Ignite Me (Shatter Me, #3)

by Tahereh Mafi

X-Men meets The Handmaid's Tale in the third instalment in an epic and romantic YA fantasy trilogy perfect for fans of Netflix's Stranger Things, Sarah J. Maas, Victoria Aveyard's The Red Queen and Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows.

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 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.

"IGNITE ME really does ignite all five of your senses. It blows your mind and makes you hungry for more of its amazing characters. It will completely blow your expectations; Tahereh Mafi truly knows how to deliver!" - Teenreads.com

Tahereh Mafi is the New York Times bestselling author of the Shatter Me series which has been published in over 30 languages around the world. She was born in a small city somewhere in Connecticut and currently resides in Santa Monica, California, with her husband, Ransom Riggs, fellow bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, and their young daughter. She can usually be found overcaffeinated and stuck in a book. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @TaherehMafi

• ISBN10: 0062085573
• ISBN13: 9780062085573
• Publish Date: 4 February 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[liz089]

Re-read.

It has been 3 years since I've read this series and I can honestly say that it still one of my favourite series ever. I love all the characters so much, I love the romance, I love the plot.. I loved reading this again, and I am very curious what she will bring in her new installment !

[Kim Deister]

This is one of those series that I am desperately sad to see end. It was engrossing and emotional from the very beginning and I completely fell into it!

That being sad, this book was a satisfying conclusion to the story. Juliette really came into her own. That is character that has come a long way since the opening lines of Shatter Me. From a traumatized and barely human girl to the powerful and confident person she is now. That's a pretty beautiful thing to see.

It was full of action, twists and turns, surprises... you name it. My heart bled for Adam, it bled for Warner. The emotional range in this book is enormous. There are some heartwrenchingly bitter moments right alongside some tender, beautiful moments. There is hope. There is despair.

The best thing about these books was that there were no clear lines. There were things to love and to not love about all of the characters and that is just real life. There are shade of gray everywhere.

The ending seems a little open so maybe I can dream for a spin-off or a companion series?!

My Recommendation: This is a must-read for this amazing series!

[stefu1]

Unfortunately, unravel me (the second book) was such a let down that it took forever for me to pick up this book and actually read it. I regret that a lot. This happened to me in the sweet evil series, where the second book was mostly just a bunch of whining over why they can't be together and blah blah blah. But this book was as good as the first one, dare I say even better that the first one. Juliette finally became more confident and went from "OMG so sorry to be alive and in your way! I suck, and am better of dead to "if you stand in my way I swear I will kill you with no remorse"

The only difference is that this time, I didn't like Adam. Like at all. In the first book I was all for Adam, but as it went on, he just kinda got irritating and annoying and I was just kinda hoping that he would run away or die or something. and he also became more evil, like telling Juliet that he wishes that she was dead, who does that? An jackass that's who. And when he tried to kill Kenji using Juliette!! This guy was a moron the entire book, I wish he would move sectors and never come back

Of course, I loved Warner!! I loved him from the beginning and if he Juliette didn't get together, I would have been majorly upset. Warner was the best character with his witty sarcasm and his memorable quotes.

Kanji was another character that I absolutely loved!! He was the best friend that everyone needs, who tells it to you straight and isn't going to try to spare your feelings. If he thinks you are a moron, he will tell you that you are a moron.

All on all a good book, with surprising reveals and awesome dialogue, and will basically take what you thought of the main characters and wipe the fog away to show you their true colors.

Rating:

[Berls]

Review originally appeared on Fantasy is More Fun.

Actual Rating 3.5 Stars

My Initial Reaction...

Overall, I really enjoyed Ignite Me and I'm mostly happy with how the trilogy wrapped up. I do have a few gripes though...

The Narration...

One of my gripes is most definitely NOT the narration. Kate Simses knocked this series out of the park for me and I would pick up a book she narrated without thinking twice. She mastered the poetics of the writing, while still giving characters unique voices full of personality.

The Characters...

This is my gripe. Who are these people? I just spent 2 books and 2 novellas getting to know Juliette, Adam and Warner and then all of a sudden they emerged in Ignite Me with traits that I didn't see coming at all. It's like they just all jumped this big chasm without warning me and so I fell down it instead of jumping with them.

The most believable and least changed for me was Warner. I've always liked him and knew that there was this side of him that we just hadn't seen. And Warner is probably the reason I liked Ignite Me as much as I did. I seriously enjoyed seeing him get a LOT more vulnerable and really letting everyone see how amazing I already knew he was. We're seeing some emotion and a lot of love from Warner in Ignite Me and it's not just for Juliette.

