Review Detail

SURPRISE! You’re all (well, those of you who know me well anyway) looking at my rating and going “what the eff? I came here for a ranty review; this is a prank, right?” Nope, it’s not a prank. In fact, I would like to hold up this review as proof that I go into books with an open mind, and not with my decision all set. As you all know (or can find out if so inclined), I didn’t loathe Shatter Me, but I wasn’t really impressed either. With Unravel Me, everything isn’t fixed, but a lot of my issues were addressed, and I had a great time reading the book. Thus, here we are with a high rating. Now let’s break it down.

World Building

Alright, I’m following the formatting from my Shatter Me review, which just happens to put the weaker stuff for this book up front. The world building remains pretty minimal. Of course, let’s be honest, the dystopian stuff was totally not what the series is most about. Anyway, I really don’t feel like I know too much more about the world than I did in Shatter Me. What caused this world? There’s no more on that. What’s causing the powers? Hell if I know. But, like with the first go-round, I really don’t care too much. I’m down for powers, and the world building’s no worse than what I’ve come to expect from YA dystopian, so, as long as everything else is fairly solid, oh well.

Plot

Again, plot isn’t necessarily the strong point of this series, at least so far. Unravel Me does a bit better, but it’s mostly a bunch of interaction with the occasional battle or something as everyone remembers there probably should have been a plot in there somewhere. So, while I’m not impressed, the book did keep me entertained, so I think there was sufficient forward motion offered by the drama to keep the minimal plot from being a huge drawback for me.

Also, here’s where I’ll start passing out some props. I was judging Mafi pretty hard for the fact that both Adam and Warner, BOTH LOVE INTERESTS, just happen to be able to touch Juliette, when no one else can. Holy convenience, Batman. Only, actually, I’m okay with the way that she explained that. In fact, part of the explanation totally added to my jollies as I read the book, so I totally approve.

Writing

Last time, I had a LOT to say about how crazy go nuts the writing in Shatter Me was, particularly the metaphors. Now, that’s not totally gone, of course, but there were a lot less phrases that tossed me out of the narrative. There are, I think, a couple of factors playing into this. First off, Juliette is, from what I’ve heard Mafi say at an event, getting more sane, so her thoughts are a bit tamer. Also, she’s in company for most of the book, which, as I observed in the previous book, tends to keep her from going off the metaphorical rails.

For the most part, though, it’s that this time, Juliette refrains from a lot of the metaphors that came out of left field. Some of them are weird, of course, but they make a certain sort of fractured sense, and I can totally see where her mind is coming from, which is a huge thing for me as a reader. If I’m in a first person narrative, even if I’m nothing like them, I want to be able to understand their thought processes, and this time I felt like I could. For example, the book opens with a kooky metaphor that I actually liked:

"The world might be sunny-side up today. The big ball of yellow might be spilling into the clouds, runny and yolky and blurring into the bluest sky, bright with cold hope and false promises about fond memories, real families, hearty breakfasts, stacks of pancakes drizzled in maple syrup sitting on a plate in a world that doesn’t exist anymore."

And, really, that’s about as weird as it gets, aside from the continuing organ shattering metaphors and forgetting to breathe. There were still a few clunkers, but not nearly as many as in the first book. If the writing in Shatter Me consistently annoyed you, then I don’t know that Unravel Me will be a welcome respite, but, if, like me, you thought it was mostly fine if Juliette would lay off some of the metaphors, Unravel Me might be worth giving a try.

Kenji

Yeah, that’s right. I’m making a new category just for Kenji. Because he’s so awesome. Listen, everyone TOLD me Kenji was amazing and that he made this book, but he was boring and smarmy and just another guy obsessed with Juliette in Shatter Me, so I was frankly a bit skeptical, which is my natural state after all. Kenji, though, he wears the hype well. See, Kenji deserves most of the credit for how much I liked this book. In a way, Kenji is me. He is every reader frustrated with Juliette and the ooey gooey romance. Kenji observes Adam and Juliette true loving and/or moping all over each other, and says the things that a person might want to say to them. When they’re being ridiculous and all “OMG I WANT TO DIE FOR YOU” and stuff, Kenji calls them on it.

Throughout the book, he’s basically dropping truth bombs like this one, after Adam told him Kenji he should leave if he doesn’t want to watch them play footsie under the table:

"“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Kenji says. “I told you this morning that I had to sit with you guys. Castle wants me to help the two of you adjust.” He snorts. Nods in my direction. “Listen, I don’t have a clue what you see in this guy,” he says,” but you should try living with him. The man is moody as hell.”"

