Jen Ryland's Reviews > Ignite Me

SPOILER FREE

Depending on your team, you're either going to love this book to death or hate it with a fiery passion. I was the weirdo who hadn't really joined a team -- well, yes, there was one guy I thought was a better fit for Juliette, but she's such a loose cannon that I could have seen her going either way. I definitely found this book gripping -- I could not put it down. But now that some time has passed, I will try to untangle all my complicated thoughts about this trilogy ender.

What I Loved:
The romantic scenes. Tahereh Mafi can really write those. She's great at conveying all kinds of emotion on a page. There was definitely igniting -- and all kinds of steam heat -- going on here.

Kenji. I just love him so much. He's confident, he's brash, he's blunt, he's just always 100% himself. I will miss him a lot.

What I Missed
One of the most distinctive aspects of the first two books is Juliette's voice. Love it or not, it's central to the story. I really felt the loss of that in this book. Juliette's cross-outs were gone, her crazy metaphors were gone. It almost felt like a different narrator had taken over. I guess you could argue that she's changed in this book, become calmer and more pragmatic, but I have to say I missed old over-the-top Juliette. A lot.

What I Wished
When I re-read (or rather, listened to) the first two books again in preparation for this one, I realized that these books are all about Juliette. Yes, there's a dystopian element, but it's really just a backdrop to Juliette's coming to terms with her powers and all the fears and anxieties and self-hatred that go along with them. However, because so much of this book was relationship drama, and because Juliette's voice had lost its distinctiveness, the book felt a little flatter to me than the others, unless the characters were in the middle of a love scene (see above) in which case I did not care about any of that in the slightest.

I knew this love triangle would be a wrenching one. It was, but not for the reasons I was expecting. It seemed to me that a huge part of the story was spent trying to convince the reader that Juliette picked the Right Guy. I'm not sure that was necessary. Those who favored the guy in question did not need to be convinced, and those who favored the other guy were not having any of it.

In addition to the triangle, there were other plot threads that should have been carried through to this book: the battle against the reestablishment, Juliette learning to control and channel her superpowers, and the surprising connection between Adam and Warner. All these loose ends got tied up in a about five seconds toward the end.

As a friend pointed out to me in an email, the dystopian backdrop to this romance was also a great opportunity for Warner, Juliette and Adam to put their differences aside, join forces and fight the reestablishment in a way that could have provided some sense of a shared goal and a shared victory. Every character could have had their heroic moment in a way that might have provided a shred of comfort to the readers whose guy didn't get picked. Unrealistic? Maybe. I just wish more time could have been spent making sure the person who didn't get picked was allowed to exit stage left with a little more dignity. I think if that had happened -- if Juliette had let go of a guy she had feelings for in favor of her One True Love, and if she could have done that with regret and affection -- this book could have brought me to tears. Instead, this felt like a Scorched Earth Love Triangle, and that made me a little sad.

In sum, I did enjoy some aspects of this book very much but I can see both sides. I can see why those who loved the book absolutely adored it, and I can see why others were bitterly disappointed.