Defy Me (Shatter Me, #5)

by Tahereh Mafi

And it’s not insane to imagine that sometimes even horrible people are searching for a way out of their own darkness.”

She’ll be described as unstable. Irrational.

“All they needed to do was to discredit Ella as their leader.”

“my parents have been lying to me since I was a kid—stealing my memories and rewriting my history—and I want to know why. Besides”—she takes a deep breath—“I think I know where Ella and Warner are, and I want to help.”

But now, she knows everything. Every dark corner of my life. Every awful thing I ever tried to hide. She knows and she still loves me.

“Have you ever heard of Blue Streak?”

“Desperate, terrified people,” Nouria says solemnly, “are much easier to control.

“Emmaline and I were designed for something called Operation Synthesis. She was meant to be the architect of the world, and I was to be the executioner.

People are more desperate to act, to get involved, and to stand up to The Reestablishment. Resistance groups are growing. The civilians are finding ways to get smarter—to get stronger,

She’s become a symbol of hope for so many.

One year ago my anxiety was so crippling that five minutes alone with my own mind would leave me spiraling for days.

I grew up thinking that the joys of this world were for other people to enjoy. I was certain that I was fated to a bleak, solitary life, forever barred from the contentment offered by human connection.

~Warner

“I love you, Ella,” I whisper. “I will love you for the rest of my life. My heart is yours. Please don’t ever give it back to me.”