Photo Credits: Engin_Akyurt
Edited by Vaishali
Title: ‘Ignite Me’
Author: Tahereh Mafi Series: (Shatter Me#3) Publisher: Harper Collins Year of Publication: 2014 Version: Paperback ISBN: 978-0-06-208558-0 Genre/s: YA Fantasy, Science Fiction, dystopian, romance, paranormal, Post apocalyptic W A R N I N G: If you haven't read the first two books in this series, there may be spoilers! R E V I E W...“I’ve been here before, I tell myself. I’ve been lonelier than this, more hopeless than this, more desperate than this. I’ve been here before and I’ve survived. I can get through this. But never have I been so thoroughly robbed. Love and possibility, friendship and futures: gone. I have to start over now; face the world alone again. I have to make one final choice: give up or go on. So I get to my feet. My head is spinning, thoughts knocking into one another, but I swallow back the tears. I clench my fists and try not to scream and I tuck my friends in my heart and revenge I think has never looked so sweet.” “Juliette, love.” He says to me, still holding my eyes. “You have just started a war.”
She needed to Shatter, she needed to unravel, in order to ignite.
'Ignite Me’ by Tahereh Mafi is the third instalment in the beloved ‘Shatter Me’ series. When I set on eyes on the title, I knew the choice that Juliette would end up making, and might I say that she made the right choice indeed! The cover art is spectacular, symbolising Juliette’s comprehensive growth with all its vibrancy and lush foliage surrounding the illustrious eye. The first chapter begins beautifully with continued metaphor, the writing just as easy to follow. Juliette’s transition from book 1 to book 3 is tremendous considering the total lack of strike-throughs and numerical data, as well as her personal growth as a young woman . Warner's growth is equally as stunning, both he and Juliette companionable birds in a crumbling onyx sky.
Omega Point is nothing more than a 50-foot-deep hole in the ground, and the population of Omega Point has now been reduced to extinction with the exception of the 9 survivors who were lucky enough to escape: Castle, Kenji, Ian, Brendan, Winston, Adam, James, Alia and Lily. Juliette is alive, saved from death itself and more than ready to fight back and fight real this time against Anderson and the Re-establishment. After a surprising offer from the Commander and Regent himself, Juliette accepts Warner’s much unexpected offer. But Warner is still the enemy, the opposition, and Juliette is the middle woman trying to balance a tricky and trifling situation.
Juliette is in a position of power , enough so that she can make a stand, and she has to make some difficult choices; choices to aid the world’s survival and not just her own. She has purpose and reason and resolution and tenacity and intention, which all amount to strengthen her will. Juliette was strong all along, and it was beautiful to watch her discover it. This book takes place on Sector 45’s army base where Juliette’s army of 9 plan, plot, and train, preparing before the imminent war hits them. There is unbridled tension, emotion running high while hope runs low. Igniting passions ensue, but Juliette’s lethal touch is not so lethal where her green eyed ally is concerned.
'Ignite Me' throws revelations at you, and Warner’s revelations just keep on coming. Just when you can’t take any more of the truth, his punishing humanity melts you in the face of another. Warner reveals his secrets to Juliette, each more heart-breaking than the last, and if I my soul didn’t already belong to this blond-haired enigma, then it surely does now! If Warner in ‘Unravel Me’ still didn’t do any favours for you, ‘Ignite Me’ Warner steals this narrative.
C H A R A C T E R S...
Juliette becomes the bold, brave, courageous, and confident woman she was meant to be, and I did nothing but cheer her on, feeling a great sense of pride for her. She completely came into her own , and was more honest with herself than ever before. She took control and managed her fears. She became a competent driving force . Watching her was like watching a flower gradually and steadily blossom.
Yes, Juliette still has her fears because it’s not possible to be fearless, yes she still battles with uncertainty and struggle (anxiety is inevitable). Who doesn’t in harsh circumstance? Anxiety isn’t something you can escape from, it's present and always resurfaces. For dealing with it at such a young age, I just love this girl and commend her across the universe and back. This girl has my heart. For a 17-year-old-girl , she has the balls of a bull….(I don’t know how strong a bull’s balls are but I imagine they must be pretty strong).
