Rad Readers, WHAT IS GOING ON!?
Buckle up ladies and gentlemen, because this is going to be a bumpy ride. I am not sure how spoiler-y or unspoiled-y this will be, because I am too confused to even write coherently now, but don't worry I WILL WARN YOU WHEN SPOILERS ARE COMING. I don't know... I really just don't know anymore. It definitely wasn't bad. It was WAYYYY better than Restore Me. Lightyears better. Still though, it was really weird and confusing. Not in the confusing way that I didn't understand what was happening in the story, I was just confused as to why this is where the author took the story. It was just so unnecessary, I thought and I wish that she just ended it after the first trilogy. I still hate Warner by the way. Still just a personal problem, just thought I'd share. I don't think there has ever been a character that I have hated so much for such little reason, as I do with Warner. Whatever, bad first impression when he tortured and tried to kill Juliette in the first and half of the second novel.
Okay, let's get into it! Ya, this book just didn't do it for me. This book is pretty short and pretty abrupt. The first half was a lot of nothing. It was all unnecessary to the main plot line, and you are probably thinking, it was probably just to delve more into the characters and their relationships. But it wasn't! It was just a lot of filler scenes. I think that this is some major second book slump vibes because, to remind you all, the Shatter Me series was originally just supposed to be a trilogy but then Tahreah Mafi decided to write three more books, so this is kind of like it's second trilogy. Anyways, I say that because I think that largely this was all filler action for the last book. I think that this book was so short, not including page breaks and chapter breaks the actual story was only around 250 pages, so I think it would have been better to just put it all in one last really great book.
Like I said, there was so much filler action and planning and fluff to try to get to the point in the second half of the book. Now, I will say that the second half of the book definitely did shock me. I wasn't expecting it to take the turn that it had. The plot definitely improved and we had actual information being given to us and actual action happening. Cool! Okay, but still, was it really all that cool? It was just like important stuff after important stuff after important stuff. It felt like these major twists were just being listed off. None of them could be totally developed or really sink in for the reader. The reactions that you would want to see from the characters were virtually non existent, or very minimal. I don't know, I just felt like, why not take the first half of the book, cut out the fluff, and then develop the important parts in the second half! It felt so so so rushed. In my opinion the first half should have been majorly shortened and then there should have been more timed towards the end to sink into the major plot points that advance the story. To be fair though, I did think that the second half of this book was good.
As far as the characters go, we been knew. We really been knew. Loved Kenji, loved that we were able to read from his perspective, hated that most of his perspective was all filler. However, he is and always has been my favorite character in this story, so I cannot complain. Juliette and Warner. Ugh. I'm not going to get into Warner. You know all you need to know about my feelings towards him already. Here at rad reads we have spent enough time besmirching his name. Just know that I still don't like him. As for Juliette, I think she developed more as a person, she isn't as compliant and annoying for the most part. She was deeper and more genuine and relatable I felt. Definitely a better Juliette than the Juliette in Restore Me! Homie finally stands up for herself.
I think a major problem that I had with this book as well was the fact that there was something that the readers felt that we finalized a while ago in the series, and surprise surprise, it's back and was never actually finished with. The plot direction right now has me going "?????" I have no idea what the next book in this series is going to look like. I don't think it comes out until next year though, so we must stay in this perpetual state of disbelief and confusion for a while, Rad Readers.
Overall, my thoughts are that it was too short of a book that didn't make the best use of its story time. I liked the characters more at this point than I ever have in the story so that is why I gave this book four starts. If you are iffy about reading this book, I would wait until the last book comes out to see if it is worth your time and commitment. Then again, it is a very quick read so you might just want to pick it up.
At this point I think we are all reading for Kenji and Kenji alone!
Read on!
- C8 ;)