Audiobook: Ignite Me

Ignite Me is written by Tahereh Mafi and narrated by Kate Simses and is the third book of the Shatter Me Series.

With Omega Point destroyed, Juliette doesn’t know if the rebels, her friends, or even Adam are alive. But that won’t keep her from trying to take down The Reestablishment once and for all. Now she must rely on Warner, the handsome commander of Sector 45. The one person she never thought she could trust. The same person who saved her life. He promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world . . . but that’s not all he wants with her.

The Breakdown:
1.  I just want to start by saying this was by far my favorite book of the series.  I enjoyed the story so much, and thought the character development in this book was wonderful.   Plus Juliette-Warner is way more awesome that Juliette-Adam.

2.  Mafi has a big win with Juliette's character development in this book.   She is way less ansty and less crying in this book compared to the second book.  She really starts to embrace her powers and is motivated to change her world in this book. 

3. I just want to take minute to talk about how much more I love Juliette-Warner coupling than her with Adam.  She and Warner are more of equals in the relationship.  He sees that she has so much potential and power, and wants to make her better.  Where as Adam saw her as something fragile that needed protecting.

4. Speaking of Adam, he turned into a real tool in this book.  He was constantly rude and mean to Juliette when she told him she wanted to fight and had allied with Warner.  At one point he says that he would rather he dead than with Warner. You would think that someone who claimed to love you would want you happy which he obviously does not care about that for Juliette.

5.  I thought the ending was perfect for this book.  It is just want I expected from this story.  Mafi recently announced another book in this series.  I am concerned where she will go with it after that ending.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling is the fourth book in the Harry Potter series.

"'There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways … their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.'"

The Triwizard Tournament is to abe held at Hogwarts. Only wizards who are over seventeen are allowed to enter - but that doesn't stop Harry dreaming that he will win the competition. Then at Hallowe'en, when the Goblet of Fire makes its selection, Harry is amazed to find his name is one of those that the magical cup picks out. He will face death-defying tasks, dragons and Dark wizards, but with the help of his best friends, Ron and Hermione, he might just make it through - alive!

The Breakdown:
When I began reading this series the first three books had already been published.  This was the first book I had to wait for to read, which I, of course, had pre-ordered it.  It came out between by senior year of high school and my freshmen year of college.  It was naturally released the week I was at college orientation.  So I had to wait to get home before I could start reading it.

My poor copy of this book has taken quite the beating over the years.  Multiple readings by me, readings by my family, and several moves has caused the book book to fall to pieces not to mention the food stains on the pages.

One of my favorite things about this book is getting to see a larger wizarding community with both the Quidditch World Cup and the Tri-Wizards tournament.  Loved the arrivals of Beauxbatons and Drumstrangs to Hogwarts for the tournament.

In this book, I really began to love Fred and George and appreciate their comic genius.  I feel that others don't realize how smart they are just because they don't apply themselves in the traditional way.  Their canary creams and fake wands are fantastic.

Interesting to see the trio in this book start to have some love interest.  Hermione and Krum are a little of a strange couple.  Plus, Ron's jealousy over them together is entertaining at times.  Then there is Ron doing stupid things when Fleur is around.  And Harry's crush on Cho.  They just grow up so quickly.

I would like to take a moment of silence to mourn Cedric Diggory.

He appears to be an all around nice guy.  His death was definitely shocking.  I still get teary when he appears from the Voldermort's wand and ask Harry to take his body back to his parents.

Then I get angry as the ministry for the outright denial that Voldemort could be back.  I totally blame Fudge for many of the upcoming tragedies.  If he had faced the problem instead of denying it exist, he could have saved lives.


To Read or Not to Read:
Must Read

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling is the third book of the Harry Potter series.

Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts is full of new dangers. A convicted murderer, Sirius Black, has broken out of Azkaban prison, and it seems he's after Harry. Now Hogwarts is being patrolled by the dementors, the Azkaban guards who are hunting Sirius. But Harry can't imagine that Sirius—or, for that matter, the evil Lord Voldemort—could be more frightening than the dementors themselves, who have the terrible power to fill anyone they come across with aching loneliness and despair.

Meanwhile, life continues as usual at Hogwarts. A top-of-the-line broom takes Harry's success at Quidditch, the sport of the Wizarding world, to new heights. A cute fourth-year student catches his eye. And he becomes close with the new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher, who was a childhood friend of his father.

Yet despite the relative safety of life at Hogwarts and the best efforts of the dementors, the threat of Sirius Black grows ever closer. But if Harry has learned anything from his education in wizardry, it is that things are often not what they seem.

Tragic revelations, heartwarming surprises, and high-stakes magical adventures await the boy wizard in this funny and poignant third installment of the beloved series.

The Breakdown:
This is my favorite book of the Harry Potter series.   I feel like characters are really starting to mature in this book, but it is before Harry goes through the angry shouty stage.  Plus, I really enjoy learning more about Harry's father in this book.  In giving background on Harry's father and his closest friends, Rowling really shows where Harry got some of his personality traits from.   She also shows reasons why Snape dislikes Harry so much.

I think that Rowling introduces the scariest of the magical creatures in this book with the Dementors.  I find them more terrifying that the Basilisk.  A creature that suck away all your happiness just by their very presence, and their kiss leaves you a soulless husk of person.  It is possibly the scariest idea ever.

Can we take a moment to talk about how Lupin is the best DADA teacher in the whole series?  He actually teaches them useful things and does not abuse his students.  Despite being a werewolf, he is a genuinely nice guy. 

This is definitely I book that I sometimes wish I could read again without knowing what the ending  is since the reveals in this book are so awesome.

To Read or Not to Read:
Must Read

Audiobook: Unravel Me

Unravel Me is written by Tahereh Mafi and narrated by Kate Simses and is the second book of the Shatter Me series.

tick
tick
tick
tick
tick
it's almost
time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

The Breakdown:
1.  I really enjoy the world that Mafi has created in this series. She has some excellent world building in this book with both the Reestablishment and the Omega Point.  I do love a good dystopian world and quite what Mafi does in this book with that genre.

2.  I have to say that I found Juliette and Adam to be the most annoying characters in this book.  They were so terribly angsty that I could hardly handle it.   There were multiple times that I just wanted to slap them, especially Juliette and say pull yourself together.   The other characters were much more interesting.  And I definitely enjoyed Juliette's interactions with Kenji way more than anything with Adam.

3.  Speaking of Kenji, I adore him.  He is hilarious,  and can be pretty smart.  I love when he tells Juliette to man up and then he does things to pull her out of her shell.  I just want a whole book devoted to him honestly.

4. There are some interesting revelations in this book.  One of which makes the love triangle between Juliette, Adam, and Warner a little strange. I am interested to see how it plays out, and hope that the ending means that Juliette will be less annoying in the next book.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read