet moments. How she never hesitates to defend me.
I love her.”
*Omg! That cover is absolutely freaking stunning!!!*
“I cannot let the broken girl inside of me inhale all that I've become. I cannot revert back to another version of myself. I will not shatter, not again, in the wake of an emotional earthquake.”
“The destruction of the world didn’t happen overnight, and neither will saving it.”
Holy. Fucking. Shit. That was insane! I can't even begin to process what the hell I'm feeling, because there are way, way, way, to many emotions going through me at the moment. My mind is reeling at everything that has just conspired. My strongest emotion throughout reading 'Restore Me' was a deep sadness. Heartache. It was like having a bowling ball sitting on my chest the whole time and I couldn't breathe. It put tears in my eyes in the second chapter...THE SECOND DAMN CHAPTER!!! Witch is in Warner's POV. So now you understand exactly how long I've had this weight on my chest and it's still there. You won't just cry, you will also laugh and smile and swoon (Over Warner). 'Restore Me' was so unbelievably unbearably wonderfully Painful! My heart broke piece by piece until finally, what was left of it just shattered and I don't know how to put it back together. I am equal parts happy and pissed off, but in a good way, if that makes any sense. I devoured this in ONE day! It was so captivating, it had me at the edge of my seat. The world, the plot, the writing and the characters are everything. The best way to describe what happens is this- One bad thing happens after another, revelation after revelation, about the Reestablishment, things about Juliette and Warner's past. I'm still in shock after that ending!! I have no idea how in the hell Tahereh Mafi expects us to wait a WHOLE YEAR to read the next book. When I'm already dying to know what happens! This wait is gonna be the death of me :(
“This, I think, is the way to die.
I could drown in this moment and I’d never regret it. I could catch fire from this kiss and happily turn to ash. I could live here, die here, right here, against his hips, his lips. In the emotion in his eyes as he sinks into me, his heartbeats indistinguishable from mine.
This. Forever. This.”
“It hits me with a painful force, the reminder. Of just how much I love her. God, I love all of her. Her impossibilities, her exasperations. I love how gentle she is with me when we’re alone. How soft and kind she can be in our quiet moments. How she never hesitates to defend me.
I love her.”
*Omg! That cover is absolutely freaking stunning!!!*
May 31, 2024
3.5 🌟’s
“Who says you can't be cute and kickass at the same time? I do it everyday.”
◇My Thoughts◇
This book put me through the 5 stages of something bc I went and experienced every emotion that ever existed.💀 The beginning was so funny with Kenji and Warner and then it moved to Warner and J which was full of such sweet moments, even tho I felt like their relationship was a little off like back when she was dating Adam. Then it moved to her finding out about her parents and Warners ex and I was so kinda mad at Warner like how are you gonna date this girl and not tell her a single thing about yr past at all. Like ik he went through sm and so did she but she told you things even after everything she has been through. And to make things worse he tried to comfort her and she left him my heart BROKE like glass. 😭💔 See this was why I should have just stuck with Ignite Me yall bc I dont do well with sad books. 🤣 I wish I could say that this gets a 5 star rating from me but frankly the most I have to give it is a 3.5. There was just too much heartbreak for me in this. Like if I ever were to reread this series I'm skipping this one bc it's too much.
◇Main Characters◇
▪︎Juliette/J: Im going to call her J now bc the nickname Kenji gave her is so cute. I think after reading this book I love her even more. She has gone through sm unspeakable things and she still puts her life on the line every single day. And all these people act like she isn't capable enough bc she's 17 or she's female or bc she was put in an insane asylum. But no this girl has fought every time to protect everyone she loves. And I stand by her everytime. Especially when people like Castle think she needs Warner's guidance/ protection to run Sector 45 when she's the Supreme commander. Girl has already proven enough that she doesn't need a man to help her fo anything. And when she was heartbroken over everything with Warner it just made me cry sm seeing her like that. Ik her and Warner are meant to be. I think it was just the fact that she found out what happened with her parents that made her mad and she took some of that anger out of Warner which caused her relationship with him to be strained. He should have said something (even though he found out recently) bc in this like of work you never what will happen and plus that also concerns her too. One of my favorite things about her though is that no matter who tries to tear her down she always puts her foot down and shows them who's in charge. 👑💜
▪︎Warner: I feel like in this book he was struggling a lot. I think the ending of the last book left a weight on a lot of characters shoulders that made it hard to interact with eachother. Warner being one of them. And then J finding out about him lying made things worse. I'm not saying what he did was right but J and Warner were going through it in this book. In the beginning the two of them were kinda like closed off with eachother kinda like how Adam and J were in Unravel Me and I was like no you need to do something pls you can't be like Adam idc who he is. What also made me upset was Kenji tried to tell him to make up with her and he was like no she doesn't wasn't me anymore thats it. Well no wonder yr other relationships didn't work out. No offense but thats the lamest excuse I've ever heard. Oh bc shes mad at me the relationship is over. Like cmon now dude. On the bright side tho he speaks 7 languages 🤭 and here I am over here struggling to speak the only 2 I know. 🙈
▪︎Kenji: Everyone needs to get themselves a best friend like Kenji bc he's always there for J and just him trying be friends with Warner (even tho thats going) for J's sake is so nice. ❤ He is always looking out for everyone and he is so funny. Like I don't think I've read a scene about Kenji and didn't laugh. His charm and humor are so amazing. And when he meets Nazeera it was love at first sight. 😍 And if they don't get together soon I'm gonna pull my hair out. Also him being friends with Warner needs to happen too like asap bc those two could really have their own show together and I would watch the whole thing.
