Ignite Me

Originally posted at: [...] As with all books in a series, while I won't give any spoilers for this book, plots points from the first two books will be mentioned in passing. You've been warned. And if for some reason you haven't heard of these books, let alone read them, go now and get them. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Okay. Now that I got that out of the way. YOU GUYS. THIS BOOK. It was everything I wanted it to be. I don't even think I'll be as coherent as usual during this review. I'm that worked up over this book. I'm STILL in a glass case of emotion As I mentioned in my review for Into the Still Blue, I have been a little weary of series enders ever since I read Allegiant. I am most happy to say this did not disappoint. Not even a little bit. I loved every. single. minute. of it. So much so that I started reading it at approximately midnight last night, and stayed up until 2:30 to finish it (yes, I read that fast). The story picks up right where Unravel Me left off. I love when books do this. I am not a fan of gaps between stories. I get enough of that on TV (*side-eyes Sherlock*). I want to know everything that happens. Luckily for me, Mafi delivers. I love being inside Juliette's head. Girl is fascinating. She has so many different thoughts running through her head at one time. One of my favorite things about this series, is that through Mafi's unique writing style, you can really see the growth in Juliette as a person. She started off as completely broken and basically came across as insane in Shatter Me. By the end of Ignite Me, she is a completely different, and amazing, person. I loved seeing her change and develop throughout the series. She really comes in to her own, and develops and OWNS her strength. Just like I'd been wanting her to do. Speaking of character growth and changes, can I just take a minute to discuss Warner? *sigh* I was pretty much Team Warner, even in Shatter Me. I ensconced myself firmly in his camp after reading Destroy Me. Unravel Me kept me there, and Fracture Me just made me really dislike Adam. So yeah, I've always been a fan of Warner. He is such a complex character, and I was more than happy to get to know him even more through the course of Ignite Me. Also, this happens: "Warner Anderson chief commander and regent of Sector 45, son of the supreme commander of The Reestablishment. He has a soft spot for fashion." And I'm jealous of the size of his closet. Oh. And Chapter 55. Better than Chapter 62 from Shatter Me. Hot. One of the biggest questions for the end of the series was who Juliette would end up with. While I won't say whether I was happy or not (thus giving away who she picks), I was at least glad, as Juliette puts it, she wasn't with anyone "by default." Also making an appearance? Our boy Kenji. If she ever decides to continue this series, or do companion novels, or basically anything, I hope Kenji gets to be the focus. I love his character so much. And his friendship with Juliette is absolutely fantastic. It reminds me so much of the friendship between Roar and Aria from the Under the Never Sky series. Right down the the quips and nicknames. I actually laughed out loud a couple of times, I enjoyed them together so much. I love how they are always there for each other, willing to back the other up, and also willing to tell the other when they're being an idiot. Seeing healthy relationships and friendships make me happy. Plus there's lots of great James moments. I love that kid. His interactions with Warner are priceless. I will say there is not a lot of action in this book. At all. It's mostly build up and relationships building between characters, which is totally fine by me. The action that you're expecting, honestly doesn't even happen until you're 90% of the way through the book. Then BAM! It's there. And it goes fast. And then. THEN it's over. I was so ridiculously sad to finish this book. I didn't want it to end. I felt like there could be so much more to this story. I hope one day Tahereh Mafi will want to revisit this world. I love these characters so much (except for maybe Adam...). There's so much more I could say. And want to say. But really, I just want you all to read these books. They're so wonderful and I love them. I hope you will too.

