[REVIEW] Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Published: November 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Young Adult
Series: Shatter Me #1

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. (From Goodreads)

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi was definitely a book that got better as you read it. At the beginning I really didn't like the story.  Perhaps it was the author's writing style.  Tahereh Mafi wrote this book with repeated words and crossed out lines (which looks strange at first but you get use to it.) Personally, I'm a reader who enjoys fast paced and to the point writing so repeated words and confusing slashed sentences made it very confusing for me. Now my reasoning behind the repeated words was that it did emphasize the situation without having to bold the text or make it larger for that matter. Also the crossed out words seem to be what Julliette is truly thinking because, usually, right after the crossed out words is the opposite of what she wants to say.  For instance, towards Adam, she'll be like "Touch me Don't touch me" Like that.

I also found that this book, mainly at the beginning, was written like a journal. I'm not sure if this is her writing style either but the writing changed half way through the story.  It blended perfectly together so it wasn't easy to tell but I instantly enjoyed the story much more after the change.  It got quicker and less crossed out and repeated words. 
The author also likes to use internal monologues to countdown days, seconds, breaths etc.  Basically there are a lot of numbers in this book...that I don't particularly think add anything exciting to it and honestly, if they were taken out, I feel the book would be the same (maybe even better)

I thought the descriptions were different, in a good way, and written in a way that metaphors or analogies are compared to things that I wouldn't normally compare them to, and yet it makes perfect sense when you think about it.  I've read very few books that describe actions and emotions like this book does.

The characters are also very well written. Juliette seems like the frail, innocent, peaceful  girl who has this deadly touch but she can also be stern and violent if need be.  Adam seems to be the rigid, rule-following guy but can be a total softy when need be too.

I love a good romance and Adam and Juliette's romance together is something that I absolutely adore.  If I were to critic anything, it is that their love blossamed a little too quickly for me.  There was no build up just a sudden click and they were a couple.  They make a very good couple so I'll let that go but it's a little hard to believe in their love it happens like that first.

The love triangle (or corners as I have been repeatedly told by my friends) in this story is...unusual.  Usually it's a girl that's torn between two guys, both equally amazing and she has to choose one.  In this case, it's two guys torn between one girl and yet the girl only reciprocates her love to another.  I have a theory that Juliette's touch doesn't work on people that truly love her. Because Warner and Adam are both immune and both love her.  It'll be interesting to see how this triangle/corners turns out in the future.

Shatter Me is a Dystopic novel (no surprise that I would find another one).  The story line reminds me of Legend by Marie Lu. And even a little bit of the Hunger Games.  I feel like the whole escape and finding the resistance is like it but of course that's entirely my opinion.

The ending was definitely written for a sequel in mind.  There was no definite ending so I guess I'll have to wait a year to read the sequel (Released early 2013)
Enjoy!

MEH