Review: Ignite Me - Tahereh Mafi

Title: Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3)
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Release Date: February 4th, 2014 
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age and Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Pages: 416
Source: bought

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

Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she'll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew-about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam-was wrong.

In Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi created a captivating and original story that combined 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." The sequel, Unravel Me, blew readers away with heart-racing twists and turns, and New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia said it was "dangerous, sexy, romantic, and intense." Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and climactic end.

Will contain spoilers!


In Shatter Me, I was Team Adam. In Unravel Me, I was still Team Adam. But after reading Destroy Me and Fracture Me, I began to like Warner. I know, I'm confused too! Tahereh Mafi has a way of surprising me. Honestly I was convinced that I would hate this book. I really didn't know how everyone would get the ending they deserve. Silly me for all that worrying. I completely loved this book. Everything. The characters. The love triangle. The ending.

Tahereh's writing was one aspect that make this series different. Her writing is just so magnificent and I could pretty  much quote this entire book. There's about a gazillion quotes that are so memorable and true. 

“Words, I think, are such unpredictable creatures."

The love triangle was handled brilliantly. It was fairly easy to figure out who she's gonna end up with earlier on and I totally switched teams. This series is probably the first YA that I read which the girl doesn't end up with the 'first' guy that she loved. If you think about it, no one ends up with their first love anyway and the relationship here was portrayed very realistically. When people grow and change, their feelings towards certain people also changed. I love this quote, said by Juliette about her and Adam's love:

“Water that never moves." I say to him. "Its fine for a little while. You can drink from it and it'll sustain you. But if it sits too long it goes bad. It grows stale. It becomes toxic." I shake my head. "I need waves. I need waterfalls. I want rushing currents.”

I hope both Warner and Adam fans will be happy regardless who she ends up with. I was scared shitless Mafi was going to take the easy way out and kill one of them or have the choice made for Juliette *coughNightshadecough*. But what I loved about this book,among other things, was that Juliette made HER choice. This book is arguably HER book. Her story. Her growth to love herself and acceptance. She's one of my favourite protagonists. She kicks some ass now. Before she was so weak and stupid, now she's not afraid anymore. She believes in herself. And I wouldn't have it any other way. 

“I can do anything I want.
Be with anyone I want.
And it'll be my choice.”

Turns out we didn't know everything and guess what? I'm now in love with Warner. You read that right. What I thought was impossible really wasn't at all. He surprised me a lot, that Warner. This sums up perfectly why Warner was the right choice in the end. 

“I like the way I feel about myself when I'm with him." I say quietly. "Warner thinks I'm strong and smart and capable and he actually values my opinion. He makes me feel like his equal--like I can accomplish just as much as he can, and more. And if I do something incredible, he's not even surprised. He expects it. He doesn't treat me like I'm some fragile little girl who needs to be protected all the time.” 

He knows and accepts and loves Juliette.

“You deserve so much more than charity," he said, his chest heaving. "You deserve to live, You deserve to be alive.” 

And he can be pretty funny, too. I love this bit: 

“It's not charity," I snap. "He cares about me--and I care about him!"
Warner nods, unimpressed. "You should get a dog, love. I hear they share much the same qualities.” 

There was a lot more sexy times than I thought it would have (so not complaining) but what I loved about it was that it was very sensual and tasteful. It was done and written in such a beautiful and romantic way while still having me fan myself. I demand a NA written by Tahereh! I would buy it immediately. If you think Chaoter 62 was fucking hot, wait until you read Ignite Me's Chapter 55. Ovaries go boom. And that's not the only chapter. ;) 

Honestly I didn't want this book to end because I hated to say goodbye to the characters! Especially Kenji. OMG I LOVE HIM. He was just hilarious and I really like the fact that Juliette's bestfriends with him. Love their friendship. Also, James! He's so cute. I know Adam pretty much annoyed most readers in this book, I just felt sorry for him! What he's gone through and all. But Juliette's made the right choice. And what can I say about the ending? While I honestly thought it ended a little abruptly, and that I would have preferred a mini epilogue, I'm still very satisfied with it. 

I'm slowly staring to have faith in series endings. After the disastrous Bloodrose, Allegiant and a few others I won't mention, Tahereh Mafi, Jennifer L. Armentrout and Veronica Rossi proved that you can end a series the way it deserves.