Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Book #3, Shatter Me
Published by HarperCollins on February 4th 2014
Purchased copy from Powerbooks
408 pages
Purchase on AmazonFully Booked

Synopsis

The heart-stopping conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series, which Ransom Riggs, author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Hollow City, called "a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love."

With Omega Point destroyed, Juliette doesn't know if the rebels, her friends, or even Adam are alive. But that won't keep her from trying to take down The Reestablishment once and for all. Now she must rely on Warner, the handsome commander of Sector 45. The one person she never thought she could trust. The same person who saved her life. He promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world... but that's not all he wants with her.

The Shatter Me series is perfect for fans who crave action-packed young adult novels with tantalizing romance like Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Legend by Marie Lu. Tahereh Mafi has created a captivating and original story that combines the best of dystopian and paranormal, and was praised by Publishers Weekly as "a gripping read from an author who's not afraid to take risks." Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and satisfying end.

I’ve never had such a crazy reading experience in my life before until Ignite Me came around. I was crying, swooning, laughing, bursting, shattering, unravelling and igniting all over the place as I took in this book’s splendour. To quote one of the best characters in this book: “This shit is bananas.”

I’ve previously expressed (here), that I think Tahereh Mafi is a genius. She’s also an insanely talented writer. Mafi, I would like to believe, has this magical power over words. She puts them together in a sentence, doing away with coherence and punctuations at times, and her words just amaze you. They’re so completely raw and ardent and they stir so many emotions. With this third and final installment, Mafi completely grips readers with her profoundly beautiful writing and her awe-inspiring characters.

I think what makes the Shatter Me series really stand out, aside from Mafi’s writing style, is the way Juliette, the story’s heroine and protagonist, is empowered. Juliette has always thought of her power as terrifying and destructive. As the series goes on, and most importantly in Ignite Me, Juliette learns that her power can be also be liberating and exhilarating. That her power comes not from her touch but from within her.

We are quotation marks, inverted and upside down, clinging to one another at the end of this life sentence. Trapped by lives we did not choose.

The change in Juliette’s perspective and mentality is truly striking. She’s come such a long way already but even then, she’s still second-guessing herself a lot. With Ignite Me, however, she’s more grounded than ever before. Juliette is finally ready to stand up and get some sweet, sweet revenge. She’s finally found her voice and she’s finally ready to speak up and become a leader. It was breath-taking, watching her character grow. Even merely as a reader, I felt a sense of pride for Juliette- like being there for her as she rose and got ahold of her strength also empowered me. In many ways, it did. Mafi sends such a powerful message to everyone who has ever hated herself or felt like a coward: Stop living in fear. Fight back. Break free.

Juliette isn’t the only one who appears to have changed in this last book. Adam, one of the male leads and Juliette’s first love, also transformed right before my eyes. I’ve never been on Adam’s team but I’ve never hated the guy. Not that I hate him now too… but his attitude here was just so different from before. I do understand where the bitterness comes from, why he’s so hopeless and angry and desperate. I really do. But if I were being honest, he was insufferable and more often than not, I wished Juliette would kick him in the head. Having said that, part of me thinks that this difference in Adam also pushed Juliette to become even stronger.

Words, I think, are such unpredictable creatures. No gun, no sword, no army or king will ever be more powerful than a sentence. Swords may cut and kill, but words will stab and stay, burying themselves in our bones to become corpses we carry into the future, all the time digging and failing to rip their skeletons from our flesh.

Ultimately though, I think Warner’s encouragements helped Juliette more. I loved loved loved the way he believed so much in Juliette. I’ve sided with Warner’s character (GO TEAM WARNER!) ever since the first book and most especially after reading Destroy Me. Ignite Me reminded exactly why I shipped him with Juliette. Warner is always so intense and passionate- and it’s incredible. How much he loved Juliette, how much his heart ached, how much he hurt. I felt for him and I cried for him and I can’t deny that my heart is totally, completely his. Aside from glimpsing Warner’s emotions, I loved seeing how smart, keen and thoughtful he was. Basically, I fell for him all over again. Since I’m already talking about how bad I got it for Warner, let me just take a moment to reminisce how gloriously scorching Ignite Me Chapter 55 was. I LITERALLY WAS AT THE EDGE OF MY SEAT. Thank god, I didn’t fall over. Seriously, so much hotness. Ignite Me is probably the sexiest dystopian novel out there.