◇Side Characters◇
▪︎Nazeera: She is goddess. I loved her the moment she walked in that building. She is so fierce and caring. And she is kinda giving Mulan vibes a little bit like the whole warrior thing. The way she talked to J liked she was her best friend and they had just met (well kind’ve) was so wild bc she has like this presence that's just makes everyone want to like her (especially Kenji 🤭). My only question is where was she all this time. Her and J could be the female leaders that their world needs. Omg and when she told J about Lena, I was like it's about to go down.
▪︎Adam: Yall why is this name in the book again. When he ran into Warner I was like Warner keep walking and dude when and stopped for him. He's better than me bc I would have just ignored him and why was dude acting like he was drunk or some long lost pet who had been gone for years?! Like dude whats really going on with you.
Everyone else was eh…in this one. I will say Castle is in my bad book now bc why are you hating on everyone and lying about everything. Like he needs to be dealt with asap.
◇Best Couple Moments◇
▪︎Warner clearing the top level of Sector 45 for Juliette's friends
▪︎Warner thinking J is cute when she feels undressed
▪︎Warner helping J after she cut all her hair off
(this scene was crazy like not Kenji and Warner finding her standing in underwear cutting all her hair off)
▪︎Warner trying to be friends with Kenji bc J asked him too
◇Favorite Scenes◇
▪︎Kenji giving Warner a haircut
‘The back of Warner's head is a jagged mess of uneven hair; entire chunks have been buzzed off.’ 🤣
“I think the cut looks cute, actually.” (Kenji)
Warner slams the door in his face.
(best scene ever!!! 🤭)
▪︎Juliette asking Warner why he let Kenji cut his hair
“Why did you let him cut your hair?” (J)
“You told me to spend time with him.” (Warner) 🥲
“So you let Kenji cut your hair?” (J)
“I don't let him cut my hair. It was–it was a gesture of camaraderie. It was an act of trust I'd seen practiced among my soldiers.” (Warner)
( i love how he did this for her 🥰)
▪︎Kenji and J's walks
▪︎J telling off Castle that she doesn't need a man to guide her
“Perhaps you should wait.” (Castle)
“Wait? Wait for what?” (J)
“Wait to meet with him until Mr. Warner can be there, too.” (Castle)
“I appreciate your concern, Castle, but I can do this on my own, thank you.” (J)
“Ms. Ferrars, I would beg you to reconsider. Please.” (Castle)
“As I said thank you for your concern.” (J)
(I'm gonna need for dude to shut up bc when she said she understands that means leave like why are you doubting her, just shut up and go)
▪︎“How do I get them out of my head?” (J)
“Set them on fire. In your mind. Let me fuel the fire that keeps you striving. Idiots are highly flammable, love. Let them burn in hell.” (Warner)
▪︎Kenji and Warner scene
“Why are you such a dick?” (Kenji)
“Sweetheart. I hope you forgive me for what I am about to do to his face.” (Warner)
“Hey asshole I can still here you.” (Kenji)
(my favorite guys in this book)
▪︎The dinner with the Supreme commanders
▪︎Warner bringing up about Nazeera covering up her face and Nazeera chewing him out about it.
▪︎Kenji loosing his mind over Nazeera
▪︎J showing Lena (the ex) whose in charge
“Hi. Its nice to finally meet Warner's girlfriend. Oh wait–I'm sorry. I meant ex-girlfirend.”
