Review: Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

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Title: Ignite Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #3
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Romance, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic
Format: Paperback, 408 pages
Source: bought from Powerbooks

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.

“I’m not sure. But there’s something about the darkness, the stillness of this hour, I think, that creates a language of its own. There’s a strange kind of freedom in the dark; a terrifying vulnerability we allow ourselves at exactly the wrong moment, tricked by the darkness into thinking it will keep our secrets. We forget that the blackness is not a blanket; we forget that the sun will soon rise. But in the moment, at least, we feel brave enough to say things we’d never say in the light.”

This book, my friends, will “shatter” everything you loved and hated in the first book. Every feels, emotions, beliefs and biases will be gone after reading Ignite Me. This was one hell of an emotional rollercoaster ride and a mind blowing conclusion

WARNING: This review might contain spoilers.

“For so many years I lived in constant terror of myself. Doubt had married my fear and moved into my mind, where it built castles and ruled kingdoms and reigned over me, bowing my will to its whispers until I was little more than an acquiescing peon, too terrified to disobey, too terrified to disagree. I had been shackled, a prisoner in my own mind.

Ignite Me follows Juliette awakening from everything that has made her life a living hell. After being shot and left bleeding by the supreme commander and after being healed with the help of Warner, this awoke her from everything that has been holding her back. After realizing that she wanted to live her life and be free from doubts, she’s now the strong and brave girl who wants to fight back The Reestablishment and bring the supreme commander down. She has grown so much and I can’t deny I admired her in this book. However, her drive to suddenly lead and head the world was not believable for me. Seriously, she’s just seventeen and I don’t think being invincible is an excuse to have a sudden surge of confidence to rule a nation, right?

But there was just one thing I didn't really liked in her in this book, she became too gullible. Girl, just because the person who tortured you before was suddenly beautiful in your eyes now doesn't make him suddenly trustworthy.

“Words, I think, are such unpredictable creatures.
No gun, no sword, no army or king will ever be more powerful than a sentence. Swords may cut and kill, but words will stab and stay, burying themselves in our bones to become corpses we carry into the future, all the time digging and failing to rip their skeletons from our flesh.”

Adam broke my Juliette’s heart into a fine pieces. This was not what I was expecting and I am really heartbroken with what happened to this two. I love Adam, not because he was hot or attractive but because despite having a rough life he managed to be wall not just for his younger brother, James, but also for Juliette. He was the first person that noticed her, they had ten years of history, he tapped Juliette’s drive to escape and be free. But this book shattered everything, I thought I knew Adam, I was wrong, Juliette was wrong. Chapter 27 was so cruel. T.T

“You have no idea, what it means to truly suffer. Sometimes I think you live in some fantasy land where everyone survives on optimism-- but it doesn't work that way out here. In this world, you're either alive, about to die, or dead. There's no romance in it. No illusion. So don't try to pretend you have any idea what it means to be alive today. Right now. Because you don't.”

This final book in the series explained everything about Warner, and I had a hunch there was something else about him but I didn’t expected those revelations to be that big. Warner was the big plot twist in the whole series, and I never saw that coming. He was suddenly the hero, the savior, the hope, the bird with the golden streak. I know I was supposed to have a change of heart towards Warner in this book, but no. His creepiness at the beginning was too much for me to handle that I was always doubting his actions. I was always waiting for him to slip in this book, but no. He was the male protagonist, he was the hero. He won Juliette’s heart. Honestly, I was rooting for no one as I was reading this book. After Adam changed and become a total douche towards Juliette and his friends, I felt that it’d be better for Juliette to just find her freedom and live happily with friends. Biases aside, Tahereh Mafi really did a brilliant job in blowing the minds of every readers. If she weren’t amazing I wouldn’t be having this feels for this book.

#TeamKenji I love Kenji so much in this book. He was the strength everyone needed in this book, even Juliette. He had his own grief and struggle but he didn’t let those put him down. He was the bestest friend anyone could ask for. I have a hunch Mafi created him this way because she knew ahead of time that a lot of readers will get their heart broken and minds blown upon reading this book. Thank you Tahereh for creating Kenji, I wouldn't have survived this book without him. He never failed to make me smile, I wished he had someone too in this book.

Kenji: “If anything, everyone needs to protect themselves from you. You’re like a freaking beast, I mean you know – like, a cute beast. A little beast that tears shit up and breaks the earth and sucks the life out of people.”

I would’ve given this book a 5 note rating if it weren't lacking some details. I was looking forward to Juliette and her parent’s reunion. Yes, her parents may be cruel to her that they let authorities to lock her away but they were still her parents. If not reunion maybe just inform readers what happened to them after everything. Another thing was the fight scene towards the end. It seemed a bit rush and I was expecting it to be more exciting than the action scene in the second book. This was what will turn the world around, the start of the change, but no it became Juliette’s fight against a million soldiers. I think the book focused more on Juliette’s struggle on whom to choose. I didn't feel the war, I felt Juliette’s war with herself.

Overall, I am giving this book a 4 note rating base on everything I felt in this book. It was good in the sense that I am having all this emotions bursting in me, it really affected me I had to pause for a few minutes to contain my feelings. I don’t want to rate this book low just because my expectations with the characters wasn't met because that doesn't really sound fair. If you want surprise and you’re bored with the usual cliché you read from YA books, try this one. You’ll love it, you’ll hate it, and that just proves how good this series is.

4 out of 5