#184 Book Review: Unravel Me

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2)
Release Date: February 2013
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Source: Publisher for Review
Format: Paperback
Where to Buy:  Fishpond | Booktopia
More Info: Goodreads

Summary:

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. A place for people like her - people with gifts - and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from the Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch. Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

Haunted by her past, terrified of her future, Juliette knows that in her present, she will have to make some life-changing choices.
Choices that may include choosing between her heart - and Adam's life.

Cover:
I have to say, I'm disappointed with the Aussie cover. Shatter Me's Aussie cover was the original US cover but since US re-designed the covers (with the gorgeous eye!) I thought Aussie would use the same cover. I don't really like the girl's messy hair and the two guys beside her seems a bit too typical for a cover.

Story:

“I want so many things,” he whispers. “I want your mind. Your strength. I want to be worth your time.”

It's not a secret I love Shatter Me. Reading the book shattered me to pieces. (Yes, pun intended!) The end of the book made me love Adam but the gorgeous 'evil' Warner intrigued me so much. Then I read Destroy Me which made me switch to loving Warner. In Unravel Me, Tahereh Mafi's thrilling writing brings us a breath-taking sequel (I do mean literally breath-taking!) with a perfect blend of action and romance.

*inhales*..............*exhales* (Thank goodness I did not forget to exhale!) There are just so much to love in this book. Juliette, after escaping to Omega Point, finds difficulty in adapting with her new environment. Her power is still oh so strong but she has yet to embrace it. I have to admit, the first half of the book was not quite as gripping as the last half of the book. Had the book went on like the first half, this would have been a 4 stars read. BUT! Warner entered the story. Then it changed everything. The rest of the book was constant action, new discoveries and new problems. What I particularly adored besides Mafi's gorgeous and vivid prose is the romance. The action is still amazing but the romance in this book? MIND-BLOWING. (I am referring at you, Chapter 62. Thanks for blowing my mind and breaking my heart.) 

Characters:

Juliette has grown as a character since the events of Shatter Me. Although she has yet to embrace her powers (I can't really blame her since her powers are harmful), Juliette has overcome many problems. The only thing that made me annoyed with Juliette is her confused heart. She is still undecided about her feelings for Warner and Adam.

WARNER. Oh dear goodness, he is probably the best character in this book. After reading Destroy Me and gaining an insight into his character, the scenes between him and Juliette nearly destroyed me in Unravel Me. It was beautiful and also heart-breaking at the same time. Adam, who is still loving and kind towards Juliet no longer interested me as much as Warner. However, Mafi did reveal something huge and surprising about these two guys which I would not have predicted! I also adored Kenji. His character adds a touch of humour to the intense story. We also finally meet Warner's father. I can describe him with two words: pure evil!

Overall:

In this heart-stopping sequel, Tahereh Mafi brings us one step further into Juliette's journey in embracing her powers and facing the Reestablishment. The perfect blend of romance and action completely shines through Unravel Me with Mafi's gorgeous prose and writing. If you love Shatter Me, you are guaranteed to love Unravel Me! 

5 Forget-Me-Not flowers for Unravel Me!

Thank you Allen & Unwin for the review copy!

My twentieth book review: Shatter Me

Shatter Me
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Pages: 342
Published: November 15th 2011
Author: Tahereh Mafi

Summary from Goodreads:
Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

My review:
I have heard many many many good things about this book. I love the cover, girl looks pretty in white dress The cover's gorgeous and the summary sounds awesome, right? I'm really into dystopian genre these days after reading The Hunger Games and Divergent which I enjoyed a lot. This book is a fresh dystopian oozing with romance! Lauren Kate, author of the Fallen series made a book blurb for this book and I completely agree with her that it's addictive, intense and oozing with romance. What makes this book even more awesome is that it's not pure dystopian, meaning that the characters are not just regular human being living in a world controlled by an authority but instead, there is a little paranormal twist like what the summary from Goodreads said!


