Book Review – Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Alright, alright, alright. It’s Amanda, back with a review for another book on my secret TBR. Have you figured out what this reading list could be about? The other books I’ve read so far: Neverworld Wake, Summer of Salt, Strange Grace. Four down, eight to go.

About The Book 📚

Title: Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1)

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Published: 2011 by HarperCollins

Genre: YA Fantasy Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Romance

Goodreads Link

My Review

› When the world fell apart the Reestablishment took control. Inhabitable land was divided into 3,333 sectors, each sector controlled by a “Person of Power”. Embracing Natural Selection, the sick are locked away, there are no prescription meds, there’s one universal language, no religion, no holidays. This new way of life is all about minimalism and the survival of the fittest. Juliette is locked away due to her “sickness”.

› She’s been living in isolation for 264 days when a new cellmate, Adam, joins her. Juliette feels that she and Adam knew each other years ago, but Adam doesn’t remember her at all. One day they’re removed from the cell and taken to Warner.

› Warner is the villain and one of the people in power. He wants to use Juliette to help squash the resistance and in return he won’t keep her locked in solitary. You see, Juliette doesn’t have a sickness, she has amazing powers. She can kill someone by simply touching them (like Rogue from X-men).

“But things happen when people touch me. Strange things. Bad things.”

› Likes 😻
• Tahereh Mafi crafts compelling characters. I can picture each person in my mind, the way they move, the tone of their voice.
• Warner is creepy and cruel. I just kept wondering what in the world happened in his life to have him end up like this?
• Underneath this story of loneliness, abandonment, and romance lies a poignant message of identity.

“You’ve been on the edge of insanity your entire life, haven’t you? So many people called you crazy you actually started to believe it. You wondered if they were right. You wondered if you could fix it. You though if you could just try a little harder, be a little better, smarter, nicer – you thought the world would change its mind about you. You blamed yourself for everything.”

› Dislikes 😾
• The plot is a meandering slow-build. And that last scene with the outfit reveal? *eye roll*
• There’s not a lot of female characters, and I think this barely passes the Bechtel Test.
• The repetition drove me up the wall. I can’t believe an editor didn’t have some of the blushing and lips parting removed. And I like flowery writing, Anna-Marie McLemore is one of my fav authors, however, Shatter Me takes flowery to a whole new level of nonsense. “My jaw is dangling from my shoelace.” What does that even MEAN?!
• I realize the erratic writing and strikeouts were intended to represent the chaos in Juliette’s mind, however, I really didn’t like it.

“I always wonder about raindrops.

I wonder about how they’re always falling down, tripping over their own feet, breaking their legs and forgetting their parachutes as they tumble right out of the sky toward an uncertain end. It’s like someone is emptying their pockets over the earth and doesn’t seem to care where the contents fall, doesn’t seem to care that the raindrops burst when they hit the ground, that they shatter when they fall to the floor, that people curse the days the drops dare to tap on their doors.

I am a raindrop.

~~My parents emptied their pockets of me and left me to evaporate on a concrete slab.~~”

• The romance felt so awkward and insta-lovey, I can’t tell you how many times I rolled my eyes.

› Final Thoughts
• A Sci-Fi story of change, power, love, and dictatorship, Shatter Me reminded me of Divergent. I recommend this to readers who like cheesy, insta-love romance. The novella Destroy Me found at the end of the Shatter Me e-book saved this series for me, so I will check out the next book Unravel Me.

About The Author

“New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of books for children and young adults. She currently resides in Southern California with her husband, fellow author Ransom Riggs, and their daughter. Her latest novel, DEFY ME, hit shelves April 2nd, 2019. Catch her on tour this Spring.”

https://www.taherehbooks.com/