Synopsis:
Juliette’s short tenure as the supreme commander of North America has been an utter disaster. When the children of the other world leaders show up on her doorstep, she wants nothing more than to turn to Warner for support and guidance. But he shatters her heart when he reveals that he’s been keeping secrets about her family and her identity from her—secrets that change everything.
Juliette is devastated, and the darkness that’s always dwelled within her threatens to consume her. An explosive encounter with unexpected visitors might be enough to push her over the edge.
My thoughts:
infinity/5 stars. Does this honestly surprise anyone anymore? The goddess of prose came through again and wrote one of the best books in the series I have ever read, watch me say this about Imagine Me which comes out on the 3rd of March.
There is so much I want to say, need to say, but it’s all mainly about spoilers so I won’t say the things I want to say.
Let me just tell you how amazing this book was. I was very afraid that this would be just like Restore Me, which absolutely made me lose my faith in humanity and authors and just books in general. Then this book came around and completely managed to restore my faith in humanity and authors and just storylines in general.
There were so many crazy plottwists in this book, I honestly don’t know where to start. This is the first book that has three point of views; Kenji’s, Aaron’s and Juliette’s. In Restore Me we had the pleasure of getting to read through Warner’s eyes for the first time since his novella ‘Destroy Me’, which was a warm welcome and then again in Defy ME I found his sobriety very welcome in the whirlwind of emotions that were part of Kenji’s and Juliette’s parts. The straight to point-ness of his mind definitely made me keep my cool at (some) times. I was an emotional wreck through Juliette and Kenji’s point of view so his voice really gave me a very welcome break from emotional breakdowns.
This storyline was definitely more well-paced, it read like Ignite Me, which you should know is my favourite book in the series, I really loved the places this story went and took us to and over all this is again a really great book. Once I’d finished it I cried, again, partially over the ending but also over the genius that is Tahereh Mafi, because this book, this set-up. I cannot get over how immensely great this was.
I have so many questions that are left unanswered such as what’s really Nazeera’s story? What will happen to Emmaline? Where James and Adam now? Will Kenji finally find love in the final book in the series?
Also, I cannot believe that Imagine Me is going to be the final book in the series. Guys, my heart cannot handle that, I will be waiting for years for another announcement that she’s going to write more books, but I know already now that is never going to happen but oh I need to happen so badly.
I definitely cried a lot during Defy Me, not as much as I cried over Restore Me which will forever be the book that practically broke, I think my tear ducts are still on the mend since I read that one for the first time. Defy Me definitely made me sob a lot, but there were some tears of joy, which I had never expected and oh it was so good and I’m probably going to be hungover until either Reveal Me comes out or Imagine Me.
I definitely recommend for fans of Restore Me and really great sequels. These books honestly keep getting better and better and oh my heavens this was just amazing and I still have not had enough time to correctly process my thoughts and hopes and dreams for the final book in the series. Watch my sob my heart out in both October and March.
(Also, the Defy Me cover is still my lock screen and I am only going to change when the cover for Reveal Me gets revealed)
ReadingInsideaBellJar 