Series: Shatter Me #1.5
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Source/Format: Gifted by Cass || Kindle e-Book
Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner’s father, The Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son’s mistakes, it’s clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow. (from Goodreads)
During the lull between the two official novels in the series, my friend Cass convinced me that I had to read Destroy Me. And honestly, I am so glad that she gifted it to me and kept reminding me to read it because this little novella had an unexpected impact on my feelings for one particular character in this series: Warner.
I am truly a fan of the marvelous Tahereh Mafi and her Shatter Me series (as evidenced by my thoughts on Shatter Me and Unravel Me). What's she's managed to do is create these characters who are so complex and interesting and multi-dimensional - and who the reader will fall in love with. She's done this and she's managed to do it using a writing style that's all her own, and to me, that's an incredible feat.
In this novella, the writing is completely different because we're now experiencing the world through Warner's eyes. Tahereh is certainly one smart cookie for choosing Warner's point of view. Doing so helped me to see everything in Shatter Me from his perspective, including the reasons and logic behind his actions, his feelings about certain things and most of his thoughts and his plans. And finding out all these things did wonders for softening my heart towards him, and convincing me that perhaps he and Juliette did stand a chance because in some ways, they were just so alike. I really got to see the human side of Warner in this book, and my heart went out to him for his past and for his own emotions and experiences after Juliette, Adam and Kenji have escaped his clutches.
Unlike the Throne of Glass novellas, this one isn't necessarily a complete story on its own. It feels to me more like a chance to get to know Warner a little better by sharing a few experiences with him. While I did enjoy the opportunity, it only worked because I am a fan of the series and I needed to satisfy my curiosity about Warner.
This novella is short, but totally worth reading if you're interested in discovering more about Warner or are a fan of the entire series. Tahereh did a brilliant job of letting us into Warner's mind, to the point where you're not sure if he's the true villain or if it's just because that's how he was raised or forced to be. I highly recommend Destroy Me to fans of the Shatter Me series (although, be warned, you definitely need to have read Shatter Me first!), as it adds a little more complexity to everything, especially Warner.
I am truly a fan of the marvelous Tahereh Mafi and her Shatter Me series (as evidenced by my thoughts on Shatter Me and Unravel Me). What's she's managed to do is create these characters who are so complex and interesting and multi-dimensional - and who the reader will fall in love with. She's done this and she's managed to do it using a writing style that's all her own, and to me, that's an incredible feat.
In this novella, the writing is completely different because we're now experiencing the world through Warner's eyes. Tahereh is certainly one smart cookie for choosing Warner's point of view. Doing so helped me to see everything in Shatter Me from his perspective, including the reasons and logic behind his actions, his feelings about certain things and most of his thoughts and his plans. And finding out all these things did wonders for softening my heart towards him, and convincing me that perhaps he and Juliette did stand a chance because in some ways, they were just so alike. I really got to see the human side of Warner in this book, and my heart went out to him for his past and for his own emotions and experiences after Juliette, Adam and Kenji have escaped his clutches.
Unlike the Throne of Glass novellas, this one isn't necessarily a complete story on its own. It feels to me more like a chance to get to know Warner a little better by sharing a few experiences with him. While I did enjoy the opportunity, it only worked because I am a fan of the series and I needed to satisfy my curiosity about Warner.
This novella is short, but totally worth reading if you're interested in discovering more about Warner or are a fan of the entire series. Tahereh did a brilliant job of letting us into Warner's mind, to the point where you're not sure if he's the true villain or if it's just because that's how he was raised or forced to be. I highly recommend Destroy Me to fans of the Shatter Me series (although, be warned, you definitely need to have read Shatter Me first!), as it adds a little more complexity to everything, especially Warner.
I felt for him in this novella, and it was interesting getting to know him, but I'm still not a fan of him as a love interest. Glad I read it, though! Great review. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, no worries. I'm still not rooting for him as Juliette's love interest (Team Adam over here!), but it did soften my heart towards him.
DeleteThis novella BLEW. MY. MIND. In Shatter Me, I was intrigued by Warner, but at the same time, against the thought of him as anything but a villain. Because without any context, his behavior was rather villainous. But in Destroy Me, we actually got to understand the reason and logic behind everything. Not to mention we actually got to know him as a character! That's not to say that all his actions are acceptable and justifiable, but some of them are. Or are at least an example of him picking the lesser of two evils.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I read Destroy Me (twice!) before reading Unravel Me. I probably wouldn't have liked Unravel Me nearly as much if I hadn't, LOL.
I really, really liked the point of view that I got to read in Destroy Me. It was a revelation to learn all these things about Warner! It really helped me see that there was more to him than just the villain.
DeleteAfter reading Destroy Me, I'm really excited to read whatever Mafi comes up with after the Shatter Me series. I'm just not a fan of Juliette, so I haven't enjoyed either Shatter Me or Unravel Me. But with Destroy Me, I got to see how strong Mafi is as a writer, especially when she has a character I enjoy reading about.
ReplyDeleteI can totally understand why you don't particularly like Juliette. I really understood where she was coming from in Shatter Me, but I just wanted to hit her over the head a whole lot in Unravel Me. She's a hard character to like.
DeleteThat being said, I'm glad you enjoyed Destroy Me. Warner's a very compelling character indeed.
When I sat down to read this one, I knew I was in a heap of trouble because I had been hardcore Team Adam before, but T Mafi gave such a compelling case for Warner in this novella! And it was written SO WELL - what I mean is that she has such a distinctive hand anyway, but she completely switched up her writing to make Warner's POV different from Juliette's. She is such a fabulous writer, but I knew when I was reading this one that Unravel Me would absolutely throw me for a loop, and I was so right.
ReplyDeleteI will say that out of all of the new trending novellas out there, this one is my favorite. Lengthwise and content-wise, it just holds better up to the price and the length makes it like a short book. It's SO GREAT, too, for understanding what's inside of Warner's head. (as much as I hate to admit that!)
I absolutely loved how this was written! And I absolutely agree that she painted Warner in a whole new light for me, which almost made me switch teams (though I didn't in the end!). I think this is definitely worth an investment especially for fans of the series!
DeleteI definitely will be picking this one up to read!
ReplyDeleteYou must, especially if you loved Shatter Me! This is just brilliantly done, and Warner is totally painted in a different light.
DeleteI probably wouldn't have read this book if it hadn't been released in hardcover here in the NL, but I'm glad I did. Though I still don't like Warner as a love interest for Juliette, I do like the fact that there is more to him than you would get from Shatter Me. He's a complex character, and I really like those. But for Juliette, that would be a no. ;)
ReplyDelete