Review: Fans of Shatter Me will love this dystopian thriller.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 13, 2013
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.Fans of X-men and Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me series will fall in love with the MetaWars. With scientific enhancements and mutations that are all but magic, this politically messy series contains a world that has remade itself over and over again. And despite that complexity, I jumped in with CHIMERA and found myself up to speed and invested from page one.The only downside to starting this series at book four was my perception of the character’s ages. Renee was volatile but self-aware, snarky but empathetic, and the perfect point of view to introduce me to this world, but something about her had me thinking she was in her late teens for much of the book. Correcting that misinterpretation didn’t set me back, but it does say something about the tone and style of narrative. Though Renee certainly has baggage and prejudices, CHIMERA is more about her own healing than resolving a contrived misunderstanding. A wounded warrior surrounded by heroes, as Renee comes to accept herself she opens herself up to accepting others. The relationships, both romantic and otherwise, were a beautifully organic part of the story.Marvel has nothing on the twists and turns and past plots that make up the MetaWars, but the amount of backstory Meding provided was enough to keep me moving forward. I was surprised to find myself as invested in the global, cultural fate of Metas as their individual love stories. Happiness is achieved in the moment, but this messy, violent world makes it clear that “happily-ever-after” isn’t guaranteed to be just around the corner. This team hasn’t given up on the fight, though, and my fingers are crossed that this series culminates in a safer world for them all.Sexual Content: An explicit sex scene, references to sex.