Book Review: Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi

Published April 2019 by HarperTeen|368 Pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: Shatter Me #5

Genre: YA Dystopia

 

The gripping fifth installment in the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shatter Me series. Will Juliette’s broken heart make her vulnerable to the strengthening darkness within her?

Juliette’s short tenure as the supreme commander of North America has been an utter disaster. When the children of the other world leaders show up on her doorstep, she wants nothing more than to turn to Warner for support and guidance. But he shatters her heart when he reveals that he’s been keeping secrets about her family and her identity from her—secrets that change everything.

Juliette is devastated, and the darkness that’s always dwelled within her threatens to consume her. An explosive encounter with unexpected visitors might be enough to push her over the edge. 

I loved Defy Me!  It’s a great book, and a great addition to this series.  We learn so much about Juliette’s world and I can’t wait to see how everything ends.

I really loved what we learned about Juliette’s world and how the Reestablishment took over.  I really never thought about it before, but it was nice to actually get that information.  They’re really not the people we thought they were.  It has been awhile since I’ve read the other books in the series, because when do I ever re-read a series every time a new book comes out?  I remembered enough to know what was going on and not re-reading the series didn’t get in the way of me loving this book.  There’s a lot we- and the characters- didn’t know about this world until we got to this book.

One interesting thing was that we see how moments where Juliette’s thinking becomes fractured again.  There was a lot of interesting formatting at the beginning of the series, and as Juliette changed, we saw this change as well.  It is interesting how it comes up when Juliette’s going through a lot.

And Juliette has been through a lot.  or the longest time, it just seemed to be how it was for her, but when you find out why she was where she was and what really happened to her…I really felt for Juliette.

We see a lot of memories in this book, particularly from Warner.  At least, they felt like memories to me, but maybe they’re dreams.  It was a little hard to get through Juliette and Warner’s chapters because of everything they go through in this book, and Kenji’s is probably the most coherent and put together.  Maybe that will change for the next book.

Surprisingly, the book didn’t end on a cliffhanger.  It ended on a really happy note, which was nice.  But it’s making me really suspicious, because there’s a lot that’s going to happen in the last book.  In a way, it’s the calm before the storm, and I feel like it’s going to get worse before it will get better.  Either way, I’m along for the ride, and I’m definitely sticking with this series until the very end.

5 stars.  I loved Defy Me, and it’s a great addition to this series!  It adds a lot to Juliette’s world, for both the readers and characters.  I can’t wait to see how it all comes together!