Believe Me, by Tahereh Mafi, brings an end to the young adult dystopian Shatter Me series in the form of a novella centering around Juliette and Warner. So as not to spoil the majority of the series, I won’t reveal much of the plot in this book, other than that it follows the aftermath of the war and focuses on Juliette and Warner’s relationship, making it more of a romantic book than dystopian, though those dystopian elements are still there.
The Pros: Anyone who enjoyed the Shatter Me series will enjoy seeing more of the characters they know and love, especially when it revolves around Juliette and Warner’s relationship, considering all they’ve been through. For me, I really enjoyed getting to see Kenji, Warner, Juliette, and Nazeera interact one last time before saying goodbye to this series, and I thought Mafi did a great job at wrapping things up in a satisfactory way.
The Cons: Like any novella, the story is short and isn’t an absolute must read. I found myself a little bored at parts of this book because it felt like it dragged on a little more than necessary. On top of this, the ending was fine, but I would’ve liked to see more after waiting for so long (if you know, you know).
Overall, Believe Me does its job at wrapping up the Shatter Me series, and it earns a four-star rating from me because I enjoyed seeing the characters one last time. I would’ve liked it to be a little shorter and would’ve preferred if it focused more on the specific elements I was interested in, but it was okay as a whole. Anyone who loves the Shatter Me series should definitely read this book to end off the series, but if it wasn’t really your thing, you’d be fine missing out on this novella.