‘She takes her time, tilting her head as she devours Lena with her eyes and I can see Lena's offered hand beginning to tire, her open fingers starting to shake. Juliette seems unimpressed.’ (Warner)
“You can call me the Supreme commander of North America.” (J)
(Period! And that's that. Its giving badass leader)
◇Favorite Quotes◇
▪︎“Who says can't be cute and kickass at the same time? I do it everyday.” (Kenji)
(see this is the stuff I'm talking about it one minute the guy is all nice and cute and then the next he says something like that and it's like seriously dude way to kill the moment 😂)
▪︎“Sweetheart. I hope you forgive me for what I am about to do to his face.” (Warner)
(hahaha him and Kenji are definitely bestie goals)
▪︎“She's like batshit pretty. The kind of pretty that makes a man think getting murdered in his sleep might not be a bad way to go.” (Kenji)
(not Kenji thinking what everyone is thinking about him and Warner 👀)
▪︎“That girl is objectively beautiful.” (Kenji)
💜💜💜
◇The ending◇
Don't ask me what happened bc I still have no clue. And on top of that they didn't resolve their problems before everything happened. My heart is just to broken for anything rn.
◇Hopes for Defy Me◇
-Warner and J to resolve their issues
-More Kenji humor
-More Warner and Kenji scenes
-More Nazeera and J scenes
-More Nazeera and Kenji scenes
◇Last Thoughts◇
I just want them to be okay. And for someone to save them or something bc I'm not okay after this book. Defy me better heal me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1/18/23
don't mind me I'm just gonna go cry in the corner now 🥺🤧
“Who says you can't be cute and kickass at the same time? I do it everyday.”
◇My Thoughts◇
This book put me through the 5 stages of something bc I went and experienced every emotion that ever existed.💀 The beginning was so funny with Kenji and Warner and then it moved to Warner and J which was full of such sweet moments, even tho I felt like their relationship was a little off like back when she was dating Adam. Then it moved to her finding out about her parents and Warners ex and I was so kinda mad at Warner like how are you gonna date this girl and not tell her a single thing about yr past at all. Like ik he went through sm and so did she but she told you things even after everything she has been through. And to make things worse he tried to comfort her and she left him my heart BROKE like glass. 😭💔 See this was why I should have just stuck with Ignite Me yall bc I dont do well with sad books. 🤣 I wish I could say that this gets a 5 star rating from me but frankly the most I have to give it is a 3.5. There was just too much heartbreak for me in this. Like if I ever were to reread this series I'm skipping this one bc it's too much.
◇Main Characters◇
▪︎Juliette/J: Im going to call her J now bc the nickname Kenji gave her is so cute. I think after reading this book I love her even more. She has gone through sm unspeakable things and she still puts her life on the line every single day. And all these people act like she isn't capable enough bc she's 17 or she's female or bc she was put in an insane asylum. But no this girl has fought every time to protect everyone she loves. And I stand by her everytime. Especially when people like Castle think she needs Warner's guidance/ protection to run Sector 45 when she's the Supreme commander. Girl has already proven enough that she doesn't need a man to help her fo anything. And when she was heartbroken over everything with Warner it just made me cry sm seeing her like that. Ik her and Warner are meant to be. I think it was just the fact that she found out what happened with her parents that made her mad and she took some of that anger out of Warner which caused her relationship with him to be strained. He should have said something (even though he found out recently) bc in this like of work you never what will happen and plus that also concerns her too. One of my favorite things about her though is that no matter who tries to tear her down she always puts her foot down and shows them who's in charge. 👑💜
▪︎Warner: I feel like in this book he was struggling a lot. I think the ending of the last book left a weight on a lot of characters shoulders that made it hard to interact with eachother. Warner being one of them. And then J finding out about him lying made things worse. I'm not saying what he did was right but J and Warner were going through it in this book. In the beginning the two of them were kinda like closed off with eachother kinda like how Adam and J were in Unravel Me and I was like no you need to do something pls you can't be like Adam idc who he is. What also made me upset was Kenji tried to tell him to make up with her and he was like no she doesn't wasn't me anymore thats it. Well no wonder yr other relationships didn't work out. No offense but thats the lamest excuse I've ever heard. Oh bc shes mad at me the relationship is over. Like cmon now dude. On the bright side tho he speaks 7 languages 🤭 and here I am over here struggling to speak the only 2 I know. 🙈
▪︎Kenji: Everyone needs to get themselves a best friend like Kenji bc he's always there for J and just him trying be friends with Warner (even tho thats going) for J's sake is so nice. ❤ He is always looking out for everyone and he is so funny. Like I don't think I've read a scene about Kenji and didn't laugh. His charm and humor are so amazing. And when he meets Nazeera it was love at first sight. 😍 And if they don't get together soon I'm gonna pull my hair out. Also him being friends with Warner needs to happen too like asap bc those two could really have their own show together and I would watch the whole thing.
