If you follow me on Goodreads then you will have seen that I just finished reading Tahereh Mafi's, Unravel Me. I wish I could have blogged about finishing Shatter Me to start with the first book in the series, but unfortunately I didn't :(

If you don't know what the series is about then let me introduce you. Shatter Me begins with the main protagonist, Juliette, a teen who has been in a psychiatric ward for the past couple years. You learn that she was put there when she was 14 years old for committing some sort of crime. Her days are lonely and filled with only the thoughts that pass through her head that she's able to transcribe to her small notebook. Mostly she thinks of how horrible a person she is, a white dove that haunts her dreams and how much she's suffered for the majority of her life. Earth has also changed as readers learn through Juliette, in that people began getting sick a couple years ago and dying, birds don't fly and the environment is worse than it has ever been before. Because of this a new government steps in full of hope and promises, called The Reestablishment, to try and repair all the damage that has occurred.

Juliette's horrible crime has to do with the fact that she has a "special" power. Her touch is deathly, literally. When she touches another human being she is able to steal their energy in a sense and cause them insufferable pain that can lead to death. Her parents discovering this when she was younger disowned her and looked down upon her with disgust. Seeing as her parents didn't want to deal with her she's sent to various juvenile detention centers, hospitals and eventually the psychiatric ward to live in isolation, unable to hurt anyone. Juliette is a weak and very torn character in the beginning, as she's had to suffer through being rejected from warmth and love from not only her parents but everyone around her, never having one single friend. But one day another "patient," Adam, is put in her room and this changes everything.

I don't want to go further into detail because it would mean much more explanation and in-depth description that makes the story what it is- meaning you should go and read it if you're interested! Now, if you don't want further spoilers for the second novel in the series, Unravel Me, then I suggest you do NOT read on!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, on to the good stuff! Unravel Me was different in that it was a bit slower than I would have liked compared to everything that progressed in the first book. I know a lot of people are a bit put off by Mafi's writing style but that's actually something that I really really enjoy about this series- especially being that it's YA. When I'm reading I get caught up in all the amazing imagery and analogies that she creates with her sentences and words. If you really read closely you can feel the intensity and the build-up of emotion that she puts into the characters- especially Juliette's. I think that kind of writing is great for the YA population and all the young teens who are reading, it adds a bit more complexity to the storyline and maybe pushes kids to read more closely.

In Unravel Me though I felt as if I knew every single little thing that Juliette was thinking and feeling. It got kind of frustrating at times because I kept thinking, "I get it, ok, you're drowning in emotions. Moving on..." I also realized that from the moment the characters got to Omega Point till the moment they were going out to battle, it had only been about 4 weeks. I'm not sure of the time span in the first book but for this taking place in a month,  I got tons of character thought (meaning only Juliette's) and not enough action. Not until the very end was there any real action, which means everything was just a buildup and I just wanted more!

Also, I got really fed up with Juliette and her indecision's- that girl just doesn't know what she wants and she's messing with everyone's feelings at this point, that's why I loved Kenji's character. Whenever he called her out and set her straight, I was applauding out loud. I loved that there was more of Kenji and Warner in this book as well, you just get to meet and interact with more characters rather than just staying immersed in Juliette and Adam.

I don't know what's going to happen in Ignite Me but Warner's tattoo has to be a foreshadowing for something and a symbol for how everything's going to wrap up (yeah, I'm a big symbolism person). I don't want to get into the whole Adam vs. Warner thing but let me just say that when I found out Anderson was related to Adam I was super shocked! Talk about a curve ball. I did not see that coming at all and it definitely complicated...well everything- another reason why I was so frustrated with Juliette because she pulled that stunt with Warner. Also, there was barely any Adam in this book, it was as though he was nonexistent.  

I gave Unravel Me a 4/5 on Goodreads, kinda leaning towards a 3.5 more, but the writing was awesome for being a YA novel and I was still really immersed in the storyline from the first book! Let me know what your thoughts are on the series, Unravel Me or anything mentioned. I can't wait to read the last book, even if it's kinda bittersweet!

-Alex