Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi

SYNOPSIS

The girl with the power to kill with a single touch now has the world in the palm of her hand.

Juliette and Warner’s story continues in the electrifying fourth installment of Tahereh Mafi’s New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series.

​Juliette Ferrars thought she’d won. She took over Sector 45, was named the new Supreme Commander of North America, and now has Warner by her side.

But when tragedy strikes, she must confront the darkness that dwells both around and inside her. Who will she become in the face of adversity? Will she be able to control the power she wields, and use it for good?

Synopsis: Chapters.Indigo.ca

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PERSONAL REVIEW

I was a fan of the Shatter Me series and couldn't wait to get my hands on Restore Me; after 6 years of waiting, we were finally getting a continuation of Juliette's story! The conclusion to Ignite Me left us with little information about what would happen next for these characters, so all readers were definitely excited to find out what happens after Juliette takes over the sector. 

So I was incredibly disappointed when I read this book. I couldn't believe that these characters that had been so strong int he first series had been reduced to these annoying, whiney people who spent an entire book crying about such ridiculous things. 

So here are my (clearly very annoyed) thoughts about this book:

Insulting to Readers:
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I was incredibly insulted as a reader that this is the level of writing that was given to us. The thought the original series was entertaining and I liked the characters development that we were part of. Instead of continuing that growth, Restore Me seems like a money grab from Mafi and we are stuck reading about entitled and whiny characters. This entire book could have easily been cut down to maybe 4 chapters. Instead, we are dragged along on this excruciatingly boring few days where nothing actually happens until the last 10 pages of the book. I was insulted when I finished this book that this was deemed an appropriate text to give loyal readers; it felt like a slap in the face for anyone who wanted more from these characters. 

Juliette is Incredibly Annoying: 
We had some glimpses of Juliette being whiny or loosing control in the previous trilogy, but the level of her freak-outs in this book was unprecedented. I really loved Warner's POVs, but every interaction with Juliette was painful to read. Her POVs are basically one long annoying freak out where we have to read about her whining how hard her job is. I honestly couldn't believe that this was the same character from the previous series. She has become little more then a shell of the Juliette we knew in the Shatter Me series and I'm embarrassed for her. The build up to the ending, where Juliette basically looses all control of herself, was honestly such a letdown. This is a character that we have seen grow stronger and more confident, only to have her become an emotional mess, get drunk, and loose all control because of it. I felt nothing but pity for the character that she could have been. 

Boring and SLOW Storyline: 
I honestly couldn't believe how much NOTHINGNESS happens in this book. The "tragedy" that we are teased with is twofold: either it's talking about the secret that she finds out about (which is handles incredibly badly) or it's talking about her reaction to the secret, in which case she is the one causing the tragedy. AND THEN SHE IS JUST TAKEN AWAY, LEAVING US WITH NO ANSWERS. I honestly couldn't believe that we had to wait an entire book for something to happen, only for Juliette to wake up in a new place and promptly black out again. So frustrating. 

So in case it wasn't clear, this book was a big disappointment to me. The only saving grace (for me) were Warner's POV, otherwise I was ready to walk away from reading it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and sending all prayers to the writing gods that the rest of the series will dramatically improve, because right now this feels as if Mafi threw together words without any real thought to character or story development because she knew that people would by this book regardless. I ended this book feeling taken advantage of and incredibly upset that these characters were being used in this way. Hopefully we'll see a change in the next book...

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FINAL RATING: 2.5/5