Unravel Me (Shatter Me, #2)

by Tahereh Mafi

"Juliette has escaped to Omega Point, the headquarters of the rebel resistance and a safe haven for people with abilities like hers. She is finally free from The Reestablishment and their plans to use her as a weapon, but Warner, her former captor, won't let her go without a fight."--

Juliette escapes to a safe haven, where she is free from The Reestablishment and their plans to use her as a weapon, but Warner, her former captor, won't let go without a fight. The plot contains profanity and sexual violence. Book #2

• ISBN10: 0062085565
• ISBN13: 9780062085566
• Publish Date: 5 February 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 496
• Language: English

Reviews

[Linda]

This and other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews

Unravel Me picks up just after Shatter Me finished, and Juliette has a little bit of trouble fitting in. After being shunned for so long, and then in isolation for years, she feels as if everybody is just waiting for her to screw up so they can throw her out in the cold again.

[journalingirl]

She is such an amazing writer. Her prose reads like poetry. So well done; I can't wait for the next book.

[littleread1]

I liked Shatter Me better, but this was still good. It seemed to drag at moments, but the story is great. And no, NOT Team Warner. Still Team Adam but am at least more sympathetic to Warner. My overall favorite character is Kenji/ :-) Juliette at the end finally has the mindset she needs to have, because I was wondering if she was going to continue being an idiot. Lots of hope for the next book!

[Amanda]

Shatter Me was one of my favorite books of 2011, with a coveted 10 rating. It should really come as no surprise, then, that I would pick up Unravel Me, the second book in the series. Desperate as I was for more of this series, I also read Destroy Me, the novella from Warner's point of view that bridges the two stories. It's this novella that really changed how I felt and yes, led me to changing teams. There is so much more to Warner than our view of him in Shatter Me, and all his anti-hero potential in Destroy Me is realized in Unravel Me.

Though this is a worthy second book, it didn't quite hit me the way the first did. The poetic nature of Juliette's narration is dulled, but the stream of consciousness style remains. It was okay, but I ended up looking forward to Juliette's interactions with the other characters--Kenji and Warner in particular. Those two stole the book for me, in completely different ways. Juliette was vaguely annoying. Kenji is irrepressible, his humor ever present and his drive to succeed against the Reestablishment stronger than ever. Warner is...Warner. (OH, WARNER.) Adam loses his spark somewhat. He's just... well, he doesn't play as big a role in this book, and Juliette has some interesting revelations about herself and her relationship with Adam.

Um. So, in this book, THINGS HAPPEN. LOTS OF THINGS. We learn secrets. The plot thickens. We meet Warner's dad. Castle and the resistance gear up to fight. Things are going DOWN in Juliette's world. (Yes, there's a love triangle. No, I'm not all that bothered by it. Well, I'm bothered by Juliette's reaction to it, but the fact it exists does not.) I don't know that I'm still satisfying with the amount of information we have about the Reestablishment and I want to know MORE. I think Tahereh Mafi has set up the ending of Unravel Me to give us more information in book 3.

I hope.

Until then, I shall twiddle my thumbs, look accusingly at my calendar ("What? The next novella isn't out yet?"), and reread Destroy Me.

[Angie]

This is the honestly the hardest review I have written. I had no words when I finished reading Unravel Me except for “All of the stars!” because really, this book deserves way more than that measly five. I actually had to sleep on it, to come down from the high it gave me, so that I could even form a coherent thought. Now I’m here, and I’m telling you all that Unravel Me is the best book of the year so far. At least for me. I don’t even care that I’m not really a fan of the flowery writing. In fact, I think it feels kind of out of place amongst all of the action and ass kicking. But Tahereh Mafi is some kind of storytelling genius. I could not get enough of this.

Unravel Me had me feeling way too many feelings. I cannot even identify them all, but one that I am sure of is giddiness. I could just feel myself getting more and more giddy the more pages I turned. I was getting light headed from anticipation, and I probably could have passed out at any time. That might be a really unhealthy reaction to have to a book, but I couldn’t control it. I received this book on a Tuesday, and read it straight through the very next day. I only took breaks to update my GoodReads and Twitter statuses. And to eat a brownie, which gave me tummy ache that I’m choosing to interpret as “Serves you right for putting the book down!”