Juliette has pulled a 180 on us. Shy, insecure, slightly off girl is gone replaced with confident, kick ass chick. In general, I'm okay with this. I like my women strong and confident. But holy cow - am I supposed to believe people change that much overnight? One of the biggest tells was a literary device that completely disappeared in Ignite Me - no more scratching out of thoughts. Juliette, who used to scratch out almost every thought she had is now so confident that not once in the entire book did she scratch out a thought. I wish I could gain that much confidence over night! My deal is the believability factor. Not only did I have trouble believing that she could become so incredibly confident in such a short span, but I really struggled to accept that everyone else would just accept it. I mean this girl was afraid of her own shadow weeks ago and now you expect me to believe everyone's suddenly going to be okay just following her? Because I'm supposed to believe that this 17 year old girl who's been OBLIVIOUS to the world is now the BEST person to run it? Sorry, I would have qualms! Believability aside, at least I DID like this new Juliette. She's pretty kick ass, and confidence is sexy...

Too bad I can't say the same for Adam. I never was a big fan of the guy - he had a serious hero complex and was way to protective. But he wasn't a bad guy, so when did he become a total ass hole? I swear the teenage angst that suddenly appeared in this trilogy all due to his break up with Juliette was almost unbearable. I actually felt like this book could have been more appropriately titled How to Take Your Breakup Like a First Rate Ass. I don't know who this new Adam is, where he came from, or how I'm supposed to believe he had a complete personality transplant...

All that aside - I still loved Kenji. Adam's little brother James and Warner had some seriously great moments. The characters in general weren't bad, just not the same people I met and grew to know.

The Story...

The story for Ignite Me was solid, for the most part. I could have done without the relationship drama and resulting teenage angst. But I really enjoyed the development of powers - across the board, not just Juliette - though her developments most certainly were the most bad ass. Warner's probably should have been, but they didn't get the attention they deserved IMHO.

I did have a couple problems. Again there's that believability factor I already mentioned - especially as it pertains to Castle. I could SORT OF believe that all these kids would follow Juliette, but Castle? What was with him? I was also bothered by references to things like Jet Li and the Power Rangers. It felt really out of place - here you've convinced me that we're living in this to dystopian world so fully separate from our world and then BAM! you throw in references that just don't fit for me.

Concluding Sentiments...

I feel like I spent this review gripping and I feel bad about that because I did really enjoy this book. I couldn't put it down and read it super fast. I just wanted it to be MORE epic. The first two books and two novellas were so good and I just felt like Ignite Me didn't live up to the books that preceded it.

[Amanda]

4.5

I waited a long time to read Ignite Me, and in some ways I’m glad I did. The time—and what I’ve learned about story telling—gave me greater perspective. I would have loved Ignite Me regardless, but I have new respect for Tahereh Mafi and her evil story telling genius.

See, Unravel Me made me do something I’ve never done before: switch allegiances with the love interest. Even so, I wasn’t as excited about Unravel Me as I was about Shatter Me (which was a 10). I wasn’t sure what to expect with Ignite Me. I’ve been disappointed with series endings before. *looks pointedly at Divergent*

But I picked Ignite Me up in the midst of an extremely strong historical romance bender—you need breaks sometimes, right?—and blew right through the book. No, seriously. I read it, cover to cover, in about four hours. I couldn’t put it down.

And standing at the end now, I see why all the books, even the novellas, were written the way they were. I GET IT. IT IS GLORIOUS.

Juliette finally realizes who she’s meant to be. Shit goes down. Kenji is absolutely hilarious, and I want to put him in my pocket and take him everywhere with me. The love triangle is resolved. It’s everything it needed to be.

I’m a deliriously happy reader right now.

[Angie]

If you have not read Ignite Me, do not read this review beyond this first paragraph. I am warning you. There's only one thing I want to talk about, and if you know me at all, you'll know that is Warner. Maybe I'll discuss Kenji a bit, too. Even my rating is probably a spoiler, so just leave while you can! I have way too many emotions and I can't process them all! Bestest series ender in the history of the universe! My actual rating is 318 or 335 stars, since those are my favorite pages. Or maybe I'll just combine them for a nice, round 653 stars. That works for me.

There is so much Warner in Ignite Me, and that made me beyond happy. I could barely contain my happy, since he's there from page one! Warner, Warner, Warner! He is the star of this series for me, and I wanted him and Juliette together so badly! Really, all I cared about was the romance. There is a plot, which I kind of forgot about until those last few chapters when it actually happened. It was almost like an afterthought, but it wasn't even any kind of thought for me, so I don't really care that the plot conclusion was pretty anticlimactic. The romance is it for me.