Aside from the sexiness, Ignite Me also had hilarity to it all thanks to the secondary characters. Kenji shall go down in history as one of the best secondary characters in YA, I’m sure. He’s Juliette’s bestfriend and I adore him so freaking much. I love him for always being so frank and honest and for providing much needed comical relief. I love him for always having Juliette’s back. I also adore James, Adam’s little brother! The two made the story so much more refreshing.

For so many years I lived in constant terror of myself. Doubt had married my fear and moved into my mind, where it built castles and ruled kingdoms and reigned over me, bowing my will to its whispers until I was little more than an acquiescing peon, too terrified to disobey, too terrified to disagree. I had been shackled, a prisoner in my own mind. But finally, finally, I have learned to break free.

All in all, Ignite Me was phenomenal and extraordinary. Tahereh Mafi, you’ve perfected the series and I’m so completely grateful that your books came into my life. Igniting many hearts for sure, this series-ender was all I could have ever wanted and more.

Rating:

five

31 Responses

  1. I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID! I was completely in love with Ignite Me, it was everything I wanted it to be and more and UGH CHAPTER 55 WAS THE BEST THING EVER! It took me longer to warm up to Warner – I don’t think I was really on his side until Unravel Me – and I was so happy to see him continue to grow and open up here. Adam, on the other hand…sigh. I was a little sad to see his character go that path, but I guess I understood it. I just wished he had been able to stay as nice as he has been in the past.

    1. So happy that you agree with my review! It’s nice to hear from a non-team Warner and I’m truly glad that you liked his character growth. I was a bit disappointed with Adam’s character too but I’ve always thought of him as ‘too nice’ before. I think his bitterness here made him more genuine and human.

  2. I really enjoyed this one, so much more than the first two! It was about time Juliette embraced her powers, instead of living in fear of them. I disliked the direction Mafi took Adam, only because I felt like she made him mean in order to make the reader dislike him for reasons. But, overall, Ignite Me was great for the reasons you mentioned :)

  3. I’m so glad you loved it! I was so nervous because of the whole thing with Allegiant and I was just praying Mafi wouldn’t pull a Roth on us but I’m waiting for my pre-order to arrive in the mail and it hasn’t come yet!!! I’m DYING on the inside and as soon as I get it in my hands all social interactions will cease until I finish it. Mafi’s writing is really poetic and it’s definitely what makes this series stand out from all the other dytopians and not to mention the really different characters.

    I’m glad Julliette changes and becomes more strong because let’s be honest, julliette’s the best character at throwing the pity parties so I’m glad she get’s out of that depressing stage. I’m all for Team Warner so I hope my wish comes true *fingers crossed*

    Great review, I’m even more excited than before (if that’s even possible)

    1. I hope your order comes soon so you can read it too! The wait just about killed me!

      I so agree that Tahereh’s writing is incredibly poetic. Her style is so unique and it really makes her books one of a kind! And of course her the way she develops her MC is totally awesome!

      Oh dear, I assure you- you will not be disappointed. Watch out for chapter 55. ;)

      Thanks for checking out my review!

  4. You know I thought I was over my stage of hyperventilating but look, here it proves I’m wrong, because *MAJOR FLAPPY ARMS* I just have so many emotions right now, after reading the book, after reading your review, and I think I may burst into one thousand pieces because WARNERKENJIJULIETTEWARNERKENJIJULIETTE *FLAPPY ARMS x100000!!!*
    Lovely review as always (I would say love, but haha… Warner is seriously rubbing off on me xD), Hazel!! I’m so glad that you enjoyed this so much as well!! <33

  5. I love your review! And agree with everything, it was a great finale, very Shatter Me worthy!
    Truly, I am very sad to see this series go :( Its one of my favourite series really and I can’t believe this was actually the last book!

