The book DEFY ME by Tahereh Mafi is the fifth book in the series called Shatter Me. If you haven't read the books, I'd suggest you read them, and if you are looking for a sign or reason to pick up the series, this is it.
The series jumps right into the story with a very dark and isolating beginning, following the story of a Juliette in the first person. This story is about self-discovery, fighting for freedom, beliefs, and love. The main character, Juliette, has very real issues I feel many people can relate too (self-consciousness, doubt, fear) There are amazing plot twists that will make your head spin! Mafi did a wonderful job at keeping up constantly surprised, and weaving the story enough to keep us guessing without losing us by making it too complicated. There are magic abilities in this book that will make you fall in love with the characters- and make you root for them too!
Please go read the series and then we can talk about this one!
As for DEFY ME *Slight spoilers*
What I liked:
I liked that we got to hear more from Kenji in this book and what he's going through. I liked to see from his point of view about how he feels about both Juliette, now Ella, and Neseera. Some people can't pull off doing multiple points of view at once without it being too complicated, but this one turned out well I think.
I like the scenes involving her parents and sister, they were so interesting! Her mother is painted perfectly in aspects of mental stability, and her sister, I love how the ability she had brought them together. Something I didn't expect at all, and I hope we get more information in the future.
I liked the plot twists, again, Mafi has a great way of keeping us on our toes with the ability to give us things we didn't expect to happen. There were some I was grateful, believing one thing, and then hearing that is was all a "distraction or allusion". There were people I didn't expect to show up again, and when they did I was literally yelling 'NO NO NO.'
Of course, I love the Warner and Juliette moments, the way they are described are wonderful. Mafi does well with creating such a chemistry between them when it comes to sensations and feelings. I love how during Warner's POV he's always wondering how someone so amazing could fall for him, and I feel people can relate to that.
What I didn't:
TOO SHORT. I don't know if it was just me, or maybe being in love with the series I read it too fast, but I read it in less then eight hours! I felt as if there were more blank pages then there was the story! (I'm being hyperbole) I wish there would have been more to it, more description about things.
I didn't care for the long bits of past memories when it came to memories between Warner and Juliette. Some of them I liked, because they were small, and gave me an idea but weren't too long, others I just ended up skimming a little because I didn't care for them much. (I know some people love those parts of no judgment!)
I felt some of the scenes could have been described better, or drawn out more to give us a better idea of where the characters were and what they were seeing. I still have questions about some of the places Juliette was held, and what they actually looked like. As well as come of the characters, like her parents, I would have liked a little more detail on what they looked like; facial shape, how they do their hair, what they were wearing. I like to be able to paint a little more of a picture- doesn't have to be SUPER detailed. Just a little more. (Maybe I can't remember the details but I swear there weren't many)
*Major spoiler*
DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK
I feel the proposal was anti-climactic, I think I honestly would have preferred it on the plane, just before they fell out of the sky. I don't know if it's just me, but it just kind of seemed like an afterthought. Regardless I love the book.
*End of Major spoiler*
General mouthfeel? (Brooklyn 99 reference)
Basically, if I recommend the book and if it sat right with me as a whole.
It's not my favorite book of the series and kind of feels like a filler or bridge book to more important things. I recommend it because it is part of the series, and you have to read all of them in order to complete it.
People who skip books in a series are monsters!
(For reference the photos are of Juliette, Warner, then Kenji)