7.29k reviews for:

Believe Me

Tahereh Mafi

3.96 AVERAGE

arabellasbooks's review against another edition

5.0

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Usually I wouldn't give a novella five stars but this was an immediate decision and I will stand by it. Juliette was so adorable in this and Aaron was, as always, incredible and I loved that this entire novella was from his perspective. Once again Aaron and Kenji were incredible and if I could get an entire book dedicated to their hesitant yet fast growing bond I would pay all the money in the world to own it. Also Aaron and the dog? I was an still am in heaven. This novella was everything and I could not stop smiling and blushing like a maniac.

krystal_rose's review

4.75

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

stephrz13's review

3.0

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KENJI, the man that you are!! He's really what got me through this series. Obviously have a lot of love for Juliette and Warner, but Kenji is definitely what got me through, especially in the latter books

melifly's review against another edition

4.25

emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Yes

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𖡎“This is the beginning of a new chapter for all of us, man. For the whole world. This wedding is making history right now. You know that, right? Nothing is ever going to be the same.”
“Believe me,” I whisper. “I do.”

𖡎“I just want you. I want you to be my family.”

4+☆ instead of five because I really hoped this novella would’ve stretched out a little further! 
This was so cute! I had missed the characters so much!!! I am happy to have read some more about them and their lives thanks to this novella. 
The narration picks up shortly after the events of “imagine me”, the story unfolds from Aaron’s point of view - we have a glimpse of what he is feeling and thinking, how he is processing what’s happening… and I’d say that the novella focuses a lot on that.
We see the Sanctuary is in need of some work, and the people outside of it seem quite restless. Juliette and Aaron have a wedding coming soon!

it’s supposed to take place on the same day that the tale starts off, but it gets pushed back because the situation isn’t right and prepped for a wedding… Juliette is scheming behind the scenes and Warner feels quite upset and worried about her sketchiness… 
𖡎Sometimes I fear I will be trapped forever in this cycle: incapable of happiness, inseparable from my demons.

but she wanted to make him a surprise! She got an entire house (almost) ready for them to live in! In unregulated territory close to the Sanctuary. And there are plans to expand their territory and make those unregulated lands livable and safe.
𖡎“We’re struggling to take care of our own people—how can we be expected to take care of the people of 241, or the sectors beyond that?”

I would’ve hoped that the situation with the post Reestablishment world was more lengthy explored…

𖡎“None of us know the intricacies of The Reestablishment as well as you do— none of us is as equipped to dismantle, from the inside, the North American system better than you are.”

There’s Kenji, of course! I’ll reiterate that I love him! His banter (and also his smartness) is such a great addition to the series.

𖡎I can’t help but study Kenji’s face; I’m astonished by the kindness there, the happiness he does nothing to hide.

𖡎“How’s this for a surprise?” Kenji says, leaning against the folding chair. “This beautiful piece of shit right here?” He gestures at the dilapidated house next door. “This one’s mine.”

The book finishes when Juliette is walking to the altar, to Aaron.

I wish we would’ve witnessed

the wedding!! And what came after it and, honestly,

everything about their futures ♡

𖡎I experience a pang at that, at the love and devotion she’s inspired in others. It’s a rare thing to find even a single person who desires your unqualified joy; she has found many.
She’s built her own family.

𖡎It is a miracle, then, that Ella’s love is louder; and I’m so grateful for the reassurance of her touch it pierces me through the chest.

𖡎I never thought I’d be able to trust, or love, or find peace. I’ve been searching for so long for a pocket of quiet to inhabit, a place to exist unencumbered. I always wanted a door I might close—for even a moment—against the violence of the world. I didn’t understand then that a home is not always a place. Sometimes, it’s a person.

𖡎“You and I— Aaron, people like us think good things will disappear because that’s how it’s always been. Good things have never lasted in our lives; happiness has never lasted. And somehow we can only expect what we’ve experienced.”
(…)“I’ve realized that we have the power to break these cycles. We can choose happiness for ourselves and for each other, and if we do it often enough, it’ll become our new normal, displacing the past. Happiness will stop feeling strange if we see it every day.”

arxshaa's review

4.0

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the perfect ending for the perfect series

carolienrorije's review

3.0

hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

hanneyreads's review

3.0

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idk what happened and this took me an embarrassing amount of time to read

agabookland's review against another edition

4.0

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

cbaarly's review

4.0

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it was like reading ur parents having ykyk

lararedcay's review

4.5

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes