Tuesday, July 23

Unravel Me: Book Review

Unravel Me

Tahereh Mafi

HarperCollins
February 5th 2013
Young Adult | Science Fiction | Paranormal
Dystopia
Official Blurb - 
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it's almost
time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

Raw.

Primal.

EMOTION EXPLOSION!

Do not pick up this book if you are not ready to face some heavy stuff. It will challenge you.

Love the free flowing language. So very untethered much like actual thoughts. A fast flowing current full of so many different thoughts. Hard to tell which ones you will really act on or which reflect your heart.

Great. Definitely superior. Awesome. Words can't quite capture the experience of reading this. It is more like living intimately inside someone's mind than a work of fiction.

The language is a bit above board, fairly foul, but regardless I couldn't tear myself away from the book. Not even to save myself from a herd of stampeding rhinos. HOOKED. No matter the horror or the complete blatant disregard for grammar could save you from being hooked. So while I was right to fear reading this book. I just can't regret having read it. Though I laughed when Warner chastises Adam about how using foul language reflects poorly on his intelligence.

The imagery is fantastic. I was in raptures at some of the descriptions. This book is written so out of the norm. Really makes me wonder what it is like to live in Tahereh Mafi's mind. Does Juliette's mind follow the same pattern as Tahereh's or is it a reflection of a bunch of research? They say write what you know. Just saying. :)

So many great people at Omega Point. I really hope so many of them survive to entertain me another day.

In the beginning I loved how our heroine doesn't take the traditional path. She isn't completely blind to the evil around her. If only her hormones weren't so very needy and consuming. She knows quite a bit about philosophy and can see the evil everywhere. She really has a better view but even though she says she won't trust Warner or other she still does. Her biggest fault is deception. Lies, lies and more lies. For someone crazy it is surprising she isn't a bit more forthcoming. So she deceives those who most warrant her trust and is true to those who most want to use her in ways that are against her choice. So very disturbing and horrifying. I wish I could have slapped some sense into her. Some part of me wants to demand revenge or restitution for what she has done, very willingly. But she has been through so much. Seems everyone can use that blanket of justification in this world. Definitely a bunch of hopeful gray areas mixed into these characters. My desperate hope is that there is a great heaping batch of forgiveness coming her way in the next book instead of heartbreak.

I am definitely not on to forgive someone who has no remorse. Especially when it comes to bestowing trust. So I can't agree with Juliette and her opinion of Warner. Sure it all looks pretty on paper but NO REMORSE should not be over looked. Juliette needs to get her hormones in check. She is flirting with the line of unforgivable. And that is putting it lightly. Geez woman have you no loyalty? Does love mean so little to you? Her defense of "I'm crazy!" is getting just a tad bit old. Especially since she knows better. Nothing deranged about her. It is interesting to see her love triangle. How it so perfectly captures unrepentant bad boy and heart of gold guy. Who doesn't feel attraction to a bad boy? But please, I bed of you either make a quick decision, Adam (Ahem, not biased at all here.) Or put us out of our misery. Actually maybe it would be better to just put all three of you out of your misery.

I love that Tahereh is always making fun of her own characters. Kenji is perhaps the most delightful character of the bunch. He makes for the best instrument of humor and correction for the others. Who wouldn't like him?

Very raw and entertaining read. Some parts I read a handful of times before I was able to proceed. I am equal parts craving and fearing the finale. Likely by the time it is finally released I will be consumed more by fear and foreboding than hope.

The parting line is awe inspiring. A bit humorous yet so very kick butt. 

No second book syndrome here. Prepare to be blown away, even decimated. Yet magically back on your feet begging for more. But don't beg Tahereh for mercy because she knows how to pack it all the while smiling at your torment.

Having trouble clearing all thoughts of Unravel Me from my mind. Like cotton candy. Yummy, sticky and bright. With the accompanying sugar high and crash.

A must read if you think you can take it!


Content:
Language: Heavy
Sexual: Moderate to Heavy (Emotionally very descriptive.)
Violence: Heavy

There are so many great quotes and moments in this book I had a hard time just selecting a few. Sorry to all those that are left in the dark. But I don't want to spoil it all. :)
Moments Divine:
"How much do you weigh?"
"Wow. Is that how you talk to every girl you meet? That explains so much."
"I'm about one hundred seventy-five pounds," he says. "Of muscle."
I stare at him. "Would you like an award?"
"Well, well, well," he says, cocking his head, the barest hint of a smile flickering across his face. "Look who's the smart-ass now."
"I think you're rubbing off on me," I say.
But he's not smiling anymore.
"Listen," he says. "I'm not trying to flatter myself by pointing this out, but I could toss you across the room with my pinkie finger. You weigh, like, less than nothing. I'm almost twice your body mass." He pauses. "So how the hell did you pin me against the wall?"
"What?" I frown. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you" --he points at me--"pinning me"--he points at himself--"against the wall." He points at the wall.
"You mean you actually couldn't move?" I blink. "I thought you were just afraid of touching me."
"No," he says. "I legit could not move. I could hardly breathe."
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"It's not that I don't care about what you're going through," he says "It's not like I want to see you all depressed or whatever. It's just that this life is messed up enough as it is," he says. "And I'm sick of you being so caught up in your own little world all the time. You act like this whole ting--everything we do--is a joke. You don't take any of it seriously--"
"What?" I cut him off. "That's not true--I do take this seriously--"
"Bullshit." He laughs a short, sharp, angry laugh. "All you do is sit around and think about your feelings. You've got problems. Boo-freaking-hoo," he says. "Your parents hate you and it's so hard but you have to wear gloves for the rest of your life because you kill people when you touch them. Who gives a shit?" He's breathing hard enough for me to hear him. "As far as I can tell, you've got food in your mouth and clothes on your back and a place to pee in peace whenever you feel like it. Those aren't problems. That's called living like a king. And I'd really appreciate it if you'd grow the hell up and stop walking around like the world crapped on your only roll of toilet paper. Because it's stupid," he says, barely reining in his temper. "It's stupid, and it's ungrateful. You don't have a clue what everyone else in the world is going through right now. You don't have a clue, Juliette. And you don't seem to give a damn, either."
I swallow, so hard.
"Now I am trying," he says, "to give you a chance to fix things. I keep giving you opportunities to do things differently. To see past the sad little girl you used to be--the sad little girl you keep clinging to--and stand up for yourself. Stop crying. Stop sitting in the dark counting out all your individual feelings about how sad and lonely you are. Wake up," he says. "You're not the only person in this world who doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning. You're not the only one with daddy issues and severely screwed-up DNA. You can be whoever the hell you want to be now. You're not in that shitty asylum, and you're no longer stuck being Warner's shitty little experiment. So make a choice," he says. "Make a choice and stop wasting everyone's time. Stop wasting your own time. Okay?"
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"I don't have mental blocks--"
"Yeah you do." he snorts. "You definitely do. You have severe mental constipation."