"In a world where there is so much to grieve and so little good to take? I grieve nothing. I take everything." And it's over! I feel like I just got into this story and now it ended. I need more. A prequel, a spinoff, another novella (maybe from Kenji), ANYTHING! I so desperately need more of this world, more these powers, more Warner! But alas it over and I am left grieving for yet another finished series. Whenever a series ends I kind of just sit around for a day or two to re-read all my favorite scenes and get my life together. But this series? It's killing me. Maybe it was because I read the books and the novellas back to back. Maybe it was because it ended just as I was starting to really love the characters. All I know is that I want more. So anyway this takes place days after Unravel Me ends. Juliette is now with Warner and the few surviving members of Omega Point are hidden away. But in order to defeat the evil commander Anderson they must reunite and team up with an unlikely ally; Warner. DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS POINT UNLESS YOU'VE EITHER READ IT OR WANT TO BE SPOILED!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!! Since this is the end of a series and I have a lot of pent up feelings inside of me I'm just going to vent them out. That also means that I'm going to rant and probably make a lot of Team Warner comments. Here we go. The book starts with the main characters divided and thinking that the other is dead. I am so glad that was cleared up quick because it would only have dragged the story on and serve to make more problems than solutions. Thankfully this dives quickly into the thick of it having our characters regroup and form a plan to take down the Reestablishment. When Juliette goes to Adam's house to make the plan everyone is all happy to see her alive, all except Adam. Honestly, throughout this entire book I rally just wanted Adam to fall off a cliff and die. So Juliette shows up and Adam starts screaming at her. He tells her that she is a terrible person and that he would rather she be dead. Really? Who says that to a person they claim they love. Then he talks about their relationship even after she already broke up with him like twice and then kicks her out of his house. You have no idea the satisfaction I felt when he ended up living at Warner's house or his "ex-girlfriends new boyfriend's bachelor pad" as he called it. I wanted him to feel horrible because the same girl he kicked out of his s***ty house was the reason he didn't freeze or starve to death along with his little brother. Also, I really wanted to see Warner walk in and punch him in the face. That would have made me happy. Anyway so the all move into Warner's personal training facility and begin training there and planning for the war. And I must say that I love this about Warner. He is always pushing Juliette to do more, to be more. I love when he teaches her to fight, when he gives her a gun, when he doesn't question her judgment or abilities. While Adam is putting her down making her feel weak, Warner is lifting her up making her feel strong. I love how when Juliette first tell Warner that she plans on taking down the Reestablishment. Warner starts laughing but it's not at her. He knows that she can do this and instead of changing her mind, asks if she would like help. I love the confidence he gives her. This happens again when Juliette and Adam are arguing where Adam asks Warner if he'd like to step in and he responds saying that Juliette doesn't need his help. This is why I knew that she had to end with Warner. He believes in her. While training a lot of things happen and a lot of deep heartfelt moments occurred. One of the being when Juliette finds out that wait for it... she can now touch people! I loved that she could now truly live and be happy. Another when Kenji starts talking about his feelings. By the way I love Kenji in this book, he cracked me up! He is a far deeper, serious yet hilarious character than I first gave him credit for. Then finally after all that training they manage to convince all the sector 45 soldiers and civilians onto their side and go to war. This war could have lasted longer. It's like the last few chapters and since Juliette didn't go to war we don't even get to see what happened. All that happen is that they get to the boat where Anderson is and Juliette manages to shoot him. "Twice. Once or Adam. Once for Warner." That is literally what it says. Then it ends. It's just over. Kenji is injured and unconscious, Anderson is dead, there are dead bodies everywhere, their side of the world is saved and that's how it ends. Warner and Juliette looking out at the world from a roof. That's it. That is it!?!?!?!? I'm so angry! I was expecting an actual ending, not this crap! I needed an actual conclusion. At the very least an epilogue. But no. I have to settle for this. Also I think it should have been Warner who kills his father, as payback for all the both physical and psychological scars. In the end though I really did like this book and it's characters. Most characters undergo some form of growth in books but none like Juliette and her companions. Their development was slow and we only got to see bits and pieces at a time. While some characters peak after they have