Believe Me (Shatter Me Novella, 5)

If a teen would rather read a book than play on their phone, then I’m gonna buy the books! Especially when she regifts or donates them.

Warning: **some spoilers, but not huge ones*Believe Me was there perfect conclusion to the Shadow Me series.This year I read most of the second half of the series: Defy Me, short story collection Find Me, and Imagine Me. I was so excited after finished Imagine and when I found out that a novella was going to be released a couple weeks later which took place right where the previous book ended. And the cover is just unbelievably gorgeous. They all are, but this one especially. The cover feels like a happy ending, and it did not disappoint.This is a book that shows the obstacles and difficulties that leaders have to deal with after having won the war. How trying to fix the leftover pieces, hoping to help them flourish, takes over your life, can make the important personal things low on the priority list. How it can be so difficult to grasp your happy ending even after it’s been promised to you. Realizing you finally will get your happy ending.I was so happy that this was written in Warner’s pov. I love Ella/Juliette but Warner is the one I identify with the most. Ella has come into her own, even though of course she still suffers anxiety, but she’s happy to be helping people. Warner, who always appears to have it all together, who suffers from anxiety and panic disorders (I’m guessing - it’s not explicitly said in the series), always is sensing the emotions of everyone around him (whether it be anger or sadness or lust), which overwhelms him and is part of why he chooses to isolate himself.Here Warner has to struggle with the sudden news that he might not be able to marry Ella anytime in the near future, when all he wants is to have the happiness he’s finally thought he’s gotten. The light of marrying the live of his life after the dark tunnel of the battle they just went through and worrying she might not survive her injuries. All the years of being separated over and over again. All the battles they’d fought together and against each other, the fights they’d had, the near death experiences, the traumas. He’s dealing with the inability to understand kindness from others after everything he’s been through. His desperation over the news he received on his wedding day that he won’t be marrying Ella on the day. The anxiety over losing her and keeping her safe and the need for stability. The need for control and not having it, the anxiety of realizing that everyone, including Ella, is hiding things from him. The anger and panic he feels when no one will tell him.I loved that the book was longer than I thought it would be. The ending was so amazing. The only thing I wish was that it had been cut off slightly later so we’d see the entire marriage scene, especially the vows.I loved that we got this conclusion to the series and I could not be happier with it. I’d love to see a novella later on set after they’ve gotten everything under relative control, how the new government looks, and what their lives are like now.This was so beautiful, from cover to cover. I’m so happy that it did address Warner’s anxiety, and I’m so happy that he finally gets an beginning that’s so much more than what he had imagine. Both he and Ella deserve it.

At first I was really struggling to get into this one , which was shocking because I LOVE this series. I just felt so sad for Aaron and how everyone was treating him - but finally when Juliette had her moment of standing up for him and calling everyone out for being douche bags it finally allowed me to breathe and the rest of the book was solid! I loved how everything ended with Kenji and Aaron and Thier friendship and clearly with Ella and Aaron! Wish there was more but every series has to eventually end.

I love it. It's perfect and has the right amount of everything! I finished it in 45 minutes! I love Aaron, and Kenji was the best.

Shatter Me NovellasBelieve MeRating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5Spice level: 🌶🌶/3Genres: Young adult, dystopian, scienceNote: contains spoilers for the Shatter Me seriesBelieve Me (occurs after book 6 ends)Follows the point of view of Warner. Juliette and Warner are trying to plan a wedding, but it keeps getting postponed due to lack of resources and time (they are in the process of stabilizing the world now that The Reestablishment has been taken down). Juliette is hiding something from Warner, which makes him believe she regrets agreeing to marry him.I have a lot of issues with the novellas. First, I personally think they don’t really add anything to the main story. There is some deeper character development that occurs, but it is no different than what the reader could see happening in the main story. The only ones (out of the 5) that I thought added a unique perspective were Shadow Me and Reveal Me, because they follow Kenji; he doesn’t get many POV chapters in the main story, and IMO he is the most interesting character. In his novellas, you get to see what his personal struggles are (the things he keeps hidden from his friends during the main series).Second, I am still not sure what order the books should be read. The novellas are marketed as “book 1.5”, “book 2.5”, etc, but I personally don’t think they should be read in between reading the main series. They reveal details about characters that aren’t found out until later in the main series; which, in my opinion, would take away from the main series plot. But, reading them after finishing the series feels like a let down. They just don’t compare in terms of quality or substance to the main series.If I was going to suggest how to read these, I think it would make the most sense to read them in between the main series books, but ONLY after reading through the main series once.

I wanted to finish off the series before I read watch me. I’m sad that I’m done with Aaron and Juliette but I’m excited to see what the new series offers.Believe me was a perfect wrap up for such an amazing series. Tahereh manages to pack so much emotion into a short little novella. This one was so moving and wholesome. I loved getting to be inside Aaron’s head to see his emotional struggle but how also how much he loves Juliette.This series is solidly number one as my favorite series of all time.

This book was really good. It gave a gooddescription for every event. My favorite part was the end when Kenji and Warner got to talk. Hopefully they will become good friends. It kind of looks like they will have to be since they will be neighbors.

I’m so sad I finally finished this series. My heart physically is aching right now. I could read from Aaron’s point of view for forever. The development of his friendship with Kenji throughout this book caused me to have to put the book down, and just smile at nothing in particular until I could finally read again. Shatter Me is truly one of the most perfectly written series of all time. ❤️