Review: Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi
Publication Date: February 5, 2013
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pre-Order: Amazon  /  Barnes & Noble

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
it's almost
time 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.

My Thoughts
Book Quote from an Uncorrected ARC
"On the darkest days you have to search for a spot of brightness, on the coldest days you have to seek out a spot of warmth; on the bleakest days you have to keep your eyes onward and upward, and on the saddest days you have to leave them open to let them cry. To then let them dry. To give them a chance to wash out the pain in order to see fresh and clear once again."

Love.love.love this book!

As hard as I try to choose the right words to clearly express how fantastic Unravel Me was, I think any of my attempts will unfortunately far short. Sweet painful HALE this installment exploded my Favorites Bookshelf for 2012, and left just about everything else in tattered shreds. Undeniably the BEST book I’ve read this year. BY FAR! NO DOUBT! I SPEAK THE TRUTH! I mean there’s no argument… Tahereh Mafi has clearly cemented her mark in the YA Dystopia scene and she’s here to stay with her poetic prose and her captivating delivery. Color me AWED!

I can’t even try to pick out just one element that she excelled at in this second installment of her Shatter Me series. There is so much to be said about this book.  She delivered in the great cast category, proved her worth in her fantastical development of her plot, and amazed me with her emotional and powerful punches. No stone was left unturned, no corner was ignored. Mafi pulled out all of the stops in Unravel Me leaving me to face the truth… I am a gushing mess!

Now, allow me to get this out of the way… One of the downfalls of getting hooked into a series, especially a trilogy, is that most often it can deliver an explosive introduction and often a painful cliffhanger. Then comes the middle book. There’s just something about those middle books… where you’re left wondering if the magic was ever there to begin with because this is where most series fall apart at the book seams. Well after several trilogy disappointments and ultimately resorting to seldom committing to a series after book one, I can finally say someone did it right and redeemed my faith in The Trilogies! FINALLY!! And dear GAWD was it ever good.

In this installment Juliette, Adam and Kenji escape to Omega Point, which is the headquarters for the rebellion. There they work to hone their abilities as they learn more about their powers that will ultimately help them in the war against the Reestablishment.

I loved Juliette in this installment. She was an absolute tortured soul that’s best described in the book as "beautiful enough to lure in her prey, strong enough to clamp down and destroy, poisonous enough to digest her victims when her flesh makes contact." In order words, she’s a human Venus Flytrap! To anyone on the outside, that’s just too cool for words, but when her powers can ultimately hurt and potentially kill someone she cares about with a single touch, that can lead to a lonely, desolate existence.

However, her abilities are not the least of her worries. She actually spends a majority of the book stifling her powers because she wants to try and find a place in her new world, where people won’t look at her like a monster and doubt her intentions.  This becomes even more difficult when the one person she loves, Adam, is the one that is most susceptible to her deadly energy. As they try to find a way to be together, she soon discovers that Adam’s most hated enemy, Warner, is immune to her touch. What ensues is an emotional roll-a-coaster filled with steam worthy moments and angst ridden scenes.  I said this once and I’ll say it again.. TEAM WARNER!!  I knew I was on to something. Just knew it!! Well, count me in for book three, sell me a ticket… I want it NOW!!

Two more favorite quotes:
"Hell is empty and all the devils are here."

"Because sometimes you see yourself – you see yourself the way you could be – the way you might be if things were different. And if you look too closely, what you see will scare you, it’ll make you wonder what you might do if given the opportunity. You know there’s a different side of yourself you don’t want to recognize, a side you don’t want to see in the daylight. You spend your whole life doing everything to push it down and away, out of sight, out of mind. You pretend that a piece of yourself doesn’t exist."

5 Snowflakes along with the SnowStorm!