Juliette starts out as a timid little mouse with rabies. You’re afraid she’ll bite you, but you don’t really think she will. Then she morphs into a jaguar with rabies, and you nearly pee your pants. Now she wants to bite you and she probably will, but you can’t turn away from her because she’s just so majestic. She’s scary. Juliette is so afraid of being seen as a monster and hurting someone, but she is downright terrifying in Unravel Me. I also feel like she’s quite unstable. That makes me a little happy because Warner is quite unstable, and then they can be unstable together, and everyone knows that two negatives make a positive. At least if you multiple them, but whatever. Juliette is bad ass, but I think she owes that to Kenji.

I was always oddly suspicious of Kenji, but now I adore him! He’s so full of himself and hilarious. He stole nearly every scene that he’s in. But he’s not only the jokester. He’s a great support for Juliette while she’s in emo mode. He essentially tells her to stop crying and put on her big girl panties. He’s not her babysitter. Juliette needs to take control of her powers before she kills someone, and Kenji knows all to well what her powers can do to a person.

Everything about this book is better than Shatter Me. Shatter Me does not even compare. I would say that Unravel Me is 62 times better than its predecessor, which I gave 4 stars to, so that means Unravel Me really gets 248 stars. It’s that simple. My biggest issue with the first book was quickly resolved in this one, and it made me super happy! Well, it made me kind of sad for Juliette and Adam, but I was glad that things weren’t that simple. I may not be on Adam’s team, but I still like him. I actually really enjoyed the romance, but I was really just waiting for Warner to show up…

CHAPTER 62!!! Warner doesn’t just magically appear that far in. He’s around much earlier than that making my heart flutter. But holy crap Chapter 62. Unravel Me was fantastic before I got that far. The rating in my head was hovering around 4.5 and 5 stars already, but that chapter just pushed it over the edge. I was ecstatic to get so much Warner. My feelings were floating on a warm Spring breeze beneath a rainbow and a unicorn flew by, then a tornado hit and shredded my feelings, deposited them in an abandoned field where they were promptly set on fire and turned to ash, then I inhaled the ash and couldn’t breathe. Then I died a little. That’s a pretty accurate description. There’s one quote that I really want to share, but it’s like a giant spoiler monster! It’s just so amazing! But I won’t, because you all need to go read it for yourself! It’s the bottom paragraph on page 394 of the US Hardback for those curious.

I might be rambling, but I beyond loved Unravel Me. When I finished I felt like sobbing. It’s not that the ending was particularly sad. I just didn’t want it to be over, and I was on emotional overload. I’m not even eager for the next book, because I’m still stuck in the pages of this one.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Ashley]

BookNook — Young Adult book reviews

This book is ridiculous confusing. And I mean that in the best way. For starters, Tahereh Mafi drops about 8 bombs on us in this book. It's like BAM big reveal, BAM bigger reveal, BAM your mind = blown. But beyond that, Unravel Me is a book that will, somehow, force you to love the bad guy despite your better judgement.

To be honest, I think it helped that it had been months and months since I'd read Shatter Me, so I'd actually forgotten how cruel Warner really was. In Unravel Me we see a completely different side to him, but since I didn't remember many details from Shatter Me, it was like I was seeing Warner for the first time... and maybe he wasn't so bad. And this is one of the reasons why Unravel Me has left me completely confused. Which guy am I rooting for?

"Is it even possible," he whispers, "that you can't feel this fire between us?"
—Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi, Page 391

I think the 'problem' with Unravel Me is that the book itself feels very much in Warner's favour. While Adam is definitely still there, he's portrayed as a much weaker, insignificant character than Warner is. I wanted to love Adam, but then Warner was here and he was stronger, and hotter, and—ignoring his psychopathic tendencies—he felt like the more logical choice. MIND = FUCKED. I kind of loved him. Then there would be a passage that was like, "Oh, remember the time Warner tried to kill Adam in a slaughter house?" and I was like... oh... this guy is actually messed up. But then, Warner would be all deep and emotional and sexy and badass-y and I'd start drooling a little.

