Review | Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi

Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi

“To the world, she is formidable. To me? She is the world.” 

Even though I love Warner and Juliette, no one asked for this book

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If you had told me 5 years ago that three more books were going to appear in the Shatter Me series, I would probably have been thrilled. I was a huge fan of books 1 through 3 and also gave all three 4 stars. Now I wish Tahereh Mafi had stopped the series after book three. I have a lot of mixed feelings, but I am glad that the series is over and ended well.

Synopsis
The explosive finale to the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Shatter Me series.

Juliette Ferrars.

Ella Sommers.

Which is the truth and which is the lie?

Now that Ella knows who Juliette is and what she was created for, things have only become more complicated. As she struggles to understand the past that haunts her and looks to a future more uncertain than ever, the lines between right and wrong—between Ella and Juliette—blur. And with old enemies looming, her destiny may not be her own to control.

The day of reckoning for the Reestablishment is coming. But she may not get to choose what side she fights on.

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I really love this cover. I have never been a 100% fan of the Shatter Me series covers. I didn’t like the eye on the cover. I thought they were quite boring, but this one is very extra and catches my attention.

Now about the plot, because what was that? I’m not going to bother with spoilers in this review, because I really want to discuss the book in detail and this based on scenes from the book. The last three books of this series were so unnecessary. The plot of Imagine Me was literally the same as that of the book before, Resist Me. The worst part is that the author also simply says this in the book. Kenji says at one point that it feels like he has a déjà vu. She recycled and reused the airplane scene in Imagine Me. This whole book was confusing and frankly unnecessary. I liked the scene between Juliette and Warner and the ending was good too. Yet there are still a lot of loose ends and I have the feeling that three more books will be added in a few years. Imagine didn’t feel like the last in the series and much smaller storylines are left open.

It felt very good and familiar to read about Warner, Juliette and Kenji again. These characters were very important to me when I was younger and they will always have a place in my heart. They also very much reminded me in this book of how they were in the first three books. Their character development was suddenly gone. Warner was like in the first two books again. I didn’t mind this as much as I really liked the characters in books one through three, but I understand that this may be disappointing to some readers.

I was hoping that Mafi would finally respect Adam’s character and that he would have a relay arc, but unfortunately. He was important to the story in a way, but then completely pushed aside. At the end he was allowed to say three full sentences.

The first chapters in Juliette / Ella’s point of view were rather complex and very poetically written. But once you have passed those chapters, the book reads very easily and smoothly. I read the book in a few hours. Tahereh Mafi can write so well. Her writing style is very smooth and beautiful.

There were many times when I really wondered if it was necessary to put that in the book. Mainly the fact that Juliette was attracted to her boyfriend’s father. All very well that her memory is erased again and all that, but did that particle need to be added? For real? There really was nothing else that should have been in this book. I was very embarrassed to read about this and was a little embarrassed when I read those scenes.

There were some bright spots like the relationship between Winston and Brandon and Ian who is happy with Lily. KENJI. I love Kenji and would give my life for him. And yes, Warnette. Too bad we only got a few scenes that they were both (awake) in, but they are so sweet together. In general, I have mixed feelings about Imagine. There are some elements that I liked and the book is also very easy to read. Yet this was not the end that these wonderful characters deserve.

Would I recommend it?
No. If you can, stop after the first three books. I am quite disappointed by this book, but – thanks to Imagine Me – I really want to reread the first three books.

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Trigger warnings
Death, murder, blood
Representation in this book
Black side character, gay side characters, lesbian side characters,
Genre
Dystopian
Pages
464
Publication date
March 31st, 2020
About the author
Tahereh Mafi is the New York Times bestselling and National Book Award nominated author of books for children and young adults. She currently resides in Southern California with her husband, fellow author Ransom Riggs, and their daughter. The final book in the Shatter Me series, IMAGINE ME, will hit shelves on March 31, 2020.

Her work is represented by Jodi Reamer of Writers House, LLC.

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Do you like it when authors add more books to their series? Let me know in the comments!