You wouldn’t know from this war-torn dystopian world but this book is filled with a humor that is just so unexpected and addictive that it’s rather insane. It brings the characters alive in a way that I haven’t seen in a while. Usually there’s a “funny guy” character but here we have a humor that transcends throughout this world. This method produced one of the best series I have ever read. I’m already on book 3 and I’m not going to quit this binge until I have my hands on all 5. Like I am 100 % serious. I have a love/hate relationship with dystopian novels and this one knocked me on my ass. I had heard mixed reviews on this book (which does not influence my choices) and I am so glad I didn’t listen to them. These books are amazing and the unique poetry like prose is both beautiful and functional. It adds rather than subtracts. And the seemingly simple plot will blow your mind in all its fine-tuned issues that arise, and many are unpredictable but completely make sense. I have a lot of love for these books and I am ashamed for not starting these sooner. If you haven’t, start!
“They filled our world with weapons aimed at our foreheads and smiled as they shot 16 candles right through our future. They killed those strong enough to fight back and locked up the freaks who failed to live up to their utopian expectations.”
Every single one of Tahereh Mafi’s words are delivered with an impact so great it will leave you staring at it in awe and then you’ll reread it again before continuing with the story haha! I am so envious in how she seems to craft this whole story. It’s not something you can recreate. It’s her writing style and I love how unique it is! Executed with pure perfection! If I could write anything half as good as hers I’d count myself lucky. Every word has a specific purpose and each one needs to be there.
“Hate looks just like everybody else until it smiles. Until it spins around and lies with lips and teeth carved into a semblance of something too passive to punch.”
Mafi draws connections that seem so obvious but then words it so well and cleverly that I’m once again stopped in awe. Speechless. And I am not by any means over-exaggerating here. Her writing is something to aspire to, not something to close shut or shred away. Here is a perfect example of a wise and astute connection that
definitely fits with this futuristic world.
“In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction. They want to delete every point of punctuation in my life from this earth and I don’t think I can let that happen.”
Almost every single bookblogger can relate to this exact same thing. Books are definitely an escape from reality and that’s what makes them so great. Mafi seemed to elevate this with a beautiful play on words and I just need to show this because I found it clever and relatable. And again I cannot get just how beautiful she described this exact thing.
“I have no idea what my life will be like in this new place and I’m being nailed in the stomach by every exquisite embellishment, every lavish accessory, every superfluous painting, molding, lighting, colouring of this building. I hope the whole thing catches fire. I hope I disappoint Warner in every possible way.”
The main character’s resilience and rebellious nature got me liking her pretty quickly. When she was taken out of the asylum, she was determined to not revert back to how she was before, a submissively, borderline human.
“At least I’m honest,’ he adds.
‘You just agreed you’re a liar.’
He raises his eyebrows. ‘At least I’m honest about being a liar.”
Let’s applaud Warner for his honesty. Not many villains value this quality and it made me like him just a bit more than others I’ve read. I must point out that he isn’t a brooding sort and that’s really important because it sets him apart from other male characters. Yes, he taunts and yes, he teases but he does not brood and the very idea of that sickens him. I kinda love that about him. Definitely a great villain debut! I sensed some underlying tones that he might not be everything he appears, some good locked away but more on that in the next book’s review.
“Yes, from my own soldiers, Yes, at the expense of one man’s life.’ He tenses his jaw. Speaks through his teeth. ‘There is very little you understand about my world, Juliette. You don’t understand that power and control can slip from your grasp at any moment and even when you think you’re most prepared. You think I don’t know how many of my own soldiers hate me? You think I don’t know that they’d like to see me fall? You think there aren’t others who would love to have the position I work so hard to have—
He closes the last few inches between us and my words fall to the floor. I can’t breathe.
The tension in his entire body is so intense its nearly palpable and I think my muscles
Have begun to freeze. ‘You are naïve,’ he says to me, his voice harsh, low, a grating
whisper against my skin. ‘You don’t realize that you’re a threat to everyone in this
building.”
He’s hiding something. That’s obvious. But my god, when he pushed her into the elevator and said this to her, my heart didn’t know what to do. This was a pretty steamy scene. I hope I’m not alone in thinking that either haha!
“Finally!’ Warner stands up and clasps his hands together as if to congratulate himself. ‘I was wondering when you’d wake up. I’ve been waiting for the fire I know must be eating away at you every single day. You’re buried in hatred aren’t you? Anger? Frustration?
‘No.’
‘Of course you are. You’re just like me.’
‘I hate you more than you will ever understand.’
‘We’re going to make an excellent team.”
The chemistry between Warner and Juliette was hard to miss. I didn’t like Warner in this book but he made for a brilliant villain. They fed off of each other and every time (which was almost always) they had scenes together, it was Juliette who despised him and it was that quality that fired up Warner. And that made for some great banter! And for all of his qualities, every time he called her, ‘love’ it made my heart flutter ever so slightly! It reminded me of Hook in the Once Upon a Time TV series.
“We’re all too young to have to deal with this shit. Don’t fool yourself, bro. No one should have to see what we’ve seen. No one should have to wake up in the morning and find dead bodies in their living room, but shit happens. We deal with it, and we find a way to survive. You’re not the only one with problems.”
First off, I love Kenji. He’s a sweetheart with no filter. But I also love how refreshing this is. He’s right, there are things we can’t control, where all we can do is deal with the fall out. I bet every single person has said this, or thought this or felt this before and that makes this book so great.
“You know you’re pretty sexy for a psycho chick.”
And he’s hilarious as hell! He hits on Juliette quite often and it’s funny every time!
That mad dash at the end was intense (that’s all I’ll say!) I really loved Juliette’s first interaction with someone at Omega Point.
“Don’t worry’ I tell him. ‘If I shake your hand I might kill you.’
‘Blimey, You’re serious? Right then. No touching.”
This got me laughing so much! Probably longer than I should have haha! Even Juliette makes jokes!
My mind is being pulled in so many directions. Why can Adam and WARNER touch her? I guess I just have to read the next one, Unravel Me haha!