Unravel Me

Building on a theme introduced in Shatter Me, Unravel Me pays careful attention to the psychological effects of physical isolation. For Juliette, whose lethal touch means she is unable to make physical contact with anyone except for Adam and Warner, being physically touched is something that she simultaneously longs for and fears. Her inability to touch others makes her feel like a “monster,” who deserves punishment, misery, or even death. As such, when Juliette does experience physical touch, it carries intense emotional and physical significance. When she kisses Adam in the early chapters of Unravel Me, for example, Juliette thinks, “My skin is hypersensitive, finally finally finally awake and thrumming with life, humming with feelings so intense it’s almost indecent” (20). These “feelings” include both the sensation of skin-to-skin contact and the love she feels for Adam. Later in the book, after their breakup, Juliette wonders what proportion of the love she felt for Adam came from the sheer relief of being able to touch another human being. Being able to touch someone after having touch withheld for so long creates emotional intimacy in Juliette as well as physical intimacy.

The physiological effects that Juliette experiences as a result of her isolation are gradually resolved as Juliette discovers other means of having emotional intimacy, such as through her growing friendships with other members of Omega Point, her utility to the collective (which makes her feel as though she is part of the group), and even her conversations with Warner, whom she can touch but often chooses not to, due to their history as enemies.