[TO THE BOOKSTORE FOR...] Unravel Me and Scarlet

The first week of February book releases.

1. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi.
Shatter Me was a pleasant read for me. [review here] It was one of those uber hyped up books that fell short in my opinion but don't let what I say completely influence you. I am curious to see how the story will continue, mainly this complicated love triangle, which is probably what is propelling me to read the sequel.

They also did some changes to the cover designs so now it's more like the Divergent covers and more symbolic. I don't like it. I think the covers with the girl had more impact but then again there is much to be said about simple, minimalistic covers too.

tick, tick, tick, tick, tick
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. (From Goodreads)

2. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer.
First, if you haven't read Cinder yet, I suggest you do that post haste. It's an amazing book and I absolutely love it. Don't be like me and delay reading it because I did (For almost a year) and I seriously regret it completely because than I would have experienced it sooner but on the plus side the waiting time for this book (although equally unbearable) has  been shorter.

Scarlet is the sequel/companion piece to Cinder. It follows the story of Little Red Riding Hood, if the red cape wasn't an indication. I'm really excited for this and I really feel like Marissa Meyer can't do anything to bring me down from this Lunar Chronicles high...hopefully I didn't jinx it.

If you want to give this book a try before buying it, apparently the first five chapters have been posted on line.

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner. (From Goodreads)

[REVIEW] Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Published: November 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: Shatter Me #1

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior. (From Goodreads)

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi was definitely a book that got better as you read it. At the beginning I really didn't like the story.  Perhaps it was the author's writing style.  Tahereh Mafi wrote this book with repeated words and crossed out lines (which looks strange at first but you get use to it.) Personally, I'm a reader who enjoys fast paced and to the point writing so repeated words and confusing slashed sentences made it very confusing for me. Now my reasoning behind the repeated words was that it did emphasize the situation without having to bold the text or make it larger for that matter. Also the crossed out words seem to be what Julliette is truly thinking because, usually, right after the crossed out words is the opposite of what she wants to say.  For instance, towards Adam, she'll be like "Touch me Don't touch me" Like that.

I also found that this book, mainly at the beginning, was written like a journal. I'm not sure if this is her writing style either but the writing changed half way through the story.  It blended perfectly together so it wasn't easy to tell but I instantly enjoyed the story much more after the change.  It got quicker and less crossed out and repeated words. 
The author also likes to use internal monologues to countdown days, seconds, breaths etc.  Basically there are a lot of numbers in this book...that I don't particularly think add anything exciting to it and honestly, if they were taken out, I feel the book would be the same (maybe even better)

I thought the descriptions were different, in a good way, and written in a way that metaphors or analogies are compared to things that I wouldn't normally compare them to, and yet it makes perfect sense when you think about it.  I've read very few books that describe actions and emotions like this book does.

The characters are also very well written. Juliette seems like the frail, innocent, peaceful  girl who has this deadly touch but she can also be stern and violent if need be.  Adam seems to be the rigid, rule-following guy but can be a total softy when need be too.

I love a good romance and Adam and Juliette's romance together is something that I absolutely adore.  If I were to critic anything, it is that their love blossamed a little too quickly for me.  There was no build up just a sudden click and they were a couple.  They make a very good couple so I'll let that go but it's a little hard to believe in their love it happens like that first.

The love triangle (or corners as I have been repeatedly told by my friends) in this story is...unusual.  Usually it's a girl that's torn between two guys, both equally amazing and she has to choose one.  In this case, it's two guys torn between one girl and yet the girl only reciprocates her love to another.  I have a theory that Juliette's touch doesn't work on people that truly love her. Because Warner and Adam are both immune and both love her.  It'll be interesting to see how this triangle/corners turns out in the future.

Shatter Me is a Dystopic novel (no surprise that I would find another one).  The story line reminds me of Legend by Marie Lu. And even a little bit of the Hunger Games.  I feel like the whole escape and finding the resistance is like it but of course that's entirely my opinion.

The ending was definitely written for a sequel in mind.  There was no definite ending so I guess I'll have to wait a year to read the sequel (Released early 2013)
Enjoy!

MEH