Saturday 16 January 2021

Book Review - Ignite Me

 

Title: Ignite Me

Author: Tahereh Mafe

Series: Shatter Me (Book 3)

Publisher: Harper Collins

Release Date: 4th February 2014

ISBN-13: 978-1405291774

 

Synopsis

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 handsome commander of Sector 45. 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.  

My Review

I went into this book with hesitation, having not loved the first two I didn't expect much. I find the characters far too whiny and self-obsessed. I only kept reading because the core plot line is good - i wanted to know if Juliette and her friends would be able to overthrow the reestablishment and how Warner fits into it all.
I started reading and was back exactly where book 2 finished - Juliette alone and wondering if her rebel friends survived, but now she's changed - she has decided to fight back and take control, but the only person with her is Warner, and she doesn't know how to trust him. At first I was skim reading, just scanning for the important bits but still maintaining enough of the rest to get a full idea of what was going on. I read 232 pages in about 90 minutes, whenever there was whining, moaning or excessive angst I would skim, then when the actual plot line came up I would read. I started to like the new Juliette better, far more in control and decisive, i even started to like Warner, when he broods it's not as annoying - you can tell he is dealing with his past and trying to find a way to let his guard down and accept Juliette in his life. However we moved on a step in this book, and this time it was Adam who moaned, and whined, and acted like a big baby. Constantly moaning and complaining that Juliette doesn't love him anymore and that life sucks. I wanted someone to just punch him and get it over with. Maybe Juliette with her newfound control could have picked him up and thrown him into a wall to get the message across. 
There is a lot of waiting around in this book - they are preparing for the assault on Anderson and taking control of the army etc, but in terms of action,  it's only really the last 50 or so pages where things happen, the rest is all preparation or talking. Whilst this isn't necessarily a bad thing, I think it could have been cut down a lot. This would have been a really strong 200 odd pages, without all the love triangle, anger stuff.
On the plus side, I liked Warner and Juliette and I was glad Kenji was back, but it didn't really go much further for me. I like James too - but I'm still not entirely sure what his purpose is, he's either asking stupid questions, or sleeping.
Overall I am glad I finished the 'trilogy' and the ending was good enough, but I am happy to leave it there. The note in the back of the book from the author says it's the 'end of Juliette's story'. so this was supposed to be a trilogy, i have since looked it up and seen that there are now 6 books in the series. So obviously the publishers thought they could get more out of the characters but I just don't care enough. I have book 4 as it came in part of the box set and I've had a flick through and it seems to be more love problems and issues, so I'm going to pass.
I am actually quite sad that I didn't enjoy this series as much - the basic plot is solid and should have been my ideal book. Just way too much whining. Also a warning for anyone looking to buy these books for their teens - there are some quite suggestive sexy scenes in these books, nothing actually explicit, but he does undress her and carry her to the bed. So be warned and maybe save them for the older teens.
 
My Rating

 
   
 

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