Unravel Me

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi is a 2013 Young Adult dystopian novel. It is the second book in Mafi’s Shatter Me series and a New York Times bestseller. Unravel Me follows 17-year-old protagonist Juliette Ferrars, who struggles against a totalitarian government using her powers of lethal touch and super strength. The novel addresses issues of identity, self-esteem, and mental health in a dystopian context and contains genre elements of fantasy, psychological thriller, and romance. The film rights to the series were optioned by 20th Century Fox in 2011, and in 2015 Mafi announced that ABC Studios had optioned Shatter Me for television, though as of 2023, neither adaptation has been released.

All references in this guide are from the 2013 e-book edition from HarperCollins.

Content Warning: Please note that this guide makes (non-graphic) reference to gun violence and suicidal ideation.

Plot Summary

Several weeks after the conclusion of Shatter Me, Juliette is settling in poorly at Omega Point, the rebel stronghold where she, Adam Kent (her boyfriend), James Kent (Adam’s 10-year-old brother), and Kenji Kishimoto (a former spy for Omega Point) found sanctuary at the end of Shatter Me. They fled to escape Warner, the commander of Sector 45, a subdivision of the totalitarian government known as The Reestablishment. Juliette, who spent much of her childhood incarcerated in psychiatric facilities and prisons due to accidentally killing a child with her “lethal touch” powers, worries that she is “a monster.” Castle, the leader of Omega Point, urges Juliette to practice using her powers, which he calls Energy, and to expand her social circle beyond Adam. Juliette, struggling with self-hatred, can’t bring herself to do either.

When Adam begins acting strangely and goes to a mysterious location with Castle, Juliette coerces Kenji into taking her to a secret research lab, in which members of Omega Point test their Energies. Adam is strapped down, in evident pain while Castle impassively takes notes. Juliette panics and punches through the floor, using the super strength she has only been able to deploy a few times previously. This “overload” of her powers causes her to fall unconscious for three days. When she awakens, Kenji says she must begin taking her powers seriously if she wants to stay at Omega Point, which makes Juliette ashamed of her poor attitude.

Castle tells Juliette that Adam also has Energy, but his can be used to nullify other people’s powers. This is why he can touch Juliette; he is the only person, aside from Warner, who has ever been able to do so. Adam’s powers work as an automatic defense mechanism when he feels threatened, so as he has become increasingly comfortable with Juliette, his instinctive shields lower and the pain of her touch affects him. Juliette is horrified to realize that she could kill Adam and attempts to break up with him. Adam insists things can work out between them, and they kiss. Juliette feels a surge of power and pulls back to find Adam gasping for breath. She screams for help.

While Adam recovers, Juliette trains with Kenji and is invited on a mission outside the compound to steal supplies from The Reestablishment. While on this mission, Juliette sees Warner, smiling and feeding a treat to a stray dog. She is upset to see this human side of Warner, particularly as she has been increasingly preoccupied with thoughts of him. Warner almost catches her, but Kenji uses his invisibility powers to shield her. The mission otherwise goes smoothly, and Juliette feels closer to the new friends she’s making at Omega Point though she still struggles with sadness over her breakup. This makes things harder when, shortly after the mission, two of her new friends are kidnapped by Warner’s father, the supreme commander, who demands to meet with Juliette.

Adam, Kenji, and Juliette, hidden by Kenji’s invisibility powers, go to the location indicated for their meeting. On their way, they find a well-maintained house in a dilapidated neighborhood that they nearly mistake for the meeting location. They head to the right place, but not before Juliette thinks she sees movement inside the house. While the boys stay invisible and the rest of Omega Point waits hidden as backup, Juliette meets with Anderson, who is jovial and handsome even as he mocks Warner for being attached to Juliette. He summons Warner to the room and urges him to shoot Juliette.

Warner points the gun at his father, instead, and Anderson says he will shoot Juliette himself, but while father and son argue, Juliette seizes Anderson’s gun and shoots him in both legs. She is about to kill Anderson when Kenji stops her, saying it’s too soon to take out The Reestablishment leader, and knocks Warner unconscious. Adam, who has rescued two hostages, enters the room and announces that Anderson is his father, whom Adam thought was dead. Despite this shocking reveal, the battle between Omega Point and Reestablishment soldiers means the trio has no time to waste, so they leave, taking Warner as a hostage. The tide of the battle is about to turn against Omega Point, so Juliette uses her super strength to punch a fissure in the earth, buying them a chance to escape.

