Genre: Young adult fiction, Romance novel, Dystopian Fiction
Key Stage: Upper KS3+ recommended for 14-17 years
Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi (2013)
Unravel Me, the second book in the Shatter Me series, is about a girl called Juliette who has a lethal touch which could kill anyone who touched her. For years she was tormented and labelled in society as a murderer – the only person who had this curse or so everyone thought. After Juliette and Adam run away from The Reestablishment with Kenji, Kenji leads them to Omega Point, a government full of people like Juliette with different powers such as invisibility, electricity ,strength and more. Juliette comes to understand she can control her powers with emotions and her mind and the leader at Omega Point, Castle, wants to help her harness this power. Adam and Juliette face relationship problems when Aaron Warner reappears in the series and Juliette has to uncover a lie she so desperately wanted to keep sealed.
What I liked about Unravel Me was the introduction of a new character called Kenji. Not only is he the most consistent character in the series so far, he’s also the glue that holds everyone together. He’s Adam’s best friend, is like a brother to James, and he has unwavering faith in Juliette’s power. He is a funny character who brings light in a room full of darkness. What I didn’t like about the book was how the first half of the book was a long read and just felt the book didn’t have to be as long as it was but once the character Aaron Warner appeared in the second half, I raced through the book.
The genre of the series is YA dystopian, romance, action and adventure and would appeal to readers 14+ as the characters are teenagers too so it’s easier to understand their emotions through the book. If you like series like the Hunger Games or Divergent then this is the perfect book for you.
Overall, I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars – it was one of the first books that got me into reading it will always be one of my favourites.
Reviewer: Humaira, Year 9