Book Review: Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi
Finally a YA review. As usual, I actually finished this book literally a couple of days after it came out back in April—but I was so behind on my reviews, and as I’ve said like three hundred times, I like to review books in the order that I read them (okay I’m pretty sure I’ve said this in every single review I’ve made so far so I’ll try to stop repeating myself). The next several reviews will be YA/NA books. Here we go, enjoy!
Emmaline thinks we’re the last hope for the world. She wants us to stand up, fight, save humanity. She’s been slowly returning our minds to us, giving back what our parents once stole. She wants us to see the truth.
— i.
I know you all think the children of the supreme commanders are a bunch of carefree, amoral psychopaths, happy to be the military robots our parents wanted us to be, but nothing is ever that straightforward. Our parents are homicidal maniacs intent on ruling the world; that part is true. But the thing no one seems to understand is that our parents chose to be homicidal maniacs. We, on the other hand, were forced to be. And just because we’ve been trained to be mercenaries doesn’t mean we like it. None of us got to choose this life. None of us enjoyed being taught to torture before we could even drive. And it’s not insane to imagine that sometimes even horrible people are searching for a way out of their own darkness.
I first read the Shatter Me series (when it was still a trilogy) a few years ago, at the end of 2015/beginning of 2016. It took me partway through Unravel Me for this series to become one of my favourites, but then it did, and to this day, it still is. The fourth book completely wrecked me when it was released last year, and now, this one has too. It’s more of a necessary filler book than the last four have been, but damn, if there’s anyone who knows how to write a necessary filler book, it’s definitely Tahereh Mafi. Before we dive in, if you are only interested in my general thoughts, feel free to skip to the bottom of my review.
— ii.
She looks up at me then, and I realize, with a thrill, how close we are. There’s a palpable heat between our bodies, and her eyes are big and beautiful, blue green. Like the globe, I think. Like the whole world.
She’s looking at me and I feel suddenly off-balance.
“What’s wrong?” she says.
I have to step away from her. “I don’t—” I look at her again. “Are you sure I don’t know you?” And she smiles. Smiles at me and my heart shatters.
“Trust me,” she says. “I’d remember you.”
In Defy Me, we alternate between three different POVs—Juliette’s/Ella’s, Warner’s, and Kenji’s. Kenji’s POV focuses on the aftermath of what happened at the end of Restore Me. For Juliette and Aaron, however, their POVs focus on their childhood memories, and how even though his father would “reboot” their memories, they were drawn to each other every time. So we see how Warnette actually had several first meetings (and every single one was heart shattering and glorious). At first I found this a bit frustrating because the memories would only come back in short spasms, and then we’d immediately go right back to Kenji. But looking back, it actually made sense, because reading about Juliette and Aaron’s childhoods wasn’t for us—it was actually about them remembering. So the more they remembered, the more conscious they became, and then Kenji’s POV sort of faded into the background. I really liked the setup of this narration, and I think it’s the main reason why this filler book was actually pretty good, considering. We needed Warnette’s memories to move forward in the story, but at the same time, we actually had to move forward (hence Kenji’s POV). I didn’t even realize that this book was actually a necessary filler book until I finished it, and compared it to the previous four. But then again, Mafi is really talented at her craft, so it doesn’t really surprise me that I couldn’t put it down despite the story as a whole not really moving forward.
— iii.
There was another time when I’d felt trapped, just like this. I was held against my will and given beautiful clothes and three square meals and demanded to be something I wasn’t and I fought it—fought it with everything I had.
It didn’t do me any good.
I swore that if I could do it again I’d do it differently. I said if I could do it over I’d wear the clothes and eat the food and play along until I could figure out where I was and how to break free.
So here’s my chance.
This time, I’ve decided to play along.
Juliette/Ella was an absolute powerhouse in this book. Obviously she’s my favourite character from the series, but damn, I thought she reached peak character development in Ignite Me. But I think she truly become herself in Defy Me, literally and figuratively. Literally, because she remembered everything about her past and became Ella, but she also figuratively became her, too. She didn’t just change her name because it was her original birth name. Juliette was sort of a pit stop to the destination of who she’s supposed to be. This new Ella is a combined version of her memories, everything she’s been through, the leader she became, things she learned as Juliette, and the symbol she represents for everyone else. Juliette didn’t have to go back to Ella, but she chose to, because she knows who she truly is now, she knows what she wants to do, and who she wants to be in the face of fighting the Reestablishment and everything that comes after. Sorry I went off on a tangent, I just get really emotional when my favourite characters reach a milestone in development.
— iv.
Beauty can be a terrifying weapon, if you know how to wield it.