Shatter Me is the story of Juliette, a girl who is locked up in a cell and hasn't touched anyone in 264 days. Why? Because her touch is lethal. She can kill anyone just by touching them. Her parents hated her and was happy that she is taken away from them. After 264 days of being alone in her cell, she had a cellmate roommate and it's a guy who can touch her! From this day onwards, she found out more about The Reestablishment, what they want from her, who is this very dark gorgeous mysterious guy with those achingly familiar blue eyes? What is going on with the world right now? Will Juliette accept her ability as a gift? Or will she turn it as weapon? Her touch is lethal. Her touch is power. 


First of all, do you notice in the cover that there's a line crossed over 'My Touch is Lethal'? Well, you will find many lines, words and sentences in this book with a line crossed over. It's very interesting, isn't it? I've never read a book like this before and I find it so interesting on how Mafi tries to explain the inner thoughts of Juliette by covering her words in lines. Mafi also likes to repeat words like for example no no no instead of just no. So, don't be confused when I have many words or sentences crossed with lines! Trying to get the hype here! Hyperventilating. Hyperventilating. Confused. Confused. I don't know what to say. Speechless. Through Mafi's words, I can feel Juliette's pain, her desire to be touched and loved but no one loves her because of her ability to kill just by touching someone on their skin. But Adam Kent can touch her. He is the swoon swoon swoon roommate who Juliette knew a long time ago. Adam, [sighs], he's very very very sweet. I never expected that he will be such a romantic guy in the story. His chemistry with Juliette is so touching I want more  and romantic that I can understand what love is like for both of them. The dystopian world built in this book is also very interesting. Of course, we must not forget the quite gorgeous but freaking me out evil 19 year old guy called Warden. He's insane. Insane. Insane. Insane. I almost liked him because you know how evil guys can be quite swoon-worthy heart-breaking and heart tugging sometimes? I pitied Warden actually. He's a sad character and pretty much needs to be loved. Oh, and there's also a Japanese guy called Kenji Kishimoto! I want more scenes with him. He's a funny character who turns out to be quite important in the end which I did not expect. I want to spoil the ending. I won't spoil the ending of course, the ending is actually very important and I found out that Juliette is not alone. That there is quite a few people with abilities like her too. Shatter Me combines both dystopian and paranormal themes into a story of survival and power. Needless to say, I can never get enough of Adam and Juliette scenes. The book is written in Juliette's point of view, all her thoughts and feelings poured into a beautifully written book with beautiful words which makes me feel like I can fly. My point here is get the book now, love it, gush about it and enjoy it. It's a very addictive debut YA novel with a fresh dystopian + paranormal theme. The romance? I need more. More. More. Adam, you are so you can never get enough. It's full of it that the book's going to explode of romance! The ending was not a cliffhanger but it's perfectly clear that there will be a sequel. I have so many unanswered questions for this book and I'm hoping it will all be answered in the next book which I am very very very highly to the moon eager to read. I think I'm going to cry waiting for the sequel.

Overall: It. Shatters. Me. To a million pieces. I love it. Can never get enough. Recommended. Very very very recommended. It's a good mix between dystopian + paranormal with great shattering romance! Not yet convinced? Go and read my sentences and word covered in lines to read my embarassing 'inner thoughts'. Convinced already? Thank you for reading the review!! :D

5 Forget-me-not flowers for Shatter Me!

Favourite quote: “I'm oxygen and he's dying to breathe.”

In My Mailbox #6

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. I've been so busy that I did not have time for memes but because I'm really excited for what I got this week, I decided to make an IMM! Recently went book shopping and look what I got!

I finally got this & currently reading this. Three words: IT SHATTERS ME!

So I loved The Wolves of Mercy Falls series a lot. I will alwas read any books by Maggie Stiefvater!

 A very very cool time I got this week which I almost forgot to mention:

I won this from a live chat with Leigh Fallon on 11/10/11 in Mundie Moms blog! My first signed T-Shirt, Bookmark and postcard ever!! Thank you so much Leigh and Mundie Moms! As you can see, I got a signed bookplate too but sadly, my copy of Carrier of the Mark have yet to arrive! Ordered it online but I don't know what happened and it's not arriving so I can't stick it on my copy. :(

 

Well that's pretty much it! I've got some other books last week but it'll be too much to share in this IMM!! What do you have this week? And if you have reviewed the books above, please leave links in your comments so I can check it out! Would love to read what other bloggers think about the books above! Thank you for checking out my IMM!