Destroy Me (Shatter Me 1.5) by Tahereh Mafi Book Review

Perfect for the fans of Shatter Me who are desperately awaiting the release of Unravel Me, this novella-length digital original will bridge the gap between these two novels from the perspective of the villain we all love to hate, Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

In Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner—and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she’ll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of. . .

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.

Set after Shatter Me and before its forthcoming sequel, Unravel Me,Destroy Me is a novella told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

Love is a heartless bastard.

I finished this book in a day!!!

I almost never do that! Ok, sure it was a novella, but still! I’m so proud of myself *sniffs*

It was truly refreshing to read from Warner’s point of view in this novella. We not only get to know more about his character but also a bit more about the world the series its set in, something I felt was a bit lacking in Shatter Me.

However, and the reason why I did not give this a flawless five stars rating, is because I have to agree with what other people have told me about the series, and that is that the characters are behaving and thinking in a certain way to move the story into another direction as the opposite of what it should be; they shouldn’t have to lose their personalities and traits to move the plot but rather act around it and find a way to solve it.

In Shatter Me Warner was introduced as the villain; he was heartless, cruel and intelligent, putting Juliette through torture so he could turn her into a weapon for the reestablishment. But here, Warner is changed into a misunderstood guy with good intentions who simply doesn’t know how to make things right.

I believe this is the way his character is going to be portrayed from now on, his behaviour in the previous book is brushed aside and his abuse ignored under good intentions. This is not acceptable, but in a certain way Warner has been changed so much that the villain he is in Shatter Me is not the same we’ll see in the next novels. For the Warner in Destroy Me would have never tortured Juliette like he did, and as much as it bothers me that his personality was changed so much to justify what he did and make him a better love interest, I’ll save my judgement for the next books to see if it has worked out.

What did you guys think? Has Destroy Me changed the way you see Warner?