Review: Ignite Me

Ignite Me was a better book than the last two, but I still found it lacking in the same areas as the rest of the series. This is classified as: YA Fiction, Sci-Fi, and Romance

Synopsis: "Nothing will ever be the same. The fate of Omega Point is unknown. Everyone Juliette has ever cared about could be dead. The war could be over before it ever really began. Juliette is the only one standing in The Reestablishment's way. She knows that if she's going to survive, The Reestablishment cannot. But to take down The Reestablishment and the man who very nearly killed her, Juliette will need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together to bring down their enemy, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew--about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam--was wrong." -the blurb on the inside of Ignite Me

Okay, I have problems with this book. Firstly, there's still nothing of importance that happens! There's a war in the end, but I don't even know how you could call that a war when the enemy is defeated so easily. One move from Juliette and they're out. That's not a war. Everything in the book was building up to this "war" and then it lasts a total of 10 pages. It was won way too easily. I have serious issues with that. This series was mainly focused on romance, so I don't know why it was marketed as dystopian when the real dystopian elements aren't talked about enough. The whole "rebellion" part of this series was never thought out and explained properly. Why not just make this a full romance novel instead of adding plot points that aren't fully explored? Another thing I didn't like was that the beautiful prose I had come to love in the last two books was next to nonexistent in this one. There were a few scenes when it was used, but nothing other than those were there. I understand why the crossed-out lines aren't there anymore--it's to mark the change in Juliette; how she's not unsure of herself anymore and she's strong and ready to fight. But I miss the rest of the prose.

I cannot tell you how GLAD I am that Juliette chose Warner over Adam because Adam has all the personality of a sack of potatoes. Meanwhile, Warner is morally grey and will not apologize for or hide who he is. He's very straightforward with his feelings, telling everyone that he serves no interests except his own and is only helping the others for Juliette. That makes me love him so much more. Side note: I imagine that Warner looks like a mix of Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair) and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy). The banter was the #1 highlight of this book. There's so much of it and I was laughing all the time. Much of it is from Kenji's side, but Warner contributes as well. I love the banter so much, and it literally made my day while reading this. A pleasant surprise was that I actually liked Juliette a lot more than I did through the other books. She's different now, and in a good way. She's strong, fearless, and isn't a pushover anymore.

Ignite Me would've been a 3/5 like the other books, but the extra banter brought it up to a 3.5/5 stars. This series, overall, feels very average, but I enjoyed reading it. It's still addictive and I still don't know why.