Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Summary from Goodreads: 

tick, tick, tick, tick, tickit's almosttime for war.
Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.
She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.
Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.
In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

Goodreads / Amazon  

Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 465
Publisher: HarperCollins

First Line: "The world might be sunny-side up today."

Favorite Quote: All of Chapter Sixty Two, and "Hell is empty, and all the devils are here." 

Review: 

So, this is the part where I'm supposed to sum up my feelings towards the book I have just finished reading, which, in this case, is Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi (who, by the way, is awesome). I'm finding this to be very difficult, however, because at the moment my thoughts are scattered in incoherent bits and pieces. I usually write a review immediately after finishing so the words and story are fresh, but I didn't with this, because I needed some time to gather my brain bits. And, okay, it might have had something to do with the fact that I read this from 10 pm to 3 am. I actually needed to get some sleep. ;) 

I was so, so devastated last year when I learned that Unravel Me was coming out in February of 2013 instead of November 2012 like I originally hoped. I mean, almost three extra months?? Harper Collins must hate me. But I have to tell you something. It was well worth the wait. As much as I love to read in general, I go through slumps like everyone else. Anyway, the point is, books like these remind me why I am so passionate about books, why I love them and their stories and covers and pages and words so, so much. 

I love Unravel Me's writing, plot, characters, and absolutely everything else, but to me, the shining point in this book was the feeling. The whole time I read my stomach was hurting, and I was fairly certain I would kill anyone who would dare to interrupt me while I was reading. It made me sad, happy, angry, surprised. I laughed and swooned between random bouts of sadness. This book should be re-named "Roller Coaster" because that's what it really is. 

As much as I loved Shatter Me last year, I have to say I loved Unravel Me much more. Because even though the writing is gorgeous in both, I feel like it was structured better in the second, and the metaphors were more strategically placed for maximum effect. If you asked me to pick a favorite quote, I would be at loss at what to tell you. I guess I would just have to hand you my copy of the book and tell you to read it, because the whole thing is my favorite quote. 


Juliette, Juliette, Juliette. How I went back and forth with you. Through at least the first half of Unravel Me, she is very, very angsty. Like, I'm drowning in angst. And while this kind of sadness and darkness is not really fun to read about, I found that I couldn't be as annoyed with it as I would normally be, simply because of all the pity I felt towards her. I honestly think she has every right to feel as broken and tired as she does, though I will be rather excited to see her step up to the plate and become the awesome fearless heroine I know she could be in book three. I see some real potential there and I'm all for it. I want to give her a big hug, but I'm also really glad that Kenji was there to talk sense into her. I love how he can be so funny, but also serious when he needs to be. He really stole all the scenes he was in. 

And, of course, I have to talk a little bit about the love triangle. There are some steamy, sexy moments in the book for both of the boys. I still really like Adam, and really felt for him at different points in the book. I think he rocks as both a character and a love interest, and if he was up against anybody else I would be screaming TEAM ADAM at the top of my lungs. But sadly for him, the other interest in this book is Warner, and Warner outshines him in so many ways. Warner is simply more interesting as a person, and I want sit down with him over tea and discuss absolutely everything (though I don't think he would let me). He's so different in this book, but also the same. I didn't expect him to all of a sudden turn good and start running around with Omega Point, because in all honesty, he is still rather cold and callous about other people. It would have been a bad expectation. But what I got regarding him was some very realistic events playing out that stayed true to his character. I realize that the heroine of these series always ends up with the first person they fall in love with, and I am probably an idiot for hoping, but I hope that Warner and Juliette end up together. I want Adam to be happy, too, and I doubt he would be if such a thing occurred, but the heart wants what it wants. I blame chapter sixty two. *sighs dreamily*

....

....

Oh, sorry. I should get back to writing the review. 

So many plot twists and turns happen here. Some of my predictions came true, others did not. One in particular I was throwing around for some time, and I thought it would be interesting if it did happen, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't. But then it DID, and I was like, "No. Way." Questions are answered in Unravel Me, such as: What is Warner's first name? Why are he and Adam able to touch Juliette? Do they have gifts? Is Warner's father as much as a jerk as I was led to believe in Destroy Me? Spoiler: YES HE IS. Someone needs to push that guy off a cliff, seriously. Of course, new questions have replaced the old ones. 

I'm happy that the world-building was explained more in Unravel Me, that was my only issue with Shatter Me. I mean, I'm so into the characters half the time that I don't care what's going on with the outside world, but I'm still very eager to see how it all goes down between the Reestablishment and Omega Point. I feel like I have a better idea of how their world works. 

Even after having said all that, I still don't feel like I've accurately expressed how I feel about this book, but I don't think I ever will. If I typed exactly what was in my head, all you would get is gjinsoingsptnseineisneosblkz?!READTHISBOOKssoinepgesnps. 

I partly didn't want to read this book so fast, because I knew the sadness about having to wait a year for the third one was going to set in, and already the calender is mocking me with the far-awayness of February 2014. How can I WAIT that long? *cries* Oh, well . . . I think there might be another novella for the Shatter Me series out in December, so that's at least something to look forward to that's a bit closer. Who's POV will it be in, I wonder? Personally, I wouldn't mind another Warner one. ;) 


Definitely a five star book. If you haven't started this series yet, allow me to personally come to your house and hand you a copy. (That's not creepy, right?).

5 stars. 

Books in this series:

1. Shatter Me
Destroy Me (1.5)
2. Unravel Me 
3. Untitled