gained some strength Juliette never stops growing. She always wants to do more and be better and push herself as far as she can go. Adam and Warner also changed. With Adam it is true that you don't really know a person until you see them is a tough spot. And I must say that Adam is a pretty horrible person deep down. No let me rephrase that, he's not a horrible person, just a horrible love interest (who deserves to fall of a cliff and die). Seriously though, he was always whining and crying and always making a scene. It was obvious that everyone around him was just done with him. I bet even James was done with his BS. When Juliette said she had to break up with him a third time, you could just tell she was done. Finished. Its like he didn't know how or when to shut up and it was annoying. Now Warner. My dear, beautiful Warner. I love learning new things about him as his is probably the most interesting back story of all. I would love a detailed retelling of his past. He is yet again shown to be loving and kind and caring in ways that even Adam was not. At one point Juliette wonders if Adam would save her life or let her die if given the chance while knowing for a fact that Warner would save her all over again. Then that scene with his mother being dead? That scene killed me! I have never so radically changed my opinion on a character. He is truly such a good man and I'm so glad Juliette got her crap together and finally loved him. This is the first time I have done a complete 180 turn and seen a character in a new light. In book one I hated him and compared him to all kinds of things. Now I love him and am team Warner all the way. But seriously, is anyone even Team Adam anymore? But before I wrap up there are just a couple of things. Things that were never explained or that are just plain bothering me. 1. His mom has powers? WTF? 2. How come Warner can't touch her though he can touch Juliette. 3. Delalieu is Warner's grandfather! WTF, again!?!? 4. Why was Delalieu not sad when Warner's mom died? 5. Did Anderson have powers too? 6. What's with the bird symbolism? Is that it? Warner is the bird? That is a little to convenient so I'm calling it BS. 7. Was it really that easy to win a war? Other than that I really enjoyed reading this books and regret not jumping on the bandwagon much sooner. I wish there is more of this story in the future or some kind of continuation. I am now willing to read just about anything Tahereh Mafi writes

Ignite Me has been one of my most anticipated books of this year. And overall I think it was a wonderful end to the series. It's amazing to see a character grow as much as Juliette does throughout the series. I can definitely see her growth, and I love the new stronger Juliette. Where she's at at the end of the series is incredible, and I love her. In Shatter Me she narrated with numbers, crossed out lines, repetitive thoughts. They decreased in Unravel Me, and are nearly gone in Ignite Me. While I believe she has grown beyond that fragile state of mind, and therefore this style of thought wouldn't have fit with her development in Ignite Me, it was still something that I missed. It's what hooked me to the series. So, when choosing my rating, I had to consider that I enjoyed the narrative in this one slightly less than the first two books. Not that it wasn't appropriate, this is just a personal preference. Ignite Me was a super fast read, it was still easy to slip into the words. And Tahereh has not lost one inch of her poetic genius, even though the narrative is a more mature style. There were so many beautiful metaphors, and that is the way in which Juliette maintains her old self. A large part of why I gave it only 4 stars is because I felt like too much of the content of the book was unneeded or repetitive. The main thing fans of this series need to understand is that this story has never been about the world, it's all about Juliette and her growth and her perception. A lot of info in Ignite Me will reshape our previous knowledge of characters, as Juliette develops a better understanding. So, while so much of this book needed to be an emotional struggle, I still felt there were too many lengthy dialogues that were trying to sway the reader to feel a certain way, but I didn't need a lot of persuasion, I was already there. Also, as the end of the book got closer, I started noticing how few pages I had left and that we hadn't encountered any conflict yet. The ultimate climax of the book was INCREDIBLE, but it was so short. That end in and of itself is 5 stars, but I would have liked it to have been more stretched out, perhaps not as easy as it was. I know that this whole series is about Juliette's growth and therefore it focuses mainly on her internal thoughts, but considering that the action that we do see is incredibly written and feels like it's right out of a movie, I would have loved if this finale had spent more time on the action. As an overall ending to this series I think it was very fitting. It's almost a little bit of an open ending because you know that they are going to face more challenges. You know there is more to happen that we won't be around to see, but it's wrapped up in a way that I was satisfied and felt I knew the outcome, or at least the general direction things were headed.