Back at Omega Point, Juliette is assigned the mission of interrogating Warner, which she dreads, particularly now that she knows he is Adam’s brother. She visits Warner, who reveals he has Juliette’s notebook, which she used as a journal while in the psychiatric facility (where she was held at the beginning of Shatter Me). He quotes from it extensively, which makes Juliette feel exposed. She feels anxious about her increasing closeness with Warner, considering it a betrayal of Adam. Warner, led by Castle, encounters Juliette and Adam in the hallway. He mocks Adam for begging for Juliette’s love, which enrages Adam. Castle later asks Juliette if it’s true that Warner can touch her, and she admits that it is and realizes the significance of this: Warner also has Energy. She continues to meet with Warner, learning more about him and seeing a series of terrible scars on his back and several tattoos on his body. She admits that she doesn’t hate Warner anymore, which pleases him. He tells Juliette he loves her and informs her that Anderson plans to attack civilians soon.

Juliette relays news of the impending massacre to Omega Point, who prepare for battle. Several members of Omega Point argue, to Juliette’s horror, that they should kill Warner, but Castle refuses. Warner has asked for sanctuary and is no longer a prisoner. Castle reveals that Warner has Energy and can touch Juliette, and this upsets Adam.

As Juliette and Adam talk in the hallway, Warner appears. Warner goads Adam and the two fight. Juliette and Kenji try to break up the fight until Kenji collapses, a victim of Juliette’s powers. Kenji is rushed to the medical wing, and Juliette collapses on the floor, afraid she has killed her friend. Warner reveals that he channeled Juliette’s powers and accidentally used them against Kenji. Unlike Adam, who is hurt and exhausted by touching Juliette, Warner is energized by it. They touch hands, which thrills Juliette even as it fills her with guilt. Adam approaches her, and she steps away from Warner. Though she isn’t sure why, Juliette keeps Warner’s discovery about using other people’s Energies a secret.

After confirming Kenji will recover, Juliette is visited by Warner in her room. They kiss, and he asks her to use his first name, Aaron. He plans to leave Omega Point and wants Juliette to come with him. Suddenly guilty, Juliette says Adam’s name. Warner leaves angrily.

The next day, Warner has disappeared, and the battle looms. Juliette finds herself thinking about Warner. She, Kenji, and Adam work as a team, sneaking invisibly through the rain toward Sector 45, where the sounds of battle can already be heard. The trio finds Reestablishment soldiers dragging a civilian woman from her home. They follow the soldier to a group of civilians, who are about to be executed. Kenji, Juliette, and Adam rescue all the civilians except one, who is killed in the struggle. As they flee, a massive explosion detonates nearby. They find many bodies indistinguishable as either Omega Point or Reestablishment. Seeing this, Juliette thinks about the pointlessness of violence and war.

Just then, Juliette is attacked by a soldier, who recognizes her from her time as Warner’s prisoner. He knows about her lethal touch and threatens to shoot her if she tries to remove her gloves. He doesn’t, however, know about her super strength, and Juliette crushes the bones in his arm as he tries to choke her. The soldier’s screams draw his comrades, and Juliette is hit over the head. Semi-conscious, she is taken to the well-kept house she saw during her journey to meet with Anderson earlier in the novel. Battered and half-frozen, Juliette drifts in and out of consciousness, as an unknown woman gives her a bath (fully clothed, to avoid her touch powers).

When Juliette wakes, she is alone in a boy’s bedroom. She goes downstairs to find Anderson, who admits this is the house where he “keeps” his wife, Warner’s mother. He talks with Juliette, his outward mien jovial and casual until he admits that Juliette shooting him in the legs has left him barely able to walk. He wants revenge. Just then, Warner bursts in. He asks Anderson what he is doing, and Anderson admits that he has kidnapped twins Sonya and Sara to heal the injuries that Juliette caused. Anderson then pulls out a gun and shoots Juliette in the chest.

While Juliette thinks she is dying, Warner takes her to the twins. They don’t think they can help Juliette because they can’t touch her, but Warner tells them that he can touch Juliette, and all the twins have to do is touch him. They don’t seem to believe him, but help anyway.

Juliette is healed and sleeps off her injuries. When she wakes, she is in Warner’s bedroom with Warner beside her. He tells her that Anderson thinks she is dead. Galvanized by her near-death experience, Juliette decides that it is time to use her powers to their fullest.