Rose Quartz Reads: Defy Me // a rambly spoilery review (spoilers tagged!)

Everyone knows how obsessed I am with the Shatter Me books, so it hurts me to say that Defy Me was definitely the weakest in the series thus far. Saying this, I'm not writing this series off! The second half seriously redeemed the whole novel for me, and I'm still eagerly anticipating the finale.

After the dramatic and slightly jarring ending of Restore Me, we learn that all that happened at Juliette's grand speech was not as it seemed. Finding herself in a place both new and familiar, Juliette begins to discover exactly who she was before the Reestablishment imprisoned her.

This book contains multiple revelations that undermine everything that happened in the original trilogy. I liked that it filled in a few gaps about the nature of the Reestablishment, but it felt like it was at the expense of a lot of the character development.

A lot occurs in this book and I have many thoughts about it, so I'm going to approach this review a little differently to my typical reviews by listing my likes and dislikes. From this point on there are going to be MAJOR SPOILERS. These will be hidden by spoiler tags, but I wanted to give a heads up as this is the first spoiler review I've ever written!

💔Dislikes💔

Juliette Ferrars being Ella Sommers. Part of what made the original series so compelling was that Juliette could have been anyone. She was broken down and had no self-worth, but she built herself up into a stronger person and took steps towards changing her world for the better. She chose that path for herself. So to learn that her life was as orchestrated as it cheapened the impact of her character development in the original trilogy for me. This isn't to say that all of her actions in books 1-3 weren't her own, but to reveal that her mind was repeatedly erased until she couldn't remember her own name totally undermines her decisions and autonomy as a character, which was what made me fall in love with this series in the first place.
Juliette and Warner had fallen in love before. Countless times, in fact. This is what I'm particularly bitter about. It felt totally unnecessary. Whilst their relationship in Unravel Me was nothing to aspire to, I loved that these two intense individuals were drawn to each other. They responded to suffering in different ways, saw each other in that, and strove to be better because of it (whilst still having some moral greyness intact). I loved that they fell for each other the way that they did. So to learn that this was not the first time it happened, but that they had been in love for most of their lives with their minds being repeatedly wiped, makes it feels like their choices weren't their own. I understand that Warner falling in love with Juliette was of his own accord, but it feels like their relationship (or at least the one read about) wasn't a matter of growth like the original trilogy suggested, but about inevitability. Any authority they had over their lives in books 1-3 feels completely overridden by this reveal, and as a reader, it felt incredibly unsatisfying.
Name changes. I don't mind this so much, but I would have liked more on why the protagonist claimed Ella as her name rather than Juliette. She explained that the latter was given to her by Anderson, but Ella was also a name given to her by her abusers (her parents). I would have liked to see this unpacked a bit more, as the choice was very immediate.
Kenji and Nazeera. Okay, okay, hear me out! I love both characters and I think they could be cute together, but their miscommunications were very frustrating! Nazeera jumps from making out with Kenji to saying she doesn't like him to then saying she messed up her words but that she can't be with him. Which I can respect, but gosh I wish they'd just talked it out so they could both understand what they wanted from this relationship. I imagine this will be resolved in book 6, but characters not communicating properly is the bane of my existence.

💗Likes💗

Anderson. Again, hear me out! I'm thrilled and horrified that he's back, and I think it makes for a really interesting twist. His undead-ness was well explained (which is so rare!), and I loved that Warner finally found the strength to reject his father to his face and kill him. Although short-lived, it felt like a very powerful moment. One thing that confuses me though - what are Anderson's motives? He seems like he's just a straight-up psycho who likes power and to mess with people (arranging the Adam x Warner x Ella love triangle seems like far more effort than it was worth just to torture his son). He doesn't seem totally in line with the rest of the Reestablishment, so he feels like a huge wild card. I'm hoping the final book will show him to have some kind of goal other than hurting Warner, or else his whole character will feel more like a device to cause conflict/angst rather than a fully three-dimensional character.
Emmaline. HOLY CRAP THIS WAS DARK. A little rushed, but I can forgive it because Emmaline pretty much answers all the questions I had about the Sommers sisters and how the Reestablishment came to power. I really hope the final book will show her inspired to reclaim her autonomy. It's what she deserves.
Ella and Warner reuniting. This is possibly the only series where my response to romantic scenes is not 'I want more plot, please', but actually 'I want more of this, please!' and it comes as a surprise every time. Having them together again made me feel a bit better about the whole 'they've been in love for most of their lives' thing. Although the plot did have some great moments (see Emmaline point above), we all know I was originally in it for these two. And of course...
Kenji. I. LOVE. THIS. BOY. He's blunt and witty and a total nerd at times and just the most brilliant best friend, and he's a contender for one of my favourite fictional characters of all time. His reuniting with Ella was the most emotional part of the whole book for me (next to the precious birthday party they throw for Warner at the end). Plus his teasing of Warner whilst also reluctantly calling him handsome? I'm totally headcanoning Kenji as bi now #sorrynotsorry (I'm a smol bi let me have this)

As you can see, this was definitely a mixed bag for me! I love these characters so much, so some of the reveals felt like a bit of a betrayal, but I'm still excited about where the story will take them. And if the final book disappoints? I will still gladly re-read the original trilogy over and over again and feel content.