ŷ������

[Highlights: redemption arc alert, Warner being a lowkey (i lied highkey) sweetheart, Kenji being the best and simultaneously calling Juliette out for being stupid]

(Edit 08.03.24: Screw that four star, I love this book.)

(Edit 23.09.23: Heyo! I just started Ignite Me, so take a lot of this with a grain of salt, cause majority of my problems have been resolved within like- the first ten chapters.)

[now playing: sign of the times by harry styles]

“His smile is wide, so wide. ‘God, I love that.��
‘Your name?��
‘Only when you say it.’��

This. Book.

This book had me *inside and out and catching my breath.*

This book is such a rollercoaster of emotions and I can’t even put it all into this review. You just have to experience it all for yourself. [Redacted] had one of the best arcs I’ve seen in a while, and I can’t wait to see what Tahereh does with him next.

The writing style actually chilled a bit, so now I process more, and metaphors and similes actually add that extra umph. [The umph that the first book desperately needed less of].

Edit [21/12/22] : Though. after buying a physical copy of book one {I read it online initially}, reading Tahereh's message at the beginning, rereading the majority of the book, I can come to you and say that yeah, I do understand the use of the repitition, strikethroughs, etc. as a way to show Juliette's state of mind. Going back to book one, reareading it, rereading book two, mulling it over, and reading the 1.5 and 2.5 novellas gave me an entirely new perspective on the creative tools Tahereh utilises. Her writing style isn't actually all that wild. Juliette's mind is absolute chaos [especially throughout book one], the other characters aren't written like that. The calm and slow of thought that I assume Juliette will eventually achieve shows her evolution as a character, if nothing more. The description and in the case of the strikethroughs, writing style, are used to represent this.

They explored so much more character-wise in this one, but I guess most stuff took place in one location like the first novel, which can get a little boring. Honestly if I wasn’t waiting those TWENTY CHAPTERS for [Redacted], and didn’t have the ever-charming grace of Kenji to hold me over, I probably would’ve died of boredom.

And yet, YET, I was still losing my mind by chapter twenty. Juliette losing focus every time she’s around him, and then gradually they start talking more often, and then they team up, and then all of THAT happens. And GOD, Tahereh gave him so much depth this time, made him less of a two-dimensional villain and gave him more of a Draco Malfoy arc. I eat that stuff UP. Tahereh Mafi, you know me all too well.

I guess I’m just perpetually falling for the morally grey lead.



ADAM�� can eat dirt goodnight everybody ☺️

[Edit 17.07.23: I was having a crisis over my feelings about this series today, so. For the record, I wish all the stuff we found out in Destroy Me were mentioned in here, it would've made me understand Juliette's ability to "forgive" him more.]