Since April, I'd been reading the second half of the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi, which includes the novels Restore Me, Defy Me, and Imagine Me and the novellas Shadow Me, Reveal Me, and Believe Me, and I just finished this past weekend. To minimize spoilers, I will just share that this half of the series is about the aftermath of Ignite Me and Juliette, whose point of view is used in the three full-length novels, learning more about the secrets her past. While these books were just as suspenseful as the the first half of the series and I was on the edge of my seat while reading the action scenes, I didn't quite enjoy them as much. My favorites of the back six were Defy Me and Believe Me because their endings made me happy, but even they had minor flaws. For example, I wish Believe Me had been a full-length novel and included Juliette's perspective. My biggest problem was how the author completely dropped Warner's perspective in Imagine Me when his point of view played a major role in Restore Me and Defy Me in addition to Juliette's. Thankfully, she wrote Believe Me from Warner's point of view, but the disappointment hasn't gone away for me. The first two novellas, Shadow Me and Reveal Me, are from the perspective of Juliette's newfound best friend, Kenji Kishimoto, and the author continued using his point of view in Defy Me and Imagine Me. While I think his part of the story added something to Defy Me when the characters were separated, it felt unnecessary in Imagine Me, like it was at the expense of Warner's thoughts and feelings. Overall, I would recommend these books to anyone who can't get enough of enough of the characters and the world that Mafi created, but the strength of the series is definitely the first half.
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