{Audiobook} Review: Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Ignite Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Narrator:  Kate Simses
Series: Shatter Me, book #3
Length:  9 hrs 50 mins
Publisher: Harper Audio
Publication Date: February 4, 2014
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

The heart-stopping conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series, which Ransom Riggs, bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, called "a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love".

Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she'll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew-about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam-was wrong.

In Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi created a captivating and original story that combined the best of dystopian and paranormal and was praised by Publishers Weekly as "a gripping read from an author who's not afraid to take risks." The sequel Unravel Me blew readers away with heart-racing twists and turns, and New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia said it was "dangerous, sexy, romantic, and intense." Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and climactic end.

This would be a very difficult book to review without the use of spoilers, so I've separated my spoilery thoughts below for those who haven't read this book yet.  Also, I have a feeling that this book will be very polarizing, that there are going to be a lot of unhappy fans but a lot of ecstatic ones, as well.  I, for one, am very pleased with this final book in the Shatter Me series.  Finally...a series finale that I can say that about!

First off, I still can't disassociate Kate Simses as the voice of Cassia in the Matched audiobook series.  So, hearing her here as Juliette -- and in the previous books -- makes it hard to separate the two stories at times. Maybe that voice fit Juliette in the beginning, but she got to be quite fierce throughout the series, and with the innocent, child-like qualities of Simses voice, it was hard to vocalize the change in the character.  I do love how she brought Kenji to life, though.  I didn't get his appeal the first time I read Shatter Me, but after hearing his witty repartee, I found myself wishing for more of this character.

Second, I didn't read Adam's novella.  I'd heard that it hinted at what's to come in Ignite Me, and I wanted to be surprised, I wanted to love this book as much as Unravel Me, so I refrained from picking up Fracture Me. Also, I'm just not an Adam fan.  Haven't been from day one.  Even in the first book, I found myself shipping Warner and Juliette...and that's when we knew little to nothing about Warner.  Knowing what I know now, I would have pushed even harder for these two to end up together.

Despite that/in spite of that/because of that -- take your pick -- I found this ending really satisfying, which is kind of weird considering that it's pretty close to one of those endings that's all tied up in a pretty package with a bow and everything. I'm usually not a fan of those, but this ending wasn't entirely picture-perfect, so maybe that's why I find it so tolerable in this case.  There were places in the story where the plot crawled at a snail's pace.  The book was loaded with relationship melodrama.  And the ending did feel a bit rushed. But I don't even care.  This book was equal parts emotionally trying and rewarding, and I felt so relieved --triumphant? complacent? weightless? -- when it was over.  And that's all I'm really asking for...when a series has to end, can't you just make me feel better about that fact?

Okay, now for all of the things I can't say without risk of totally spoiling things...

Oh, you poor Team Adam fans...you are not going to like who your boy becomes in this book, and I'm not just saying that because of what these changes result in. In Ignite Me, Adam becomes brooding -- though Kenji's always said he was moody as hell. He is selfish and hurtful and just plain not worthy of Juliette. Not anymore, if he ever was. I found the revelations Juliette has about their relationship to be refreshing. Aren't we all always saying that you rarely end up with your first love, that you both grow as people and fall out of love, making it hard to remain together in the end? That's exactly what happened with Adam and Juliette.

Some may say that Adam's transition to complete douche-nozzle is a complete 180 for this character, that they don't know him in this book, but considering I was never a fan of Adam's to begin with, I think I saw glimpses of this boy before. He's impulsive and somewhat irrational, and he's the son of Anderson. And just as there are shades of their father in Warner, there are in Adam, as well.

Warner and Juliette are were both kind of crazy-pants. They've both lived in isolation for most of their lives, never having a true friend or even anyone to really talk to. They may have had their differences in the beginning, but when the truth about Warner's real plans comes out, they realize they have a lot more in common than it seemed. And yet, they don't immediately fall into each other, despite what Adam may believe.

I kind of loathe that the romantic elements became the main focus of this trilogy, but at the same time, this is one of the few times that I've enjoyed a love triangle and applauded the way it worked itself out. This is how Boundless should have gone, even if it did piss off a lot of fans. People change, relationships mature, and sometimes they end. That's the way life goes.

I was a bit unhappy with the way Juliette projected her feelings onto Adam, though. It's one thing for her to admit that she is no longer in love with him, but it's another to assume that he feels the same way, especially when he's claimed no such thing. However, I did appreciate that she and Warner didn't try to parade whatever was happening between them around in front of Adam. He didn't deserve that, but also, nothing was happening for the longest, so there wasn't anything to parade around.

But when things did finally heat up, when Juliette was finally ready to admit her feelings...wowsers! Chapter 55. SO HOTT! That is all.

That isn't even half of what I want to say about this book, but it's enough for now.  Feel free to get ranty or excited in the comments, just please remember that not everyone has read the book yet, so mark SPOILERS carefully.


GIF it to me straight:

SHATTER ME trivia: the eyes on the novella covers are closed bc they're not told from Juliette's POV, and she can't see what's happening.
— Tahereh Mafi (@TaherehMafi) October 31, 2013

About the author:

Tahereh Mafi is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the SHATTER ME series. She was born in a small city somewhere in Connecticut and currently resides in Santa Monica, California, where she drinks too much caffeine and finds the weather to be just a little too perfect for her taste.

When unable to find a book, she can be found reading candy wrappers, coupons, and old receipts. SHATTER ME is her first novel.

Foreign rights have sold in 25+ territories to-date and film rights have been optioned by 20th Century Fox.

Her work is represented by Jodi Reamer of Writers House, LLC.

Find Tahereh:

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