Destroy Me - Taherah Mafi

Destroy Me by Taherah Mafi
Genre: YA Dystopian

Blurb (on back of book): Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner—and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she’ll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of...
Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner’s father, The Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son’s mistakes, it’s clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.
Set after Shatter Me and before its forthcoming sequel, Unravel Me, Destroy Me is a novella told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

MY OPINION: ****

SPOILER ALERT FOR MAIN SERIES

This is a novella in the lengthy Shatter Me series told from Warner's perspective. This was my first time reading this novella, despite having read the first three books in the main series before. I absolutely loved getting to see this side of Warner. I have always been Team Adam in the first book, though I know that that changes as you read further. My friends all love Warner and this short story helped me to understand why and who he was.

First off, Warner is not the cold, awful, cruel monster that he seems to be. It's all an act to appear powerful and strong in front of his father and his soldiers. From this book, you realize that he's actually weaker and in more pain than what the first book showed us. I just wanted to give him a hug the entire time and I've officially started to root for Warner. I felt so bad for him when he was reading through Juliette's notebook because it revealed that he truly loves her and wants to be with her instead of merely using her as a pawn in his game.

I loved his relationship with Delalieu because it was so adorable! I loved how Warner showed that he could be kind through his treatment of Delalieu, which really helped to seal the deal that I am now on Team Warner.

I wish that this book had been something other than just merely retelling two of the events that happened in the first book. I would have like to see more about Warner's past, and how he became the way he is. I did like how we got to see the awful relationship he had with his dad, because it helped to show the pain and abuse he has gone through. I only wish that there was more about Warner's actual self and personality, though I'm sure we'll get that in the next upcoming books.

I would recommend reading this novella if you have read Shatter Me. It adds more depth to the "villain" and makes it all seem less black-and-white, good-and-evil, something that I talked about in my previous review of the first book. Also, we all just love Warner now so why not get a little extra content about him if you have the chance?

Main Character: Warner
Sidekick(s): Delalieu, etc
Villain(s): Father, power, etc
Dystopian Elements: This was set in a futuristic world.