Book Review #5 - Shatter Me

                        

                   

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Released: November 15, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  "You can't touch me," I whisper.
    I'm lying, is what I don't tell him.
    He can touch me, is what I'll never tell him.
    Please touch me, is what I want to tell him.
    But things happen when people touch me.
    Strange things.
    Bad things.
    DEAD THINGS.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon.
    But Juliette has plans of her own.
After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time -- and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever. **


Now for my review!


       Honestly, I loved this book! It has everything you look for in a Young Adult novel and so much more. From the plot to the writing to the character development it was all just fantastic.


Plot: I like that this is a relatively new idea. Yes, it's another dystopian novel BUT it has an awesome twist. It isn't like all those other dystopian novels where the main character is going along unnoticed by her corrupt government then slowly discovers the true horrors of whats going on. INSTEAD, Juliette already knows whats wrong with The Reestablishment and that they are bad (I mean really bad). Also, The Reestablishment wants her because of her ability and Juliette has to fight against them from a whole other level.
Overall, the plot is very unique and has many twists and turns that you don't expect. This book really keeps you on your toes.


Pacing: This book is very fast paced...but it works. It's exciting and you can't help but read it quickly. There's something happening on everypage! That's probably the only (very slight) problem I had with this book. Everything happens very quickly. For the most part its fine and it works that way but the author speeds through some time lapses that I would've liked for her to dwell on a little longer so I could better see the world that Juliette was experiencing,  if not just so I could take a breather.


Characters: I loved all characters in this, good and bad. Juliette was a great character because she grew in every page. She went from the weak (and slightly insane) girl trapped in a cell to this woman that was strong and confident and finally knew who she was. Adam was the perfect, tough, gorgeous protector with some light jokester moments mixed in. And Warner was fantastic at being so horribly corrupt. He was three-dimensional in such a way that I hated him and pitied him at the same time. I really can't wait to see more of him in the future.
All the characters were very real and three dimensional and so well thought out. The chemistry between Juliette and Adam is perfect in it's intensity and the intensity between Warner and Juliette is splendid as well.


Writing: The writing was PHENOMENAL. Tahereh Mafi did an excellent job of capturing Juliette's thoughts and feelings. At the beginning the writing is very poetic and beautiful. You see how fractured Juliette's mind has become and understand the pain she's felt her whole life. Because of Mafi's amazing writing I connected with Juliette immediately, and even as the book continued and Juliette was slowly able to compose herself I still felt very in tune with her (I almost cried at one point while Juliette was crying, which is very rare for me).


Overall: Fan-flippin-tastic book! It's exciting, romantic, thought-provoking, and utterly impossible. I reccomend this book to anyone who loves great writing, kick-ass characters, intense passion, and a plot thats filled with twists and turns.
              I can't wait to see what else Tahereh Mafi has in store for us in the future!


The sequel, Unravel Me, comes out February of next year. (I know I can't believe I have to wait a whole year either!)