Let's discuss pages 318 and 335. HOLY CRAP! Like...what. I thought Chapter 62 of Unravel Me was hot, but holy hell. I got all light headed from the sexy and the happy and the emotions! Juliette and Warner are simply meant to be together in every possible way, and OMG. Seriously. This line concisely sums up my feelings, I think: "I feel like I've been split open and stuffed with sunshine (pg 321)." My life is now complete and eternally sunny (at least metaphorically, since real sunshine bothers the heck out of my eyes).

One of my favorite things about Ignite Me, aside from Warner, was how Juliette realized something that I wish every YA heroine would. She was not in love with Adam! He was the first person to be nice to her, and he has a hero complex, and there were heightened emotions that made them think it was love. They are not good for each other, which I first realized in Fracture Me. He's a total self absorbed ass when Juliette tries to explain her feelings, and he's just straight up mean about it all! But Warner! He's so kind and understanding and supportive! LOVE!

I suppose I'll mention Kenji now. He continued to be the most awesome best friend ever, and I enjoyed reading about a purely platonic boy-girl friendship. Even though he isn't Warner's biggest fan, he actually sat with Juliette and helped her sort out her feelings. He also cracks a lot of jokes and was generally awesome, even when he did something really mean for the greater good. But it was mean to Adam so I laughed.

Ignite Me is my favoritest. I felt high while reading it, because all of my dreams were coming true. I couldn't even focus on anything other than basic biological processes upon finishing, so this "review" was quite difficult. I loved it so much that before even finishing it made me consider doing something that I never, ever, ever, ever do: purchase a full, new, physical set. I just do not do that, but I need to because these books make me so damn happy.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[boghunden]

Jeg er simpelthen så sur på den her bog. Det er afslutningen på Shatter Me trilogien og den skuffede noget så fælt. Faktisk kan jeg slet ikke forstå, hvorfor jeg gav den to, fremfor en, i rating. Det føles efterfølgende lidt forkert.

Hele bog to var en lang opvarmning til den her krig, som man jo så regner med kommer her i tredje bog. Men nej. Juliette synes nemlig det er meget vigtigere at debattere for og imod to fyre. Verden er ved at gå under, du dør lige om lidt, kan det ikke være lige meget?! Gå nu ud og red verden, så kan du vælge dreng bagefter! Det var simpelthen så umodent. Og det gik der så 390 sider med. Det efterlod altså ti sider til krigen. Nej. Bare nej. Al den glæde jeg har følt over den her serie, den forsvandt godt nok noget så eftertrykkeligt, da jeg læste den her bog.

Måske er årsagen til, at jeg har givet bogen to stjerner, at jeg stadig synes James er rigtig sød. Virkelig en god karakter. Og Kenji har altså også bare et par rigtig gode oneliners!

Sproget bliver marginalt bedre i den her bog; selvom jeg har vænnet mig til det, så er det stadig irriterende. Det går altså udover forståelsen, når man remser op på flere linjer, uden at bruge et eneste tegn.

Den her bog kunne have været god, hvis Mafi havde holdt sig til det, hun havde lagt op til i de to foregående bøger, nemlig et opgør med styret. Jeg kunne ikke sætte mig ind i Juliettes måde at handle på. Hvad nytte har hun af, at have fundet ud af, hvem hun helst vil være kæreste med, hvis de alligevel alle sammen dør, fordi hun ikke ”har tid” til at redde dem? Jeg forstår det bare ikke helt. Det virker ikke helt logisk.

Egentlig kan det siges meget kort: Læs bog et og to og opdigt så egen slutning. Den her bog gør INTET godt. Overhovedet. Hvor jeg i min anmeldelse af bog et skrev, at jeg ville ud og købe bøgerne, kan jeg nu med overbevisning i stemmen sige, at den plan er ændret. Desværre. En enorm skuffelse!

[Vicki]

4.5 stars

[Kelly]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2014/02/ignite-me-by-tahereh-mafi-warning.html
I absolutely loved it with a passion. Warner is, simply put, the greatest character in young adult, ever. He transformed what it was to be the villain, he turned the captive audience against the male protagonist and we found ourselves wanting to live through Juliette.

Tahereh Mafi isn't an author, she's a poet. Her unique writing style is incredible, and although it isn't for everyone, it's addictive and mesmerising, a true storyteller in every sense of the word. She created characters that were so in depth that readers have emotionally invested in them. Like the majority of young adult releases, there is a love triangle, but honestly, who the hell cares, this is Tahereh Mafi we're talking about. She could have included a horde of clowns on miniature tricycles with sausage dogs on their heads, and I still would have loved it immensely.

[littleread1]

Juliette grew up! I love James and Kenji. But the ending left me kind of ... I don't know ... underwhelmed? Still a great story and worth the read!