Because of Warner's total fucked up-ness and his complicatedness, he was my favourite character. The others... I wasn't quite as keen on. Juliette is definitely a complicated character. She has every right to be messed up and a little depressed, but it did get frustrating after a while. Sometimes I just wanted to tell her to grow up and deal with it. Quit complaining, quit moping, and deal with the card you've been given.

And then there's Kenji. Everyone and their mother loves Kenji. Me... not so much. Kenji is an arrogant, cocky loud-mouth. To a certain extent, I can see where people like him. If you ignore his arrogance, his blatant (and probably half joking) "everyone loves me and I'm so cool" attitude, he is certainly a fierce and loyal friend (and sometimes a little funny&mdah;see quote below). But I always have a hard time looking past the arrogance. Arrogance and too much cockiness are qualities that I have a hard time looking past. It's just who I am.

"Mmmmmmm," he said. "You're like a sexy, super-scary plant."
—Kenji, Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi, Page 173

My only other problem with Unravel Me was the internal stream of consciousness. To a certain extent, being inside Juliette's head is awesome. The metaphors are insane and there are so many highlight-able passages. Tahereh Mafi's writing overall is gorgeous and flows really well. But there's just so much THINKING. I enjoyed parts of it, but in other parts I could help but skim skim skim. There's so much of Juliette just talking to herself, rambling on and on, or making weird observations about the world around her. I like it in small chunks, but in Unravel Me it did cross a little bit into 'too much' territory. If you were to cut out all of the stream of consciousness bits, I bet this book would have been 250 pages instead of 480.

But overall, I did enjoy Unravel Me. It's true that a few things didn't quite sit well with me, but I enjoyed it as a whole. The twists and surprises were intense and super fun to read about. I LOVE having bombs dropped on me and Tahereh Mafi absolutely rocks at weaving those in. Also, that ending. THAT ENDING! I wouldn't say it's a cliffhanger, but it's extremely satisfying and you'll be totally wanting to read more. Juliette finally grows some balls and I was totally rooting for her!

I have a feeling that book 3 will be epic.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Love 3 review to post the 22nd with giveaway :)
Unravel Me was one of my most anticipated reads for 2013 and Mafi gave me exactly what I craved from her lyrical writing style to the way she captures Juliette’s fears and thoughts I was completely swept up in the second installment of the Shatter Me series. A few twist, a messy, wonderful, rip-your-heart-out-love triangle and a fight for the oppressed kept me spellbound.

Unravel Me literally picks up where Shatter Me ends and we find Juliette below ground dealing with her affliction or gift; depending on her mood. Omega Point is an underground facility where others with gifts like her are working together to fight the Reestablishment and all that it stands for. Juliette struggles to fit in, and longs for more time with Adam and fears Warner is coming for her. With gut-wrenching revelations, war and betrayal the tale that unfolds will blow your mind.

We see a lot of character growth and get to know some key characters in this second book. Juliette still struggles and worries about rejection. She questions whether here is any better than there and who is right. Sometimes her emotional baggage consumes her and Mafi beautifully captures her thoughts and emotions. Poor, Juliette has to make difficult decisions regarding Adam and Warren. Unexpected complications make it so much harder for her, and I really felt for her. We also see tremendous growth in her abilities and a maturing in her personal growth. Has she emerged as the kick-ass heroine I believe she is capable of being? No not yet, but we catch glimpses of her. Adam, sweet, Adam *swoons* He loves Juliette but oh the secrets he is keeping. Warner is back and my feelings for him wavier between pity and love. Those who haven’t read the novella Destroy Me, will gain more insight into his life and even those of us who did will learn more about him and his dear old Dad. A clever twist changes thing and we see some really raw emotions from him. He has a line in this tale that just about unraveled me! We really get to know Kenji more and I liked this soft-spoken leader. I almost wished he were the love interest. His role directly impacts Juliette and a lot of her growth he brought to fruition.

