Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Sekret Julii

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Sekret Julii by Tahereh Mafi

55 reviews

notbambi's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Big improvement on the first book for me. The non-romance plot was more focused, the romance plot actually gave us reasons to root for Warner, or at the very least empathise with him (and it wasn't the dumb dog bit), and it didn't even have to make Adam into a bad guy to do it. Juliette figures out that love can't magically fix everything wrong with her life and that she is capable of being a complete person without needing Adam to be her emotional crutch.

I will say that some of the writing gets a little bit cringey, but it's improved. We aren't subjected to classic lines like Shatter Me's "my dreams are bloody and bleeding and blood is bleeding".

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emiliaborsikova's review against another edition

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emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked this soooo much more than the first book. It’s very easy to read but the excessive metaphors took some getting used to. The metaphors make it seem ALMOST like it’s trying (and failing) to be poetic to be honest. It’s definitely a page turner and the plot was good, to the point where i would read for less than an hour and already have read 100 pages (a lot for me). But it extremely lacks in world-building- why is there even an apocalypse? what is the apocalypse in this world? It mainly talks about what the government wants to do but not how it got to that point like girl tell me what’s going on please. Then I feel like I could get so much more into it because a lot other than the well fleshed out characters seemed to be left to imagination in terms of the universe they’re in. Overall I liked the character development, especially Warner’s and how Juliette finally realised she should stop feeling sorry for herself and do something about her situation to the point where she becomes even relatable (don’t worry girl, i would go for them both too).

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abicaro17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Jesus H Christ. I genuinely don't understand how this and the first book were written by the same person. Like the first book was fine but THIS. Lordy. I adored this book. Warner is my favorite as resident lover and pyscho but, Kenji is a verryyy close second as probably one of the only people who doesn't handle Juliette with kid gloves. I am so excited for the next books for real.

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melist6's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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stine1304's review against another edition

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3.25

I enjoyed the first book way more.
I fell like in this book not a lot happend but Juliette still managed to annoy me immensely. Like how can a person be so indiscisive and horny at the same time?
Also the book had serious inconsistencies that I just couldn't let go while reading.

For example when Aaron and Juliette kissed in her room, that was completely dark (because all the light was turned off as we were told all the time) but still she could see his lips… make it make sense?!

Also, I know everyone is a big fan of Aaron Warner but he isn‘t suddenly a good person just because he saves a dog and has a bad childhood. I‘m sorry but he still murdered and tortured AND seemed to enjoy it…

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annikenr's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

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leoopard's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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meeklovestoread's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This series definitely gets better with the second book. This book had everything I liked: action, conflict, plot, romance, friendship, etc. It was so nice seeing Juliette and Kenji's friendship development and in my opinion, Kenji is by far the best character so far. That scene where he put Juliette in her place for being too self-involved sent me. I was applauding the whole time. It was also nice to see Juliette discover her abilities and witness her inner conflicts with being perceived as a "monster" because of how lethal her abilities are. What did annoy me though is Juliette and her tendency to constantly keep secrets and the fact that she's portrayed as this strong individual but it always getting captured.

I also would like to state that I felt this book did Warner's gradual redemption arc better than his novella did. Don't get me wrong Warner is still a psycho because of the fact that

he tortured Adam in a slaughterhouse and left him for dead, tried to kill both Adam and Kenji, invaded Juliette's privacy by reading the contents of her most vulnerable thoughts (her journal), assaulted her with an unsolicited kiss, and so many more unspeakable acts.

I can never excuse his past behavior and was really curious how he was going to redeem himself from all the infamous crimes he's committed, however, I did find myself warming to Warner more in this book, especially after reading his apology towards Juliette

Warner's apology: “Every single day I’m sorry,” he says, his words barely a breath now. “Sorry for believing the things I heard about you. And then for hurting you when I thought I was helping you. I can’t apologize for who I am,” he says. “That part of me is already done; already ruined. I gave up on myself a long time ago. But I am sorry I didn’t understand you better. Everything I did, I did because I wanted to help you to be stronger. I wanted you to use your anger as a tool, as a weapon to help harness the strength inside of you; I wanted you to be able to fight the world. I provoked you on purpose,” he says. “I pushed you too far, too hard, did things to horrify and disgust you and I did it all on purpose. Because that’s how I was taught to steel myself against the terror in this world. That’s how I was trained to fight back. And I wanted to teach you. I knew you had the potential to be more, so much more. I could see greatness in you.”

Although it's still going to take a little more for me to view him as a variable love interest for Juliette, I am starting to see the Aaron Warner appeal and hopefully, it just gets better from here. Especially considering it's obvious the author planned to make Juliette + Warner canon from the jump considering that in all their scenes in this book, their chemistry is off the charts.

The way Aaron calls her "love" all the time melts my heart every time. And this quote from him was everything:

“...I want to know how to convince you to design a smile just for me.”

I want to be clear that while I am warming up to Warner, I hold no ill intent toward Adam. I just feel like her relationship with Adam isn't honest; she was never comfortable sharing her past with him like she is with Warner. I don't hate him or dislike him. Quite frankly I feel like Adam’s feelings throughout this whole book were justified.

I felt the ending created a great set-up for the next book. I will definitely be continuing.

(also, I just wanted to add a little note about Castle. I feel like his behavior throughout the entire book was also justified especially in regards to Juliette. She really can be too self-involved sometimes and thinks she can do no wrong because of how passive she is. Like girl, no!)

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rokinjaguar's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Super entertaining. Not written particularly well and it was pretty slow at times, but I had fun. :) I adore Kenji. Juliette needs an adult. Adam, you gotta chill. Oh man, if I had

two brothers who hated each other but were desperately in love with me

I would simply go away. Way too much drama.

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lizzye33's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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