Release Me

The “shatter me” series was one of the first series I ever read, so I was sceptical about the sequel. I liked “watch me “ but I loved this one and I really think it can hold up with the original series!

I might be biased because Tahereh Mafi is my favorite author in the whole world, but I have my reasons – and this book just proved them right once again. Mafi just has this ability to know exactly what we want and expect… and she always delivers. I had tears streaming down my cheeks by page four. FOUR. I went through a whole rollercoaster of emotions and I loved every second of it. Let’s go through this step by step… The characters. Oh my god… Mafi KNOWS how to write characters. James is literally everything I need in a man… and I say that as a Warner girlie. He’s smart, funny, and emotionally intelligent – and listen, that is something I appreciate so much. The way he understands the reasoning behind people’s actions, even when they’re not the best. He stands by his own beliefs wich makes his character so strong. Rosabelle might actually be one of the most interesting characters Mafi has ever written. I loved getting to understand her thought processes. She feels so deeply but can’t name her emotions yet because she’s so used to being emotionally shut down. She learned how to survive – and you can see that in everything she does. She’s smart, strategic, and struggles to trust people (can we blame her?), but once she does… she would do anything to protect them. Aaron… needs to calm down a bit. Like we KNOW wifey is pregnant, but please stop taking it out on James… give that boy a break. A lot of the characters who fought alongside Juliette are dealing with their own inner demons, and it’s so interesting to see how differently it affects each of them. There’s so much potential for character development and I really hope we get more of that. And Nazeera… I feel so bad for her. She’s such a thoughtful and strong character – I really hope she finds her way. Kenji… please take the stick out of your ass. It’s starting to piss me off. Thank you. James and Rosabelle. They complement each other perfectly. What one lacks, the other brings. And their chemistry?? insane. You know that saying that when you’ve found the right person, you feel calm and at peace around them because your body can finally relax? Yeah… Rosabelle is literally the definition of that. James is so obsessed with her – and he KNOWS it, which makes it even better. And Rosabelle feels the same but struggles to understand or name those feelings. Also… James is such a flirt omg, he’s down bad for her. The pacing. The story moves slowly… but not in a bad way. I loved that nothing felt rushed and we actually got to experience everything on a deeper level. Nothing felt unnecessary or like filler. Honestly… this book could’ve easily been 100 pages longer and I still would’ve eaten it up. (But I guess that’s what book 3 is for… hihi.) There were so many intense scenes – there’s one with James and Rosabelle that I literally reread like 15 times… it was that good. Like a really hot edit playing on repeat in my head. I also don’t think I’ve ever been scared to turn a page before. I actually sat there… staring at the book… trying to build up the courage to continue. I took a lot of breaks while reading – but not because it was boring or hard to get through… I just didn’t want it to end. I tried to drag it out as long as possible, but those “breaks” never lasted longer than five minutes before I picked it up again. The writing. I don’t even know if I need to talk about it… we all know it’s incredible. But the way she writes… it doesn’t even feel like reading. I don’t know how to explain it other than: when reading is like skying, her books feel like swimming. It’s something completely different. Like a second passion. She also hooks you immediately. Usually it takes me like 50 pages to fully get into a book – but here? She had me from the very beginning. I mean… I didn’t cry on page four for no reason. And I swear she gets better with every single book she writes. Also, the amount of small details that connect everything?? Like little bridges between thoughts, actions, and moments… this woman is a mastermind. So yeah… this book was everything and more. As someone who has read everything she’s written, I always go into her books with extremely high expectations… and somehow, she still exceeds them every single time. book.things_j | JessTales TikTok | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon | OrellFüssli

Bei „Release Me“ handelt es sich um Band 2 des Spin-offs der „Shatter Me“-Reihe, dessen Protagonisten James und Rosabelle sind. Zwar sind die Reihen unabhängig voneinander lesbar, jedoch würde ich empfehlen, zumindest die ersten drei Bände der „Shatter Me“-Reihe zuvor zu lesen, da dieser Band noch stärker als der erste von der Nostalgie der Vorgängerreihe lebt. „Release Me“ beginnt vielversprechend, da es in diesem Band auch Kapitel aus der Perspektive von Warner gibt, durch die eine neue und verletzliche Seite von ihm zu Tage tritt. Darüber hinaus mochte ich die Einblicke in seine Beziehung zu Adam sehr. Generell habe ich das Buch vorrangig dann gerne gelesen, wenn die Figuren aus der „Shatter Me“-Reihe aufgetreten sind – mit den eigentlichen Protagonisten James und Rosabelle bin ich hingegen immer noch nicht richtig warm geworden. James war für mich bereits in Band 1 ein anstrengender Protagonist, da er überheblich, kindisch und trotzig ist. Entsprechend gab es eigentlich viel Potenzial für eine Charakterentwicklung, jedoch handelt er mindestens genauso unreflektiert wie im ersten Band und verhält sich in Rosabelles Nähe wie ein hormongesteuerter Teenager. Teilweise musste ich das Buch pausieren, weil ich es nicht in seinem Kopf ausgehalten habe. Die Kapitel aus der Perspektive von Rosabelle habe ich deutlich lieber gelesen. Zwar macht auch sie nur minimal Fortschritte, jedoch beginnt sie, sich etwas mehr zu öffnen und ihr fremdgefährdendes Handeln zu hinterfragen. Ähnlich wie die Charakterentwicklung stagniert auch die Handlung in diesem Band etwas. Für mich handelt es sich deshalb insgesamt um ein typisches Fillerbuch, da sich die Ausgangslage nicht groß verändert. Richtig Spannung kam erst gegen Ende aufgrund des fiesen Cliffhangers auf. Alles in allem eine Fortsetzung, die vorrangig auf Nostalgie und weniger auf eine packende Handlung setzt. Aufgrund des Endes bin ich trotzdem gespannt, wie es weitergeht.