I hate love triangles except in a few situations. One of those is Cynthia Hand’s Unearthly series and the other is this one. Mafi makes it all seem very real and plausible. Juliette’s background, personality and situation all led to this tidal wave of emotions and uncertainty. The dystopian aspect of the tale is interesting and we gained more insight into what happened to create this oppressive government. The abilities of the resistance are unique and there missions interesting. As news of Omega and the resistance reaches civilians we see them begin to rise up, and make a stand. The complexities of the male relationships and back story were fascinating and I am anxious to see how they unfolds. I have to talk about Mafi’s writing style; how do I even begin to express the beauty of it? It slides of the paper like honey or music to my brain. Her descriptive language for even the most mundane things takes on an elegant beauty. Between the journal entries and the thoughts racing through Juliette’s head we literally breathe in and consume her emotions. The tale just flows and I am able to complete immerse myself into it. The romantic scenes are some of the most beautiful and emotional I have ever read. Here are two tender moments with Juliette and ?!?

“All I know next are his arms, the desperate edge to his voice when he says my name, and I'm unraveling in his embrace, I'm frayed and falling apart and I'm making no effort to control the tremors in my bones and he's so hot his skin is so hot and I don't even know where I am anymore.” Unravel Me

"I want to be the friend you fall hopelessly in love with. The one you take into your arms and into your bed and into the private world you keep trapped in your head. I want to be that kind of friend," he says. "The one who will memorize the things you say as well as the shape of your lips when you say them. I want to know every curve, every freckle, every shiver of your body, Juliette--" Unravel Me

Mafi made me melt. I could have easily consumed this in a day, but forced myself to do it in two so that I could savior it. This is a series I will re-read and except for a few classics..I never do that.
Publisher provided ARC for unbiased review.
Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Kelly]

Ramblings of a Diva Booknerd

I am officially in love with Tahereh Mafi. Tahereh isn't a writer, she's a storyteller, she's a poet, she creates entire worlds where the reader can live, she's brilliant. I've never come across an inner monologue even close to that of the character of Juliette. It's purely poetic. Taherah can describe one emotion with paragraphs of random descriptions, shrieking tea kettles, being able to capture minutes ticking by in your pocket. It's quirky and poetic and captures Juliette with an amazing inner voice. That originality wont sit well with everyone, but the strike through text, the short clipped lines and poetic descriptions are incredible. I've never read anything remotely similar. There are no awkward pauses and it's written with such beauty.

I read the entire book in one sitting, I devoured it and couldn't put it down.

I'll just add a footnote. Warner... Up down incident?



Giggity giggity indeed baby!

[stefu1]

Juliet whines to much in this book, getting tired of her.

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

Unravel Me is a wonderfully written exhilirating and highly anticipated sequel to, Shatter Me. Tahereh Mafi has certainly left her mark in the young adult dystopian genre. Her ability to craft such a stunning, captivating world and turn it on its head, is undeniably incredible. The attention to detail, character development, and beautiful prose will wow readers as they delve deeper into this unique and intriguing world. This serious is magnificently powerful and will appeal emotionally to readers, with fantastical plot development and uniquely creative sense of storytelling.

Unravel Me picks up where Shatter Me left off, with Juliette, Adam, and Kenji escaping to Omega Point. Even though Juliette finds herself in company with people who are similar to her, she still has a massive amount of pain and emotional turmoil pent up. It's incredibly hard for her to trust anyone besides Adam or to let them in fully. It's understandable why, given everything she's been through with Warner and being locked up without her freedom for so long. It's a painful struggle for her to fit in, which readers will find themselves easily able to emotionally connect with making the story more intense and powerful.

Unravel Me has such a beautiful cast of complicated and emotionally conflicted characters, with so much to offer. It's a painful raw look into the price of freedom and sacrifice for the one you love. Reader's will absolutely fall in love with this series all over again, and ache with them as they go through their trials and struggles to find themselves, accept a fascet of who they are, and become stronger. It's such an honest and raw portrayl of love and sarcrifce to the fullest extent, that reader's will be left breathless in anticipation of the next installment to this brilliant trilogy. With beautiful captivating imagery, stunning adventure and gorgeous portrayl of love, reader's will not want to miss out on this book!