I'm writing this review immediately after finishing the book, so as to be able to remember all the details. I will give spoilers, but first, let me give you the non-spoiler version: This book is perhaps one of the greatest endings to a trilogy I have ever read. I dare you to read it and not fall in love with it. Now, for my complete evaluation that does involve spoilers... ________________________________________________________ I've read many books in my life. Some have been truly life-changing, but most have disappointed me. This series blew me away. The plot was outstandingly unique. This is no Hunger Games or Divergent (although I recommend it to fans of those books). This idea, this concept, is not your average futuristic novel. Mafi has created an intricate world of unfinished business, secrets, corruption, and war. But beneath all of that, we learn that beauty can still come out of a world like this. Juliette essentially begins the change from one giant world of poverty to something that starts to resemble peace. And although the characters were very important, the romance was not the sole reason of my enjoying this series; the setting was one of the main reasons why this series was so good. Now, although the plot/setting were important, I believe that this trilogy had an astounding amount of character growth for each individual character. Juliette- Oh, wonderful Juliette. I don't even know where to begin. Juliette is one of those rare characters that really, truly cannot make her readers dislike her. Mafi has done a brilliant thing here- if you read carefully, you'll have noticed the sheer amount of strike-throughs in the first book. And I believe this represents Juliette's caution, her lack of confidence and her basic fear of being a monster. She didn't want to say the wrong thing, so she was constantly getting rid of anything questionable. But sometime during the second book, we observed a phenomenon; Juliette was beginning to say things and mean them. By the time we finish Ignite Me, the strike-throughs are only a distant memory. And I've got to say, I'm really freaking proud of Juliette. If any character showed growth, it was her (also note her super-confident tone, things like "I will kill them," or "I did not request gloves," etc.). And although Adam seems to be denying that she has any good left in her, we all know that she had it in her the whole time. Adam- You know, I really liked this guy at first. At the time of his arrival, he really was good for Juliette. But she broke down her barriers, and she simply couldn't be with someone as gentle and sensitive as Adam. And my heart broke for him. It did. In fact, I read ahead immediately after finishing book one, and, seeing that she was with Warner, I abandoned this series for a while. But I forced myself to keep reading, and Mafi did an excellent job of slowly telling us, "Okay, you need to accept that Adam doesn't belong with Juliette." And that's fine. I still love that Adam is present in the books, I just wish he would have not sulked around all the time. But then, he did seem to be coming around at the end. So really, my conclusion for Adam is that I hope he can put himself back together. He deserves it. Warner- Ah, Warner. Aaron Warner, eternal receiver of Juliette' s love. I honestly lost count of how many times I smiled to myself while reading this book, solely because of something he said or did. First of all, I am all for his calling Juliette "love." It isn't stupid like "babe," and it's not too formal, either. It has just the right amount of poetic essence, and I like it. But anyway, I just want to inform you that if you are somehow still on the first book, and think he's terrible, he's not. Warner is a confusing mess of perfection. He actually has a softer side, yes but it's not like in most books, where a character breaks down that side and comes out a complete softie. Although his rudeness was mostly an act, he still has that introverted, brutally honest shell. But I love him. He's not condescending to Juliette, nor is he too sensitive for her. He only makes her stronger. And boy, does he know how to be intimate (I'm in love with the whole 'coming-up behind-Juliette-and-whispering-in-her-ear' thing.). But in the end, Warner is just an amazing character, and he's worth dealing with all the secretive moments. Kenji- Hilarious, attractive, wonderful Kenji. This guy is the main source of my smiles, laughs, and endless uses of the 'highlighter' tool. He can make any situation better. But here's the thing: he has this unexpected serious side. And I was so relieved when Mafi revealed that side, because I honestly hate characters who only serve the purpose of being comical relief. He has a deeper personality, an admirable one, that truly completes him. And although he is great for being funny, I really enjoyed reading about his struggles with his past, too, and getting to know him on a deeper level.