◇Side Characters◇
▪︎Nazeera: She is goddess. I loved her the moment she walked in that building. She is so fierce and caring. And she is kinda giving Mulan vibes a little bit like the whole warrior thing. The way she talked to J liked she was her best friend and they had just met (well kind’ve) was so wild bc she has like this presence that's just makes everyone want to like her (especially Kenji 🤭). My only question is where was she all this time. Her and J could be the female leaders that their world needs. Omg and when she told J about Lena, I was like it's about to go down.
▪︎Adam: Yall why is this name in the book again. When he ran into Warner I was like Warner keep walking and dude when and stopped for him. He's better than me bc I would have just ignored him and why was dude acting like he was drunk or some long lost pet who had been gone for years?! Like dude whats really going on with you.
Everyone else was eh…in this one. I will say Castle is in my bad book now bc why are you hating on everyone and lying about everything. Like he needs to be dealt with asap.
◇Best Couple Moments◇
▪︎Warner clearing the top level of Sector 45 for Juliette's friends
▪︎Warner thinking J is cute when she feels undressed
▪︎Warner helping J after she cut all her hair off
(this scene was crazy like not Kenji and Warner finding her standing in underwear cutting all her hair off)
▪︎Warner trying to be friends with Kenji bc J asked him too
◇Favorite Scenes◇
▪︎Kenji giving Warner a haircut
‘The back of Warner's head is a jagged mess of uneven hair; entire chunks have been buzzed off.’ 🤣
“I think the cut looks cute, actually.” (Kenji)
Warner slams the door in his face.
(best scene ever!!! 🤭)
▪︎Juliette asking Warner why he let Kenji cut his hair
“Why did you let him cut your hair?” (J)
“You told me to spend time with him.” (Warner) 🥲
“So you let Kenji cut your hair?” (J)
“I don't let him cut my hair. It was–it was a gesture of camaraderie. It was an act of trust I'd seen practiced among my soldiers.” (Warner)
( i love how he did this for her 🥰)
▪︎Kenji and J's walks
▪︎J telling off Castle that she doesn't need a man to guide her
“Perhaps you should wait.” (Castle)
“Wait? Wait for what?” (J)
“Wait to meet with him until Mr. Warner can be there, too.” (Castle)
“I appreciate your concern, Castle, but I can do this on my own, thank you.” (J)
“Ms. Ferrars, I would beg you to reconsider. Please.” (Castle)
“As I said thank you for your concern.” (J)
(I'm gonna need for dude to shut up bc when she said she understands that means leave like why are you doubting her, just shut up and go)
▪︎“How do I get them out of my head?” (J)
“Set them on fire. In your mind. Let me fuel the fire that keeps you striving. Idiots are highly flammable, love. Let them burn in hell.” (Warner)
▪︎Kenji and Warner scene
“Why are you such a dick?” (Kenji)
“Sweetheart. I hope you forgive me for what I am about to do to his face.” (Warner)
“Hey asshole I can still here you.” (Kenji)
(my favorite guys in this book)
▪︎The dinner with the Supreme commanders
▪︎Warner bringing up about Nazeera covering up her face and Nazeera chewing him out about it.
▪︎Kenji loosing his mind over Nazeera
▪︎J showing Lena (the ex) whose in charge
“Hi. Its nice to finally meet Warner's girlfriend. Oh wait–I'm sorry. I meant ex-girlfirend.”
‘She takes her time, tilting her head as she devours Lena with her eyes and I can see Lena's offered hand beginning to tire, her open fingers starting to shake. Juliette seems unimpressed.’ (Warner)
“You can call me the Supreme commander of North America.” (J)
(Period! And that's that. Its giving badass leader)
◇Favorite Quotes◇
▪︎“Who says can't be cute and kickass at the same time? I do it everyday.” (Kenji)
(see this is the stuff I'm talking about it one minute the guy is all nice and cute and then the next he says something like that and it's like seriously dude way to kill the moment 😂)
▪︎“Sweetheart. I hope you forgive me for what I am about to do to his face.” (Warner)
(hahaha him and Kenji are definitely bestie goals)
▪︎“She's like batshit pretty. The kind of pretty that makes a man think getting murdered in his sleep might not be a bad way to go.” (Kenji)
(not Kenji thinking what everyone is thinking about him and Warner 👀)
▪︎“That girl is objectively beautiful.” (Kenji)
💜💜💜
◇The ending◇
Don't ask me what happened bc I still have no clue. And on top of that they didn't resolve their problems before everything happened. My heart is just to broken for anything rn.
◇Hopes for Defy Me◇
-Warner and J to resolve their issues
-More Kenji humor
-More Warner and Kenji scenes
-More Nazeera and J scenes
-More Nazeera and Kenji scenes
◇Last Thoughts◇
I just want them to be okay. And for someone to save them or something bc I'm not okay after this book. Defy me better heal me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1/18/23
don't mind me I'm just gonna go cry in the corner now 🥺🤧
December 2, 2021
I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey I am not okey
Want to read
October 9, 2017*****UPDATE OCTOBER 6TH COVER REVEAL****
I love it! I don't think it's MY Warner's eye? I love that it matches perfectly the rest of the covers of the previous books!
