Release Me

Shatter Me: The New Republic #2

by Tahereh Mafi

The searing second volume in a new series set in the #1 global bestselling Shatter Me universe ten years after the fall of The Reestablishment.

Rosabelle Wolff had a plan. Now she wants revenge. To save her sister she needs to get back home and destroy the system that created her. Rosabelle’s greatest strength is her ability to deaden her mind and body; it’s the only way to survive the surveillance state of Ark Island. But lately her heart has been beating harder; her thoughts are spiraling; her defenses are coming undone.

And there’s only one person to blame.

James Anderson had a plan. Now he has nothing but problems. Rosabelle might be the ally they need in a fight against The Reestablishment, but no one wants to trust an enemy assassin. It doesn’t help that Rosabelle’s not much of a talker, doesn’t work well in groups, and kills people on instinct. Taking her side has cost James nearly everything—but keeping her alive might help save his world.

If only he could convince his older brother.

Aaron Warner Anderson has a headache. Something dark is coming, and Rosabelle’s arrival is just a prelude. In her, he sees shades of himself he can’t trust, and he can no longer get a read on the girl. She’s a dead battery, emanating no emotional feedback. At least not until James walks into a room…

Volcanic tension, breathless reveals, breakneck action—and a dystopian world that never stops raising the

Welcome back to The New Republic.

Genres: Fantasy, Dystopia, Romance, Young Adult, Romantasy, Enemies To Lovers, Science Fiction

Hardcover

First published April 7, 2026

About the author

Tahereh Mafi is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Shatter Me series. She was born in a small city somewhere in Connecticut and currently resides in Santa Monica, California with her husband, fellow author Ransom Riggs. She can usually be found over-caffeinated and stuck in a book. Shatter Me is her first series, with television rights optioned by ABC Signature Studios; Furthermore, her first middle grade novel, is on shelves now, and Whichwood, its darker companion, will be on shelves November 14, 2017.

Reviews

[areeba ★ · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.75 stars ★
⤿ spoiler free review

'release me' is actually about me asking god for a release from james and rosabelle's minds.

i remember my review for the first book where some people told me i was being too harsh with my opinions/comments but joke's on everyone because all my points from the first book ended up being proven in this one.

i've said it multiple times by now that tahereh mafi's strength in writing lies in her romance and characters, not in her plots or world-building. therefore, at the very least i expected to have developed some level of attachment to james and rosabelle after finishing two entire books about them or have an interest in their romance, but goodness gracious - the astronomical levels of cringe, boredom, embarrassment, and annoyance these two made me go through should be studied because i feel like i aged 50 years while reading about these two fools 🤡🙏🏻.

firstly, the good parts that came from this book (the only reason why this isn't a 1 star):

- warner pov's.
- warnette proving why they'll always be the greatest couple ever 😭
- nazeera !!! my queen.
- kenji and warner's friendship <3
- warner proving around the end why he's the cleverest RAHH (literally gave a standing ovation because i got so hyped, MY KING)
- the first 30% that was a bit nicer.
- the release me puns me and danny made every two chapters ("release me from this life", "release me from this slump", "release me from the shackles of this world", "release me from whatever the fuck this was" (our humour is broken)).

however, as much as i liked aaron's chapters, i do believe that the only reason they existed is because the author knows the appeal him and the rest of the og characters hold. and i love him but my man (and the rest of the og characters) deserve so much better than to be used to save these bland main characters and their nonexistent story.

now that that's out of the way, let's start with the bad stuff. this is quite literally gonna be one of the longest rants i've ever done on this app, so buckle up 🙏🏻

(if someone enjoyed this book then kindly stay away from my review and let us both be happy 🙏🏻. i cannot deal with the "oh you're too damn harsh, authors aren't saints" talk from anyone 🤡✋🏻)


── .✦ 1. James Anderson

oh lord. this man was so cringe. i felt the second hand embarrassment so acutely i wanted to shoot myself. he turned from a naive goof from book 1 who wanted to prove himself into an absolute wannabe macho man teenager who thinks he's the only one who knows all the hidden secrets of this universe 👹.

me everytime james did something in this book:



everyone in this book was annoyed with him, but no one was as annoyed as i was because if given the chance i'd slap this dumb hoe off the planet 🤡😭. the amount of times he was ready to put the lives of people around him in jeopardy, people who have loved and cared for him so so much, just because he thinks he knows rosabelle better than anyone made me so fucking pissed off and mad.

there's nothing going on with him or in his mind for the entire book. no worries concerning our plot or the threat to their world. the only thing that exists in his mind is: rosabelle. that's the extent of his thoughts and it's the most annoying thing to go through because yes you can like people or be obsessed with them but this is a story and as such he's responsible for moving the plot forwards half the time 😭🙏🏻

the way he disrespected warner at times made me so mad. he needed a bitch slap because that's his literal brother working day and night to fix this mess of a republic, something james was fully intent on sabotaging the entirety of the book.

also, let it be said that i did think he seemed handsome and pretty at the start but he pulled sm cringe shit, i lost all my hope in this loser + i think that was just me having a thing for blondes 🧍🏻‍♀️


── .✦ 2. Rosabelle Wolff

everytime a rosa chapter came up, i had to gather all my mental strength just to push through whatever tier of boredom this girl was about to make me go through. i've seen cardboards with more personality than her. not to mention, most of her chapters were consecutive (3 rosabelle chapters together) which is about 4 times too much rosabelle.

me and danny everytime we saw a rosabelle chapter was up next:



even talking about her is putting me to sleep. even if i do understand that this is the point of her character (being devoid of emotions, feelings etc.), it doesn't undermine how absolutely dull and monotonous it was.

her thoughts and feelings for james are recycled over and over again so many times that i started skipping them. take them out and there's nothing of value left in her thoughts, and it's even worse than james because with james atleast we encounter the og characters and he atleast has a slightly more existent personality than rosabelle 😭 her only other thought is her sister? a character i could not care less about even if i wanted 🤡✌🏻


── .✦ 3. rosabelle/james vs. warner/juliette

i am one of those people who absolutely do not understand the rosabelle x james romance.

with warner and juliette, their characters and their love are built up for each other. warner knew about juliette, he studied her, spent time with her, and fell for her. and in his novella (shatter me #1.5) we get such a raw pov of his feelings. there’s confusion between them and unsurety at first but at the same time there's this intimacy and closeness and this knowledge that this person is the one who knows me the best. and once they get together with each other, it’s just the most beautiful thing because everytime i read about them, i feel like im spying on someone’s life. they are the definition of soulmatism.

i love them so much, i've always wanted to have the soulmate kind of love like theirs 😭💕



compare that to james and rosabelle, and knowing how good tahereh mafi can make her romance, they don't even hold a candle to her other main couples. their feelings are written in a beautiful way at some places and it’s like danny said that we gotta give credit where credit is due. but i am genuinely unable to feel anything for their characters and because of that, i could not care about their romance either. they are the most teenage vanilla sort of crushes you can concote up.

james daydreams 24/7 about rosabelle like my guy, please, the world is on fire 😭🤡. at one point, they had some horrible stuff happening and people could have been in literal danger but he was like: "she touched my chest" 💀💀💀 it isn't even funny delusional, it's mind boggling because how can we care so less about people and their lives?

rosabelle on the other hand mentions all her feelings for james over and over again by using a new metaphor each time, but those feelings had no change from start to end. if you read their feelings for each other at page 1 and then the last page, they are literally the same 😭🙏🏻