Original Review: When I first read Shatter Me last June, I wasn't completely sure what to think about it. The strikethroughs, the flowery prose, the repetition of words without commas...it took me awhile to adjust to the writing style. Nevertheless, I finished the book in a day and was intrigued enough by the story that I immediately downloaded Destroy Me to my Kindle app and drove to another branch of my county library just so I could pick up Unravel Me on my way out of town for vacation. Reading Destroy Me convinced me that Tahereh Mafi's writing style in Shatter Me was deliberate. So I decided to go with the flow and went into Unravel Me with a lot more confidence...and was absolutely and utterly captivated. The now-tempered strikethroughs and descriptive writing style that had somewhat hampered my enjoyment of Shatter Me, I now viewed as strengths. And the plot twists? The love triangle? The character development (one character's in particular)? So, so good. I knew going into Ignite Me that the strikethroughs would be gone, and so I wasn't surprised at their absence when I read the teaser chapters at the end of Fracture Me. What was kind of funny, though, was how much I missed them. I was a little worried, actually, that in losing the strikethroughs, we'd lost a valuable part of Juliette's character. But I worried for nothing. Juliette has ATTITUDE in Ignite Me and it's an awesome thing to behold. She's no longer afraid to say what she means, ask for what she wants, and...well...talk back to the people who tick her off. The result is sometimes hilarious, sometimes painful, oftentimes awkward, and all around incredible. I cannot stress how much I loved some of the conversations in this book. That's not to say that there weren't a few things I wish had been done differently. I was left with a few questions that I really wish would have been clarified and there were some developments with the plot (especially at the end) and a few character interactions that I wish had been more deeply fleshed out, but it wasn't enough to affect my ultimate enjoyment of the book, or the series - which is quite possibly one of my favorites ever. This is a solid 5+ star book in my opinion. Follow-Up to Original Review: I've thought a lot about the plot weaknesses in Ignite Me since I wrote my original review. As I continue to process the book and read other people's reviews, I keep coming back to one question: does a book with such a weak overall plot deserve a five-star review? Is it possible for a book's other strengths to neutralize what would otherwise be a crippling weakness? [WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD] In all honesty, I had several issues with the plot throughout the book, but for me, the two most disconcerting were: 1. The complete underutilization of Anderson as a villain. Tahereh Mafi set him up so well in Unravel Me (which I thought had quite a strong plot with several amazing twists and turns)...and then, poof! He was gone. No dialogue, no taunting, no recounting of Warner's weaknesses and his many sins. Nothing. He should have, at the very least, had the dissatisfaction of seeing his sons stand united against him. 2. Juliette, even the kick butt version of her we see in Ignite Me, is in no way shape or form ready or qualified to take over the world (or even what's left of the country). I don't care if she can eat bullets for lunch. She's seventeen. Heck, even Warner isn't a believable supreme commander, and he has years of training and military experience. It would have been more believable had the book ended with Castle as Merlin and the rest of the Omega Point survivors ruling via King Arthur's roundtable. But (and this is a huge but)... What Tahereh Mafi does right in this book, she does so very, very right. It's so beautifully written that I can't help but keep reading my favorite parts (and there are many) over and over and over again. The dialogue is snappy and fun and just so very enjoyable. But what captivates me so much about this series is (okay, I'm going to say it) Warner's character development. I'm going to go as far as to say that the most truly powerful thing about the Shatter Me series isn't Juliette's transformation, it's Warner's. This series is truly Juliette AND Warner's story. It's not a series about a dystopian government, or supernatural powers, or even two hot guys who like the same girl; it's a tale of what can happen when somebody believes in you enough to look beneath the ugliness on the surface to see the beauty underneath. To love someone when nobody else will. Tahereh Mafi presented us with what appeared to be a villain in Shatter Me and then proceeded to deconstruct him over the next two books, leaving us with a character who, as Juliette would say, is entirely different and yet exactly the same. I believe the key to understanding Warner's character is this: "'If you hide your heart, he will never be able to take it from you.'" It's the justification for everything he ever did and why he was able to tell Juliette that he was the same man he'd always been. The Warner we met in Ignite Me was always there, he was just hiding. We (the reader) saw glimpses of that person in Shatter Me, it's just that we, like Juliette, lacked understanding and perspective, and therefore couldn't completely understand what it was we were seeing. If I were rating this book on plot alone, it wouldn't get more than three stars, four if I consider other factors that I would normally consider. But I can't give this book fewer than five stars. I just can't. Because despite its technical deficiencies, there is something truly unique about this series that makes it stand out from almost everything else I've ever read. And I can't overlook that.

