Review: Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Book: Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Series: Shatter Me #3

Released: February 4, 2014

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 352 (Kindle)

Rating: 5++ {So much flailing}

Goodreads

From Goodreads:

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.

As with all books in a series, while I won't give any spoilers for this book, plots points from the first two books will be mentioned in passing. You've been warned. And if for some reason you haven't heard of these books, let alone read them, go now and get them. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Okay. Now that I got that out of the way. YOU GUYS. THIS BOOK. It was everything I wanted it to be. I don't even think I'll be as coherent as usual during this review. I'm that worked up over this book.

I'm STILL in a glass case of emotion

As I mentioned in my review for Into the Still Blue, I have been a little weary of series enders ever since I read Allegiant. I am most happy to say this did not disappoint. Not even a little bit. I loved every. single. minute. of it. So much so that I started reading it at approximately midnight last night, and stayed up until 2:30 to finish it (yes, I read that fast). 

The story picks up right where Unravel Me left off. I love when books do this. I am not a fan of gaps between stories. I get enough of that on TV (*side-eyes Sherlock*). I want to know everything that happens. Luckily for me, Mafi delivers. 

I love being inside Juliette's head. Girl is fascinating. She has so many different thoughts running through her head at one time. One of my favorite things about this series, is that through Mafi's unique writing style, you can really see the growth in Juliette as a person. She started off as completely broken and basically came across as insane in Shatter Me. By the end of Ignite Me, she is a completely different, and amazing, person. I loved seeing her change and develop throughout the series. She really comes in to her own, and develops and OWNS her strength. Just like I'd been wanting her to do.

Speaking of character growth and changes, can I just take a minute to discuss Warner? *sigh* I was pretty much Team Warner, even in Shatter Me. I ensconced myself firmly in his camp after reading Destroy Me. Unravel Me kept me there, and Fracture Me just made me really dislike Adam. So yeah, I've always been a fan of Warner. He is such a complex character, and I was more than happy to get to know him even more through the course of Ignite Me. Also, this happens:

And I'm jealous of the size of his closet.

Oh. And Chapter 55. Better than Chapter 62 from Shatter Me. Hot.

One of the biggest questions for the end of the series was who Juliette would end up with. While I won't say whether I was happy or not (thus giving away who she picks), I was at least glad, as Juliette puts it, she wasn't with anyone "by default."

Also making an appearance? Our boy Kenji. If she ever decides to continue this series, or do companion novels, or basically anything, I hope Kenji gets to be the focus. I love his character so much. And his friendship with Juliette is absolutely fantastic. It reminds me so much of the friendship between Roar and Aria from the Under the Never Sky series. Right down the the quips and nicknames. I actually laughed out loud a couple of times, I enjoyed them together so much. I love how they are always there for each other, willing to back the other up, and also willing to tell the other when they're being an idiot. Seeing healthy relationships and friendships make me happy.

Plus there's lots of great James moments. I love that kid. His interactions with Warner are priceless.

I will say there is not a lot of action in this book. At all. It's mostly build up and relationships building between characters, which is totally fine by me. The action that you're expecting, honestly doesn't even happen until you're 90% of the way through the book. Then BAM! It's there. And it goes fast. And then.

THEN it's over. I was so ridiculously sad to finish this book. I didn't want it to end. I felt like there could be so much more to this story. I hope one day Tahereh Mafi will want to revisit this world. I love these characters so much (except for maybe Adam...).

There's so much more I could say. And want to say. But really, I just want you all to read these books. They're so wonderful and I love them. I hope you will too.