I always imagine my man Warner's eye more masculine.
Are you new to the Shatter me series? I have to tell you that the series start in the young adult side and by book 3 we have more sex. Not graphic, mostly sensual imagery, nothing like the jump between Throne of glass book 1 (upper young adult) to almost porn XXX content that you'll find in Empire of storms book 5 of TOG (new adult/adult). But the financial success of this approach, starting as young adult and then change to new adult/erotica as the series progress, might become a trend, specially in books from the big publishing houses. Using some booktubers and sites like Kirkus reviews and Common sense media to hide the problematic content of a book is also common practice of the big publishing houses.
Either way I think it's time for honest reviewers, booktubers and librarians, to add information of sexual content and not try to cover it up as it has been the case with the erotic content of Sarah J Maas books. My friends read YA because they think , wrongly, that it's a sexless genre. We need this information of the content we'll find in a book to make informed decisions. I wonder how many parents really know about this tendency of market New adult/adult books with erotic content as safe for underage readers. Either way If I were you I wouldn't give certain series as a gift to underage readers now that Christmas season is approaching.
Don't take me wrong. I love the idea of Warner sexy times if that was the case. This book might actually sell more if the Publishers advertise as Warner sexy times! This is 2017 and new adult is a very respectable genre. Just add warnings in the blurb and make sure the reviewers mention this. Don't make reviewers and booktubers hide this information.
Is there an honest goodreads librarian reading this? Could you please add sexual content disclaimers in the Goodreads blurbs of A COURT OF MIST AND FURY, Ignite me and Empire of storms ?
Original prereading thoughts:
This has to be my most anticipated book of 2018! I just can't wait.
I just hope Mafi doesn't take the A court of mist and fury route and starts to write erotic scenes in a book marketed as Young adult. Ignite me was pretty much new adult, and I like that, but I'm tired of publishers and authors shoving sex-scenes down young readers throats without proper warnings. We have enough authors selling erotica to children like Elle Kennedy and Sarah J Maas without Mafi joining the crowd.
I love it! I don't think it's MY Warner's eye? I love that it matches perfectly the rest of the covers of the previous books!
I always imagine my man Warner's eye more masculine.
Are you new to the Shatter me series? I have to tell you that the series start in the young adult side and by book 3 we have more sex. Not graphic, mostly sensual imagery, nothing like the jump between Throne of glass book 1 (upper young adult) to almost porn XXX content that you'll find in Empire of storms book 5 of TOG (new adult/adult). But the financial success of this approach, starting as young adult and then change to new adult/erotica as the series progress, might become a trend, specially in books from the big publishing houses. Using some booktubers and sites like Kirkus reviews and Common sense media to hide the problematic content of a book is also common practice of the big publishing houses.
Either way I think it's time for honest reviewers, booktubers and librarians, to add information of sexual content and not try to cover it up as it has been the case with the erotic content of Sarah J Maas books. My friends read YA because they think , wrongly, that it's a sexless genre. We need this information of the content we'll find in a book to make informed decisions. I wonder how many parents really know about this tendency of market New adult/adult books with erotic content as safe for underage readers. Either way If I were you I wouldn't give certain series as a gift to underage readers now that Christmas season is approaching.
Don't take me wrong. I love the idea of Warner sexy times if that was the case. This book might actually sell more if the Publishers advertise as Warner sexy times! This is 2017 and new adult is a very respectable genre. Just add warnings in the blurb and make sure the reviewers mention this. Don't make reviewers and booktubers hide this information.
Is there an honest goodreads librarian reading this? Could you please add sexual content disclaimers in the Goodreads blurbs of A COURT OF MIST AND FURY, Ignite me and Empire of storms ?
Original prereading thoughts:
This has to be my most anticipated book of 2018! I just can't wait.
I just hope Mafi doesn't take the A court of mist and fury route and starts to write erotic scenes in a book marketed as Young adult. Ignite me was pretty much new adult, and I like that, but I'm tired of publishers and authors shoving sex-scenes down young readers throats without proper warnings. We have enough authors selling erotica to children like Elle Kennedy and Sarah J Maas without Mafi joining the crowd.
April 22, 2024
ㅤㅤ
“Idiots are highly flammable, love. Let them all burn in hell.”
