I reread this to annotate it before Defy Me came out and still loved it. It was difficult to annotate because there's a new POV and new characters who i love a lot, so i definitely had a field day putting hearts in the margins. Also I love juliette ferrars so much. SO MUCH. No one is more surprised than me by just how much I loved this book. In fact, I am so fond of this book that I wanted to immediately start reading it again as soon as I finished reading it. I didn’t let him cut my hair,” he says, scowling. “It was”—he hesitates—“it was a gesture of camaraderie. It was an act of trust I’d seen practiced among my soldiers. In any case,” he says, turning away, “it’s not as though I have any experience building friendships.” Supposedly he’s done with his ex girlfriend but “they’re still friends and he cares about her” so he allows her to call him and lean on him for support. Even during the first real date with the heroine. Instead of taking that call, dude, turn off your phone!! I just love when a story just makes me completely obsessed and Dominic definitely did this to me. I couldn’t put this book down. I was immersed from the get go. Enemies to lovers and secret pining for years and I was done for. Dominic and his pining for Sloane was chef’s kiss. He’s head over heels in love with her. She hasn’t dated since her husband and Dominic’s best friend suddenly died four years ago. An evening out changes everything between him and Sloane.

A woman says to her “you’ve done beautifully.” It’s Juliette’s biological mother. She is with Juliette’s father. She tells her that they have come to take her home. Mum is the Supreme Commander of Oceania.Her hands settle on my hips and pull me forward; I trip a little as I follow her lead. “What are you doing?” I begin to say, but when I meet her eyes I find tenderness and concern. Something thaws inside of me. My shoulders relax and I reel her in, drawing in a deep breath as I do. After being remonstrated by Castle for not getting information that would help find Winston and Brendan, Juliette hurries to question Warner again. She asks him about his tattoo and he shows her another low on his abdomen that says, HELL IS EMPTY AND ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE. She feels like home. She feels like the only person who has ever looked at me and known me in a single second. She feels like every dream I’ve ever had, every wish I’ve ever made, every oath I’ve ever sworn to keep all rolled up into one perfect being.'

I don’t wake up screaming anymore. I do not feel ill at the sight of blood. I do not flinch before firing a gun. She can fly! She’s managed to keep her abilities a secret from her parents, but her powers put her firmly on Team Juliette, and she tells Juliette that the rest of the world leaders are planning on wiping out Sector 45. Juliette shaves her head. She giggles and even the sound is heavenly. I want to soak it up, pull every note out of the air, and absorb it into my being.” I take in a tight breath and blink open my eyes, grateful for the time to be alone; grateful, somehow, for the oppNAZEERA COULD CHOKE ME WITH HER BARE HANDS AND I WOULD THANK HER FOR IT. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO BLESSED BY A FEMALE FRIENDSHIP. HER CHALLENGING KENJI ABOUT COVERING HER HAIR. HER FLIPPING HIM OFF. HER POWERS. HER KINDNESS AND COMPANIONSHIP. I'M UTTERLY DECEASED This book exists in this sort of dichotomous space between two stories. In one story, we have a book about grief and learning to love again after loss, allowing yourself to be happy and dealing with feelings of guilt and shame that can come with that experience. THAT book, I want to read. It's thoughtful and the male lead is emotionally intelligent, cognizant of the struggles the female lead is going through, and very supportive and understanding of what she's going through. What finally made me quit was reading from his POV while they're discussing a relationship they may or may not start. Reading the scene from his POV actively made my skin crawl. She has one single boundary she sets for the relationship - just one - and he verbally agrees to it while thinking about how he doesn't actually agree, he thinks it's ridiculous, and he's only telling her he agrees to get her into this relationship and has no intention of actually following her wishes because once he has her in his grasp he's not going to let her go and he's going to make her see that what he wants is what's best. It was so uncomfortable and reads to me as him clearly having no respect for this woman as a person, much less anything even close to love. The same can be said of Find Me. It contains both Shadow Me and Reveal Me (also listed separately above), the two later novellas. Is Shatter Me Spicy?

She wakes up in her childhood bedroom in New Zealand with her parents commending her work. AND THAT’S IT. The need for Defy Me is real.You read that right. Her name is Emmeline, and it used to be Warner’s job to torture her. Because Warner is a good guy (despite his own doubts), he confesses everything to Juliette the first chance he gets. And she kinda sorta breaks up with him. Nazeera has superpowers. It’s been all building to this moment…our Summer of Shatter Me binge-read is complete! We just finished the fourth book, Restore Me, and OMG YOU GUYS. Our heads are still reeling from THAT ENDING. To sort through our feelings, we once again have put together a recap to hit all the key moments that happened in the book…which sort of helped? We think? But tbh, typing that last key revelation just got us feeling super emotional again. But nevertheless, we shall persist forward. In full disclosure, it’s been a really long time since I read the the first batch of Shatter Me books. Plus, the author keeps describing her hands as tiny. Ugh. I don’t need a grown woman with tiny hands. Especially since he’s 6’7”. Why do authors do this!? It’s not good to constantly have giant men and tiny women. Most of your readers aren’t tiny. Restore Me is a new favorite of the year. I had a feeling this book was going to be amazing after some friends raved about it, and of course it was! If you love Kennedy Ryan’s writing, this author will really work for you. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

He’s hardly touched me and my heart is racing; memories crash over me, scalding me in waves: the weight of his body against mine; the taste of his skin; the heat of his touch and his sharp gasps for air and the things he’s said to me only in the dark. I almost quit at the "your mouth hasn't said yes but your body has" line, because that's not how consent works and that's a man who won't stop when you say no, but I kept going hoping it was a one-off and just a bad line of dialogue in a sex scene.Dominic: I don't have words to describe him. He is perfect like literally a perfect. I was thinking if he can't be anymore perfect than now and next min he justs do something which will just make me have that heart eyes 😍😍 Seeing the girl you love loving your bestfriend, brother and them together building a life together infront of you is hard to see and I just want to hug him for the pain he had to go through. On the way to the meeting point, in an abandoned housing estate they see one house, still inhabited and well kept. Kenji tells Juliette that when he was seven, someone used his dad’s gun on him and Kenji’s mom in a race-related killing. Kenji witnessed it. He was put in an orphanage. When Castle found him he, was eight years old and living on the street. Juliette has run off base into an unregulated area. In a fury of rage and betrayal, she destroys a school bus, accidentally projecting her powers. Nazeera appears. Nazeera can fly.