── .✦ 4. absolute lack of plot

i can summarize everything related to the plot that happened in this book in three lines max. the amount of colossal nothingness i encountered in this book is something very few others have been able to beat before this. maybe it would have felt less empty if the main characters had some personality to them or their romance held any appeal at all but combine it all together and you get the most boring ass, vanilla, shmuck of a cake made of air.

basically:

me to danny at 20%: nothing has happened uptil now. nothing will happen.
danny to me at 80%: NOTHING HAS HAPPENED TILL NOW.

at times, the book was trying way too hard to be “quirky” and “funny” to the point that it just got so fucking annoying and had me all “???”. some deep thought would be going on and then suddenly the side characters would start making some 2 page conversation about some absolutely irrelevant thing like the state of the walls or whatever, which instead of making the book seem funny just made it seem so awkward and forced.

this was such a huge disappointment when you consider that the story had so much potential because a dystopian world where AI is posing as a threat to humanity and what makes us humans at our core is a brilliant concept especially in today's world and what better way to make it reach people than shaping it into a story. even if my opinion about the character lies in a subjective area, the plot is objectively nonexistent 😭 which sucks considering how wonderful it could have been.


── .✦ 5. inconsistencies and nonsensicalities

firstly, the overpower-ization of rosabelle was crazy. she is made out to be this person who is capable of anything you could think of. that in itself is not the issue, but the efforts at making her seem superior and better just ended up leaving a bad taste in my mouth because as a consequence of all that – the og characters and their intelligence were dumbed down to nothing.

she is some insane tier assassin who can hack a base, fly planes, hide from an entire freaking army, disable entire security systems like?? make it make sense. the issue here is not rosabelle in herself. the issue is that we know and love these characters. we know how they think and act and work. they are intelligent and you cannot convince me that these characters would go around making such mistakes or being in the below 50 IQ range.

what level of god tier dumbassery is this that there is a regime they overthrew -> they found out that regime still exists -> still they keep using the systems/machinery/security of that regime. make it make sense !! i refuse to believe my og characters could be so dumb.

which brings me to my second point: why was no one using their powers for anything at all?? 😭😭😭 THESE PEOPLE OVERTHREW A GOVERNMENT JUST BY USING THOSE POWERS AND NOW SUDDENLY NO ONE WANTS TO USE THEM EVEN THOUGH IT’S THE GREATEST ARSENAL AT THEIR DISPOSAL.

make. it. make. sense.


── .✦ 6. some extremely cringey stuff

at one point in the book, rosabelle tells some important information to a group of characters. information important enough that it should immediately be told to higher ups.

this was james reaction after hearing that news:

“Nope,” James says sharply, shaking his head. “Absolutely not. I meant what I said. We’re not discussing anything until you eat—”

“What?” I stare at him, stunned. “I don’t think you understand what I’m saying—”

“I understand exactly what you’re saying. I don’t care if the world burns to the fucking ground, Rosabelle. You’re going to eat first.”

me after reading that:



she literally just told information that could affect everyone's life. information characters other than james heard !!! if james was thinking from his dick, how could no one else? 😭 she could chug some water, eat an apple from the kitchen. but what do they proceed to do? GO TO A DINER.

and then james gives rosa a pink fur coat and then they all go "aww cutie wutie patootie this cutie awweeiee we totally didn't hear life changing information 5 seconds ago at all 🤗💕 she's so cute like a marshmallow awww". and then james decides to wear a fucking beanie. like i already hated this man but great, let's give him a beanie too.

moreover, after they go to the diner, rosa's arms stop working so james proceeds to cut up her waffle into smaller pieces and then proceeds to cut them into even more smaller pieces 🤡🤡🤡 the infantilization lmao. a point im sure no one other than me and danny will care about or agree with but whatever the fuck.

another awesome james quote that came out from these chapters:

“Stop staring at her,” James barks at the others. “Let her eat her food in peace.”

They look away like chastened children, turning their eyes to their plates, or else around the restaurant. James stares pointedly into the distance, his hand clenched around his water cup.”

how james felt after saying that:



if someone "barked" like this at me when i was much older than him, you'd better believe that dumb hoe would get murdered by me. the wannabe strong masculine man behaviour was taking me out 🤡😭 i cringed so bad.


── .✦ conclusion

in conclusion, this book sucked. og characters were the only saving grace for the entire thing. not to mention, the ending was fuckass. first the plot and romance and characters didn't make any sense. then the ending was absolute shit too. it was so random and nonsensical, me and danny were dying.

will i still read the third book? yes. because i love my og characters and they appear way too much in this story for me to simply not continue it. but concerning james and rosabelle - i don't even know what tahereh mafi could do to make them more appealing or likeable since she seems hell bent on continuing to give them the most flour-esque personalities ever + i see no signs of her actually exploring the potential the plot had.

how i feel after ranting so much for no one's benefit (kept the tradition from book 1 yayy):




· · ─ ·✶· ─ · ·


dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov. dilf aaron pov.

i'm going insane jk. i'm climbing the walls. i'm screaming. i'm shaking. i'm giggling and kicking my feet. i'm crying. an aaron pov in this economy?! 😭✋🏻

[Belle₊˚⊹♡ (for keeps ∞♡) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 Stars! ★★★★☆
(No~spoilers)

~𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵; 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦.

AAA SO GOOD!! 😭😭💗💗💗
Literally had everything I NEEDED FROM THIS BOOK
and it DID NOT disappoint 🙂‍↔️
💗💗💗

Wish we had more Warnette content but overall LOVED everything we got!!
And ugh the YEARNING we got from Warner didn’t disappoint either IDC I COULD READ ON AND ON ABOUT HIM AND JULIETTE🤌🏻😭

"𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯," 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴.
"𝘐𝘧 𝘑 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯?"
"𝘠𝘦𝘴."

~𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴
𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦.
𝘐𝘧 𝘌𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦.

LIKE UM YES. I’m still not over them both 😭


And Rosabelle & James literally have me sick I ADORE them both and their dynamic 😩🤌🏻

AND OMG JAMES…might be up there with my shatter men because oml he was DOWN BAD. I love him.

IM NEED THE NEXT BOOK RN 💥 💥 💳

⭐️Rating: 4/5
📚Age Rating: 15+
🔥Spice: 0/5

💌Favorite quotes:

~"𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?"
"𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶," 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘭𝘺.
"𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦."

~ 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦.
𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳.
(WARNER AA⬆️)


💜Pre-read:

DADDY’S HOME YALL. WE ARE SO BACK

🩵Pre-release:

WE’RE GETTING WARNER’S POV IN THIS BOOK??
OH WE ARE SO BACKK
Alexa, play Daddy’s Home by Usher 🗣️🗣️🔥🔥

[SK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Idk how to rate this one. I had a lot of fun with it especially considering 60% of the book. After that it started to frustrate me a lot. It's definitely better than Watch Me. But not perfect, far from it.

Firstly, coming to the plot, it was far more engaging for me even though majority of it was pure chaos. Come to think of it, there was not a moment where the characters or I found a moment to breathe with the situation at hand. No, we just keep rolling and making more messes rather than resolving anything. There's a whole lot of drama here with almost all the couples involved and it led to a lot of avoidance of conversations that actually mattered.

I did like that the book starts off with Warner's pov and he instantly hooks you in. The raw vulnerability and that same cold, calculated mind is what makes him stand out. And I loved that we went back to that bit of his personality instead of softening him up because he's found love in 'not insane' Juliette.