"I am an hourglass." The first words of this book are poetic. The first paragraph is a piece of artwork, meant to be seen and seen again. Out of the entire series, this one is my favorite. This is the one that brings them all together. This is the conclusion of a dystopian world, where people have evolved with strange defensive abilities and the world is in utter chaos. Once again, I understand that there are flaws. The politics are not really explained. The world is vaguely descriptive as to why the sun barely rises and the birds don't fly. The story is strong enough to give us an understanding of what is important and why it is important. The characters are built with the main focus on Juliette, Warner and Adam; though it skims over other characters that could use some build. Alia; is there a reason she is so quiet? How did she become so good at building weapons? Castle; where did he hail from? Why was he so okay with Juliette taking over? Ian; what is his deal? As I've explained before, the flaws make this series very unique and let's the reader explore the possibilities. Whether the author did this on purpose or not, the story is lovely anyway. Juliette is so much better than before. She is strong, confident and willing to fight for people weaker than her. She finally understands that she is the most powerful person in the world, exactly like Warner had told her before. WARNER....oh my. So, everything in the first book might as well have been an elaborate illusion. His reasoning and explanations of the first book make so much freaking sense now. The thing about this man is he KNOWS Juliette. The bad and the good. Adam only likes the good and Juliette did her best to hide him from her bad side. Shooting Anderson in the kneecaps being one of those bad things. (Dude deserved it.) Warner knows that he was capable of monstrous things and never did he lie to Juliette about them. He knew she was capable of being something great too. I was so shocked to see what was happening in the middle of this series. That the villainous, super-bad guy was becoming the heroine's love. I mean, how often does that freaking happen!? It was fantastic and now I am completely fascinated with the idea that the main character should always fall in love with the monstrous villain in the stories. (I know it happens in other stories, just not enough for my tastes.) Adam was a jerk. He just made me mad and probably needed his butt kicked and some sense knocked into his noggin. Telling someone that you wish they were still dead is not how you treat someone you supposedly love. Jerk. At a certain point, it made me feel better that Adam was capable of flirting with other girls and Juliette was completely okay with that. She wasn't pulling one man one way and the other another way. I don't really like that in stories. She was trying to understand Warner more and that was a good decision on her part because he really needed her. It only took me a day to finish this book. Despite the flaws, I loved this series. My only problem right now is the way it ended. I need closure. I need to see a glimpse of what happens after the big event. Maybe some babies are in the future, or maybe they have expanded their army to new levels and the Earth is finally stabilizing after years of poisoning. Things like this would have been great for closure. All I got was the possibility of more attacks from other governments....and the bad thing is I am pretty sure this is the last book. Okay, I am done. Love this series! I hope to see more books from Mafi! "Hell is empty, and all the Devils are here." Shakespeare; the Tempest

4.5 ***This is part of a series. There will be spoilers of things that happened in the other book(s) so if you haven't read it and don't want to know things that happened, please stop reading now.*** I enjoyed reading the book. I read it quickly: I started and finished this book in 1 night. There were some surprises that I didn't see coming. The ending felt rushed. I am not disappointed that I read, but this is not an absolute favorite series. Would I read the entire series again someday? Probably. But I was not left with an "OMG! I love this series so, so, so, much!" feeling. But I do really like it, and enjoyed reading the trilogy. (And I will probably look into reading the novellas sometime in the future.) The Story: Overall, I think the story went along nicely. It pretty much picks up where Unravel Me left off. I felt that this book was face-paced and it kept me really interested in what was going to happy next. And oh boy, steamy. Just. Wow. I think that chapter was one of the steamiest scenes I have read in YA. But for me, the ending felt