Cat decides to investigate by herself to find some answers, as a stranger in Facebook sends her pictures of places from an event in the past she wants to forgot. Who is this stranger? How does he know what happened that night? And can Cat find the real killer before something happens to her or her son? Pacing was good and there was no superfluous waffle or padding so the story got on with itself very well. Characters were, shall we just say, interesting! Spoilers prevent me from saying more about the majority but I did sort of warm to Cat mostly although I did not agree with some of the things she did along the way - she showed herself to be alternately smart and naive - but I guess they were necessary to progress the story.

The less good things are that even though the book was short, there was still some unnecessary padding. The main character's constant gripes about her appearance were grating. To me it was obvious that the 'bad guy' had to be one of two characters so there wasn't much in the way of surprise there. I mentioned before that a big positive of the book was that you felt the danger for the main character, but I found it a bit hard to care when it becomes increasingly obvious that she's actually a dreadful person who deserves all she gets and then some.

In full disclosure, it’s been a really long time since I read the the first batch of Shatter Me books. The good thing about the book is that it was quite short and fast-paced to match. The tension was good and it was believable that the main character could be in real danger. A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. Good to see you’re all right, sir.” His voice is a nervous, shaky thing. “Good to see you’re all right.” I build walls until they begin to crumble, and then I force another set to take their place. I build and build and remain unmoving until my mind is clear, uncontaminated, containing nothing but a small white room. A single light hanging from the ceiling.

There were many characters introduced who had the potential to be the culprit...and it was neither super obvious nor out of the blue. I had great time solving the puzzle and getting to that ending.He is in a difficult position being his father’s son, hating him so much but having to follow his path. In a way he is a prisoner to his world, the way Juliette is to hers. They don’t have much of a choice, do they, but they have so much in common.

Juliette counted her life in numbers, in breaths, so now it makes sense that she always wrote the numbers the way she did.. Her head is full of them – counting and counting, because that’s all that’s left of her. Warner on the other hand is building imaginary walls, securing his mind, emptying his heart when he needs to stay focused, when he needs to protect himself from the outside world. In Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner—and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she’ll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of. I’ve been shot, Delalieu,” I manage to say. I open my eyes. Look into his watery ones. “I haven’t gone deaf.” But, there were some really stupid decisions, sloppy doing, some very bad planning and plot wholes, and I just wanted to scream at the main character all the time. There were so many instances where our MC acted rashly, and her actions did not make much sense...but I can get past that given her mental state at that time. Few instances felt quite convenient ...like Cat trying to reach Charlie's husband knowing that her face is plastered all over the media, and she is a big suspect for murder. And he did not recognise her as the main suspect from the media. Cat's mom and her views on her daughter's marriage really infuriated me... I know this is somewhat a reality in many places, still it was tough to read about. And Poor Delilah!(her dog)...was that really necessary😰!I knew she was terrified, horrified, even, but I never thought those feelings were directed toward me. I’d seen her evolve as we spent time together; she seemed more comfortable as the weeks passed. Happier. At ease. I allowed myself to believe she’d seen a future for us; that she wanted to be with me and simply thought it impossible. I try to fight it off but it lingers, and the more I try to ignore the memory, it multiplies into a monster that can no longer be contained. I don’t even realize I’ve fallen against the wall until I feel the cold climbing up my skin; I’m breathing too hard and squeezing my eyes shut against the sudden wash of mortification. I love the interaction between each "suspect" and how Cat has to be careful about who or what she does or says. The ending though - Oof. That, I was not expecting in the slightest. The state of Cat or that little last reveal. Overall, I will most definitely be reading more of Karen Cole in the future. The short answer is Yes! You can skip the novellas. They aren’t necessary at all to understand the main story.