Kenji is a ray of sunshine as always though a little more stressed in this one. I understood his position but him and Nazeera really need to sort out their issues. And if I really think about it with how this book revealed more tidbits about them, it's just one big miscommunication trope.

Now, James, I like him. He's the likable sort of chaos, loyal, protective and almost as unhinged as a dark romance mmc. There are similarities to him in Aaron in the way they carry themselves. But while Aaron is more contained and controlled, James throws it all out. He's totally the type of man who growls. And not hesitant to put himself out there emotionally and physically. Like I could be feral for James if we keep on that path.

Rosabelle, I tried. I really tried to like her here. But this woman frustrated me. I'm sorry, I could not find her likable here. She might have frustrated me more than Juliette ever did. Cause this girl has the communication skills of a toddler. She cannot speak in proper sentences for minutes and then she pops up those intense statements to James every once in a while. I'm sorry, that's such an inconsistent writing. We don't explore her thoughts on the man but sure let me believe that she cares for him because she said one good line 🥴😒

I did like the intensity of the romance between James and Rosabelle that's been building. But it is mostly because James is carrying it on his back. Rosabelle might not even exist and I'll ship James with a wall 🤦‍♀️ I did however enjoy their relationship from Aaron's pov. Because it was that scene that shifted the tone a little.

Coming to the ending, it was decent. I liked the cliffhanger and I'm going to read the next one for sure. But please for the love start getting your characters to communicate. This book could have been hundred pages of Rosabelle had just tried to speak properly like a grown ass woman even once. Because there was a whole bunch of random ass talking happening here in this one but no solutions. It is what brings my rating down.



~•~•~
I'm just here for Daddy Warner. The rest of the plot can catch on fire and I couldn't care less...

[Ayman · Rating 5 out of 5]

release me from this tormenting slow burn. safe to say that James Alexander Anderson went to the school of Aaron Warner Pathetic Yearning Longing Lusting. Than man IS his brother in every word. crazy how they could be in a life or death situation and his thoughts are “so when is your birthday?” my boy is whipped, rightfully so. 🤏🏽

reading Aaron Warners POV once again was like coming home to my husband. he is the king of “i don’t do anything without my wife’s permission” cuz what do you mean he feels like he’s in the wrong place if she isn’t with him? “the precious few hours a day i have to myself i like to spend with my wife. i don't go out at night unless i'm with my wife. if ella isn't with me, i'm in the wrong place” you know what? HELL YEAH! 💓

James is the 7x7 = 49 to Aaron’s 9x9 = 81 what an iconic duo. and can we talk about the humor in this book? kenji saves the day once again. but not only that, put kenji, aaron, and james in a room and it’s so bro humor. it was giving frat boy energy anytime they communicated with one another and i was here for it. ‼️

This may be a YA book but James sure as hell ain’t! “ I want her naked in the moonlight. I want to lay her down under the stars. I want to feel the wind on my back when I make her scream” James i wasn’t familiar with your game. no dna test needed to prove he’s aaron’s brother.🤝

i feel like so much happened in this book and it ended right when shit was hitting the fan. like that final scene? ok costco. that scene in the diner with Rosabelle and James?!? someone sedate me. James is so passionate and whimsical. i feel like i’m being bathed in sunlight whenever he describes Rosabelle “she's so beautiful it's actually a little hard on my brain. the first time i saw her i glitched so hard i convinced myself she wasn't even human she looks like if a flower were a person. like if clouds were a person. like if a person was made of cake.” he is a man written by a woman. *sighs in agony*

i need kenji and nazeera to get their shit together or just give me an entire book of just them. also juliette and aaron will have a girl. aaron warner is meant to be a girl dad the same way the sun rises everyday. i am ready for dilf era aaron fucking warner‼️🤰🏻

[Maddy ✨ ~The Verse Vixen {AFK brb}]

Assassins Collide, Secrets Ignite, and Love's gonna Burn Wild!ᝰ.ᐟ⚡


Welcome back to The New Republic, where trust is lethal, hearts are fragile, and chaos reigns supreme.Rosabelle returns, a storm wrapped in silence, James, caught between duty and desire.. If Watch Me was about survival, secrets, and the brutality of Ark Island, then Release Me is shaping up to be about reckoning... Ark Island isn’t done with Rosabelle yet. The New Republic has secrets. James has questions. And the Reestablishment? They’re only warming up.

⚡ Betrayals will sting.
💔 Hearts will unravel.
🔥 And trust? It won’t survive the fire.

📌 Expect everything:

Deadly alliances? ✔️
Heart-stopping betrayals? ✔️
Villains that make your blood run cold? ✔️✔️
Love simmering in the shadows of assassination? 🔥
Tension so sharp it could cut steel? ✔️✔️✔️

📢Aaron"I grieve nothing, I take everything" warner - in his prime daddy era - inject it into my veins.🥂🔥

We are getting daddy's Warners POV!- GURLLL DINNER 2026🍽️ 🧘🏻‍♀️
and I cannot. I repeat: CANNOT...
I . AM . SAT!!!👏🏻 I’m going FERAL.👏🏻

Manifesting warner as-

A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD
A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD. A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD A GIRL DAD



🎨 COLOR THEORY:
The cover, y’all. The soft pinks, the muted peaches, the hazy pastels—AHHH MAFI, THE COVER IS GORGEOUS.. I mean, the way the pinks swirl with soft shadows? It’s giving me heart-fluttering chaos and end-of-the-world vibes at once. Every time I glance at it, I hear my own heartbeat syncing to the story’s tension. Mafi, you did that. 👏💘


📍The ending left us hanging (hello, cliffhanger chaos 😭), but book two feels like it will rip deeper into:

✦The Mutative Gene Will Explode in Importance
Rosabelle’s genetic mutation, hinted at in Watch Me, won’t just be a character quirk—it could be the key to either saving The New Republic or destroying it. I think book two will show us exactly how dangerous (or powerful) she truly is.

✦James Will Be Torn Apart
He’s caught between Warner’s expectations, Rosabelle’s pull, and his own need to prove himself. Don’t be surprised if James betrays Rosabelle at some point—out of fear, loyalty conflict, or to protect her. Their trust will be tested.

✦︎Warner Will See Too Much of Himself in Rosabelle
He knows what it’s like to be made into a weapon, stripped of choice, hardened by survival. Their conversations could be some of the most cutting, emotional scenes. He may push her harder than anyone else—but also offer her the sharpest path to redemption.

✦︎Clara’s Health as Catalyst
Clara isn’t just background. If her condition worsens, Rosabelle might do the unthinkable—ally with someone dark (maybe even Soledad) to keep her alive. Clara’s innocence is the ultimate bargaining chip.

✦︎Soledad & Klaus Are Not Done
Expect Soledad to slither back into the story. And Klaus? The ambiguity about whether he’s just code or something more screams book two payoff. If Klaus merges tech with human will, Rosabelle might be his “chosen vessel.”

✦︎The Nexus Will Turn on Everyone
In Watch Me, The Nexus was a tool of surveillance. In Release Me, I think it becomes uncontrollable—maybe even rewriting people’s memories or reshaping identities. What if Rosabelle’s past isn’t even fully hers? 👀

📌 Manifestation Checklist:

-Daddy warner's POV!!!
-Rosabelle breaking her walls. 🪄
-James surviving his own reckless heart. 🔥
-Kenji getting the closure he deserves (I SWEAR, we need it). 🫀
-Ark Island exploding in style. 💥
-Love, betrayal, revenge, redemption… all at once. 🗡️


I’m not ready.
I repeat: I’m so not ready.
Because this book promises tension, fire, and heartbreak, and yet… I cannot wait to dive in. If Ark Island doesn’t break me, the romance, the betrayal, and the chaos will.

