Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tehereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me
Book #: 1
Pages: 338
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 4.18
Published: Nov 15th, 2011
by HarperCollins

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Taschima's POV:

Shatter Me was definitely addicting. The novel was, new and refreshing and great. The writing was my favorite part! The repeated words, the stricken words like this, it all made sense since Juliette has a very fractured mind. At times the writing was very poetic, I really like it, though it could also be its downfall if used unwisely or if you get tired too quickly of all the pretty writing (the constant metaphors at times were a bit much, I kept thinking "I get it, you perfected the trick, I'm proud of you, now move on") and just want something coming straight at you. Juliette is an interesting character to read. She is so different from my usual type (sarcastic, kick ass chick) but she still works and I am looking forward to her controlling her abilities and making sense of her life and her persona. She is more crazy than sane for most of the novel and to be quite honest kind of needy, though it's understood when no one in your life has never even dared to touch you or showed you any kind of affection. But still girl, keep it in your pants. By the end she redeems herself by standing on her own two feet though, so kudos Juliette you have made it into my "Heroines to look out for in 2012" list.

Adam, the male flame in this f-up world, is a guy with a lot of mystery. He is a guy with a lot of questions that have been left unanswered (also, he is so sweeeeet). He doesn't intend to be so mysterious all the time, but by the end of the novels I was left with more questions about Adam than answers. Like, for example... how can he touch Juliette? How is it that he is immune? Luck? Also the other guys in the book are something to look out for. Warner for example, though he is the bad guy he is a very complex character. At times I felt bad for him, and wanted to help him out, but then he'd do something like put a bullet through someone's head and I'd reconsider. Kenji is introduced pretty far ahead in the story, but he is the Puck of the story, the funny comic relief that we all need.

The world the author has created is all her own. She didn't take from any other dystopian novels, it's the same background but with different flavor. She took the superhero formula and combined it with the dystopian one to create a whole new super kick ass flavor (more importantly she didn't fed either of these down out throats). This book is all about the Reestablishment and getting to know your characters and enemies, the next one will hopefully show us a bit more of the "hero" side of the world since it was cut short in the end there (not a cliffhanger, but it still leaves you hanging) and answer some unanswered questions that are burning deep within my soul.

Oh and, careful cause this book is HOT. I have nothing against it, hell bring more of it on, but in every other scene it seemed like Juliette and Adam were having a pretty intense make out section. The sections are pretty hot, and only remain PG-13 cause nothing other than making out actually happens (though it is not due to a lack of trying). Beware, be warned, and above all enjoy.

PS; such a shame I don't have that striking cover T_T

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