This review is for those who have read or are familiar with the previous books, Shatter Me, Destroy Me, Unravel Me, Fracture Me, and Ignite Me or don't mind knowing major spoilers for them.
SPOILER ALERT
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?
I thought this was a trilogy. Even Tahereh thought it was a trilogy based on her author's note at the end of Ignite Me. But I guess there were just too many unanswered questions about how Juliette and Co. would continue their revolution. And I must say, I am glad she chose to continue.
Picking up shortly where the last left off, Juliette is now Supreme Commander of the Americas, in charge of 554 other sectors across the continents, and she has no idea what she's doing. I mean, imagine being plucked out of high school and put in charge of the USA. Now multiply the states by 10 and add in that you've been socially isolated and mentally tortured for the past 10 years. Good luck leading anything.
But Juliette still gives it her best shot. She's still as caring and strong as ever, but you can definitely tell that she's starting to crack. I noticed in the last book that, after her healing by Warner/the twins, she no longer did the repetitive 3-thoughts. Well, as this book progresses and tensions rise, I did notice she was starting to do doubles. Still, I couldn't help but love her as she tried her best to navigate the ins and outs of politics and personal relations.
Then you had Warner, who shared in the narrating duties this time around. It was great to see inside his head again, since I loved it so much from Destroy Me, especially since there's A LOT of drama between him and Juliette. It was imperative with all the 'he said, she said' conflicts that we actually got to know both sides, even if it was heartbreaking at times. I especially loved his private scenes with Kenji and Adam/James.
Speaking of which, Kenji is still easily my favorite character of the series. He doesn't share as much personal stuff as in the last book, but that doesn't make him any less adorable. In fact, I can't wait to see him more in his own novella coming next!
As an aside on Kenji, I kinda thought he and Castle had a romantic relationship in Unite and Ignite. Sure he made jokes about ladies and thinking Juliette was hot stuff a lot, but the way they interacted sometimes made me think there was more than just a father/son thing. So now that he has a strong romantic interest with a new character in this book, I don't know if that means he's bi or not. There is also a short mention of a trans character, so I'll still mark it as lgbt+ inclusive.
So, here's a quote from my first reading's review:
I have no idea what I just read with that ending. Sure, things were ramping up at the end, but those last 4 chapters were just head spinning. I'm not sure I want to know what happened if that many people truly died. I mean, I know it's not realistic to assume everybody made it out of that ok, but how many of the characters we've grown to love are really gone?Going into my second reading...I didn't remember ANY what happened. Completely wiped it from my mind. Well, that's not true. I remembered some of what happened...but not the part with death and destruction.
But yeah, the last four-or-so chapters came right out of left field. Most of the book is kinda ambling along at its own pace. And then- WHAM! Blindsided with that ending and cliffhanger?! I hate this series. Well, I love it too. But I hate it until I get my hands on Defy Me.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
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