My Review: Destroy Me (#1.5, Shatter Me) by Tahereh Mafi - Vilma Iris | Lifestyle Blogger

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My Review: Destroy Me (#1.5, Shatter Me) by Tahereh Mafi

My Thoughts

Insightful and captivating.
An intriguing glimpse into Warner’s innermost thoughts and emotions,
shedding light into who he is and the demons he battles.
This series is quickly becoming one of my favorites!

5stars

Synopsis

shatter mePerfect for the fans of Shatter Me who are desperately awaiting the release of Unravel Me, this novella-length digital original will bridge the gap between these two novels from the perspective of the villain we all love to hate, Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

In Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner—and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she’ll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of. . .

Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner’s father, The Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son’s mistakes, it’s clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.

Set after Shatter Me and before its forthcoming sequel, Unravel Me,Destroy Me is a novella told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

My Review

“This girl is destroying me.”

After this insightful novella, I feel like I can begin to grasp who he is. I like Warner. I like him. I like him a lot. I understand Warner. Told entirely in his point-of-view, the novella chronicles scenes from Shatter Me and transitions us into the next book, Unravel Me. I learned so much about him. Realized his evil is a murkier, muddied shade of gray.  It has purpose. It has background. It’s a facade. Sort of. His actions, although wrong are not always intrinsically evil. He’s a multi-faceted character not easily understood. We get to see him vulnerable. Introspective. In a constant state of turmoil as he battles sides of himself, always trying to stay in control.

“All at once I implore my mind to imagine nothing but walls. Walls. White walls. Blocks of concrete. Empty rooms. Open space. I build walls until they begin to crumble, and then I force another set to take their place. I build and build and ramin unmoving until my mind is clear, uncontaminated, containing nothing but a small white room. A single light hanging from the ceiling. Clean. Pristine. Undisturbed.”

But control began to falter and crumble the moment Juliette came into his life. Probably even before they met face-to-face. We see the truth behind his emotions. There’s so much more to Warner. He feels so deeply. He feels everything. Feelings he tries to mask every second of every day. But Juliette is a game changer, and there’s no going back now. He’s in too deep. He feels too much.

“I’ve fallen.
So hard.
I’ve hit the ground. Gone right through it. Never in my life have I felt this. Nothing like this. I’ve felt shame and cowardice, weakness and strength. I’ve known terror and indifference, self-hate and general disgust. I’ve seen things that cannot be unseen.
And yet I’ve known nothing like this terrible, horrible, paralyzing feeling. I feel crippled. Desperate and out of control. And it keeps getting worse. Every day I feel sick. Empty and somehow aching.
Love is a heartless bastard.”

We learn about his past. His family. His father. Warner hasn’t had it easy and with everything spinning out of control, he’s falling apart. He can’t find sufficiently solid ground to formulate a plan… to get himself together… to find Juliette.

“Sometimes I wish I could step outside of myself for a while. I want to leave this worn body behind, but my chains are too many, my weights too heavy.”

This novella flips the story on its side. It changes everything as I realized that Warner isn’t the monster I thought he was. It left me questioning everything. I was riveted… glued to the page as I inadvertently fell for our villain. I assure you, you’ll see the story through completely different eyes.

I also note that Tahereh Mafi’s ability to write from Warner’s point-of-view was impressive. We already knew how distinct and unique Juliette’s voice is. Her thoughts are lyrical poetic fragments that flow across the page, suffused in allegorical meaning. And yet, with Warner, I did see the difference. His voice was uniquely him. The writing is nonetheless phenomenal and singular to this author. I am jumping right into to book 2! I am just loving this series!

“This girl would know exactly how to shatter me.”

addseriestogoodreads

SHATTER ME

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One Comment:


  1. Sarah S. said:

    This series sounds good! Great review.

    Reply

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