Friday(-ish) Forward: Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll remember me getting a little excited when this book came out: 

Looooove...

And then I got even MORE excited when Tahereh Mafi came out to MY OWN BOOKSTORE to sign copies! ZOMG! Of course, I had to go there to meet her.

And, of course, I got her to sign the ARC that I had read. And I got her to sign another copy, too, for you guys. WOOT! More about that at the end of this post.

And, OF COURSE, I had to read Destroy Me, the e-novella that came out last month! Here's the blurb: Perfect for the fans of Shatter Me who are desperately awaiting the release of Unravel Me, this novella-length digital original will bridge the gap between these two novels from the perspective of the villain we all love to hate, Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

In Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me, 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.

I ate this up. What surprised me most, in a good way, was how sympathetic Warner is as a character. I finished Shatter Me wishing that a sinkhole would open and swallow him up, crush him, and erase him forever. I hated his guts. But I finished Destroy Me kind of feeling sorry for him, despite myself. And also wondering if he is as bad a guy as Shatter Me led us to believe. Kind of the way I felt about Mitt Romney after the election: he's still not my guy, but at least I don't hate him anymore, and I can't help feeling a little sorry for him and wondering if he would have turned out better if he'd only had a different beginning. And I KNOW we're going to need to know this stuff about Warner by the time Unravel Me comes out! Destroy Me is available on e-book only, and you can order it from all kinds of places from the Harper Teen webpage here.

And to celebrate the release of Destroy Me, I am GIVING AWAY my beautiful, signed, original cover design, basically-a-collector's-item copy of SHATTER ME! AAAAAAHHHHH!

To enter to win, simply leave a comment on this here post. I will put all the names in a hat (because I'm old-fashioned that way, and also still slightly technologically challenged) and pick one at MIDNIGHT, on the night of DECEMBER 8TH.

One extra entry for every time you spread the word, IF you leave a link in the comments. I homeschool, guys. Time is a precious, precious commodity. The direct links really help me out.

HAPPY WEEKEND!