Book: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, HarperCollins, November 15, 2011
Genre: Young Adult Dystopia/Paranormal
Format/pages: Hardcover 352 pages
Format read/Source: ARC received at Comic-Con, read Sept. 2011
Series: Book #1 of a trilogy
Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
Preorder the Book: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble
More Info: Goodreads
Juliette spends her days locked up in isolation because of her deadly talent to kill with a single touch. She has been shunned her entire life by her classmates, and even her parents have given up on her. A tragic event was the final straw that led to Juliette’s solitary confinement where she has only her notebook to keep her company. 264 days later, Juliette is taken to meet with one of the leaders of The Reestablishment, Warner. He wants to use Juliette as a war weapon, but she wants to live on her own terms and is ready to fight for herself. She’s also fighting for an unexpected chance at love with Adam, the only one who has ever believed in her.
Shatter Me is a dystopian and paranormal blend mixed with a healthy dose of action and romance. The first thing of note about Shatter Me is that the writing style is very unique. The author uses strikethrough in the text quite frequently, and uses a stream of consciousness style of writing. It took me a little while to get used to this style, though I think ultimately that the style works well to convey Juliette’s frame of mind. The embellished prose is very lovely and there are quite a few examples of creative metaphors used in the book that I would have to stop and re-read throughout the book. The writing style will not appeal to all, but the author undeniably is very talented.
Juliette is a strong yet sensitive main character. She is kind and generous, even with those who have done her wrong in the past. She starts off very broken and socially awkward, but slowly finds her way throughout the book. She struggles with how to manage her powerful touch, and does not want to harm anyone if she doesn’t have to. Her powers are very interesting, and reminiscent of X-Men’s Rogue. I’m curious to see how they work and how they will develop in the future.
You would not expect much on the romantic side with the girl whose touch kills, but she does manage to have some steamy scenes with Adam. They do have some good chemistry and their shared history make for some emotional scenes. Adam has his own baggage that he carries and is handsome, driven, sensitive and protective.
And then there is Warner, the villain character who wants Juliette to kill for him. His father is the leader of the Reestablishment, and he’s only nineteen, and also very attractive. He is obsessive about Juliette and tries to convince her to partner with him willingly. He is the character to watch in my opinion, and fascinated me throughout the book. Not sure what that says about me that I favored the bad guy in the book, but he won me over.
There is a lot of action and excitement in the book, and along with the romance and the paranormal element my interest level was high. As a dystopian I was hoping for a little more world building though, and that it was shown rather than told. The ending also takes off in an unexpected direction that didn’t grab me as much as the rest of the book.
I will read the next book, especially to find out more about Warner, and I’m curious to see the direction it goes. Read Shatter Me if the writing style sounds intriguing to you, or for the romantic/paranormal/dystopian combo. Look for Shatter Me to hit shelves November 15.
GIVEAWAY: The giveaway has ended. Congrats to Angel! Thank you to all who entered the giveaway!
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- Book: Shatter Me (bookchelle.wordpress.com)
Gah, thanks for the chance to win this. I’m dying (like literally dying) to read this.
I adored Juliette. There was something so raw and disturbing about her personality/mentality that she just drew me in. I enjoyed the writing style. It really added to the psychosis persona of Juliette. Glad you enjoyed it.
Also, awesome giveaway. 🙂
Ooh that sounds really interesting! I’ll definitely have to check it out! Thanks for the opportunity to win the ARC! 🙂
Thanks so much for the chance to read this! I’m adding you to my Reader list now. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed this one, Lucy. I have an ARC with the pretty cover, and I need to see what all the hype (on Twitter, especially!) is about. Great review 🙂
Stream of consciousness works for me when it’s well written and it sounds like it is in this case. Thanks for the review!
[…] The Reading Date YA & Adult Fiction Book Reviews HomeAboutChallenges20102011GiveawaysIt’s A DateReading List20102011ReviewsBy AuthorBy Title Twitter Facebook RSS Feed ← Review and Giveaway: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi […]
I keep hearing people talk about this book. Good to know it’s worth picking up!
Oh, thank you for the giveaway! I am DYING to read this book so much! I (sadly) didn’t get an ARC, so… 🙁
Tahereh is SO NICE, and I reaaaaaally want to read this book. EVERYONE loves it. 😀
I’m sure I’ll love it, too.
Amazing review! I really can’t wait to read this book.
Dystopian novls are some of my favorite! 🙂
I’m am DYING for this book! Thanks for this awesome giveaway! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It sounds really unique- although I’m sure getting used to a stream of consciousness will definitely be interesting! lol
Oh my gosh, I am SO excited for this book to come out! I’m really glad that you liked it!
Thanks so much for the amazing review and giveaway, Lucy!
I can’t wait to read this book. Thanks a lot for this great giveaway!
I can’t wait to read this book, I hope I win
I have heard SO much good about this one, I can’t imagine not liking it at least a bit, if not a LOT. I’m really excited to check it out.
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