Unravelling in front of Juliette’s eyes, we see through the illusions of Warner's character, past misconception to his helpless core. He is tremendously troubled, a dodecahedron personified for the many-layers of man that he is. Warner is the biggest support and comfort to Juliette in this book (alongside Kenji) like nobody has ever been to her before and they both elevate one another. Very much the opposite of Adam and Juliette’s relationship.
Warner always encourages as opposed to overwriting Juliette’s opinion. He emits no force toward her, allowing her the freedom to express herself. Adam manages to somehow always do the opposite. He seems to think Juliette is not capable of independent thought, that she must be told what is right and wrong, very much implying his lack of trust in her strength. It’s quite clear that Juliette and Adam’s priorities do not align. They are treading different paths because Juliette has changed, a fact that Adam hasn’t accepted, part of him hating her for it.
Adam is right just as much as he is wrong, but his handling of Juliette and the situation was incredibly poor and contemptible (even though his actions can be understood). But Is this truly the man we all fell in love with in ‘Shatter Me’? He was bitter, vindictive and used Juliette as a figurative punching bag, and was anything but gentle with her. This cast of teenage characters are managing in the best way they can, but Adam seems to have the most trouble with this stressful situation.
JAMES. He’s just incredible, funny and is a much-needed presence in this book. He is the epitome of what they are fighting for: a better world for the coming generation. He continues to be intelligent, curious and sharp. One of my favourite aspects of this book? His interactions with Warner; they were absolutely some of my favourite scenes! James is a question generator and Warner is a question-avoider, conservative with a silent demeanour, and is known to emotionally shut himself off from the world; this primes them both for the best encounters. I loved the pair of them. The other survivors from Point were present too, and while there is a lot of interaction, we don’t see Juliette’s relationship with each of them strengthen.
Kenji’s role in 'Ignite Me' is just as vital, and his relationship with Juliette bloomed beyond. Their scenes together were heart-warming and hilarious. Above all though they are honest with each other, and that in itself highlights the genuine base of their candid friendship. It was not as one-sided as it was in ‘Unravel Me’ where Kenji usually steered Juliette. They are now both equally an anchor to the other, Juliette stabilising him after Omega Point’s losses.
This series without Kenji is like a table without a leg, a bracelet without its charm, a cup of tea without sugar, a rainbow without the brightest colour, because Mr. Kishimoto binds this series together with the strongest adhesive. There would be little level of function and a lack of heart and humour if Kenji didn’t exist. A world without Kenji…no, I can’t possibly imagine a world without Kenji, that’s just too cruel. They each counsel one another in all things, and even when Juliette consoles in him about the controversial, he is the essence of understanding because he believes in her.
C O N C L U D I N G T H O U G H T S:
I loved this book (perhaps love is too weak a word though in this case), but here are a few problems I had: I found the ending to be anti-climactic, leaving some things to be desired. There was little action; the conflict was resolved too quickly. 'Ignite Me' is slow paced as it’s occupied mostly with preparation for the final battle, but I felt that the groundwork could have been cut short to give this book the best, well deserved, shocking, make - your - heart -race - and - mind - explode kind of ending. The battle scene at the end was also rather underwhelming.
For a villain who destroyed the earth, manipulated society and abused everybody and everything deserved a more torturous end – but perhaps this is just personal preference. For a villain who had such a long-lasting impact on the main characters’ damaged lives I wanted a more satisfying ending. This series is wonderful and so beyond words that I just wanted the conclusion to pull out all the stops, but it in no way diminished my experience.
It really is so easy to forget just how young these characters are. They are at an age and in a world that prohibits them from being what they should be: teenagers and young adults. They have responsibilities that they shouldn’t have, but their actions are only testament to the exceptional young people they are.
This whole series is a motif for growth, escalation, acceptance, the expansion of a person’s mind and will, and how that enables the development of trajectory. A coming of age, an examination of self-discovery, this is a story every young girl needs to read, a story that guides and educates, that says ‘hey, I understand, and I’ve been there too but you will become strong because of it’.
If we look closely enough this series isn't decisively about romantic relationships, or even about desiring validation from such relationships, it’s about a girl giving herself permission to realise that she is worth something. Worth the earth she walks on, and the skies she exists under for the basic reason that being human is always enough. Juliette always had a reason to live, and I’m glad she found it.
