Since April is upon us booknerds in the Philippines, I just have to remind you all that Tahereh Mafi is coming to the Philippines! Of course, she's joined by her wonderful husband and author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Hollow City, Ransom Riggs, as well as Veronica Rossi, author of the Under The Never Sky Trilogy.
And with that, I give you another book review of Tahereh's works. I swear this is gonna be long.
Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publication: HarperCollins, 2011
Format: Paperback, 340 pages
Source: Own Copy from National Book Store
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Synopsis:
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.
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Misfit's Review:
There were times where I felt drawn to the darkness of Juliette's mind, and I think that was a good thing. There were complexities in Juliette's character that was established firsthand. I was taken by the metaphorical way that Tahereh was able to blend in in the instances of Juliette's observations of her tiny world.
And then there was Adam, who was of course, the first guy that was able to touch Juliette, made her feel loved, made her excited. And of course Warner, the leader of Sector 45, obsessed with having Juliette for her fatal touch.
The characters of course are super cool. You just wanna know every bit of them as the story goes on. I think with the number of characters in the first book, it was a good establishment for us to fall more and more for them.
Tahereh's writing, as I've said in the beginning is magical. It is kind of too much to handle in the beginning, because you are being fed with descriptives, sentence after sentence but then, you get where she's at and I got used to it in the long run, let's say by chapter 10. HAHAHA.
The strikethroughs are the most striking for me! I think it allows us more to believe what Juliette is like and what her thoughts and fears are. Some may not appreciate them coz it brings drama to the plot, but it just adds a different flavor to the look and entire feel of the book.
Anyway, I recommend this read for every guy or gal who loves to get their noses buried in a dystopian novel. Get ready to escape from the Reestablishment.
Rating:
Title: Unravel Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publication: HarperCollins, 2013
Format: Paperback, 461 pages
Source: Own Copy from NBS
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Synopsis:
Our lips touch
and I know I'm going to split at the seams. He kisses me softly then strongly like he's lost me and he's found me and I'm slipping away and he's never going to let me go.
Juliette has escaped from The Reestablishment. Now she's 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 and terrified of her future, Juliette knows that she will have to make some life-changing choices. Choices that may involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.
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Misfit's Review:
I enjoyed the first book so much, I just had to read the sequel as soon as possible and good thing I had the copy I bought with Shatter Me, so I didn't have to wait to dive in.
I loved Omega Point, the people, KENJI. Oh my goodness Kenji! He is my utter most favorite in the book even if it is catered with so much Warnette feels! We see a side of Warner that we had been hoping to see of course : the goodness in the shroud of evil. And Adam, dear sweet angel, I feel so bad for him. He is the epitome of a man who loves dearly and passionately, yet Juliette decided to stay away from him to keep him safe.
And then there is Juliette. I love her, I really do, but I think that she has some sort of bipolar tendency that can be seen with how she deals with her feelings towards Warner and Adam. And she gets a little bit frustrating at times! Like, what the heck? But I guess, feelings make you that way.
And I truly enjoyed Anderson! His sadism is so mind blowing that I wanted more of it, like I need more evil to bestow upon everyone. He brings out a strength and fear in Juliette that brings her to a dark place that I truly loved reading about. I don't know, I guess the action pumped me up!
The book will bring you more feels than the first book that's for sure! And be ready to love more characters and of course, Tahereh's writing style is still impeccable, but I guess she turned it down a notch.
Grab a copy of it now, and be ready for war!
Rating:
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publication: HarperCollins, 2014
Format: Paperback, 408 pages
Source: Own Copy from NBS
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Synopsis:
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.
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Misfit's Review:
It took me a day to finish the book and one thing is running through my head while I finished. THAT'S IT? I felt as though there was so much more depth and conclusion to the book that it truly made it look like the whole plot was rushed.
Of course, we come back from the bombing thing and Warner being Juliette's savior, keeping her alive and then she finds out everyone is safe and then we see Adam, with his emotions all blown up and he became a raging monster all of sudden just because she came back with Warner? Dude, chill.
There was so much more potential to the book than just knowing that your OTP is gonna be together. I seriously think that it is quintessential to finish what you started in the grandeur of how it is supposed to be finished. And when you think about killing Anderson and all that, you imagine guns everywhere, machines blowing up, the guys of Omega Point showing off their powers and Anderson being a total sadist that he is but I was left with a wee bit of disappointment coz it started out to be such a good encounter between Juliette and Anderson and it ends like that? My oh my.
The strikethroughs are gone, which my friend said was the end of Juliette's dramatics, but I loved those strikethroughs! Juliette can live in fear even if she has found her courage.
And then there's Kenji. He's the breath of fresh air, the saving grace for me. He just knows.
I honestly love Tahereh and her story and I respect what she wanted to happen, but I would've been happier reading a 1000 pages more than be left with 400 of it when things weren't settled the way they should have been. Her writing style is still flawless and lovely and of course she has described the surroundings, the characters well enough for us to love them even more, but storywise, I am left hanging.
Kudos though to the success of the Shatter Me Trilogy! All in all, I loved every bit of it and I still dream of a Kenji novella to this day!
Rating:
Speaking of novellas, I decided to giveaway a copy of UNITE ME by Tahereh Mafi, which is already out in stores as well. One lucky winner from the Philippines will get a chance to win it, so leave your entries and hopefully comment on this review! Hopefully, I can have the copy signed by Tahereh Mafi herself coz I'm gonna be there! I will do my best!
Fill out your entries here:
Tahereh Mafi, Ransom Riggs and Veronica Rossi will be in the Philippines this April 26 at the Glorietta Activity Center. This event is organized by National Book Store. See you there!
I didn't know they're together. I don't know what to feel :( haha :P
ReplyDeleteI love you, Jayvee. And your blog. <3
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