“Ignite Me”
Shatter Me #3
by Tahereh Mafi
Nikki’s Rating: 9 out of 10
Summary: Omega Point, the safe hideout for the resistance, has been destroyed. With only a few allies left, Juliette turns to Warner, a man she never thought she could trust. Warner brings Juliette and her friends to his base, allowing them the time and resources to stage an attack on The Reestablishment. As Juliette learns more about herself and her powers, she grows closer to Warner each day while creating a bigger and bigger rift between herself and Adam. Regardless of how they all feel about each other, they gather together and fight The Reestablishment, coming face-to-face with Anderson, Warner’s father and Supreme Commander of the North America Division of The Reestablishment.
9 Incredible Things about Tahereh Mafi’s “Ignite Me”
(May Contain Spoilers)
1. Superpowers
My love for reading started with comics and my favorite of all time since I was a child has been the Uncanny X-men. Therefore, anything involving humans having superpowers usually is an instant like for me! And like the X-men, all the characters in the Shatter Me series have unique powers, which just makes things more interesting.
2. Good vs. Bad
Thankfully, Mafi creates characters that are not all good or all bad. There is not one person who exists or ever existed that is purely one or the other. In “Ignite Me” we learn of the many positives of Warner, our Byronic hero. We also get to see the really ugly side of Juliette’s ex, Adam. And then of course, Castle, the rock of the group, is shaken and falls apart. We are never just one thing but a spectrum of many. I appreciate the realness of the characters.
3. Wrong Guy, Not Bad Guy
Another dose of reality that Mafi throws in, sometimes people just grow apart. Juliette and Adam split but without one of them being the “bad” one. A guy/girl can be great, but still may not be the “right” person for you and there is no fault or blame in that.
4. Kenji
The comic relief and all-around fun, loyal, and honest best-friend, Kenji is an amazing character and so lovable. And although he is the comic relief character, I appreciated that Mafi included scenes where we see him grieve and have Juliette realize the toll it takes on him to always be funny, providing humor for the sake of everyone else around him while their world is falling apart.
5. Juliette
Finally, finally, the woman learns to turn her powers OFF! So very happy for her and that because of this, she is able to make a decision about where her heart lies. A serious game changer. And of course this was able to happen because she accepted herself and her powers, radical self-acceptance.
6. Romance
Ecstatic that Juliette and Warner ended up together. Mostly because I am very fond of Warner and want him to be happy. Plus he accepts all of Juliette, her darkness and her badassery, none of this Adam bullshit of wanting Juliette to be meek and a damsel in distress. Moreover, Juliette waited to embrace her feelings for Warner, till she was able to control her powers. I love that she chose him and didn’t end up being with him by default of being able to touch her.
7. Writing
As always, Mafi’s unique beautiful prose throughout “Ignite Me” and the Shatter Me series as a whole is something to point out due to its brilliancy:
“Words, I think, are such unpredictable creatures.
No gun, no sword, no army or king will ever be more powerful than a sentence. Swords may cut and kill, but words will stab and stay, burying themselves in our bones to become corpses we carry into the future, all the time digging and failing to rip their skeletons from our flesh.”
p. 121
8. Action Packed
“Ignite Me” never seemed to have a dull moment. The storyline was continuously moving forward and the final stand against The Reestablishment was intense. And while it was rather naive for the resistance not to even consider The Reestablishment using superpowered individuals, glad they were still able to overcome them.
9. Restore Me
While “Ignite Me” was originally published as the final book in the Shatter Me series and concludes with a satisfying end with all my favorite characters surviving and Juliette and Warner being together, there are now 3 more books in the Shatter Me series! Book 4, “Restore Me” takes place immediately where “Ignite Me” ends.
As always, thank you for reading. I would love to hear from you so feel free to contact me or comment below. If you would like to support this blog and/or my paintings please become my patron.
Nikki Page Paintings 