Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Publisher: HarperTeen

Pages: 352

Source: Personal Ebook

Juliette is seventeen years old, and her life is looking bleak. She has been locked away and hasn’t spoken or touched anyone in 264 days. She is a lonely girl, and for years others have been afraid of her. Her own parents are very afraid of her and agreed to lock her up. She’s been cursed with a rare and deadly gift, if she touches anyone and holds on long enough, not only does she emit severe pain, she can kill. She has killed, a young boy and she’s been traumatized ever since. The reestablishment has locked her away in solitary confinement but a young man is put into the same cell as Juliette, and she doesn’t know what to think. Initially she is very afraid, after several weeks she begins to trust Adam and show him how to survive. When Juliette is yanked from her cell, and taken to the reestablishment it becomes clear that Adam is not who Juliette thought he was. Adam is a soldier and the leader, Warner has used Adam to evaluate Juliette. Warner intends to use Juliette to fight his cause, and use her gift for his greed. Juliette must decide if she can possibly use her gift to hurt others, and in return live the life of luxuries. Adam might have lied to her, but their chemistry is undeniable. Juliette learns to manipulate Warner while she figures out what she needs to do.

Shatter Me has received an incredible amount of buzz. While this book is a dystopian novel, it focuses more on Juliette and her gift and not so much on her surroundings. Readers are aware that the state of the area is in upheaval, but readers are not aware of the extent.  As a result the world building is lacking. Juliette has been locked away for so long, through her point of view readers are not told very much. The author’s style may be off-putting for some, and certainly takes some time to get use to. The strikethroughs are meant to convey Juliette’s stream of consciousness, and her obvious frustrations, confusion and fear. As Juliette begins to make sense of her world, and gathers the strength and courage to take her life into her own hands, the strikethroughs begin to cease. She has a clearer outlook on her surroundings, a clearer mind. The secondary characters are not very well developed, Adam and Warner are exceptions but still there seems to be background information missing. While the story has its fault, it has readers curious, and holding out for more. 

Overall, I was entertained by Shatter Me. I had my issues with the story, but I kept reading. I was able to connect with Juliette and Adam, and hope for the best.  The story really started to pick up half way through, and then I didn’t want to put it down.  I would actually call it more sci-fi, until we have more of the world building to understand how it is a dystopian. This trilogy has a lot of potential, and I believe my questions will be address in the upcoming books. This is a unique young adult novel, and the buzz has been justified in my opinion.  It held my attention, and introduced some interesting concepts.

P.S I am not a fan of this. I am not a fan of this….