rushed. I was expecting this big EPIC finale. But instead we had the build up then the fight was over before I realized. And I was left thinking "That's it?" What happens next? What happens to the characters? I was left wanting more. Which left me a little disappointed. Not enough to hate the book or anything, but I wanted some more answers. And I wanted more of a big epic battle at the end. So either I have to choose in my head the answers to these questions....or maybe Mafi decided to leave it a little unresolved in case she decides to visit the world again in the future. (I doubt this, but never say never...right?) The Characters: Juliette: I personally liked her character development. I finally felt like she went from this scared little girl to someone that can stand up for herself. She has become fierce and is on her way to being a leader. She has become more likable (at least for me) and more independent. And I love that she seems to be feeling more at ease with her power. Warner: I found Warner's character to be likable in this book. I was pretty surprised that I ended up liking his character as much as I do. I almost feel like I went from absolute hate, to heart-thawing hate, to liking him in the span of the trilogy. I like how his character developed and shifted. I liked being able to see him in a different light. Maybe it was because Juliette knew more about him as the series moved on so her eyes opened up more to see his true self. I just know that I no longer hate Warner. Adam: I don't hate Adam. Not in the least bit. But I also didn't really like him in this book. Continuing on from Unravel Me, Adam just has more hate and bitterness wrapped up in him. Yeah, he has been through a lot. And I understand being mad and frustrated, but goodness, I really hated a lot of the things that he does in this book. And I especially did not like his attitude. He almost feels like a completely different person. Maybe this is the character he was always meant to be, but I was hoping that it was just a rough patch and he could get back to his old self eventually. Kenji: Oh. My. Goodness. I think it is safe for me to say, I really do think that Kenji is my favorite from this series. He is funny and strong. I just want to hug and hang out with him myself. And I just adore his friendship with Juliette. And I LOVE that is just a simple boy/girl friendship without ANY form of romantic entanglements. My Recommendation: If you liked the other two books, then you would probably like this one too. I feel there was character development, action, romance (steamy), and some resolution. But for me I was left with some desire to know more of what would happen next.

~4.5/5 [More of my reviews are available on my blog, Geeky Reading, to which there's a link on my profile.] I love this series, and am so extremely impressed with it. I love Juliette. She really grew up in this book, both as a person and in her romantic relationships, and I was impressed with how well that was done, particularly in reference to the previous books. I was really impressed with her. And I really liked how she took a stand near the end, and did what she needed to do. I love Warner, and how the two of them got to know each other better in this book. And then there are the very hot and steamy moments between them which were incredibly nice. He’s so good to her, and for her, and her for him, and I love that. Adam, on the other hand, was a complete prick. I couldn’t believe him. And in comparison to how much Juliette matured, he’s even worse. (There’s also the fact that Juliette didn’t end up with the guy she met and liked first, and I really liked that.) I completely love Kenji. He’s amazing. As a person, and as Juliette’s friend. The two of them together are the best, and I love it. Their interactions, and how they’re there for each other, and how they joke around. I love it. And when Juliette stated outright that he was her best friend, I just wanted to cry and grin at the same time; it made me so happy. And then there’s James, who is still such a sweetheart. By the end, it seemed like Warner and Adam were getting some closure, and I liked that. And I wanted to see James getting to know Warner better, but the glimpses of their interactions were really nice. I completely loved this series. I loved the characters, the progression, the maturing, the writing was beautiful. I didn’t notice in the first books, but the humor is really good, too; it had me laughing a lot throughout this book. I’m in love with this series. Anything else Mafi releases from this point on is going to be an automatic buy for me; and I'm really excited to see what she comes up with next.