I also really loved learning about Nazeera, and even about her friendship with Juliette/Ella. I hope to see more of that in Imagine Me. And of course, Nazeera and Kenji’s blooming relationship (I couldn’t stop laughing when Ian told Kenji to have some fun since the world was on fire, and also Nazeera’s/Kenji’s reactions to being given one room to share). In the last book I wasn’t super on board with them yet, only because I felt like they were being thrown together because they were just there. Now I feel like they actually have potential and I can’t wait to see their relationship bloom even more in Imagine Me.
— v.
The sounds of the world seem warped, faraway, like my head has been submerged underwater. The fire in my brain has been snuffed out, replaced by a sudden, absolute calm. A sense of certainty. I know what I need to do now. And I know that there’s nothing—nothing I won’t do to get to her.
I feel it, feel my thin morals dissolving. I feel my flimsy, moth-eaten skin of humanity begin to come apart, and with it, the veil keeping me from complete darkness. There are no lines I won’t cross. No illusions of mercy.
I wanted to be better for her. For her happiness. For her future.
But if she’s gone, what good is goodness?
My favourite thing about this book (other than Warnette’s memories, of course), is how Tahereh wrote Aaron’s development. At the beginning of the series, I felt extremely iffy about Warnette (I knew they were endgame), especially considering how he was made out to be a villain. Then he goes on his own arc of redemption, and usually I hate it when men are redeemed because they’ve met someone, but he didn’t initially want to redeem himself because he liked Juliette/Ella; but because she gave him hope. Defy Me discusses Aaron’s development all over again, and his insecurities of the “monster” he became. But between the first book and now, we’ve learned so much about his abusive childhood, how he was literally tortured constantly. People are products of their environments sometimes, and considering that Aaron still had humanity throughout it all shows how hard he fought against his environment and against his father. Warner says he wanted to be better for Juliette/Ella, but it wasn’t really about that. It’s not him saying, “well, if I can’t have her then lol fuck everyone I’m going on a murder spree.” It’s him saying how she was a beacon of hope, a light at the end of a dark tunnel for him. In Ignite Me, he literally tells her how she brought him back to life. Furthermore, it’s important to separate Aaron’s POV versus his actions and past. We learn more about what his father did to him, which includes making him out to be an oppressor he never was in the first place (and never will be). Yes he’s made mistakes. He even said so himself, how he witnessed men literally begging him for their lives. So he’s not innocent. He was repulsive in the beginning. But the more you learn about him, the more you see his will to change, the more you realize his development arc was ignited by the hope Juliette gave him, but wasn’t because she wouldn’t be with him otherwise—that’s when you realize Aaron found his humanity again because he wanted to. He was ready to do anything to get her back, but she was also a prisoner in her oppressor’s (her parents) headquarters. This isn’t a regression. This is a reflection. This is the perfect moment to realize how so many YA novels (or film/tv shows) often have the “bad boy” want to change for the girl and refuses to if she won’t be with him or if she’s dead or whatever. But all Juliette/Ella did was provide a spark of hope, remind Aaron that he has humanity, there is goodness left in him, he is not meant to be like his father. And then Aaron changed himself. Again went off on a tangent, but I really wanted to talk about this the most because I just think Tahereh Mafi did such an incredible job, when it’s so easy to make a relationship like this super toxic and have the guy change to be with her only. So KUDOS.
— vi.
It doesn’t surprise me at all that, even after everything she’s been through—after all the horrors she’s had to face—she’s still managed to inspire the world. She’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever known. My father might be back from the dead, and Sector 45 might be out of our hands, but Ella’s impact can’t be ignored. Nouria says that no one really believed that she was actually dead, but now that it’s official—now that word has spread that Ella is still alive—she’s become more notorious than ever. Nouria says that the rumbles underground are already getting stronger. People are more desperate to act, to get involved, and to stand up to The Reestablishment. Resistance groups are growing. The civilians are finding ways to get smarter—to get stronger, together. And Ella has given them a figure to rally around. Everyone is talking about her.
She’s become a symbol of hope for so many.
Overall, while it wasn’t my favourite in the series, it was still a really good book, and I think based on the way it ended, Imagine Me is going to be an epic conclusion to the series (I’m also high-key scared of characters dying so there’s that). Tahereh Mafi really did a wonderful job with this series, the dystopian narrative, the characters and their relationships, and just her style of writing in general (seriously, it’s so incredibly unique, I love it so much). I would definitely recommend (starting from the first book of course) this series, and I’m excited for the novella coming out in October, and of course, Imagine Me in spring 2020.
Have you read any of the Shatter Me books? Do you have a particular favorite? If you’ve read Defy Me, what did you think about it? Please let me know in the comments below!
Rating: ★★★★ | GoodReads
