Juliette Ferrars thought she'd won. She took over Sector 45, was named the new Supreme Commander, and now has Warner by her side. But she's still the girl with the ability to kill with a single touch—and now she's got the whole world in the palm of her hand. When tragedy hits, who will she become? Will she be able to control the power she wields and use it for good?
4 STARS
TW: anxiety, panic attacks, transphobia (that is challenged), mentions of racism,
Whoa that ending!! I just finished this book less than an hour ago so I am still reeling a bit from the ending, but I am going to (hopefully) put my thoughts together coherently enough to write this review!
I re-read the series in anticipation for starting Restore Me, and although I am happy I did because it helped me remember everything that had happened, it was a little hard at first to go from such a high in Ignite Me to all of a sudden intense emotions straight off the bat in Restore Me. However, like always with this series it was really easy to just speed through this book so it never slowed me down.
The writing is beautiful. I love Tahereh Mafi's writing style so much especially when it comes to these characters. Despite the wide cast of characters, most of them have their own individuality and I feel like I know each character really well. I think I brought this up in a review for one of the other books in this series, but besides the Harry Potter series, I highlight and take notes in these books more than I do any other books. From the beautifully poetic writing to the conversations between the characters I find myself needing to tab my favorite parts. Granted, it's easier on my kindle, but I still found myself highlighting large areas.
The characters were almost exactly how I hoped they'd be. I loved Kenji, who is once again my favorite character. He got bumped down the last book because of how much I loved Juliette, but after some stuff with her in this book (no spoilers!) Kenji has been bumped back up to my favorite. I loved his moments with Juliette and especially his moments with Warner. I think the way he has become such an integral part of their lives is something I wasn't sure how it would work but now that I see it unfolding in front of me it's all I've wanted. Juliette unfortunately was my biggest problem with this book, which really pains me to say because I loved her character development throughout the original three books. However, the Juliette at the end of Ignite Me is not the same Juliette in Restore Me, despite only it being two weeks between each book in the story. I absolutely expected Juliette to be a bit insecure when it came to being the Supreme Commander of North America. I knew she was going to kind of learn the ropes and she'd be a bit unsure of herself. But I also thought she would be the Juliette we knew from the end of Ignite Me. And she wasn't. She reminded me of the Juliette we knew in beginning and middle of Unravel Me. She was this scared, emotional, irrational girl. I felt like we took multiple steps back in her development without much of an explanation. I am hoping this changes, but I am bummed about it because it felt unnecessary and outside of her character. Talking outside of character, Warner was super different but in ways I not only expected but I liked being in his point of view. I think Warner's reaction to everything he had been through, everything he found out about his life, was very realistic. We also get anxiety representation that I was surprised at how much I related to Warner's anxiety and panic attacks. I really enjoyed not only getting more of Warner's past but also getting inside his head. I was hoping we'd get more with him and Adam (and James) but I bet that'll happen later on. I did enjoy the new cast of characters we were presented with. I think Juliette's friendship with Nazeera is one I am so excited to see more in the future. I have wanted Juliette to have a female friendship for so long now. I cannot wait to get to know the other characters we have only had small snippets of.
Although I was never bored while reading, I did expect there to be more action in this book. Or at least less of Juliette driving me nuts and getting to know our new characters more. I don't think I expected a crazy amount of action because it's been four years since the last book so it's almost like we need to re-introduced. But I think we could have had more. If not action, maybe just world building? That is one of my biggest negatives about the original three, I want more of the world. And although we meet characters from other parts of the world, they're barely in the story so it isn't as much as I'd like. Like I have already said, I wish we had less of Juliette regressing into her old self and more progress with how our cast of characters are going to try to make North America and the world a better place.
Things I am hoping we will get in the future: Warner talking with Adam and James more, possibly more Adam character development?, more world building, and getting to know our new characters more.
Overall I cannot wait for the next book. I am not sure how I will wait a whole year (I assume) for another book but I definitely plan on re-reading this in the future. I am so happy I have been able to fall in love with this series even more and that we get more of these characters, writing, and world.
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