Book Review + Giveaway: Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Today I get to share with you all my review for the third and final book in the Juliette Chronicles, Ignite Me. Allen & Unwin have generously offered on copy for me to giveaway (open to residents of Australia and New Zealand) so please be sure to check out the end of this post for more information on how to win. 

Title: Ignite Me (The Juliette Chronicles #3)Ignite Me (Shatter Me, #3)
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Genre: Dystopia, Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Publication Date: 1st March 2014
Pages: 416
Rating: 2 stars

Synopsis (from goodreads):
The exciting and chilling conclusion to the internationally successful Juliette Chronicles series. With Omega Point destroyed,
Juliette doesn’t know if the rebels 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 handsome commander of Sector 45. The one person she never thought she could trust. He
promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world … but that’s not all he wants with her

My Review:

Juliette is more determined than ever to stop the Reestablishment. Her friends are missing and she presumes them to be dead. Her only ally is Warner – the same man who imprisoned her and caused her no end of psychological trauma only a few months ago. But with his military resources and belief in her, Juliette is stronger than she has been before. And her resolve to bring down the Supreme is as strong and determined as her powers.

I think enjoyment from this book comes down to expectations. I have read both the full length novels in this series (Shatter Me and Unravel Me) and I liked them. Juliette as a character has grown so much. She was fragile and let the world trample on her but now she is strong and holds all the power. Nothing can hurt her unless she lets it. I thought it was great to see her grow and evolve throughout the series and I liked how the writing itself displayed her development. No more things she wishes she was brave enough to say aloud any more. She is in control.

But I was expecting more than a romance. And for most of this book – that’s what I got. Juliette finds herself in a situation where she finds she has feelings for her former tormentor, Warner. The same man who kept her against her will and forced her to unwilling harm a little boy. While all the bad things he does are explained and despite Juliette being able to forgive him – I couldn’t. But I also couldn’t quite correlate the behaviour of Adam Kent from previous books to now. Whilst I liked that this book is different. It’s not just the first boy she sees is her one and only, the progression didn’t feel right to me. It was a little convenient that the Adam of Shatter Me had disappeared completely just when Juliette found herself having feelings for Warner.

Action wise, I was a little disappointed too. There is a lot of build up. Lots of training and getting things in place. But when everything finally kicks off in the last fifty pages or so, it is a little anticlimactic. I was expecting a lot and felt it didn’t live up to my expectations. So much more could have happened and I felt a little let down by the execution of the ending.

Whilst this book didn’t live up to my expectations – I can see why others would enjoy where Mafi takes the story. There’s romance and character development and some great comic relief in Kenji. Ignite Me is well written and creative.

Thanks to Allen & Unwin for the review copy.

Purchase the novel from:

Amazon | Booktopia | Book Depository | BookWorld

GIVEAWAY!

Thanks to Allen & Unwin

I have

1 print edition of Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi to giveaway

**Open to  Australian and New Zealand Residents only**

Please leave a comment on this post to enter and then

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Entries Close 24th March, 2014

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5 Comments

  1. I completely agree with everything you said in your review. It was good having Juliette becoming stronger (although I think the author took it a bit too far and made it so unrealistic with that ending and the role Juliette was going to take). And yes, Adam was not the same guy and everything we were led to believe about Warner…suddenly, there was an explanation for everything and what we thought was true actually wasn’t. What??? I didn’t like that, I felt rather manipulated, to be honest. SPOILER: Why couldn’t Juliette have realized that she didn’t love Adam without him being portrayed as such a jerk? And why couldn’t’ Juliette have realized that she did love Warner and have him still have negative qualities? What I really liked about the first two books was that she created a complex villain who had qualities and appeal which led to Juliette having feelings for him. I thought that was brilliant, and this third book instead made him into a completely different person. And yes, almost no action at all, it was all thrown in in the last 50 pages. Instead, romance. Oh well!

  2. I definitely know what you mean about the complete 180 from Adam. In Shatter Me, I was Team No One. I liked Warner because of his tortured-ness, but I liked Adam because he was really the knight in shining armour. I felt like his character was almost completely ruined in this book, which I thought was sad. Sure, he would have been hurt and angry but some of the things he said to Juliette …. they were not okay, so by the end of the book, all memories of him being lovely were completely taken over by the jerk he’d become in this one.
    I was always a fan of Warner. Of course, he did horrible things and I am willing to admit that, but I am a bit of a sucker for the tormented soul, and Warner fits that description perfectly. And I also feel that in Ignite Me he was a better friend and lover to Juliette than Adam was. I mean Warner stuck around a group of people who hated him, went against his father, and was willing to support Juliette even if she didn’t choose him. I think his strength of character was great.
    I did expect a little more of a climax towards the end. It all did happen a bit quickly, but overall I think it was a great book. Especially for Warner fans because the romance we’d wanted all along was finally there, haha. 🙂

    • Yay for you getting the romantic kind of ending you were hoping for 😀 Had I not read the previous two books – I would have liked Warner more and I would have been behind him and Juliette as a couple. But I couldn’t forget their history…. I’m a bit stubborn that way! 😛

  3. I have just recently finished reading Shatter Me and I am very excited to read Unravel Me, Ignite Me and the novellas. Right now I’m Team Adam, but apparently everybody switches to Team Warner in the next book. Eek. I’m nervous. Thank you for this giveaway!

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