More on Adam later. Kenji actually serves this role with EVERYTHING. When Juliette’s whining about how useless she is or how hard her life is, he is there. When people are too focused on romance when there’s important things going down, he’s ready with a truth bomb.

"“My ass you’ve accepted it. You haven’t accepted anything.” “I’ve been like this my entire life, Kenji—I’m pretty sure I’ve accepted it—” “No.” He cuts me off. “Hell no. You hate being in your own skin. You can’t stand it. That’s not called acceptance. That’s called—I don’t know—the opposite of acceptance. You,” he says, pointing a finger at me, “you are the opposite of acceptance.”"

Kenji may not be the smoothest with words, but he has a very Kenji way of putting things. His superpower apparently also includes the ability to say what people truly need to hear and in a way that makes them listen. And he is SO VERY CATHARTIC for the reader. If Juliette and/or Adam frustrate you, then you will be praising Mafi for Adam, who brings sense to these absurdly melodramatic teenagers.

Juliette

In Shatter Me, Juliette was very powerful, but weak and whiny and pathetic pretty much the whole time. In Unravel Me, she continues to do a lot of that, BUT I am okay with it because there is a definite character arc happening. Juliette does engage in a lot of self-hatred and moping and angsting as per usual, especially when involved with Adam in any way, but she also makes progress towards personal growth. Not to belabor this point, but she owes a lot of her progress to Kenji. He gives her a lot of speeches about how much she doesn’t know herself, and over the course of the book, they begin to have an effect.

Eventually, not only is Kenji making fun of her for being absurdly melodramatic, but she actually starts doing it to herself as well. She’s not yet self-aware enough to put a stop to the behavior, but she does know she’s being over-the-top and ridiculous, and we all know the first step in fixing a problem is admitting you have one. She is on her way.

On the physical strength front, Juliette is starting to realize that she’s not a fluffy bunny, but she also still wishes she were a fluffy bunny. It’s all very confusing for her. She really resists her training at first, which does come from a good-hearted place, but is also a serious hindrance to her in being able to safely and effectively use her powers. Again, Kenji’s a pretty helpful guy in getting her to recognize some of the benefits of learning how to truly be herself and take advantage of what she can do. This hasn’t happened yet, but there have been many signs indicating Juliette might graduate to badassery, or at least the fringes thereof, in Ignite Me.

While I still don’t love Juliette or even really like her, I am not annoyed by her as much as I once was. She’s showing glimmers of becoming someone I might respect. What that means is that Mafi has crafted a pretty awesome character arc for her so far.

Romance

My analysis/prediction from book one about Juliette being SO MUCH WORSE when paired with Adam was super true. I mean, man. I totally called that one. They are a gross and awful, sappy as all get out couple, but that is mitigated by how hilarious they are and by the fact that Kenji calls them on it. Like, they are so much every possible cliché that I’m relatively positive that Mafi was having a laugh, though I can’t actually know for sure. It felt pretty self-mocking to me, but I could just be applying my own feelings to it, I suppose. Either way, I was definitely laughing out loud at several scenes.

Anyway, officially Team Warner, petter of fluffy puppies and not sobbing constantly. While they’re not a ship of ships, they do have much better chemistry than Adam and Juliette ever did. They also have a lot more in common, even though I’m still rolling my eyes at their instalove and Juliette’s being okay with how he read her diary. I mean, I get that she feels comfortable with him because he’s seen her at her worst, but still totally not okay. On the other hand, he does actually have a better idea who she really is, so his love is slightly more believable than Adam’s, if still stalkery. And, of course, Warner has the emotional scars to match hers, brought up alone and friendless in a way that Adam can’t understand.

Chapter 62 was admittedly pretty hot at points, but also I am frustrated because I’m not sure how far they got, and, thought it doesn’t really matter, the imprecision in books always bothers me.

Conclusion

As it turned out, there was a reason I felt the need to finish this series: I knew it had promise. Unravel Me still has plenty of problems if you want to get into that, but I was genuinely and seriously entertained, and there was also a lot of surprisingly good stuff. I’m feeling like looking on the bright side at the moment, and so I shall. I really liked this book. And I am grumpy that I have to wait until the hold for Ignite Me arrives from the library.