Review: Unite Me

 
Book: Unite Me by Tahereh Mafi
Publication Date: February 4, 2014
Series: Shatter Me (1.5, 2.5)
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis: Destroy Me tells the events between Shatter Me and Unravel Me from Warner’s point of view. Even though Juliette shot him in order to escape, Warner can’t stop thinking about her—and he’ll do anything to get her back. But when the Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment arrives, he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner cannot allow.

Fracture Me is told from Adam’s perspective and bridges the gap between Unravel Me and Ignite Me. As the Omega Point rebels prepare to fight the Sector 45 soldiers, Adam's more focused on the safety of Juliette, Kenji, and his brother. The Reestablishment will do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam cares about.


Overall Review:
Okay, so while I'm not exactly in love with this series like everyone else I still had to get my hands on Unite Me so I could read the novellas! I'm on Team Nobody for this series but I love love love getting to read from other points of view, so reading in the minds of Warner and Adam was actually pretty exciting and addicting! The hilarious thing is, that baffles a bunch of people, is that Unite Me is by far my favorite in the series (keep in mind I haven't read Ignite Me yet) yet it's also the shortest, by a lot! I think this is the first time that's ever happened to me before! I was actually surprised by how much I adored reading this. It makes me think that maybe the books themselves aren't the problem for me, but reading from Juliette's point of view is, because quite honestly I could read from Warner's point of view for hours and not get enough. Unite Me has officially done what I thought was impossible, it put me on a side. Now don't get me wrong I'm still Team Nobody, but if I had to choose between either boy it would have to be Warner (which is something I never thought I'd say!) Mafi has done such an amazing job giving Warner and Adam their own voices, their own thoughts, and letting us in to be able to actually see what they're truly like. It was amazing, I couldn't put it down. The novellas were fantastic and riled up emotions from me that I have yet to truly experience for this series and I loved it. I felt sadness, pity, anger, concern, happiness, everything! While after reading Unravel Me I wasn't crazy excited for Ignite Me, this tiny little book has completely changed my mind! Unite Me was amazing, truly truly amazing. And to be able to look into Juliette's journal just broke my heart. It was tragic yet beautiful, depressing yet sophisticated, heart breaking yet awe inspiring. I so wish there was more of her journal to read!

Warner is still a psychopath, I don't care what you people say. He is crazy, he kills people, he willingly hurt Juliette in some way to get her riled up, he's just messed up. However, after reading Destroy Me I began to see a little bit of why he does the things he does. He's done bad things and quite frankly I still see him as a bad guy, but he's not as bad as I thought he was. He's trapped in this wasteland same as the rest of them with no way to get out or fight back. He has nobody in his life and he's accepted that. I genuinely thinks that he cares about people, but he's buried that care so deep inside to hide it from others. He grew up thinking that kindness was a weakness, he had that beaten into him, so that's how he behaves. But there's still that part of him that is kind, is caring, is a good guy and it just needs to be let out. I don't think anything he does in the future will excuse what he's done in the past, but I understand him a lot better now. I don't necessarily love him, but I don't hate him like I did before. He's definitely a very complex character who doesn't fit in to any category you put him in.
Then there's Adam. Adam, Adam, Adam. I didn't like him before, I didn't trust him and his attitude just rubbed me the wrong way, but now I freaking hate him. He's selfish, self centered, mean, idiotic, and just a plain asshole. He claims that he loves Juliette and would do anything for her, but after reading Fracture Me I don't believe that for a second. He thought about Juliette a lot, but not one thought that ran through his head was nice. He called her weak, thought she wasn't strong enough to be in battle, thought her to be dangerous to anyone and everyone around. He didn't trust her and he had absolutely no faith in her whatsoever. He's one of the biggest jerks on the planet and the fact that he has Juliette so wrapped around his finger just angers me! He doesn't love her, if he did he would never have said or done he things he did. He abandoned her, forgot about her, then blamed her. Hell, he was willing to leave her to die because she broke up with him. No. No no no no no. That is not okay and never will be okay. Adam is a selfish prick who doesn't deserve Juliette. Quite frankly I wish for him to fall off the face of the earth so no one has to deal with him anymore, he's that bad.

Destroy Me could be a little slow at times but all in all both novellas were pretty fast paced and over far too quickly! Well, not Fracture Me. I couldn't end that one soon enough because I was sick and tired of listening to Adam. Unite Me was able to do the impossible and now, if Juliette had to be with somebody, I hope with all my hopes it would be Warner, because Adam is an asshole. I fell in love with Unite Me almost right away and I never wanted it to end, it was so good. I'm wondering if I just don't like Juliette's point of view and that's why I'm not in love with the series. Who knows? I loved being able to get inside Warner and Adam's heads to learn more about them and get a different perspective on events that have occurred. It's one of the reason I love books with multiple points of view! Oh I so wish that Ignite Me was told in more than just Juliette's point of view! I want to get back inside Warner's head! He's still psychotic no matter how you look at it, but I understand him a whole lot better now and honestly have a sort of sympathetic respect for him (if that makes sense). I think he genuinely loves Juliette in that unique way of his, same as I think he cares about his people, it's just that he's grown up being taught that kindness and love were weaknesses and would get him killed. He doesn't know how to fight against his father and what he's been taught, so he reveals his true colors in secret where not even he understands them. Warner is definitely a character that fits in the gray area, he's so complex. Adam, however, is a cut and dry jerk face. He's selfish, self centered, egotistical, mean, and stupid. He doesn't love Juliette at all. He thinks about her a lot but none of it is nice. He constantly thinks bad about her, tearing her down in his mind. He has no faith or trust in her. He's willing to throw her to the wolves, abandon her, forget about her, and just leave her to die. And the worst part? He thinks it's justified that he does all that because she broke up with him. Are you kidding me? What a freaking asshole. Juliette deserves far better than a jerk like that, that's for sure! I think the title is pretty clever since they united the novellas together! I also adore the covers for both Destroy Me (on the front) and Fracture Me (on the back). They're so gorgeous and I like how they made the eyes closed, since the stories aren't in Juliette's point of view!


Overall Rating:
I give Unite Me a 4.5 out of 5 star rating. I could probably rate each novella on their own but just figured it'd be easier to combine the two, especially since there's also the heart wrenching journal entries included. I freaking adored Unite Me and hated how short it was! I would've give it 5 stars but Adam is a jerk and I can't stand him so I had to knock it down to 4.5! This is by far my favorite in the series and thanks to Unite Me, I'm actually pretty excited to read Ignite Me! I would totally recommend reading both novellas. You don't necessarily have to get Unite Me, but you get the journal entries if you do! I would suggest waiting until after reading Unravel Me however to get a better understanding of things but also to avoid spoilers. Thanks for reading!

4.5/5 stars

~Kayla~