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ━ 2.8 - 3.1 ☆ ━
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ⊱ ──── might contain spoilers ────⊰
ㅤㅤAs these books apparently simply refuse with all their power to offer me anything new to say about them, I am guessing I will not be writing the usual long reviews for them any longer because I simply do not wish to just repeat myself with all the things I have to say about this series. I might just proceed and only point out some small things and ideas I have to mention, because apparently 4 years between the previous book and this one was not enough for any real improvement.
ㅤㅤAnyway, Restore me which is the 4th instalment in the ’Shatter Me’ series, clearly lived up to its name; it completely managed to restore my hate for how all of these books are physically unable to be entertaining from the start till finish. Once again, a book that had such an interesting potential, especially with how many things were happening and were supposed to happen after the events of ’Ignite me’, but which unfortunately decided once again that it is smart to spend 70% of its pages on almost nothing and then compress approximately 374 revelations in its last 80 pages. And don’t get me wrong, I like the idea that we got a glimpse inside their inner struggles and turmoil, but I believe this could have been portrayed much better. This book received a relatively high rating because I enjoyed reading about Warner's thoughts and feelings (especially Warner’s because I am still absolutely in a complete love-hatemainly hate relationship with Juliette’s character) and because the huge revelations in the last part of the book clearly set an extremely good base for future books. Despite my low expectations, I still do hope these topics are thoroughly explored in the future books...
ㅤㅤWithout spending more time on this very long introduction, let me just point out the things I might have to say about this book.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤ -ˋˏ ༻ world building, writing and action ༺ ˎˊ-
ㅤㅤDo I have anything to add about world-building? Of course not. Once again, we are back at getting only mentions about all these places and this world, but no one thinks it's important to educate their new "Supreme Commander" anything about it or how it works. Juliette seems to believe that she can simply come up with anything when the circumstances call for it, and everyone around her appears to agree. At this point, I'm very convinced even the reader could be the supreme commander because we have the exact same knowledge as Juliette.
ㅤㅤWhile I do feel like the writing has gotten a bit better in some parts and in some aspects, I don’t really know if I have anything to complain about or to praise in this regard. Suitable style for this genre and an easy read as well. I just have one issue with this, and that is the usage of lines in a different language without a clear translation or context to fully grasp what is being stated. This is one of my least favourite aspects of literary works, but it is mainly a personal, subjective taste.
ㅤㅤThe action of the book is literally almost inexistent. And I do understand that this novel was mainly meant to show how everyone is managing after the events from ’Ignite me’, but apart from Warner getting slapped, everyone cutting their own hair as a coping mechanism for their trauma like they are some hairstylists and the last few chapters that still make me wonder what the hell even happened, nothing else much was happening.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ -ˋˏ ༻ characters ༺ ˎˊ-
ㅤㅤThis was arguably the most disappointing aspect of this book. I'll simply attempt to explain whatever I'm thinking about these characters right now without making an individual analysis because I don't believe it would provide much new information.
ㅤㅤ✴ ㅤI am not a fan of whatever was happening withJuliette Ella(?) and Warner in this book. I can't believe we had to spend a whole book on Juliette understanding that perhaps self-proclaiming "Supreme Commander" as a 17-year-old girl with no expertise in basically ANYTHING was not the greatest choice. I still consider this was probably the most rushed and unnatural progress of this book. Warner just needs a break at this point. I cannot fault him because his entire life has been flipped upside down; he is now expected to be pleasant and interact with others, all while quietly grieving his father. However, I was frustrated by his hesitancy and refusal to simply reveal things at some point.
ㅤㅤ✴ ㅤI DID NOT enjoy the relationship between Juliette and Warner and I think their dynamic was so strange. I do not know if this is an unpopular opinion in any way, but I did not like whatever was going on between them in this book at all. I might be willing to expand on this, but I'm presently waiting to see where things go in the next novels.
ㅤㅤ♥ I am actually highly considering that Warner and Kenji have a better dynamic than these two and I am not even joking. 😭😭
ㅤㅤ✴ ㅤI don’t even know what I could say about the rest of the characters, but I really feel like these people are simply added here so the book will have more pages and the MCs will have who to talk to. But I do have so many questions and some of them are:
ㅤ- Why is Castle not playing a bigger role here, shouldn’t they accept his help and guidance considering he is literally the only truly mature person here?
ㅤ- I would love to see Kenji being more than just the comic relief so why don’t we see a real development in his character?
ㅤ- What were the others even doing in the meantime apart from having breakfast? I feel like each time we saw these people, they are having breakfast.
ㅤㅤ✴ ㅤAnd while we already had a great number of characters which I am having a hard time remembering, now we are also getting new ones. I am confused to say the least….