🔥 Final Manifesto Update:
Rosabelle’s chaos arc. James self-sacrifice. Daddy Warner POV. Clara’s fate. Kenji x Nazeera reunion.

If we don’t get closure for Kenji, I will cry in lowercase for a week.Because if Release Me doesn’t break me in 72 different directions? Was it even a Tahereh Mafi book!?

[manas · Rating 3 out of 5]

RELEASE ME from the shackles that is this series.

[Clace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Release me from whatever the fuck this was 🙏

The 2 stars are only for my pooks Juliette, WARNER, kenji, and NAZEERA (the rating is me being generous)

Ma'am, what are we doing here?? 😔😔 Not me defending Watch Me last year only to be writing this review for Release Me 🫣 See, the thing is even without a significant plot, book 1 gave me a good time and was, tbh, more enjoyable than Shatter Me. I had thought that, yk, Tahereh excels with her sequels (Unravel Me, These Infinite Threads), so I thought maybe Release Me would be my next new obsession. It was a fucking nightmare. Shifu and I started this, and it was honestly such a conflicting book because at certain parts we would be like, how is this the same author who's writing other scenes, as some of the scenes would be soo good but others would be unreadable. Gotta give credit where credit is due, the first half was really fun to read and the book was fast-paced and bingeable, but the second half was absolutely atrocious. Our two main characters are so cringe. The old OG characters were carrying the book. The writing was also very inconsistent, like I genuinely felt super weird reading it.

I usually know that when I am reading a Tahereh Mafi book, I won't get a lot of plot. However, there is enough of it to make me feel not bothered because there would be other factors like the characters, the world, the lore, the romance to keep my mind away, but here not only was the plot lackluster, the other factors were also missing, so it all just went crashing. Release Me's full plot was Rosabelle trying to escape. I'm not even joking, there was literally nothing else. N O T H I N G. I have never been this baffled by the lack of plot because what was this?? Even fillers have more plot, ugh.

I'm gonna talk about my OGs first. Aaron, my pooks, no one can dumb you down!! He was a force in this book. His POVs carried this book. I remember how me and Shifu would be on our knees thanking God that we got his point of view, otherwise it was soo bland. Nazeera 🫦 my baddie pook, I looooooooved her so much. I missed reading about her. Seeing her talk about Kenji was so 😔😔 I miss them, but yeah, I like how much exposure we got from Nazeera and her finally opening up about the problem made me so happy. I love her, man. Kenji, without him this series would be so bland?? Like, he brings the wit, the humour, the charm. Everything that made this book good came through Kenji. Juliette, I love her and I loved some of the scenes, but she was sidelined. I get why, but like?? That's literally the most powerful character. Now, I don't understand why two kids of the supreme leader were made to be weaker than our FMC or why literally no one was using their powers because WHY DO YOU HAVE THEM if you won't use them?? That was my only problem here.

Rosabelle, I was intrigued by her character in the first book, but in the second one she was so boring. Like, we got nothing about her. Since we didn't build any connection with her, I didn't care about her flashbacks. She was such a dead character, and I know that was kind of the point, but it made everything soooo boring. Ugh, I hated reading her point of views, and oh my God, there were so many of her chapters. At one point, we just started skimming her chapters because there was nothing of substance. Also, I won't forget you touching Nazeera 😡. James, he was a walking liability. I don't even know how he got the clearance for all the info he had because the way that man couldn't shut his mouth or keep it in his pants, like omg there's so much happening. AN ATTACK IS HAPPENING, but you're thinking about her kissing your chest? Be so fr right now 😒 Like, he did the dumbest things. He did not think with his brain at all, and it pissed me off. All the love I had for him in book 1 vanished in book 2.

Romantically. AaronJuliette? Loved them. KenjiNazeera? Loved them. These two dumbass bitches?? Hated them. There was no chemistry, no nothing. He was a fucking fool, and at times it just felt like she was using him. Both of them had the personalities of a fucking donut, and I hated these characters, so that made me automatically hate their romance. Them making out during an attack and James thinking about how she kissed his chest was sending me (I was about to kms). Not to mention how we got 7 chapters of James trying to feed Rosabelle, like what are we doing here??
(Guys, I wrote this review while watching From, so there may be some mistakes)

Overall, it was such a disappointing sequel AND a special thank to Shifu for reading it with me.
__
Soooo excited to start this with Shifu, a br is what'll get me out of this slump

[Uswah · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF’ed at Chapter 17

Never in my life did I think I would DNF a Tahereh Mafi book 😭 but hey, here I am 😃 Basically, I’ve been struggling to move forward with this book, and suddenly I realized I have the power to DNF a book, so why not use it? 🙂‍↕️

Ngl, I’m fully rested—not sleep-deprived at all—and yet whenever I open this book, I start yawning like I haven’t slept for two whole days 😔💀 I think y’all can guess just how bored I was 😭

I’m so sorry, but the only good thing in this book was Warner’s POV 🙂‍↕️ that really got me going. But then the main characters’ POVs came (ofc), and they bored the heck out of me 💀

I remember really enjoying the first book and giving it 4 stars. I seriously have no idea what happened here 😭 Suddenly, it lost all the spark, and I’m feeling really disappointed because I was genuinely excited to read this 🫠🫠

Atp, I honestly don’t know whether I’ll continue the series or not—but we’ll see 🤷‍♀️

Yea, that’s it guys. Love y’all 🫶🩶

—————————————
.𖢻 ݁ ˖ pre-read .𖢻 ݁ ˖

OK, LET’S DO THIS 😼🩶 Plz do not disappoint me 😭
Oh, and I get to see Aaron Warner again 🙂‍↕️🤭

[Ss · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐ Mostly 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁 in this book was either us living in Rosabelle mind, or conversations between characters. 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘁. Why is everything happening in less than a week? I really hate when the timeline and major events unfold in little time, and when its in a short time you'd think that there's many things happening but no. Nothing.
Idk what happened to Tahereh Mafi forgetting the plot in her new books or making it boring.

I love 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, and that we get alot of the 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦 series characters, BUT THIS BOOK ISN'T ABOUT THEM! I think Tahereh mafi forgot who's her main characters and just decided to focus on the shatter me cast and put very little of the main characters Rosabelle and James. And I'm not saying that they aren't there, it's just not enough considering them the main characters.

𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗢𝗩 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. It's not only for the cute scenes between him and Juliette, But also because of the similarities between him and Rosabelle and the way he sees the old him in her and feels sorry for her even if he doesn't show it.

The scenes that includes 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 are so little and short. We do get to know her but if she's the FMC then the book should focus on her as much as it's focusing on the 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦 characters.
I feel bad for her, she's a mix of warner and juliette. She's lost and trying to keep her sanity just as juliette, And under watch and laws to be something she never asked for just as warner. I feel bad for her, this book shows us a version of herself she doesn't let anyone see, not even her sister.
Also, the way I still don't know what is her power? She has the ability to survive days without food or water or enough sleep, turn off her brain? Idk I'm really curious.

𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 Is just as Aaron when it comes to yearning. Guys she kissed him once and then he can't think straight ever since lmao.
And the way Rosabelle is affecting his brain chemistry just as Juliette once was having the same effect on Aaron? Yes please.


“Looking at her for too long makes me uncomfortable. Looking at her for too long takes me to dark places. In her I see shades of myself, and I don’t like the comparison.”

