A review by annettebooksofhopeanddreams
Believe Me by Tahereh Mafi

4.0

I know that I'm the exception. I'm probably one of the very few preferring the second trilogy over the first. It's hard to pinpoint why. Objectively I understand that the plot is not perfect, far from it, and yet every word came through, hit me, reached my heart and my soul. I felt the second trilogy. I felt all those emotions so deeply that it was hard not to love what those books did to me. I was therefore very excited about this extra story.

Let me start with stating that I don't think the series NEEDED this extra installment. Everything happening in this book is something we could guess based on how the series ended. However, it doesn't make this novella less satisfying. The entire novella reads like an epilogue, wrapping up the story completely, leaving the characters at a far better place than where we found them, once upon a time and very long ago.

As a Warner fan, I think we can all agree that he was my first bad boy crush, I also loved this novella because it was all about him. He's a complicated character. He's certainly not the most likable character. He's most of all different from the other characters we read about in this series. And all of that is acknowledged. I quite liked how Juliette voiced that she sees what Warner needs and how badly he's trying for her sake. I think it's a beautiful way of loving someone.

Although this book is in the first place about the wedding, it also answers some lingering questions about the political situation and the transition to a new world. What I always loved about this series, is that Mafi knows that winning the revolution is not the hardest part. We often had revolutions winning and then still losing because they failed to handle the after properly. So, it's a very lighthearted story, but with undertones implying that everyone knows the work isn't done.

If Mafi has more to tell, I'm here to read it. If this is where we really say goodbye to these characters, we can leave them behind with a smile.