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ -ˋˏ ༻ ending and conclusions ༺ ˎˊ-
ㅤㅤThe finale of this book was pure anarchy, and I'm not sure if I mean that in a positive or negative sense. While I was relieved that something was finally happening and that we had a pretty compelling cliffhanger for the finale, I was perplexed by how quickly everything was going. After such a sluggish novel, having whatever was going all of a sudden was somewhat startling. I'm not sure if that was startling in a good manner, but I'll have to keep reading to see where things go from here. Anyway, I will not avoid saying that the ending is literally what saved this book mainly because only in the last part we are finally starting to see things happening.
ㅤㅤI'm not sure if it was a wise decision to continue the series after the last book. I feel like things are suddenly shifting in an entirely other path, and to be honest, it's becoming a little boring to have all these new things occurring everywhere and a completely new narrative line. I like how the characters' lives are shown after that so-called major war, but I'm not sure whether things are going in an exciting route much further. It's safe to say I can't wait to be finished with this series.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ━ 2.8 - 3.1 ☆ ━
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ⊱ ──── might contain spoilers ────⊰
ㅤㅤAs these books apparently simply refuse with all their power to offer me anything new to say about them, I am guessing I will not be writing the usual long reviews for them any longer because I simply do not wish to just repeat myself with all the things I have to say about this series. I might just proceed and only point out some small things and ideas I have to mention, because apparently 4 years between the previous book and this one was not enough for any real improvement.
ㅤㅤAnyway, Restore me which is the 4th instalment in the ’Shatter Me’ series, clearly lived up to its name; it completely managed to restore my hate for how all of these books are physically unable to be entertaining from the start till finish. Once again, a book that had such an interesting potential, especially with how many things were happening and were supposed to happen after the events of ’Ignite me’, but which unfortunately decided once again that it is smart to spend 70% of its pages on almost nothing and then compress approximately 374 revelations in its last 80 pages. And don’t get me wrong, I like the idea that we got a glimpse inside their inner struggles and turmoil, but I believe this could have been portrayed much better. This book received a relatively high rating because I enjoyed reading about Warner's thoughts and feelings (especially Warner’s because I am still absolutely in a complete love-hate
ㅤㅤWithout spending more time on this very long introduction, let me just point out the things I might have to say about this book.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤ -ˋˏ ༻ world building, writing and action ༺ ˎˊ-
ㅤㅤDo I have anything to add about world-building? Of course not. Once again, we are back at getting only mentions about all these places and this world, but no one thinks it's important to educate their new "Supreme Commander" anything about it or how it works. Juliette seems to believe that she can simply come up with anything when the circumstances call for it, and everyone around her appears to agree. At this point, I'm very convinced even the reader could be the supreme commander because we have the exact same knowledge as Juliette.
ㅤㅤWhile I do feel like the writing has gotten a bit better in some parts and in some aspects, I don’t really know if I have anything to complain about or to praise in this regard. Suitable style for this genre and an easy read as well. I just have one issue with this, and that is the usage of lines in a different language without a clear translation or context to fully grasp what is being stated. This is one of my least favourite aspects of literary works, but it is mainly a personal, subjective taste.
ㅤㅤThe action of the book is literally almost inexistent. And I do understand that this novel was mainly meant to show how everyone is managing after the events from ’Ignite me’, but apart from Warner getting slapped, everyone cutting their own hair as a coping mechanism for their trauma like they are some hairstylists and the last few chapters that still make me wonder what the hell even happened, nothing else much was happening.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ -ˋˏ ༻ characters ༺ ˎˊ-
ㅤㅤThis was arguably the most disappointing aspect of this book. I'll simply attempt to explain whatever I'm thinking about these characters right now without making an individual analysis because I don't believe it would provide much new information.
ㅤㅤ✴ ㅤI am not a fan of whatever was happening with
ㅤㅤ✴ ㅤI DID NOT enjoy the relationship between Juliette and Warner and I think their dynamic was so strange. I do not know if this is an unpopular opinion in any way, but I did not like whatever was going on between them in this book at all. I might be willing to expand on this, but I'm presently waiting to see where things go in the next novels.
ㅤㅤ♥ I am actually highly considering that Warner and Kenji have a better dynamic than these two and I am not even joking. 😭😭
ㅤㅤ✴ ㅤI don’t even know what I could say about the rest of the characters, but I really feel like these people are simply added here so the book will have more pages and the MCs will have who to talk to. But I do have so many questions and some of them are:
ㅤ- Why is Castle not playing a bigger role here, shouldn’t they accept his help and guidance considering he is literally the only truly mature person here?
ㅤ- I would love to see Kenji being more than just the comic relief so why don’t we see a real development in his character?
ㅤ- What were the others even doing in the meantime apart from having breakfast? I feel like each time we saw these people, they are having breakfast.
ㅤㅤ✴ ㅤAnd while we already had a great number of characters which I am having a hard time remembering, now we are also getting new ones. I am confused to say the least….
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ -ˋˏ ༻ ending and conclusions ༺ ˎˊ-
ㅤㅤThe finale of this book was pure anarchy, and I'm not sure if I mean that in a positive or negative sense. While I was relieved that something was finally happening and that we had a pretty compelling cliffhanger for the finale, I was perplexed by how quickly everything was going. After such a sluggish novel, having whatever was going all of a sudden was somewhat startling. I'm not sure if that was startling in a good manner, but I'll have to keep reading to see where things go from here. Anyway, I will not avoid saying that the ending is literally what saved this book mainly because only in the last part we are finally starting to see things happening.
ㅤㅤI'm not sure if it was a wise decision to continue the series after the last book. I feel like things are suddenly shifting in an entirely other path, and to be honest, it's becoming a little boring to have all these new things occurring everywhere and a completely new narrative line. I like how the characters' lives are shown after that so-called major war, but I'm not sure whether things are going in an exciting route much further. It's safe to say I can't wait to be finished with this series.
May 8, 2020
April 26th, 2017:
I'm torn between 'GIVE IT TO ME NOW' and 'please, don't ruin my ship, my precious otp...'
Also I liked how Ignite Me ended, soooooooo I guess we'll see *keeps all the fingers crossed*
March 17th, 2018:
“All of you kids,” he says, shaking his head. “You suffer too much. You have these horrible, tragic histories. Volatile personalities. I've always wanted to help,” he says. “I've always wanted to fix that. Make this world a better place for you kids.”
I cannot believe I had to wait for three years to read this book. And now it’s done, and we have to wait another full year to know what happens next. This is a new kind of torture. Well done, Tahereh. Well done.
I was one of those who thought the end of Ignite Me was perfect. I genuinely liked how the story finished, we didn’t know exactly what Juliette and Warner would have to go through, but we had put our hope in them. Well, even my ‘I loved Ignite Me’s end’ ass loved this book. I see how it’s not for everybody, because true, it’s a very slow book, nothing really happens, but for a first book in this new trilogy? It’s perfect. It answers all the questions I had about Juliette’s past and it’s realistic? Like, I would have found it weird if Juliette had been able to be this perfect Supreme Commander even though she’s fucking new to this world.
This book is more about Juliette and Warner confronting their past, thinking about what’s going to happen next now that they’re in power. What comes next? What should they do? Who should they trust? And we finally learn more about this world, about why the Reestablishment was created in the first place, how it was created, who is at its head …. all these questions I had are starting to get answered.
This book destroyed my soul. I hurt so much throughout this book but in a way I’m hopeful for what’s to come in the next book. I trust Tahereh.
May 8th, 2020:
look at how casually I'm bumping this book from 4.75 to 5 stars:)))))))))) this reread destroyed everything I had in me.
I'm torn between 'GIVE IT TO ME NOW' and 'please, don't ruin my ship, my precious otp...'
Also I liked how Ignite Me ended, soooooooo I guess we'll see *keeps all the fingers crossed*
March 17th, 2018:
“All of you kids,” he says, shaking his head. “You suffer too much. You have these horrible, tragic histories. Volatile personalities. I've always wanted to help,” he says. “I've always wanted to fix that. Make this world a better place for you kids.”
I cannot believe I had to wait for three years to read this book. And now it’s done, and we have to wait another full year to know what happens next. This is a new kind of torture. Well done, Tahereh. Well done.
I was one of those who thought the end of Ignite Me was perfect. I genuinely liked how the story finished, we didn’t know exactly what Juliette and Warner would have to go through, but we had put our hope in them. Well, even my ‘I loved Ignite Me’s end’ ass loved this book. I see how it’s not for everybody, because true, it’s a very slow book, nothing really happens, but for a first book in this new trilogy? It’s perfect. It answers all the questions I had about Juliette’s past and it’s realistic? Like, I would have found it weird if Juliette had been able to be this perfect Supreme Commander even though she’s fucking new to this world.
This book is more about Juliette and Warner confronting their past, thinking about what’s going to happen next now that they’re in power. What comes next? What should they do? Who should they trust? And we finally learn more about this world, about why the Reestablishment was created in the first place, how it was created, who is at its head …. all these questions I had are starting to get answered.
This book destroyed my soul. I hurt so much throughout this book but in a way I’m hopeful for what’s to come in the next book. I trust Tahereh.
May 8th, 2020:
look at how casually I'm bumping this book from 4.75 to 5 stars:)))))))))) this reread destroyed everything I had in me.
March 17, 2018
I. Am. Not. Okay. After that cliffhanger, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to wait a whole year for the next installment.
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