Having not come across any talk about the Shatter Me series by Tahere Mafi before I started reading, I didn’t really know what to expect from these books. I picked them up for a steal from The Works and I don’t know why, but from the blurb I’d envisioned more of a fantasy world and thus the dystopian vibe totally took me by surprise. It took me a while to figure out this new world and thus get into the story, but once I did, I enjoyed reading something a little different to my recent romantasy streak. Here’s a little spoiler free update on my thoughts so far.
Book one very much sets the scene as you go on a journey of discovery alongside protagonist Juliette, who’s been locked away and shielded from the outside world and is only just learning about it’s new structure. I’d say it’s a busy enough start to the series and the story progresses quickly, however, Shatter Me – book one, only received a 3/5 Stars from me. Although not a big book, it took me quite a while to get through as I just wasn’t hooked yet.
Book two Unravel Me, was an improvement on book one as I now understood the world setting better. The storyline progresses and you’re introduced to new characters alongside watching the main characters develop further. There’s enough intrigue created to want to see where the plot takes you, however I was feeling underwhelmed with the general storyline and relationship drama between Adam & Juliette alongside irritating character traits take over too much of the story. What ultimately saves this book from becoming another 3/5 Stars in my eyes, is the intrigue building around Juliette and her relationship with Warner. The last few chapters made me eager to pick up book three to see how my suspicions would play out and thus I ended up rating Unravel Me 4/5 Stars.
Although perhaps predictable, I enjoyed seeing other sides to characters develop in Ignite Me, book three of the Shatter Me series by Tahere Mafi. Saying that, there was however once again too much naivety and drama involved within the romantic relationships and it almost concentrated on those too much and left the main plot a bit underdeveloped and unrealistic. I’m all for girl power, but I don’t feel like Juliette had matured enough to end up where she does at the end of book three, and Warner and Adam’s charter transformations are perhaps a tad too much for my liking. The only secondary character I like and who seems to stay consistent is Kenji. I gave book three another 4/5 Stars however I feel like my ratings keep swaying a little with this series. It’s quite an easy read meaning I can get hooked easy enough and enjoy getting to see where the series leads me, but once I start comparing it other books I start to doubt my decisions and my opinions sway.
If you’ve read this series I’d love to know your thoughts.
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Ooh I have book one but I don’t think I’ve read it yet. Loved this style of post of talking through your experience with the books in the series! 📚✨️
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Thanks lovely – you’ll have to let me know what you think when you get round to reading it 😀 xo
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I want to try this series eventually (I don’t think it’ll be too soon as I have so much else I want to get to) but the way you’ve described it I do wonder if I’ll find it a bit too YA now 🤔 oddly I had a sjmiliar experience with another book by the author rating wise. I gave the first in another series by her 3.5 but rounded it up. I feel like maybe I was too generous as I’ve never felt the urge to prioritise the sequels though. Although now my memories are too hazy to judge fairly. I’ll have to see how I get on whenever I reread it to try and carry on.
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Yeah I find rating books so difficult sometimes. I’ve recently been thinking about re-rating all my books and adding in 0.25 ‘s for more differentiation. I struggle to dish out 3 stars as that feels harsh, cause it’s not like they’re a bad read usually, they’re just not as good as others. In hindsight part of me thinks my round up to a 4* for some of the Shatter Me is maybe too much. But I guess I often rate books in the moment and if it was an enjoyable enough easy read I don’t want to mark it down, but if I think deeper about the plot or character developments etc.. or admittedly even sometimes see other peoples reviews that make valid point, I can find myself questioning my original ratings in comparison to other books which had more of an impact. Does that make sense? Sorry for the rant aha. I’ve also recently been wondering if I’m just getting a little bored with repetition. Like I was recently listening to a book and I was just so done with the steamy smut scenes haha, didn’t do anything for me at all, or perhaps the characters just hadn’t hooked me as much in this book, who knows :p xo
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I totally understand, sometimes as you reflect on things more, or see other opinions, you notice things that you missed at first. I also find it hard rating wise if a book has a rough start but fantastic end or vice versa. I feel like going with your gut feeling at the time is probably the most accurate reflection of how a book worked for you. But I definitely have one or two I look at now and wander why I was so generous towards them. Aww I’m sorry to hear that, but I get it too. Sometimes some things do feel too much of the same. And I’ve had the odd smutty scene in romantasy when I’ve thought ‘really, now’ 🙄 maybe try something completely different inbetween and see if the change helps.
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