    Awesome Review!

  6. I’m honestly quite disappointed with the final book… It was beautifully written and I just love everyone in it especially Kenji! But I felt as though there wasn’t any real resolution and how everything panned out and how it was with Anderson! I wish there was more! I could’ve lived with 900 pages than felt empty a bit…. :/

    But I love Tahereh and I look forward to her next works!

  7. Nice review, Hazel! This series is, indeed, one of the best out there! I was at first on #TeamADAM’s side, but after reading Destroy Me, my loyalties have completely switched to #TeamWARNER! Now, THAT is a big shocker for me since it’s my first time on choosing the ‘villain’ over the ‘good’ guy! :))

    I really am a big fan of Tahereh! Can’t wait for her future works! :D

  8. This is the book that I couldn’t put down. Your so right how Tahereh is such a genius. Her trilogy is so amazing!! This is the reason why my first blog post was about Shatter Me. I love Warner so much. His love for Juliette is unfanthomable! TEAM WARNER FOREVS!! Hope to write a review about this soon! :)

  9. i felt like i have waited forever for Juliette to be the kind of heroine she was in this book and Warner is just the right match to push her to her potential. Warnette! and love Kenji what a riot! great review!

  10. I’m planning on reading this, actually. But I’m hesitating because it may not be a good book. But thanks! I made a decision of reading it na lang after I read your review :DD

  11. That’s a very nice review :D The final installment was really worth waiting! I can’t wait to meet Tahereh this April :) Hope to see you there, Hazel! ;)

  12. “I always wonder about raindrops. I wonder about how they’re always falling down, tripping over their own feet, breaking their legs and forgetting their parachutes as they tumble right out of the sky toward an uncertain end. It’s like someone is opening their pockets over the earth and doesn’t seem to care where the contents fall, doesn’t seem to care that the raindrops burst when they hit the ground, that they shatter when they fall to the floor, that people curse the days that the drops dare to tap on their doors. I am a raindrop”

    I just love this paragraph! Omg, Tahereh dont have any idea of what her books do to me. I agree with everything you said. From shifting Adam and Warner to something new to steamy shower scene was brilliant. HAHAHa. This trilogy really deserves an award. I totally agree with that Sexiest Dystopian novel thingy of yours. If only we could have a chance to push that award into reality :) I love Kenji too because he’s like the super bestfriend here. This series gave me big time reasons to show different emotions while reading and I definitely look like a crazy lunatic girl sitting in a chair holding a book. There’s only one thing i’d like to question about Juliet. It seems like she never ran out of ink inside the asylum. Lol. Well whatever weather, I LOVE TAHEREH AND I LOVE THIS BOOK. :))

    Ps. Ur review was great and i really love your blog. Stay bookish forever!

  13. I actually read this after reading Unravel Me and I immediately bought Ignite Me when it was out in the market. This review is so good and true! Keep it up!

  14. I strongly agree with your book review. After reading Ignite Me, I wanted to re-read the whole Shatter Me series. I was glad that Juliette became stronger and she wasn’t the person that-always-faints anymore. I love the way that Kenji is being a very humorous person despite that they are living in a dystopian world. Adam became hurt than ever. And Warner was hotter than ever. P.S. Ignite, my love, ignite.

  15. Everything you just said is pretty much the same as what I have to say! Warner… sigh. I just love him so much! I really like how Juliette grows so much; she starts off scared, but then becomes so much stronger! Kenji will forever be one of my favorite supporting characters.
    “This shit is bananas” quote made me think of Gwen Stefani, and that is a very good thing! I love Hollaback Girl!

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