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.
In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.
(Excerpt from Goodread)
My touch is lethal. My touch is power.
A rose by any other name would still smell so sweet, right?
Okay, so I’m not into Shakespeare, but boy does his Juliette dim in comparison to that of Tahereh Mafi’s character. Strong, powerful, generous, Ms. Mafi’s Juliette is in all sense of the word, a superhero with a gift that leaves her despondent, shattered and alone in a world already succumbing to the cruel claws of desolation.
Outside the uniquely woven plot, Shatter Me is filled with breathtaking scenes of romance, danger and emotions so overwhelming, you’ll feel, breath and bleed with Juliette as she conquers a life of darkness, solitude and pain. Her only light in a world splintered with betrayal and bleak devastation — Adam, a heroic and impossibly beautiful man with the power to leave the reader drowning in a pool of their own saliva.
There was a flickering moment towards the end — and I will give nothing away — that I questioned where Ms. Mafi was going, what she was thinking, but at the promise of a sequel… that was quickly ignored.
Now, I could go on, telling you how wonderful and amazing and inspirational Shatter Me was, but no review could ever truly do justice to the heart gripping tale Ms. Mafi has diligently sewn together. My recommendation, read it, because I will most definitely be picking up more from this author in the future.
Shatter Me is one of those books that I couldn’t wait to read. Not only has it been incredibly hyped online, but it has an incredibly compelling concept and a great blurb that screams “Read me!” Being touted as the Hunger Games meets X-men, Shatter Me boasted some of the most unique marketing I’ve ever seen for a YA novel, despite its unknown author and not-incredibly-compelling cover. Being the dystopian nerd that I am, I was completely pulled in by the incredible blurb and was beyond exciting for this title.
Shatter Me was strangely difficult for me to get into. First, Juliette spends much of the first half of the novel being completely obedient to the horrible regime that locked her away and seemed completely resigned to her terrible fate. It also doesn’t help that she spends far too much time feeling sorry for herself, calling herself a “monster” and dripping with angst. There were times I wanted to tell her to just get over it. Thankfully, throughout the novel Juliette’s adventures help to meld her into a stronger, better person who is more confident and empowered.
I’ve also read some interesting reviews that have discussed how much they loved the writing style in Shatter Me. I’m not sure I like it -in fact, I was torn for much of the book. Most of the writing is done in stream-of-conscious style that really gets into Juliette’s head, but left me out of breath by the end of most sentences. It didn’t seem that polished or crisp to me. Again, this did get better as the book went on, but I wouldn’t rave about the writing style here. However, some sentences here were amazing emotional gems that really were beautiful.
I wouldn’t call Shatter Me the best dystopian novel I’ve read this year, but it’s still worth reading. It’s certainly something different in the genre with a unique style approach that’s unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Recommended for fans of dystopian romance.
Have a nice day,
Sara
Awesome blog post, nice page theme, carry on the good work
This AMAZING review makes me want to curl up with Shatter Me and read it all over again. Brilliant review and beautiful writing from this fantastic reviewer. I am so happy that you loved this book as much as I did. I can’t wait to read more from Tahereh Mafi…and I can’t wait to read more from YOU (and with you – *hugs*).
Thank you sweetie!! I can’t agree more with you. It’s fantastic having a friend to chatter about books with *hugs*