“I would kill for him without question, I would die for him without hesitation. He lives or no one lives. I would protect him with my life.”





|𝐏𝐫𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 ˚.꒷₊ྀིྀིྀི ⑅ ݁˖
𝖨 𝖿𝖾𝖺𝗋 𝖨'𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝗂𝗇𝗌𝗎𝖿𝖿𝗋𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗍𝗈𝗆𝗆𝗈𝗋𝗈𝗐... 𝖬𝗒 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗈𝗅𝖽 𝗆𝖾 𝗌𝗁𝖾'𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝖺𝗌𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝗉𝗈𝗂𝗅 𝗂𝗍 𝗈𝗇 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝖨 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗇 😭😭 𝖨'𝗅𝗅 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗋𝗒 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝗂𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝖺𝗒 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 🫣

[ivy · Rating 2 out of 5]

genuinely who asked for this?? who asked for James and rosabelle’s story? the whole time i was reading this i was just thinking about how amazing it would be if this series would instead be focused on kenji and nazeera… because that’s what the fans truly want. get ready for a rant, because WOW! this book was bad

2 stars

⚠︎ james anderson — he pissed me off SO bad, i had to put down the book multiple times to take deep breaths. at the beginning, i felt more bad for him than anything else (especially because i don’t remember a single thing from the first book), but once we progressed, it made sense to me why aaron, kenji, and everyone else treated him like he was a walking, talking hazard. because that’s just what he is! during active fight scenes where his whole family is possibly being threatened/receiving death threats, he is staring at rosabelle and thinking about her skin is so clear and glass-like, and how she kissed his chest and “how poetic it is”. and sure, we love a good yearning man who puts her above anyone else, but are we serious?? your family is in dire need of you and may be about to die 💀 all his thoughts revolved around rosabelle, and one of my best friends, areeba, mentioned this, but this is supposed to be a fantasy/dystopia as well, and that means we need a forward-moving plot. if it was a pure contemporary romance, it may have been a completely different story, but unfortunately that’s not what this series is.

⚠︎ rosabelle [insert last name] — maybe if she was more interesting i would’ve understood why James was so taken with her. but what did we get? a piece of cardboard. WET cardboard. someone who does nothing but just dampens the mood (in this case, the story). it’s been two books and i still can’t seem to find her personality. i get that she’s like this because of how she grew up… but again, she does nothing for the story.

⋆｡˚ ꕥ as soon as tahereh mafi announced this series, we all knew that this was just a way to milk the shatter me series — but nothing made it more obvious than this book. why does this series have to be more than 1-2 books? this whole book is just a huge filler. if someone put a gun to my head and asked me to name one thing that happened in this book, i would be dead. why? because absolutely nothing happened in this book. all we got was James and rosabelle running around still acting like they’re 15 year olds who just hit puberty and started learning about sex ed. seriously, if you want to read this series, you can just skip this book and go into the third with no issue.

overall, the only good part about reading this book was reading it with my lovely amber 💝 i’m so happy we read another book together, cannot wait for our next one! <3

⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹

˒˒💭 pre read ˒˒࿐· started may 12・xxvi 𖦞.˖
after watch me, i'm very intrigued to see where this goes 👀

𑁦ꗃ buddy reading with my beautiful bff amber 🤍 i love you so much, hopefully this will be such a good read for us!! <3

[Avery]

warner chapters. AARON 👏 WARNER 👏 CHAPTERS 👏

[ଘRory (Hiatus )]

POV: I have a kind of Stockholm syndrome-like relationship with Tahereh Mafi's books🤡, but I'm hoping that novel will change everything!

[Grace Quan · Rating 4 out of 5]

HOLY CLIFFHANGER!!!! 😲

This was more entertaining than the first installment, but I felt almost too fast paced. My head was spinning the entire time and I needed some slower portions to allow my brain to catch up. This whole book happened only in the span of a few days, so there felt like there was not enough time for everything to happen.

Despite the lighting fast pacing, I would like to talk about what was well done. Aaron Warner. That's it. just kidding, there's more good stuff. I loved the electric tension and chemistry between Rosabelle and James. Remember the obsession that Warner had with Juliette? Well, it's that obsession but for both parties involved. This makes the plot incredibly entertaining because we're just getting fed their chemistry and their obsession between the already tension filled plot.

Aaron Warner's perspective definitely didn't disappoint.

"I want to go home.
I miss my wife."

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH this is what ive been waiting for LITERAL YEARS FOR!!! Ive read all the fanfics on Ao3 on warner's perspective so it's so incredibly exciting to actually get it straight from the author.

[Kimberlie ౨ৎ (semi-hatius)]

My gorgeous Aaron Warner is coming home to me 😝
AGAIN

[faith&#x1d717;&#x1d71a;]

THIS ISNT A DRILL WE’RE GETTING AARON CHAPTERS OMG OMG OMG

[jo ୨୧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

aaron and kenji caried this and rosabelle and james made me go wth every five seconds. i might write a full review or maybe just some quotes. quotes yay or nay

QUOTE TIME

"i only shoot people when they deserve it i point out. yet you feel the need to punctuate every other sentence with a vulgar epithet that only serves to diminish you in the process--

pop off warner i love you for standing on business.

it soon became clear to me that i was dealing with a level of incompetence so profound it was almost impossible to believe

rosa shut the frick up have you read your chapters queen, you are 1800 level dumb

He whispers, "That's practically a declaration of love, Rosabelle Wolff

warner from temu !!! this is after rosa says she doesn't want to kill him. like babes you can try but you will never beat THE FREAKING AARON WARNER

its hard to believe this man is married james in ref to aaron warner.

um...i'd marry him. who said that

falling in love feels a little like dying
oh okay note to self, dont fall in love !! i already got the "feels a little like dying" down and theres no love from anyone

i'm unhinged and apparently im committing to the personality all the way down

james you are so unhinged the door isn't even in the room with us. matter of a fact, you weren't hinged to begin with. hinge wants to cancel their contract bc you just dont shut up.

where is she supposed to be visiting from, serial killer academy? she has the personality of a wall
my king winston on rosabelle

more than one person needs to punch me in the face. i need people to line up. take turns

I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE JAMES I"LL PUNCH YOU (who said that) he pmo

she's never not beautiful. it always decimates me

warner on ella. kill me now. i can never compete

HAPPY RELEASE ME DAY TO THOSE WHO CELEBRATE

[imaan &#x1f349;]

AHHHHH TAHEREH IS FEEDING US 👅👅
I ACTUALLY CANT WAIT THIS IS SO EXCITING

[amber ⋆౨ৎ˚ [semi-ia]]

meh. RTC


₊˚ 💎 ⊹ ⌇pre-read ࣪ ˖
⤿ started: may 12

i don’t remember a thing from watch me just that i’m very thrilled to see warner again 👀
buddy reading with my bffie ivy !! 🤍🤍 our second buddy read and i hope this will leave us wanting to read the third book too 🤭

[ezraaaa ୨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i must be a coke addict because these characters might as well be cocaine

[♡Naz♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let’s start with the fact that we got an Aaron Warner POV in the very first chapter and I was quite literally screaming, giggling, and swinging my feet. If you didn’t have a physical reaction to that, are you even breathing? I opted for the audiobook this time because I needed to hear the voices of Warner, James, and the rest of the crew vibrating in my ears, and let me tell you—it was an out-of-body experience. Tahereh Mafi has this uncanny ability to make words feel like art, and Release Me is a five-star masterpiece that proves the Mafi-verse is still the ultimate chokehold.

