Defy Me – Tahereh Mafi

Okay, I have to admit that I was in a tiny slump coming into this book so it took me a little while between shadow me to start this one, but, despite that, I sat down this morning intending to read maybe one or two chapters and ended up reading the entire book so, it’s safe to say I loved it.

Plot

After Juliette is kidnapped from the Symposium by her biological parents, she’s forced to undergo the Reestablishments plans. Juliette learns about her time before the asylum and as memories come back to her, she realizes exactly what’s going on and what the Reestablishment has been hiding from the world. 

Emmaline – Juliettes (or Ellas), sister, is being constantly tortured within the walls of the Reestablishment in Oceania, and as she grows weaker, she’s using her powers to give the kids back their memories of their past. 

Warner wakes up from the Symposium in a cell, and uses his skills as a Supreme Commanders son with lots of training to gain a sense of his surroundings. As memories flood back to him, he realizes just how deep his love for Juliette (or Ella), goes, and just how cruel his father really is. 

Kenji is stuck dealing with the aftermath of the Symposium in Sector 45, and is using every resource possible to get his friends back to safety and plan a rescue mission for his best friend, Juliette. 

As old memories come back to the kids and the Reestablishments secrets are aired, will the kids finally be able to take down the Organization and bring back the world they used to have?

Characters

I feel like there’s a million new editions to this series but at the same time there’s so many things to say about our old characters. Where do i start? 

Juliettes – Ella’s and Emmaline’s – parents seem completely vicious. Evie truly deserved the ending that she got but for some reason I have no doubt that she’ll be back. I hated every single scene with her, how could you even do that to your own daughter? It was wicked and cruel and I hated them so much. 

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

Anderson, surprise surprise, he’s back! I’ve despised him since he was introduced and my hatred boiled over when he arrived in Sector 45. Truly, utterly, hate this man. 

Castle sometimes has me questioning him, I have to be honest. He was introduced in the first book and I feel like I keep waiting for the ball to drop that he’s done something super horrific, but he keeps proving me wrong and I can’t say I’m mad. 

Nazeera, okay she’s more of a new character, but I gotta say, I love her. She brings such a badass attitude with her. It’s something I didn’t know I needed in this series. And the fact that Juliette or Ella have someone like that who supports her is a really good sign. I like Nazeera and I feel like she’s good for the group. 

She’s especially good for Kenji who honestly, is head over heels for her. Kenji has always had this tough exterior since he hides all of his true vulnerability from anyone except for Juliette, and masks it with hilarious and sarcastic humor, but I feel like Nazeera is going to help Kenji get out of this. He’s always wanted happiness, a shot at having what others have, to be a normal guy with a love life. And honestly they make the perfect pair. They’re so adorable. I’m so obsessed with them together it’s so so so cute!!

Okay, let’s start with Emmaline here, I feel like she’s important to cover. We don’t know a lot about Emmaline honestly, but somehow I feel like we know everything? She’s strong and powerful and I’m proud of her. Going through that kind of abuse and torture her entire life is insane. But somehow Emmaline has never given up hope and she’s always looked out for the people she loves and I admire her for that. 

Warner. There’s so much to uncover. We already know that I’m in love with this dude, but I didn’t realize just how much Aaron had to put up with as a kid. No, his whole life. His dad was vicious and cruel and mean. He was abusive and wicked. Despite the physical abuse, Warner has suffered through tons and tons of emotional and mental abuse. It’s honestly ridiculous how he isn’t falling apart completely. He’s had his memories ripped from him, he’s been abused, his mother has been pulled away. And yet despite it all, he falls for Juliette every single time. 

“You think these recent events are everything. You think Aaron fell in love with your friend of several months, a rebel girl named Juliette. You don’t know. You don’t know. You don’t know that Aaron has been in love with Ella for the better part of his entire life. They’ve known each other since childhood……..The reason he had to keep wiping their memories was because it didn’t matter how many times he reset the story or remade the introductions – Aaron always fell in love with her. Every time. – Delalieu”

Juliette – or I should start calling her Ella now, I guess, is unbelievable. The information uncovered about her family in the last book was A LOT, but to find out that she’s the center of the entire reestablishment? That’s a lot worse. It’s basically saying that their entire world is based upon Juliette and her sister. Isn’t that insane? I’m completely in shock, like how would that ever ever be okay?! Not to mention the amount of trauma she’s suffered at the hands of the Reestablishment, despite the fact that she’s supposed to be their key to everything. Unbelievable. Seriously.

Setting

I feel like we saw so many different places in this book. Juliette woke up in her childhood bedroom – half pink, half purple – just showing the fact that her biological parents think that no time at all has passed. And it just continued to get even more sinister and wicked as they basically treated her as if she’s always been their daughter. 

Warner woke up in a cell and it was a pretty averagely boring setting, I won’t lie, but it did what it needed to do.

A setting that was interesting, however, was when Kenji was thrown into the asylum. I can’t imagine how terrified he must have been, but it was a familiar setting that I didn’t think I’d see again, and it was interesting how absolutely twisted it was that he’d been put right where she started. 

Writing

To say I’m obsessed is an understatement. Believe me when I say I meant to read two, maybe three chapters and then go study for exams, but oh no, I got hooked and I could stop and a few hours later I put the book down and realized where I was. 

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

In conclusion

If you’re not running to read this series right now then I don’t know what you’re doing. Go on, go get it, you’ll love it. I can’t wait to stay up all night and read the next one.

Rating: 5/5⭐️