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A review by jamietherebelliousreader
Shatter Me Starter Pack: Books 1-3 and Novellas 1 & 2: Shatter Me, Destroy Me, Unravel Me, Fracture Me, Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi, Tahereh Mafi
3.0
Shatter Me:
Original rating: ★★☆☆☆ Read in 2012
Rating after re-read: ★★☆☆☆ Read 5/11/19
Seven years later and this is still just as awful as I remembered. This first book is a hot, boiling ass mess and I will never understand the hype of it and why people tote it as the second coming. The writing is just above tolerable but the prose is laughably bad. Terrible, cheesy dialogue, a weak main character in Juliette and to top it off we get the bland bowl of oatmeal that is Adam Kent. *snores* Thank God for the love of my life Warner and my spirit animal Kenji because they made this book. Without them this would’ve been a one star read because I genuinely don’t like it. I will say that the next two books are leaps and bounds better but damn this first one is just a dumpster fire.
Destroy Me (1.5 Novella):
Original rating: ★★★★★ Read in 2013
Rating after re-read: ★★★★★ Read 5/11/19
I still love this novella with all of my heart and soul. It’s heartbreaking and emotional. I hate seeing what Warner has gone through and what he still goes through with his father. It’s fascinating being inside of his head and seeing a human side to him after the first book. Warner is one of my all time favorite book boyfriends and I will always love this short story. He’s such a tortured soul and I cannot get enough of him and I think this was wonderfully done and is an important part to not only Warner’s character but the series overall.
Unravel Me:
Original rating: ★★★☆☆ Read in 2013
Rating after re-read: ★★★☆☆ Read 5/12/19
The first 200 pages are incredibly slow and boring to get through but then Warner and his father show up and shake shit up and things finally get going. This has a lot of great action and I loved the ending but there’s so much wangst between Juliette and Adam that I just wanted to bash my head into the wall. Juliette is starting to come into her own here and while she is still incredibly whiny and passive, I can see the development and I think her absolute best moments were when she was interacting with Warner, Kenji and Castle. All three of them really brought out something different in her that I enjoyed.
Fracture Me (2.5 Novella):
Original rating: ★★★☆☆ Read in 2013
Rating after re-read: ★☆☆☆☆ Read 5/12/19
LMAO. A boring novella about a boring bowl of oatmeal. Yawn. Doesn’t add anything of importance. Just solidifies my hatred for Adam.
Ignite Me:
Original rating: ★★★☆☆ Read in 2014
Rating after re-read: ★★★★☆ Read 5/13/19
Okay, so this one surprised me the most out of this entire re-read of the series. I remember thinking that this last book was decent and I had enjoyed it enough but there was something about it this time around that I really liked. There’s a lot of character development in this and with the exception of one person (Adam, because of course it’s him) it’s very well done. It’s about Juliette tapping into her inner strength and finally becoming the person she should’ve been from the jump. Warner’s character development was honestly my favorite of the two of them because he has a lot more emotional growth and moments where we really get to see his character stripped down to it’s most basic level and it was wonderful. The two of them together bring out the best in each other without trying to change compromise who that person is as an individual and I appreciated. They grew on their own but together if that makes any sense and it makes their relationship feel very solid. This was a pretty good ending to the series but I can definitely see how Mafi left it open in the end to write more.
Overall, this series is like candy. I re-read all of these in three days. They’re not all that good (minus the last one) but they’re addicting as hell. I’m looking forward to finally continuing on with the series and seeing where she takes the characters from here.
Original rating: ★★☆☆☆ Read in 2012
Rating after re-read: ★★☆☆☆ Read 5/11/19
Seven years later and this is still just as awful as I remembered. This first book is a hot, boiling ass mess and I will never understand the hype of it and why people tote it as the second coming. The writing is just above tolerable but the prose is laughably bad. Terrible, cheesy dialogue, a weak main character in Juliette and to top it off we get the bland bowl of oatmeal that is Adam Kent. *snores* Thank God for the love of my life Warner and my spirit animal Kenji because they made this book. Without them this would’ve been a one star read because I genuinely don’t like it. I will say that the next two books are leaps and bounds better but damn this first one is just a dumpster fire.
Destroy Me (1.5 Novella):
Original rating: ★★★★★ Read in 2013
Rating after re-read: ★★★★★ Read 5/11/19
I still love this novella with all of my heart and soul. It’s heartbreaking and emotional. I hate seeing what Warner has gone through and what he still goes through with his father. It’s fascinating being inside of his head and seeing a human side to him after the first book. Warner is one of my all time favorite book boyfriends and I will always love this short story. He’s such a tortured soul and I cannot get enough of him and I think this was wonderfully done and is an important part to not only Warner’s character but the series overall.
Unravel Me:
Original rating: ★★★☆☆ Read in 2013
Rating after re-read: ★★★☆☆ Read 5/12/19
The first 200 pages are incredibly slow and boring to get through but then Warner and his father show up and shake shit up and things finally get going. This has a lot of great action and I loved the ending but there’s so much wangst between Juliette and Adam that I just wanted to bash my head into the wall. Juliette is starting to come into her own here and while she is still incredibly whiny and passive, I can see the development and I think her absolute best moments were when she was interacting with Warner, Kenji and Castle. All three of them really brought out something different in her that I enjoyed.
Fracture Me (2.5 Novella):
Original rating: ★★★☆☆ Read in 2013
Rating after re-read: ★☆☆☆☆ Read 5/12/19
LMAO. A boring novella about a boring bowl of oatmeal. Yawn. Doesn’t add anything of importance. Just solidifies my hatred for Adam.
Ignite Me:
Original rating: ★★★☆☆ Read in 2014
Rating after re-read: ★★★★☆ Read 5/13/19
Okay, so this one surprised me the most out of this entire re-read of the series. I remember thinking that this last book was decent and I had enjoyed it enough but there was something about it this time around that I really liked. There’s a lot of character development in this and with the exception of one person (Adam, because of course it’s him) it’s very well done. It’s about Juliette tapping into her inner strength and finally becoming the person she should’ve been from the jump. Warner’s character development was honestly my favorite of the two of them because he has a lot more emotional growth and moments where we really get to see his character stripped down to it’s most basic level and it was wonderful. The two of them together bring out the best in each other without trying to change compromise who that person is as an individual and I appreciated. They grew on their own but together if that makes any sense and it makes their relationship feel very solid. This was a pretty good ending to the series but I can definitely see how Mafi left it open in the end to write more.
Overall, this series is like candy. I re-read all of these in three days. They’re not all that good (minus the last one) but they’re addicting as hell. I’m looking forward to finally continuing on with the series and seeing where she takes the characters from here.