The world-building is getting even more intense, and my hatred for The Reestablishment has reached a fever pitch. These people are like cockroaches; they simply refuse to die and keep coming back like a bad rash you can’t itch. I feel so deeply for Rosabelle and everyone trapped in that nightmare, but can we talk about her power? The ability to kill yourself and just… come back? It’s creepy, it’s haunting, and it’s arguably more terrifyingly powerful than Juliette Ferrars herself. Rosabelle is a certified badass assassin, and watching her navigate this chaos is pure competence porn.

Then there’s my baby, James. He is so hopelessly, madly in love with Rosabelle that he doesn't know his left from his right. It’s official: this brand of "burn the world for her" devotion and obsessive love absolutely runs in the family. Watching James fall was the highlight of my week—may this level of obsession find me in real life, Amen! And despite the fact that nothing "explicit" happened between them, the sexual tension was like hot lava. The restraint was agonizing, and I was holding my breath through every single interaction.

The family dynamics in this book gave me life. Seeing James, Aaron, and Adam actually acting like brothers is the character development I didn't know I needed. Adam is the exhausted family man just trying to survive his kids, James is lost in his new obsession, and Aaron is out here acting all tough while internally spiralling over Juliette’s dangerous pregnancy. I missed seeing more of Juliette, but she’s busy "cooking" the next generation of Warner greatness, so I’ll allow it. The chemistry between the men of this family is elite—Alexa, play Same Damn Time. hehehe

We also need to address the tragedy that is Kenji and Nazeera. They are so perfectly matched that the fact they are currently broken up and dysfunctional is a personal attack on my soul. They literally cannot function without each other. At this point, someone needs to lock them in a room for a week until they figure it out. We deserve a full-length book dedicated solely to their chaotic, beautiful love because I have my grabby hands ready and they deserve their HEA more than anyone.

Finally, THAT ENDING. I am quite literally dead on the floor. That cliffhanger should come with a health warning because it was dangerous to my heart. "I am her fiancé and I am here to take Rosabelle back." Are you joking?! I am deceased, gone, evaporated.
----------

Tropes:
🔥 Proximity & Hidden Agendas
🔥 "Touch Her and You Die" Energy
🔥 Found Family / Brother Dynamics
🔥 Badass Assassin FMC
🔥 High-Stakes Cliffhanger

[Ayeley &#x1065a; ·˚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

ᯓ★ 2.75 stars ✮⋆˙


ꨄ︎ And who the hell started that rumor that Juliette died during childbirth? come to the front. She didn’t even go into labor😭😭.


Anyways. What an abysmal book!!!

sᴘᴏɪʟᴇʀs ᴀʜᴇᴀᴅ


·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ The first book didn’t even have that much going on, but at least it was interesting. At least it was funny. At least it felt like something was happening. This one was straight up appalling. I’m genuinely disappointed because it felt like absolutely nothing went on.


·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ The plot just kept going in circles. Lack of communication, repeated tension, the same emotional beats over and over again like we’re stuck in some kind of narrative treadmill that refuses to switch off.

And fine, I tried to tell myself maybe this series is more character driven. Cool. I can work with that. But then even the characters started feeling redundant.


·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ It felt like Tahereh was trying so hard to be funny this time. And I get it (the first book was funny). It made me laugh. But in this book the humor felt so fucking forced.

⁀➴ Every conversation had to have a joke squeezed into it, and not even a good one. Just random, “haha quirky” interruptions that don’t land because they keep happening over and over and over again.

⁀➴ Like you’ll be in the middle of a serious conversation and suddenly it’s, “What happened to the chicken?” …what?

⁀➴ At first it’s random-funny. Then it becomes random-annoying. Then it becomes please stop.🫩🫩🫩
Like damn when did everyone become such a jester?



·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ I actually liked James and Rosabelle at the beginning. James being a little delusional? Cute. Funny. It worked.

But by the end, he was doing entirely too much.

⁀➴ There is REAL stuff going on and this man is in his head like, “Oh my God, she kissed my chest,” while she’s literally explaining something important, and he’s busy thinking, “Wow, she looks good in my shirt.” Or about how he wants to marry her and all that dumb simp shit

Be serious.

⁀➴ It gets to a point where it stops being cute and starts being irritating. Now you just look like a braindead, lovesick idiot, a deluxe, upgraded version of a simp with extra foolishness🙄🙄🙄

⁀➴ And that’s what’s crazy, because James is always talking about needing to prove himself, needing to step up… then when it actually matters, he switches off completely.

⁀➴ I like James more than Warner and I hate to give Warner his 10’s but you’ll never catch that short hoe losing his trail of thought to the point of dumbness during a mission!


·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ And don’t even get me started on the structure. I can literally summarize the entire thing:

⁀➴ First part: tension, mistrust, conversations that go nowhere between James and the blonde whore

⁀➴ Middle part: James chases Rosabel → they talk → she hurts him → she runs → he chases her again → repeat. I swear this cycle went on for like seven chapters. I was like… are we serious right now?😭. What the freak

⁀➴ Then finally, they catch her. They bring her back. Warner, being such an emotionally stunted dud, lets her die for like three days. She wakes up, he makes an observation and sends her to Nazeera (who by the way there’s no progression with kenji!! Bland white couples get to stay together but my lovely Asian couple have to break up because of some annoying asf reason?? BTA)

⁀➴ Then James comes over and his whole personality is like, “Oh my God, she needs to eat.” I swear full sentences couldn’t be made because it was being interrupted by forced humor and James wanting Rosabelle to eat!!


·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ Which brings me to the infantilization of Rosabel, because what was that??

⁀➴“She’s so small and starved.” “She’s like a doll.” “I thought she was a child.” Her sleeping in his arms like a child would?

You see that thing when you have a newborn baby sleeping in your arms and any slight stir will make them react? And mumble and frown yk…allat shit. WORD FOR WORD THIS HAPPENED

⁀➴ Then James is cutting up her food into tiny pieces for her to eat??? That’s a grown woman the fuck. What is this disgusting shit

⁀➴ At that point I had to pause. Because what do you mean.
You lost the plot. Completely. Mafi


·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ And the pacing?? So awkward.
⁀➴ The progression felt disjointed. Things just… happened without weight. I didn’t even realize something serious was going on until it was already happening.

I was literally there like Why is the moon glitching??😵‍💫

⁀➴ Then suddenly at the end fuckass Sebastian shows up with some I’m here for my fiancée
End.

⁀➴ I’m sorry how is that supposed to land?? How is that important enough to close the book on?? Why the fuck did we wait one year for this absolute shite


·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ Yes, we get a bit more about the vial but even that felt like crumbs thrown in the kitchen and we’re supposed to be satisfied.

I’m not.


·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ I really didn’t expect to like the first book, but I did. This one? I thought I would enjoy it, and I genuinely didn’t.


No flowers for you, Tahereh.




· · ─ ·𖥸· ─· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ─ ·𖥸· ─· · ─ ·𖥸· ─



╭──────────.★..─╮
         Pre-read
╰─..★.──────────╯

Call me a hater but you’re telling me we had the chance to get a Kenji POV because of his relationship issues but instead we get a Washed out Warner’s POV?��

Hop off his dick Mafi😔

[sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

right so finishing this at 00:40 was definitely not good for my sleep but it sure as hell felt like it was the right time to finish this book at
👁️✨🌌💕

wow wow wow tahereh mafi has SURELY done it again. i don’t understand how she keeps cooking up these masterpieces in a year.