I love Tahereh Mafi's approach to such a delicate but powerful story of the force of unexpected mettle, I love her the dynamic script of her writing style, her stylistic writing choices, and most importantly for introducing the word love back into our vocabulary. This book is Warner’s through and through.
An Incredible series. An incredible book. An incredible cast of character. Long may the world ignite.
“And then I’m spinning, lost in sensations, and wondering how soon we’ll be losing these moments, and wondering how long it’ll be before we have them again. I don’t know where we’re going, he and I, but I know I want to get there. We are hours and minutes reaching for the same second, holding hands as we spin forward into new days and the promise of something better. But though we’ll know forward and we’ve known backward, we will never know the present. This moment and the next one and even the one that would’ve been right now are gone, already passed, and all we’re left with are these tired bodies, the only proof that we’ve lived through time and survived it. It’ll be worth it, though, in the end. Fighting for a lifetime of this.” I gave this book 4.5 stars -
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M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read ---------------------------------------
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R E L A T E D P O S T S: ● BOOK REVIEW: 'Shatter Me' by Tahereh Mafi ● BOOK REVIEW: 'Unravel Me' by Tahereh Mafi ● BOOK REVIEW: 'Unite Me' by Tahereh Mafi _______________________________________________
F A V O U R I T E Q U O T E S:
“Do you never get exhausted being so wholly unbearable? You have as much charisma as the rotting innards of unidentified roadkill.” - Warner
“I need waves. I need waterfalls. I want rushing currents.” “This isn’t about Adam or Warner. This is about me and what I want. This is about me finally understanding where I want to be in ten years. Because I’m going to be alive, Kenji. I will be alive in ten years, and I’m going to be happy. I’m going to be strong. And I don’t need anyone to tell me that anymore. I am enough, and I always will be.” “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. But finally, I have learned to break free. I am upset for our losses. I’m horrified. But I’m also anxious and restless…So I don’t know how to be sad when all I feel is an unrelenting determination to do something. I am no longer afraid of fear, and I will not let it rule me. Fear will learn to fear me.” “My eyes are filling fast with tears and I blink and blink but the world is a mess and I want to laugh because all I can think is how horrible and beautiful it is, that our eyes blur the truth when we can’t bear to see it.” “Because the truth is so unbearable I wish he’d spare me a lie.” “Hope will break your heart all over again.” “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.” “I’ve learnt about how to control my strength, how to tap into it when I need to. I spent so many years bottling everything up and locking it away that it still takes some time to remember it’s there, waiting for me to harness it. But the moment I welcome it, I feel it rush into me. It’s a raw power so potent it makes me feel invincible,” “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 becomes corpses we carry into the future, all the time digging and failing to rip their skeletons from our flesh.” “I’d rather be shot dead screaming for justice than die alone in a prison of my own making.” “Good for you. I’ll buy you a balloon the minute the world stops shitting on itself.” “If you hide your heart, he will never be able to take it from you.” - This is one of my favourite quotes throughout this series because it sums up everything Warner has ever done and why. “And we are quotation marks, inverted and upside down, clinging to one another at the end of this life sentence. Trapped by lives we did not choose. It’s time, I think, to break free.” “I will be unapologetic. I will live with no regrets. I will reach into the earth and rip out the injustice and I will crush it in my bare hands.” “It’s the kind of kiss that inspires stars to climb into the sky and light up the world. The kind that takes forever and no time at all. His hands are holding my cheeks, and he pulls back just too look me in the eye and his chest is heaving and he says, “I think,” he says, “my heart is going to explode,” and I wish, more than ever, that I knew how to capture moments like these and revisit them forever. Because this. This is everything.” - My heart exploded too Warner. “Can you hear my heart? I want to ask him. I want you to make a list of all your favourite things. And I want to be on it.” ‘I kiss my way across the words. Kissing away the devils. Kissing away the pain.’ “There is nothing to fear. Nothing to worry about. Grieve nothing in this transitory world. It’s the only way I know how to exist. In a world where there is so much to grieve and so little good take? I grieve nothing. I take everything.” L E A V E A C O M M E N T A N D L E T' S T A L K A B O U T
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