Tahereh Mafi, an Iranian-American author, most known for her young adult series Shatter Me, has reopened the Shatter Me series by releasing her new dazzling novel, Watch Me.
Instead of a direct continuation of Shatter Me with its familiar characters, Watch Me follows James Kent, the previous main character’s half brother, ten years after the last book in the series titled Believe Me.
Mafi has a brilliant talent of instilling characters’ humor in direct correlation to their personality traits. Throughout reading Watch Me, I caught myself audibly laughing on multiple occasions. Kent’s comedic timing and sarcasm alongside his seriousness in tough situations, makes him an easy to love character.
Watch Me focused on Kent and Rosabelle Wolff’s particular journey through their extremely different worlds. Their connection grows throughout the story, despite their circumstances and seemingly forbidden romance.
Mafi perfectly captures the dynamic of two emotionally damaged characters exploring a new feeling of affection that they have not received in their childhood and adult lives.
The addition of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced technology, kept me hooked and always on my toes. As the use of AI applies to modern times, it was extremely interesting to see the potential of AI in the future within a dystopian context.
While reading, I felt as if I was physically in the story. All of the chaos occurring around me vanished as soon as I opened the pages and dived in.
On the release date, April 15th, 2025, I had the privilege of traveling to New York and attending the midnight premiere party at the Barnes and Noble at the Union Square location. Mafi hosted Q&As for each group based on wristband colors. My group, the purple group, went first to her Q&A, where she read and answered my question. At midnight, after many Watch Me themed games and activities, we all received a signed copy of ‘Watch Me’.
The Shatter Me series has played a very special role in my life. The books got me through middle school by providing me with comforting and relatable characters I could look up to when feeling alone.
Reading Watch Me has allowed the comforting feelings to return once again with an epic and suspenseful plot line that left me at the edge of my seat.
Mafi has revealed that the second book in the Watch Me series has already been written. Based off of the cliffhanger readers were left on, I can say with certainty that readers are anxiously waiting for the next release.