Here’s the question,” he says. “If J asked you to go to the moon for her, would you go to the moon?”
“Yes.”

“I never had a preference for blue eyes before I met him. I never knew I cared for freckles until I saw his face.”

My nerves are shot, I have to get going, and I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m tired of chasing you down and taking a bullet for it. …. Run for as long as you like. Shoot me as many times as you want. Try stabbing me again, it won’t matter.

getting into it, the world was just… chefs perfection? we had so much more world building from the ark to the waffle? (still have no idea what this is but okay!). i really loved how we just traveled through like 3 different areas of this world in two books, and some bits were a little overpowering as it was all being thrown in my head, BUT IT WAS SO GOOD!! i don’t think I’ve ever read a book that has this much world in it (im over exaggerating but im glazing tahereh 😻)

right I LOVE james as he is such a good character and has such a good backstory, i love the little mentions of the shatter me series because it brings me backkkk . but also Rosabelle?? SHE IS GENUINELY SUCH A GOOD CHARACTER and she brings so much to the book in terms of character relationships and climax/turning points. like DANGGG girl I haven’t seen another character like you in AGESSS.
oh and the fact we got a warner pov 😻😭 i am literally fangirling back to when i first read this series and im so happy he’s back. i was deadass running in circles 🏃 of excitement!! AND JULIETTE MY SHAYLA IS BACK
adam, kenji, nazeera: ITS SO NICE TO SEE THEM ALL AGAIN 😭😭😭

i love love love love love the backstory of the Ark, it’s so fascinating to see the characters interpretation and then rosabelles interpretation of her own world. but that girl has been through so much I think she genuinely needs therapy. back to the Ark!! it reminds me of the re-establishment in the og series and I lovedddd how we kept some aspects of that. (not the starvation of kids btw)

right spoilery bit BUT it’s hidden from all you non-release me readers bc idk why u haven’t read this yet but u should!! ‼️
WHAT THE FACKKK WAS THAT ENDING IM RAGING AND FUMING… TF SEBASTIAN IS STILL BLOODY ALIVE AND THE LIKE TURNAROUND FROM PEOPLE THAT JAMES TRUSTED??
also… can we pls talk about warner and Juliette’s pregnancy like AWHHHHHHHH
james keeps getting fucking shot but he still wants her. MATE TAKE THE HINT 😭😭
anyways dw i do love rosabelle+james i think they’re so cute
OH AND THE FACT THAT WARNER SHOT HIS OWN BROTHER IN THE LEG??

also, one bit I didn’t like was that he always describes her as petite and small but she can take on a big fight?? like love that but it’s kind of a cringey trope 😬 DW THO I STILL LOVE THEM

anyways I love love love this I cannot WAIT till the next one!! 💕💕 4.5 stars 🌟


pre-read
I AM SO READY 😭
OH AND THE COVER?? THE DESCRIPTION??
hooked hooked fucking hooked
i am not waiting till next year tahereh

im fr gonna crash out watch me was so scrumptious and release me will release my inner fan girl

[Saranya [hiatus]]

Rosabelle Wolff had a plan.
James Anderson had a plan.
Aaron Warner Anderson has a headache.

LMAO

At least Miss Mafi is giving us Aaron's pov after ditching us in Imagine Me😍😍😍

I AM SOOOOO ECSTATICCCCCCCC!!!!!!
I WANT THIS BOOK. NOWWWW!

And the coverrrr???😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[Courtney (why did I request all these!?) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never thought I would be rating a Shatter Me book after the first one 3 stars but damn, here we are.

Between Release Me and Every Spiral of Fate, I truly don’t know what Tahereh Mafi is doing. It’s like she heard that she is the absolute queen of writing yearning between her MCs and it went to her head. She’s totally lost the thread of what makes yearning so good, and it’s the development of the relationship around it. And also, it’s a book. There still needs to be an actual PLOT.

This book, just like Every Spiral of Fate, just spins and spins and spins. Like a car stuck on ice, Mafi’s MCs can’t seem to advance past their pattern of I-trust-you-but-oh-no-you-aren’t-trustworthy. It gets OLD.

There is also a complete and total devolution of James’ character in this book. In Watch Me, he comes off as a bit naive and trying to prove himself, but this time around many of his decisions are flat out stupid. Warner is endlessly frustrated with him and honestly so was I. I was completely with Warner, these decisions make no damn sense, and the insta-love was beyond annoying.

And on to that point, the insta-love. Maybe it doesn’t APPEAR that way, because it’s been two books, but it absolutely is. Still, after two books, Rosabelle is lacking in any clear personality outside of “I kill people to survive”. So, how is it possible that James has feelings for her? This is in direct opposition to the relationship between Juliette/Ella and Warner that was culminating their entire lives and the relationship in This Woven Kingdom where Cyrus has been secretly manipulated by outside forces to develop his feelings over months and months.

This is book 8, not counting the novellas, so of course I’m going to keep reading. And the banter in this book is absolutely next level, once again the original characters and their interactions are top notch. But I’m so disappointed that this book was a hard step down from Watch Me. I hope this isn’t a trend for Mafi and she pulls it together for her next few books.

[mia ౨ৎ [semi ia] (seeing bts!!!!)]

pre release:
WARNERS POV?!!!! YOU ARE FREAKING KIDDING ME! THIS BOOK IS GOING TO EATTTT

[trix (semi-hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

𐔌 . ⋮ reading summary .ᐟ ֹ ₊ ꒱
▸⋮ ⌗ read ┆apr 17 - apr 17 (2026)
▸⊱ ۫ ׅ rating: 3.75 ✧˖°
▸ spoiler free review

𐔌 . my incohesive jumble of thoughts.ᐟ ֹ ₊ ꒱

warning: written while delirious with sleep deprivation & high on the ending of this book. proceed with caution.

mafi oh mafi- how you disarm me. how you manage to break me down and build me up with a few effortless strokes of your pen. just how do you do it? i fear i might never know, but let it be known that by your books shall be my final resting place once this life has passed me by.

i always seem to end up here.

how do i begin to describe my all encompassing adoration for these characters, these words? Shatter Me has always given me what few books have, and i never feel more at home than when i am buried deep within the folds of these pages.

aaron, my love, this world doesn't deserve your anguish.
juliette, darling, you're too sweet for this impure world.
kenji, your humour will never not put a smile on my face.
nazeera, babe, you is me and i is you.

rosabelle and james, james and rosabelle; a love so forbidden yet hauntingly sweet, so engulfing it has me in a chokehold. here, folks, is the true successor to the legacy laid by those before them, and while juliette and warner will forever carry the crown, their brother is doing a mighty fine job of bringing me to my knees.

james, a true juxtaposition of the men that raised him; this guy is genuinely kenji stuck in aaron's body.

and yet, i cannot help but see undeniable traces of both juliette and warner in sweet rosabelle, too. oh, sweet rosabelle, how sorry i am for ever doubting you. i fear i might give you my heart on a silver platter, should you ask for it.

throughout this read, my heart would not cease its incessant beating. i felt like i was being hunted and chased, running for my very life, shot in every organ and unable to stop from drowning in it all.

i have laughed. i have screamed. i have clutched my hair and fallen into endless tears. i cannot express my gratitude to mafi for granting me reprieve in this world again, for blessing me with these people and their ridiculous jokes, their love, their banter, and their unyielding resilience. i cannot articulate all my love, so it shall suffice to simply state-

i am home.


