DESTROY ME by Tahereh Mafi

SHE WILL CHOOSE ME.

Gah.  I read and reviewed Shatter Me a while back (loved it btw).  And after reading this, I just have to say: Warner is one of the best, most complex baddies I've come across in some time.

Destroy Me--a novella completely from Warner's POV--was everything I'd hoped it would be--and more.  I knew the guy had issues.  I knew he had a horrible/tragic backstory.  But I also knew there was more to him then the tyrannical dictator-like presence we saw in Shatter Me.  Warner was simply too interesting.  The choices he made, the way he carried himself, the things he said to Juliette, I just knew there was more to him than that.

And Mafi apparently thought so, too J.

I love it when an author can deliver like this.  In Destroy Me, we get pure Warner, bared to the soul, his thoughts completely open--which he would absolutely hate b/c he's such a control freak.  Being inside his head was intriguing and scary, sad and exciting.

Mafi did a terrific job of highlighting the similarities between Juliette and Warner.  Warner's POV was the perfect device to do this.  I got that he thought he shared some connection to Juliette--that he and she were the same--in book 1.  But it's so clear here.  I felt his loneliness. Though they definitely handle it differently, it was very similar to Juliette's feelings.

I loved when Warner found Juliette's journal.  The sections where he reads the journal, and we see how affected he is, really show us his deepening obsession.  And again, there was that connection.  Even though Juliette is never present on the page, she definitely makes an appearance through the recording of her thoughts.  Having Warner read her journal/diary was so smart.  I couldn't get enough.

I sped through the pages.  At the end, I felt a deeper understanding of this character.  The son of an evil ruler, the boy who is still afraid of his abusive father, the man who will do anything to possess and protect the girl he loves.  The Bad Guy who, like all the best villains, has hidden depths.  This is why we love Warner as a character.

Will Warner's obsession lead him to do more horrible things?

Will he finally stand up to his father?

Will he win Juliette's heart?

Will he become the anti-hero and do something totally unexpected?

Let's face it.  Without him, Juliette's story wouldn't be nearly as unpredictable.  Unravel Me is sitting in my TBR right now, and I'm itching to get started.  Hopefully, there'll be plenty of Warner J.

Happy reading,

Ninja Girl