“In the steady thrum that accompanies quiet, my mind is unkind to me. I think too much. I feel, perhaps, far more than I should. It would be only a slight exaggeration to say that my goal in life is to outrun my mind, my memories.”

Stars (Out of 10): 8.5/10 Stars

Favorite Character: I still love Aaron too much, even after all this

Spoiler Free: It’s been about 4 years since the release of Ignite Me, and a little less than that since I finished the original trilogy. It’s been about 3 and a half years since I accepted that I wouldn’t get more from this world, these characters, these friends of mine.

It’s been a little less than a year since I heard the news, since I let myself hope (very tentatively) again. It’s been a little less than a year of excitement and speculation and hidden fears, as the ending of Ignite Me was optimistic, and you cannot make optimism span 3 more books. It was a little less than a year filled with uncontrolled happiness at the idea of getting to hear more from these characters, from Aaron and Juliette and Kenji, and maybe even Adam. It is impossible to explain the mix of emotions, almost all positive, at the news of these next books.

I should have been scared.

I should have realized that nothing would be okay anymore.

Now, I don’t want to go against the purpose of this section and add spoilers, but just a warning, prepare yourselves. The ending of Ignite Me was extremely misleading in terms of what happens next, and in the end, the path of Restore Me is much more realistic.

Additionally, just because the series suddenly takes a turn doesn’t mean that it’s negating the development and set up of the original trilogy. The characters still follow the same personalities, the world is still the same (just gets more development since Juliette’s positions causes her to learn more information about everything), and the writing is still 100% Mafi (and I love it.)

The only reason why I rated this lower is due to the overwhelming amount of new information. In the end, I’m too shocked to really feel emotionally moved by certain parts of the book. But besides that, I loved it, and I’m happy to be back in the world even if it is heartbreaking.

Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!

Spoilers: So, if you’re here, I’m assuming you’re also going through similar emotions as I am due to what happened in this book.

Spoiler

Shock, fear, surprise? Just to name a few.

I think I’m still processing all that happened. Juliette has a sister. Warner has an ex-girlfriend. Juliette is not actually Juliette, but Ella. Juliette has parents who are super powerful.

Juliette accidentally killed hundreds and hundreds of high-position members of the North American Branch of the Reestablishment only using her voice.

Half of our friends are dead, suddenly and without care.

Where do we go from here? How can this ever get any better? I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

I do love all the openings that this gives us for the rest of the series, even if I am extremely overwhelmed right now!