𐔌 . quotes .ᐟ ֹ ₊ ꒱

⤷ ゛Bro, I think James is on his period. ˎˊ˗

⤷ ゛I close my eyes. Open them.
I miss my wife.
I want to go home. ˎˊ˗

AARON MY HEART YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME.

⤷ ゛Worms turn garbage into compost. Worms do more for the world than you do. Worms just eat dirt and mind their business. Worms need a better marketing campaign. ˎˊ˗

kenji, i fear nothing compares to you.

⤷ ゛Her skin against my skin works like an opiate. ˎˊ˗

#warnette

⤷ ゛"Aaron?" she whispers again.
My eyes flutter against her neck. I'm half dreaming even as I press a kiss to her skin. "Yes, love?" I murmur.ˎˊ˗

#needmeamanlikehim

⤷ ゛In a stunning reversal, I've managed to unite everyone against me in his favor. Warner's never been so unanimously supported in anything. Ever. ˎˊ˗

⤷ ゛I shake my head, my mood darkening further. "Whatever."
"Okay, what the hell is wrong with you?" he says, stomping toward me. "Is this some kind of delayed puberty? Are you about to grow your first chest hair?" ˎˊ˗

james & kenji's interactions have me in fucking tears.

⤷ ゛"I think you doth protest a bit too much, bro."
I hesitate, take a step back. "What?"
"What?" he says defensively.
"Are you quoting Hamlet at me right now?"
"Fuck you, I like Shakespeare." ˎˊ˗

more tears.

⤷ ゛"Foul language is a cheap feast for an underfed mind." ˎˊ˗

OH WE ARE SO BACK.

⤷ ゛"A vote?" Warner frowns. "When have I ever given you the impression that this was a democracy?"
"About ten years ago?" Kenji says, without missing a beat. "Remember? We did the whole revolution? You were there. You were all, Ew, fascists-" ˎˊ˗

LMAO.

⤷ ゛Apparently, what I'm really looking for is a girl who threatens to murder my enemies.
Rosabelle has set the bar too fucking high. ˎˊ˗

⤷ ゛"We're all a bunch of traumatised weirdos with murderous daddy issues. Kenji exempted, of course."
"Weirdos?" Warner echoes, insulted.
"Daddy issues?" Nazeera pulls a face.
"Thank you," Kenji says, pointing at me. "My parents were awesome, unlike the rest of you losers."
Juliette's eyes widen. "Kenji."
"What?" he says, crossing his arms. "I'm not naming names or anything, but some of you were never hugged as children and it shows."ˎˊ˗

bless kenji, honestly.

⤷ ゛Rosabelle will go down fighting with her last breath, and I can't help but respect her for it. That's the kind of girl who shows up, holds the line, keeps her promises guards your secrets, destroys your enemies. That's the kind of girls i want to go into battle with.ˎˊ˗

⤷ ゛"Obviously, I can't leave these two alone." She gestures in my direction. "If we're gone for too long James will probably try to marry her, and she'll probably kill him for trying. We'll have to scrape his body of the asphalt." ˎˊ˗

love me a down bad james.

⤷ ゛She could probably ask me for anything right now. Fuck a jacket, I'd give her an organ. Any organ. She can pick the organ. ˎˊ˗

also, i'm convinced the lemon tree scene is a reference to alatltg.

mwah xx.

-->

i think i just died a little.
rtc

-->
why do we, as a fandom, collectively look past the fact that this is a whole-ass book and not just a few crumbs of warnette (albeit larger, chapter sized, aaron warner pov:d crumbs☺️☺️☺️)

this better deliver, mafiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, or else.
i'm in your walls 👀

[•°Dahlia ( hiatus ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

𓏲 ๋࣭  ࣪ ˖3.75 🌟
Mixed feelings rn.

Hear me out yall , this one was good yet it wasn't.
It was so funny , very bantery with a lot of yk tension between James and Rosabelle , hell we even got to see Daddy Warner, Kenji and Nazeerah and all the other characters from shatter me here .🤭

BUT when it comes to the plot it just made no sense like it didn't move an inch from where it was left in the first book Rosabella captured and meeting the whole Shatter me crew . Sure it was funny and cute but something was missing , we had the character development and some world building , we got to know what happened to the Shatter me characters but what of the plot ? Nothing nada.
The plot was just one big messy situation , like I don't know it just made no sense and gave me the worst headache , even the characters felt like lost idek .

⤿𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵; 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦.

One thing that annoyed me about this was how childish and indecisive were James and Rosabelle , man doesn't even know what he wants , but I still love my baby James, and that reaction whenever he hears someone crying ? I want to hug him 🫂
Rosabelle , eh the cold hearted assassin. Dunno I just couldn't relate to her , as I said before she is so so so indecisive, even worse than James , like one second she is hurting him and trying to kill him the next she js threatening anyone who tries to kill me and swears that she would due for him eh? Girlie please stop dragging my bae 🙏

Now let's talk about how we got daddy Warner 🤭.
That man , I love love love loveeeeee him so freaking much , I think the word "love" was invented to be said by him and only him , i would be in my knees for him like literally and figuratively. That man loves his wife aka Juliette so freaking much and ughhhhh I want a man like him who is that careful and worships me and calls me love 😭😩

⤿"If Ella isn't with me , then am in the wrong place" HQHQQGQGGQ MY MANN

Kenji is so funny I love him , he is the heart of the whole crew and god I don't think I will get enough of him , but WE WERE ROBBED AGAIN.
When the fuck is Mafi going to stop torturing us and finally give us Kenji and Nazeerah , just please how may fucking books before they get together , this book was so hwhwhwhw because not Kenji avoiding Nazeerah and her feeling so bad for that 😭


⤿"I didn't want you to remove it! I loved that tree!"
In a distinctly un-Warner move, he finally raises his voice, nearly shouting when he says, "Then why was I the only one who ever watered it?"
Kenji's mouth gapes open a moment, then closes. Then opens again.
"Wait, what? What are you talking about?"
Warner exhales slowly, looking like he might be working his way through an aneurysm.

"Kenji," he says slowly, like he's talking to a full-time idiot. "Did you think the tree was growing magically, all by itself?"
Kenji hesitates, like he knows he's about to give the wrong answer, and gives it anyway. "I mean, it's a tree," he says. "Trees just grow. Like, on the planet. People don't need to go around watering them." what I said lol



---
⤿ Pre-Read : ۶ৎ
Daddy Warner here I come 🙈🤭
No but really , book one was okay , hoping this one exceeds my expectations 🙏

---
WHAT DO YOU MEAN ? ARE WE FINALLY GETTING DADDYS AARON POV😩😩😩
aahsgwgagh jumping screaming and kicking my legs right now , and I want NEED that cover in my shelves 🤭

[asra⭑.ᐟ (hiatus)]

STOP EVERYTHING.

AARON WARNER’S POV???
IS THIS REAL LIFE?????
i'm about to claw the drywall, eat glass, and ascend- HOLY SHIT THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE DILF TO END ALL DILFS IS ABOUT TO SPEAK AND I HAVE TO WAIT TILL APIRL 2026????

no one talk to me until this is in my hands.

--------------

Rosabelle Wolff had a plan.
James Anderson had a plan.
Aaron Warner Anderson has a headache.

lmfao thats so aaron coded.

--------------

that cover is insanely gorgeous 😍

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just like the first book, Kenji and Warner CARRIED. Rosabelle and James are so confusing… Like, what’s the point? The plot is basically non-existent. BUT reading a new book about these characters is like coming home again so what do you expect from me?!

[khadeja]

oh im so ready to hate read this 🥹