Book Review: Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi

Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi came out last week, and as a fan of dystopian books, this book is one of the best I've read in a while.

Tahereh Mafi has crept into my top five authors with her compelling stories and flawless writing style. Her Shatter Me series is one of my all-time favourites, so it was no surprise that I was excited about the release of the spin-off series.

Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi is book one in the spin-off series, Shatter Me: The New Republic. I pre-ordered it from Waterstones as I was able to read it on the day it was released.

Now, I don't usually buy hardback books or like to read books if I have to wait a while for the sequel. However, I made an exception and boy, am I glad I did.

I loved Watch Me so much that I wanted to review it for you all.

Review of Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian

Tropes:

• Enemies-to-lovers

• Forced proximity

• Found family

Rating: 6 stars

Watch Me picks up 10 years after the events of Imagine Me, when Juliette and Aaron took down the Reestablishment. It is centred around James Anderson, Aaron and Adam's brother, who we all know from the original Shatter Me series. The book is dual point of view with James's perspective, and Rosabelle Wolff's POV, who is a completely new character.

The synopsis of the book is:

"James Anderson had a plan. Or half of one. All that matters is that he managed to do what his older brother, the famous Aaron Warner Anderson, never did: infiltrate Ark Island, the last refuge of The Reestablishment. In the past decade no outsider has breached the stronghold of the authoritarian regime, but James is in. In a prison cell, sure, but as far as James is concerned, a win is a win.

It’s been ten years since the fall of The Reestablishment. Ten years since the notorious duo — Juliette Ferrars and Aaron Warner Anderson — led a worldwide rebellion and established the New Republic of the West. But after a decade of unsettling quiet, The Reestablishment is ready to make a devastating move, and they have the perfect person for the job.

Rosabelle Wolff had a plan. She always has a plan. On Ark Island, where constant surveillance is packaged as security, even emotions must be experienced with caution. A trained assassin, her every movement is monitored by synthetic intelligence—and when she’s given an order to kill, she never hesitates.

Brimming with pulse-pounding action and torturous romance, Watch Me is an explosive journey through a dystopian landscape where enemies-to-lovers has never felt more impossible. Step into a beloved and breathtaking world that demands an answer to a desperate question—

Who are we when no one is watching?"

Credit: WriteWatchWork

First of all, what drew me to this book was the world it's set in. I loved the dystopia that Mafi created in the original series, and to have the chance to revisit that intrigued me.

Watch Me has two main locations: The Ark and The New Republic. The Ark is where the Reestablishment have set up shop to try and rebuild after Juliette took them down, and The New Republic is where the Shatter Me gang are based as they rebuild the world.

Once again, Mafi has crafted detailed settings that are characters within themselves because, without them, each character's journey wouldn't work. But the best bit about this book had to be the characters.

I thought James was a great character in the original series; he was the only child in those books and was an innocent soul who just wanted to be with his brother, Adam. However, after finding out Aaron Warner is his half-brother, it turns out, James wanted to be trained by him.

Now an adult, James is very different to what he was like before. He's been raised by Warner and Juliette and is very much a combination of Warner and his pseudo-uncle Kenji. I absolutely loved adult James—he is charming, funny, sarcastic, and so compelling.

His behaviour, his interactions with others and his dialogue were perfect. I did feel sorry for James at times because it was clear that the others still thought of him as the defenceless 10-year-old kid that they knew, but he has grown up into a capable man.

Enter Rosabelle, a woman from the opposite side of the tracks. Rosabelle Wolff, a hired assassin for the Reestablishment, was born into the life she lived with an arranged marriage in her future. Her sister, Clara, needs Rosabelle to do her job, and when James becomes her target, things turn interesting.

I really enjoyed Rosabelle's character. She is new to the Shatter Me world, but straightaway, I could connect with her. She doesn't have an easy life, but she is a survivor. Rosabelle reminded me of Juliette in the early books of Shatter Me.

However, as Watch Me progresses, Rosabelle and James grow into iconic characters that capture the reader's attention effortlessly. I loved their dynamic and the banter between them.

But the ending... Oh my God!! I was in shock after the ending of this book. The plot twists throughout were fantastic. I really enjoyed the development of the story and watching the characters grow.

Plus, the other characters in this book were so much fun. I loved revisiting Juliette, Warner, Kenji, Winston, and everyone. The waffle scene with James, Kenji and Winston was so good. I didn't expect to laugh so much reading this, but I'm glad I did. The emotions Mafi creates are so good—Watch Me is funny, hopeful, heartbreaking and everything in between.

Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi exceeded my expectations and has become one of my favourite books of all time. There wasn't a bad thing about this book, except for the fact that I have to wait a while for book two to be released.

If you haven't read the Shatter Me series or Watch Me, you definitely should. You can get them on Amazon here, and also from Waterstones and The Works.

If you do get to read Watch Me, let me know what you think in the comments below.

Until next time...